First Last Chance, page 21
“Okay, okay,” Kathryn said quickly, reaching over and stroking her hand. “No excuses. Not anymore. Let’s make this about forgetting, about moving on.” She raised her mug. “To absent not friends. To moving…over their ass with a car if they try to hurt you again.”
Ashley choked a smile, but it hurt how Kathryn mirrored Gabe in that moment, how when it hurt, his response had been…who do you need hurting.
“The party’s tomorrow night.” Kathryn winked across at her. “That’s the perfect time for forgetting and moving on”
“I’ll just take the offer of a glass of wine thanks. I don’t want anything more.” And she really didn’t.
Chapter 32
Music and laughter filled the ball room, and Ashley made a point to mingle with everyone. This she could handle. Being alone at a party hadn’t ever bothered her. She’d spent too much time with her ex over wondering who and where he’d be off speaking too, divorce came with freedom, a weight off shoulders where worry no longer mattered. So this? It brought back her old self, how mingling came with no complications, and these were friends and family here. But a look at her watch told her the time for her to give a toast to Jason and Kathryn approached, and she glanced over her shoulder to find Nathan talking with a group of men.
As Ashley joined them, Nathan turned and put his arm around her shoulders and drew her in. “All of you know my sister, Ashley, except you, right, Paul?” He looked at her. “Paul joined our firm a month ago. I thought you two might have a lot in common. He graduated from Xavier.”
Paul Walker was a lean, good-looking man in his midforties, and he edged closer to Ashley. “Nathan tells me you are a history buff too. I’d love to know your go-to list.” Taking Ashley’s arm, forcing a look back at Jason, a shake of head off her, he steered her toward the drinks and away from the group. “Can I get you another glass of wine?”
“Actually, I was about to give a toast to the happy couple.” But she held her glass out to him. She needed a top up for Dutch courage.
“Tell me about your work at the university,” he said, taking her glass.
Ashley buried a smile. “Are you really interested in history?”
Paul grinned. “Yeah, a little. It’s why I went into law. I got hooked on the Constitution.”
Ashley winced. That was more than a little light reading. She went to say something, but Sue Ann Bolton yelled her name as she pushed through the crowd and came to Ashley’s side. “Ashley Roberts, I can’t believe it’s you. How long has it been?” She placed herself between Ashley and Paul, and Ashley mouthed a sorry his way. Tact had never been Sue’s strong point, and Paul waved her off, adding a catch up with you later wave. Ann continued her litany of complaints of why she hadn’t gotten together with Ashley sooner, and Ashley had to cut the conversation short as she headed over to the mic to toast the couple. Gazing around the room at the crowd, she was surprised at the sudden loneliness she felt.
***
Seemed she’d been waking up the past few mornings with a hangover, and today didn’t disappoint. Although Ashley didn’t understand why. She hadn’t had that many glasses of wine at the party last night. Okay she knew why, and most of it was to do with the unanswered text messages that Gabe had sent her way. He never had an issue with keeping in touch, she just needed to stay away from any excuses he sent her way. They only added to her own that kept trying to creep in. Snuggled up in bed, she buried a pillow over her head.
Turn the tables when it came to Jason, when it came to anyone looking like they were about to step into Susan’s shoes, it niggled, started to gnaw deep that she might not have handled it as well either. Okay she didn’t have the means to run a background check, but she’d have damn well ghosted the woman’s Facebook page way back to when she’d first joined just to see who’d she’d dated and if she had a habit of going after grieving young men.
And yeah, maybe her inner bitch would have clicked in too, right along with the asshole Gabe had been. Could she really judge him so harshly?
She groaned. This was her, back to making excuses and hating herself for going there.
Her phone rang and she picked it up off the nightstand. “Hello?” She sounded angry even to her own ears.
“Hey, Ashley, it’s Paul Walker.”
Paul? Ashley pulled herself up to a sitting position and stuffed her pillow behind her, trying to chase the rest of the name.
A soft chuckle came over. “I made such a good impression, huh? I’m Paul, the one from the party last night?”
“Oh…” Ashley winced. That Paul. “Sorry.”
“No problem. I’m calling to see if you’re interested in dinner?”
Dinner? She gave a heavy sigh, more interested to know how he’d gotten her number and why Nathan was trying to play matchmaker. “Look, I—”
“You’d be doing me a favour.” Paul sounded like he was smiling. “If only to get your brother off my back.”
Ashley laughed and rested her head in her hand. “Sorry, he’s—”
“Just looking out for you with…patch work, I think he called it.”
Ashley looked up and gave a heavy sigh. Nathan, you ass. It’s what they both called it.
“You up for it?”
“Yeah. Maybe I am. Thank you.” She liked Paul. He was a good-looking attorney in her brother’s firm, but she was rebounding, she knew that. It didn’t stop her accepting. She needed something to stop herr thinking excuses.
Chapter 33
Paul pulled into Ashley’s driveway around midnight. Kathryn had invited them back to stop by for a drink, and they’d sat on the deck talking and enjoying the warm evening. But that was it. Their night. Not uncomfortable, but not anything else either.
Sat in the car, Ashley glanced across at Paul. It wasn’t right to drag him into her mess. He was a decent man and she liked him. He deserved better.
“Least I can do is walk you to the door, right?” Paul smiled her way. “Keep Nathan from hunting me down for the rest of the night over not seeing you in?”
Ashley buried a smile. “Yeah, that’d be good. Thank you.”
He got out and a moment later her door came open. Only Paul hadn’t made it around the hood, and his look fixed her way, on her open door.
A hand came her way a moment later, and she eased out, not taking it.
Gabe levelled his gaze on Paul. “Who’s that?”
“That’s—” She looked back Paul’s way, then at Gabe. “That’s none of your business. What the hell are you doing here?”
Gabe’s look never left Paul’s. “Take a walk for a minute, mate.”
“Stop it.” Ashley backed him off a few paces to try and get him to break the deadlock. “Go home.”
“No. I came to try and straighten this out.” His look found hers.
“You’re failing—badly.” She pushed him back another step. “You don’t do this, not with a friend.”
His look came her way, and Ashley took a steady breath. “Go on, say it,” she said in a low voice. “Say he’s more than that. Because that would be you back to reading every goddamn wrong signal going.”
Gabe seemed to shake something off and frowned down at her. “He caught me off guard, is all.”
“Go. Just go, Gabe, please. I can’t do this again.”
“I flew down to say sorry, no texts, no bullshit.” He shrugged. “Try to mend broken fences without a hammer.” He smiled bitterly. “But I still came in too heavy, huh?”
Ashley shrugged back at him, it hurting too much, and he nodded as if that was all the answer he needed. Then he kissed at her cheek as he breathed a sorry. He nodded at Paul a moment later. “Make sure she gets in safe, okay?”
“Will do.” Paul gave a small salute, but he kept his distance as Gabe turned away.
Ashley went to say something, but she pulled back, fists clenched at her sides over his bullheadedness. He wanted this his way, when he thought she was ready. Life didn’t work like that. She didn’t work like that, because she wasn’t the one who needed to take a step back and clear aggression levels. Tonight proved that.
Chapter 34
Gabe tossed his jacket over his office chair and slumped in his seat. He couldn’t get his head right, but in the same angered breath, he didn’t want it putting right either. Switch roles, put a woman getting out of Gabe’s car in the middle of the night, Ashley would have reacted exactly the same. Okay, he had the rest of his bullshit to throw on top of that, but last night caught him out, nothing more. He hadn’t expected…what? That she’d have friends? Male friends that could just be friends?
He groaned, wiping a hand over his face. He didn’t stop his groan as Jason pushed through.
“Sam’s out of the hospital and back at home.” Jason came around and leaned against the desk. “T.J. hired a foreman who’s good at handling the books. Logan also said he’d picked up Megan’s ex for questioning.”
“You know—” Gabe pushed out of his chair and went over to the drinks cabinet. “I really don’t give a fuh—care at this point.”
Jason frowned as Gabe took a swig of whiskey. “Not even if I mention you got a message through from your kid? He’s hoping to come up over the holidays.”
Gabe glanced back, all anger falling. “Seriously?”
Jason smiled. “Yeah. Sounded good to hear from him. I think he has a girlfriend.”
Gabe gave a sigh and took a second drink over to Jason. Jason took it as he sat down.
“From the look on your face, you’d have thought you’d lost the ranch.” Jason took a swig of his drink. “What happened with Ash?”
Gabe snorted. “It was me, handling Ashley. How the hell do you think it went?”
Jason winced. “I told you to give it some time. Let her breathe. You too.”
“Yeah, well.” He got to his feet, not quite sure where he wanted to go. “Seems I’ve fucked it up again and have a lifetime of it now. I just would have preferred to have spent it with her, y’know?”
***
After watching Gabe go, Jason took his whiskey and headed down the hall to his own office. For a moment he stood looking out the window, wiping a hand over his jaw. Letting his gaze rest on a picture of him hugging Susan on a skiing holiday, he pointed her way before taking a swig of whiskey. “I know, I know,” he added quietly. “They’re both struggling.”
He tugged out his mobile and thumbed in a number.
Someone picked up eventually. “Jason?”
“Ash.” He gave a heavy sigh. “We okay to talk a while?”
Quiet. “Don’t offer excuses for him, okay? I’m so sick and tired of thinking excuses.”
“I wouldn’t,” he said quietly. “I just want to talk time. Maybe knock both of your heads together a little when it comes to losing it...”
***
Ashley stood in the guest bedroom, feeling a little strange with being back at Coulter Creek, the familiar sights and scents making her briefly close her eyes for a moment. Still felt like home, but it hurt how it did.
“Haven’t see Gabe since breakfast.” Jason came in, carrying her bags.
“He didn’t know I was coming?”
Jason put her cases on the bed. “No,” he said softly. “He needed a few days out of his own head, so I threw every—”
“Broken fence at him?” finished Ashley.
Jason laughed. “Something like that, yeah. It’s why I flew you down.”
“Good.” Ashley went over and kissed at his cheek. “Leave him alone without one to fix and we could plant him on Sam’s land as a landmine, all hothead and—”
“There’s love there, I see.” Jason peered a little closer, just to make sure.
“There’s time,” she said softly. “That’s enough for now, right? A last chance to use it before she reminds us she’ll ultimately call enough?”
Jason glanced down at her cases, then offered a nod. “More than.” Then he winced. “But we’re talking Gabe here. It might take a few more last chances. But he’s harmless, I swear. All big soft puppy with teeth who’s still not out of teething trouble yet. He bites at everything.”
Ashley laughed and started unpacking her case. “Do you know where he is?”
Jason glanced at his phone. “Heading for the library from the look of things.” He flicked her a look. “Knowing Clay has its perks.”
Didn’t it just.
Ashley left him there and headed down to the library. Quiet played around her, and for a moment she listened for any sign of life, then made her way over to the small bar and poured herself a glass of wine. Dutch courage…again, but she needed it. The good echoed too much around these walls, and she smiled privately, remembering the last time she’d had a couple of glasses of wine here.
Footsteps behind her made her glance over her shoulder, and Gabe didn’t see her for a moment. But as she shifted, he came to a stop, eyes startling.
“Ash… What…what are you doing here?” He was back to looking unsure over what to do, how to react, whether to drop Cody’s math book he’d picked up to return, come over…stay…bolt. Ashley kind of loved how she made him look so…chaotic.
“You said you wanted to talk?”
“Yeah, but…?” He took a step toward her, then stopped, running a hand through his hair. “You’re here…”
Ashley smiled down to her feet. “Can’t get past that one, huh, cowboy?” After resting her glass down, she went over but kept a little distance between them. “This is me. Here. So talk.”
He frowned her way and a lot of hurt came with it. “I’m…” He shrugged. “Sorry.”
She dipped her head a little to try and understand the bluntness. “That’s it? That’s all you got?”
He nodded. “No excuses. Just my fault. My sorry. No promise to try and make it work, because if you have to try and make something work, your heart’s not in it from the beginning.”
“And your heart has been. From the beginning?”
He shrugged again. “Maybe twenty minutes after, when you had the guts to get in my plane and take the ride with me despite being so damn scared of flying. Maybe thirty minutes after as well, when you reached back to grab your camera and your skirt road a little higher, showing me those long legs of yours…”
She laughed and hit his shoulder. “No love at first sight, then?”
“Twenty…thirty minutes… Still counts, right? Takes me a little time to sort through all those…broken fences to see the wood through the forest fire I stoke.”
She gave a hard sigh and went in close, her arms draping his shoulders. “Good recovery,” she said gently as he slipped a hold to her hips. “Damn good recovery.”
Gabe closed his eyes and rested his head against hers. “Not enough, though. I forgot about the background check,” he said quietly. “With everything, it slipped my mind. Clay put the paperwork on my desk just before we got back. It didn’t register, not until you went in there.”
“You never read it?”
He shook his head. “I shouldn’t have asked for it.” He gave such a rough sigh, and Ashley pulled away a little, stroking at the back of his neck.
“Thought it over a little when I was away,” she said to him. “When it comes to Jason, to the kids…” She winced. “I might have just done the same thing with a new woman on the scene.”
Gabe choked a laugh. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“Then God help him if he finds anyone else.” He winced. “Might be best to tell him we’re looking out for him that kind of way. Avoid the same screw ups.”
Ashley patted his chest. “You get that job. I’m hiding when you do. He’s a Coulter.”
“Damn right.” His kiss touched hers, and it lasted an age. “Friends,” he said gently. “Just small ones?” He even measured it between finger and thumb.
Ashly shoved his hand away and backed him up against the wall. “Gabe,” she breathed as she flicked at the clasp to his jeans. “It’s about time I told you something.” She gave such a wicked smile. “You make one hell of a lousy friend.” She nibbled at his lips, him at hers. “So I’ll take the lover, thanks.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
E.H. Hunter is an educator in the Pacific Northwest where she lives with her family She enjoys traveling, new adventures, and writing angsty romances.
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E.H. Hunter, First Last Chance
