River at the Ranch (River's End #14) - Leanne Davis Page 0,3
only took in children for the money and abused them physically and sexually preyed on his mind.
But in time, Asher realized there was no horror here. They had a much older daughter. She was twenty-eight or twenty-nine when he showed up, and traveling the world with her husband, Charlie Rydell. On her visits home, Asher watched all of them interact and eventually decided AJ and Kate seemed pretty normal. He started to relax his staunch, hands-off attitude with them. Little by little, first in days, then weeks, then months, he started to trust them.
Of course, there were no other couples waiting in line to adopt him. It wasn’t long before AJ and Kate asked what he thought about adoption?
He agreed it was a good idea. Instead of answering in words, he hugged Kate for the first time.
He proudly chose to take their last name, going from Asher Newhouse to Asher Reed. His great-grandmother’s last name was different than his and the thought of sharing the same name with his new family made him feel safe. But something else blossomed inside him. A new sense. One of belonging. He was part of something. He belonged to them.
His adopted sister, Cami, was a longer sell for him. For a few years, he got annoyed when she visited. She usually traveled and lived in Europe with her husband, Charlie, who was Kate’s nephew. Asher learned that Kate was Jack Rydell’s half-sister. They didn’t know about each other, however, until they were both in their late thirties. Kate showed up at the ranch to meet Jack and instead, ran into their foreman, AJ. She married AJ, and AJ already had a daughter, Cami. So, Charlie and Cami were cousins by marriage, not blood cousins, but still…
Asher resented Charlie and Cami coming back and taking his new parents from him. Most of the time he felt like an only child, which was heavenly from his perspective. Until Cami and Charlie showed up. But in the end, Asher got used to having her as a regular presence in their lives.
Maturity helped him realize they could love her and him, without taking anything from him. Growing up so alone and isolated, he still struggled with that concept sometimes.
School came easy for Asher and he sailed through it, even the socializing part. Plenty of friends and acquaintances allowed him to lead a fairly normal academic life. He graduated high school but had no desire to go to college. He was used to the peace and quiet of the ranch, and the loving family that took care of him there. Spending his teenage years so isolated, with no sense of community, he cherished the family that adopted him. It was all a stroke of sheer luck, but he was more than glad for it. Although he valued his space and privacy, he also enjoyed being in close proximity to this family and the place that he wanted to continue belonging to. He was eagerly welcomed to work on the ranch. His career path led him to horse training. But he also had a strong back and volunteered for many of the projects and difficult repairs that came up. For many years, AJ ran that side of the ranch but was now looking forward to retiring and started backing off from the physical labor. Asher gained the many varied skills for all the work around the giant spread from his adopted dad. In a few years, Asher proudly called AJ “Dad.”
After seeing Preston’s untimely death, Asher felt raw and overly exposed. He went directly to his parents’ house.
The Rydell Family had ties with the Hayes, Reed and Starr families, and they employed workers of varying skills and talents, numbering in the dozens. They provided small, but neat cabins for some of their workers. When Asher turned twenty-one, he was ready for a change, so he moved into one of them, exchanging it as part of his salary for the work he did there. Freedom. Space. Privacy. But he was still an integral part of everything. That was his life’s mantra. In no time at all, he was learning the more intricate and time-consuming training that went into the equine shows presented in the giant, commercial-sized, enclosed arena. Intended primarily for the resort guests, tickets were available to anyone who enjoyed such shows. It kept Asher challenged and busy, never mind the thrill of the actual performances. He never conceptualized having such a job, but here it was.