Tempted by Her Innocent Kiss (Pregnancy & Passion #3)(38)

After setting it on the stove, he turned off the oven and then went in search of Ashley. As he neared the bedroom, he heard the low murmur of her voice.

She was standing by the window overlooking the city and she was on her cell phone. He started to detour into his closet to change when he heard a betraying sniff.

He spun around, frowning as he zeroed in on Ashley. Her back was mostly to him though she was angled just enough that he could see her wipe at one cheek.

What the hell?

It took all his restraint not to walk over, take the phone and demand to know who the hell had upset her.

“I’ll see what I can do, Molly. We can’t let this happen,” she said.

She wiped her cheek with the back of her free hand and then hit the button to end the call. Then she turned and saw Devon. Her eyes widened in alarm and then she closed them in dismay.

“Oh, my God, the lasagna!”

She bolted for the door, gone before he could even tell her he’d already taken care of it. He was more concerned with what had made her cry.

“Ash!” he called as he hurried after her.

He caught up to her in the kitchen to find her palming her forehead as she stared at the lasagna.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I just forgot it. If you hadn’t come in, it would have burned.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” he said. He walked over and slipped a hand over her shoulder. “It needs to rest a minute anyway. Let me grab some plates and we’ll set the table. Then you can tell me what’s got you so upset. Who was that on the phone?”

He steered her toward the table, parked her in a chair and then went back to retrieve plates and utensils. After setting the places, he went back for the lasagna and carried the still piping hot dish to the table.

He sat down, picking up a knife to cut into the lasagna while he waited for her to respond. To his horror, her eyes filled with tears and she buried her face in her hands.

He dropped the knife and bit out a curse. Then he scrambled out of his chair and pulled it around so he could scoot up next to Ashley.

“What’s wrong?” he demanded. “Did someone upset you?” Obviously someone or something did but he wanted answers. He wasn’t a patient man. His inclination was to wade in and fix things. He couldn’t do that if he didn’t have the story.

“I’ve had the most awful day,” she croaked out. “And I wanted everything to be perfect. I finally learned how to cook that damn lasagna. But then Molly called. I stopped by the shelter and she had terrible news and I don’t know what to do. We’ve been talking about it all evening.”

He gently pulled her hands away, wincing at the flood of tears soaking her cheeks.

“Who’s Molly?”

She frowned and lifted her gaze to meet his. “Molly from the shelter.”

He looked searchingly at her. Clearly this was a person he was supposed to know, but he was drawing a complete blank.

“She’s my boss at the shelter.”

“Wait a minute. I thought you ran the shelter.”

She shook her head impatiently. “I do, mostly, but she’s in charge. I mean she runs it but I do most of the legwork and fundraising. She says I have more connections and am the natural choice to go out and pound the pavement for donations.”

Devon scowled. It sounded to him as though this Molly person was taking advantage of Ashley. He wasn’t certain of the salary that Ashley drew from her position at the shelter. He assumed that her parents still helped her financially since she didn’t have a typical nine-to-five job and she’d been living in her own apartment for a while now. He hadn’t concerned himself with her finances because he wanted her to be happy and he knew he’d fully support her once they were married. But he sure as hell didn’t want her busting her ass in a job where she was being used.

“So what did Molly have to say?” he gently prompted.

“The grant the shelter had is being pulled and without it, we can’t continue to stay open. It pays the basics like the utilities, food for the animals and the salary for the vet we have on retainer. We don’t raise enough money to stay afloat without the grant.”

Her eyes filled with tears again. “If we don’t stay open, all the animals will have to be transferred to a city-run shelter and if they aren’t adopted out, they’ll be euthanized.”

Devon sighed and carefully pulled Ashley into his arms. “Surely there’s some way to keep the shelter open. Have you talked to your father about sponsoring it?”

She pulled away and shook her head. “You don’t understand. Daddy’s all business when it comes to stuff like that. He doesn’t make emotional decisions. He’s more interested in profit and return or it being a cause he sees the value in. He’s not much of an animal person.”

Ashley’s view of her father was clearly wrong. William Copeland had made an emotional decision. A huge emotional decision when he’d opted to go with Tricorp because for whatever reason he’d decided Devon would be the perfect son-in-law and candidate to take over Copeland.

“How long can you continue running as you are now?”

She sniffed. “Two, maybe three weeks. I’m not sure. We’re already at maximum capacity but it’s hard to say no when a new animal comes in. We just got in a dog and it was so heartbreaking. The poor thing is the sweetest dog ever but he was horribly neglected. I don’t understand how people can be so cruel. Would they dump their child out on the street somewhere? A pet isn’t any different. They’re just as much a family member as a child!”