Page 112 of Billionaire Unbroken - Asher
“Ilove my daughter, Asher,” Martha said without preamble as she walked into the extra bedroom where I was just finishing the floor.
Sierra and I would be leaving the next day, so I wanted to finish up this one last task.
I had contractors coming in a few days for the roof and some other things I couldn’t do.
We’d eaten a good dinner, and Sierra and Martha had shooed me out of the kitchen to complete this task.
I was nearly done, but Martha obviously had something on her mind.
I watched as she sat in a small chair beside the bed.
I paused what I was doing and sat on the floor.
If she wanted to talk, she’d get my full attention.
“I realize that,” I answered.
“I think you care about Sierra,” she mused. “But I watched my girl go through things that no woman should have to endure, and I buried my grandchild. I don’t ever want to see Sierra in that much pain again. It nearly broke me.”
Her words made me feel like I’d been kicked hard in the gut.
Martha looked a little fragile. It was obvious that she’d spent her life doing very physical work, but I knew she had a strongspirit. She’d raised an amazing daughter on her own while she was working as much as she could, trying to provide Sierra with everything she needed.
I met her solemn eyes. “What can I do to reassure you that I’d never hurt Sierra?”
I understood her fear, and I didn’t want her to worry when we were gone.
“I asked Sierra about your family,” she mused. “She told me that you have a brother and that your parents are gone. I have a feeling that she left a lot out in that explanation.”
I appreciated the fact that Sierra didn’t want to betray my trust, but Martha was probably going to want a little more than that.
“My mother died when I was a child,” I explained. “She was a good mother to Cole and me. Unfortunately, my father killed her. He was pure evil. I definitely can’t say that I miss him.”
“If he was that violent, he must have been horribly abusive to you and your brother,” she said in a sad tone.
I went on to explain a little of my history.
I didn’t go into details about my childhood, but I did include a bit about my struggles with PTSD and how that had probably drawn Sierra and me together initially.
“You’ve had a hard life,” Martha stated.
I shrugged. “My brother and I are close. We always had each other.”
“You both needed at least one parent who cared about you while you were growing up,” she said gently.
“We probably did,” I conceded. “But we don’t always get what we need. We survived.”
She nodded. “Your mother would have been so proud of both you and your brother. You’ve done well for yourself, Asher.”
I swallowed hard.
This wasn’t exactly an easy conversation for me.
I didn’t talk about my past, and talking about my mother still got to me.
The thing was, nothing was more important to me right now than putting Martha at ease.
Giving her some kind of peace of mind was more important than my dislike of talking about my past.
