"I'm sorry."
"I am, too. He was a incredible man and he would have been so good for you. I didn't raise you the way he would have wanted me to. I failed him and you both…just like I failed your sister. I fight for every business concession I want, but I was too weak to fight past the pain of his loss."
"Failure is not a terminal disease unless you allow it to be," Zoe said from her chair beside the bed, sounding comfortingly practical.
Rachel's head snapped up and she met her gaze. "I'm not going to let myself die. I'm going to make it up to my girls. Somehow. Someway."
Zoe nodded. "That is an admirable sentiment, but it will not be easy."
"I know."
"If it becomes too difficult and you retreat to your work again, you will not get another chance. Your daughter is very self-sufficient."
"Too independent."
"Just like you. You would rather she was weak?"
"No."
"Good."
Ash didn't mind the conversation that did not require her participation. She had a lot to assimilate and as much as she wanted to trust her mom again, she just didn't know if she could. She'd hurt her so many times both as a child and then as a woman. And she'd been hurt by others, too…she was discovering that past pain could be a huge barrier to present acceptance of things like love and affection.
Breakfast arrived and they ate together, setting the pattern for days to come. Ash came to the hospital each morning and ate breakfast with her mother before going on to work. She knew that Zoe spent a couple of hours every afternoon with her and Ash returned in the evenings to spend time with her before bed. Nikos spoke to her daily.
Nikos called Ash two or three times a day, too, but they didn't see each other. He was working twenty hour days covering for her mom and taking care of his own business.
In a way, Ash was grateful for the respite from his company. She knew that since he'd decided she was trustworthy, he still wanted to marry her. She just was not up to arguing with him about it right now.
Blade was still looking for her sister, but the man she'd been seen with had disappeared from sight and Blade's agents were having difficulty locating the tycoon. The investigator had learned what the tabloid reporters had…no one else seemed to know who Menendez's mystery woman was.
In the meantime, Ash was getting to know her mom like she never had. She told her things about her dad, her grandparents…herself that she'd never known. And each day, she got a little closer to believing the change in her was a permanent one. That maybe she really did love her.
But part of her acknowledged that until she was back to work and in her old world and still interested in her life and spending time with her, she wasn't going to trust that change completely.
She went home from the hospital the following Friday afternoon. It was the longest break from work Ash had ever known her to take. Even though the following day was Saturday, she went into the office for a few hours. Nikos made sure those hours were short, escorting her back home before lunchtime.
He'd arranged with Ash to be there to share the meal with her mother. She waited for them, butterflies playing volleyball in her stomach. She hadn't seen Nikos since the Saturday before.
When she did see him, she had to fight the urge to take him into her arms. He looked exhausted, but then running two multinational companies would be enough to drive most men into the ground. Not Nikos. He looked tired yes, but still so strong and masculine that Ash's knees had weakened at the sight of him ushering her mother into the room.
She'd set up fruit juice spritzers on a tray before their arrival and served both of them as soon as they seated themselves.
Her mom had taken an armchair kitty-corner to where she sat. She reached for the drink. "Thank you, sweetheart."
"You're welcome. How did it go at work?"
"Nikos did an excellent job keeping everything running smooth. There wasn't much for me to do."
"There was enough to keep you there four hours," she said with a wry smile as she offered Nikos his drink.