Chapter 12
Ashley awoke refreshed and full of energy. She almost put off going for her regular morning run, but decided she’d better as she wouldn’t have a chance tomorrow, considering it was the day of the wedding.
After she returned she had a quick shower, got dressed, and went downstairs to make some breakfast. There was no cereal in the cupboards. Jane had cleaned out everything containing gluten, artificial colors, artificial flavours, sugar . . . pretty much anything that tasted good.
She settled for an apple and more of the cardboard-textured gluten-free raisin toast. Through the window she could see Martin in the back garden, giving the hedges a final trim. As far as Ashley could see everything looked perfect and didn't need any improvement, but Martin, with his love of gardening, could always see room for improvement.
She could hear a faint melody and realized it was her phone. In her room. She dashed up the stairs two at a time and retrieved her phone from her purse.
It was Steven’s father.
Ashley frowned. She hadn't heard from Steven since he had left for Japan.
Had something happened to him?
“Hello?”
“Ashley, hello. It’s Robert here.”
“Mr Cole, how are you?”
“I’m well, thank you. I take it you haven’t heard from Steven yet?”
A wave of panic washed over her again. “No, I haven’t. Have you?”
“Yes, I have, and unfortunately things haven’t gone quite as well as we’d hoped.”
Ashley gnawed at the inside of her lip.
“I’ll keep this brief, Ashley. I know you must be busy helping your mother. I understand Steven has asked you to move in with him.”
Ashley nodded, then remembered he couldn't see her. “Yes, he has.”
“Right. Steven has informed me that you are a bit reluctant to take this next step, so I would like to personally ask you to consider accepting his proposal.”
What?
“May I ask why?”
“As you know, we have been having discussions regarding promoting Steven to partnership. However Graham and Michael want him to demonstrate maturity and responsibility. We were also counting on this deal with the Tokyo firm to be established, but now that that seems unlikely, he is depending on you to help him prove he can commit.”
That sounded ridiculous.
“Did Steven ask you to call me?” It felt like an ambush.
“No, and I appreciate your discretion about this conversation. Steven is a good boy. He has worked far too hard to be overlooked for this role now. All I’m asking is that you make the right decision. If he lands this position, I can assure you that you will be a very happy woman. You will want for nothing. If it doesn’t work out, you can always move out down the track—once this has all been secured. But I know you won’t. You seem like a smart woman and I’m glad Steven found you. He needs you to come through for him, now more than ever. If you care about him like I think you do, you'll say yes.”
Ashley stood there, stunned, struggling to find the words to respond.
“Are you there?” Robert asked.
“Uh, yes. I’m here. I just don’t understand how us living together would be such an important issue.”
Robert sighed impatiently, making Ashley feel as though she were too young and too uneducated to understand. “Because we have a reputation as being a family firm. If Steven can demonstrate commitment in his personal life, that will reflect commitment in his professional life. All the partners are married with families. It’s an attractive feature for our clients.”
Ashley pressed her lips together. They’ve all been married for a long time, but they all have frequent affairs.
“I’ll leave it with you. I need you to trust me, and think of Steven. Please don’t let him down.”
“I’ll think about what you’ve said.”
“That’s all I ask. I’ll see you at the dinner next week.” The line went silent.
For the life of her she couldn't make sense of his rationale. She would have thought their private life was just that—private. Separate from his career. Irrelevant. It seemed shallow that they would make such an important decision based on his relationship status. As ridiculous as it appeared, they did have to fit a certain ‘mold’ to be one invited into the partnership. This decision was turning out to be more important than she’d realized.
Robert was right. If she truly loved Steven, she should be willing to move in with him. To take this next step, not only for his career, but for their relationship. She wanted to say ‘yes’ for Steven’s sake, although a part of her couldn’t help but feel he was asking her to move in to help him get his promotion. It was all so confusing and complicated.
“Ashley?” Martin called from down stairs.
“Yeah, I’m here.” She walked to the top of the staircase.
“I’m heading out for a bit. Did you need a lift anywhere?”
“No. I think I might be going to the Jamboree later with Jess and the kids but I’m all right for the moment.” She tried to smile.
“Are you OK? You look a bit upset.” Martin frowned.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Some personal business—nothing to worry about.” She waved a hand through the air, dismissing his concern.
She sat down on the sofa. Everything was quiet except for the rhythmic ticking of the old grandfather clock as the pendulum swung side to side. She held her phone in her hands, contemplating calling Steven. But if things had gone as badly in Japan as Robert had made out maybe he wouldn’t want to talk to her right now. She would have to trust that he would call her when he was ready. She sighed. She should have known that returning to Sweet Home would only cause problems. Everything in the small, sleepy town had gone wonderfully—better than she had even imagined—but her life back in the city was being thrown into chaos.
Her phone beeped. A message. From Tania.
OMG Stephanie is driving me insane.
You need to get back here ASAP, I swear if she even tries to talk to me one more time I'm going to claw her eyes out!
She giggled at Tania’s over-dramatic text, but couldn’t help but feel anxious about what exactly Stephanie had gotten up to while Ashley was on the other side of the country.
She didn't want to sit around anymore, so she decided to head into town. She wore her usual attire—shorts and a T-shirt. It was too hot out to wear any of the fancy outfits she had packed.
She had almost made it into town when her phone rang. Jess.
“Hey Jess.”
“Hi Ash. Just checking to see if you wanted to come to the Jamboree with me and the kids?”
“Yeah, I’d love to,” Ashley replied, smiling. She looked forward to spending time with the kids more and more with each passing day.
“Do you want me to pick you up? We’re leaving now.”
“No, actually, I’m walking towards town now. I can meet you at the gates in about five minutes.”
“Perfect. See you then.”
Sankey Park was packed with tourists and concert goers. Many returned year after year for the famous Oregon Jamboree Music Festival. The landmark Weddle Covered Bridge provided the ideal backdrop for people snapping photos on their way to seeing their favorite country music stars.
Ashley spotted Jess near the fence. Meika was trying to see the stage and Coco was running around in circles with her arms stretched out to the sides. Harley was perched on Jess' hip, observing all the people walking by.
Jess waved as Ashley walked over and together they entered the park. They found a nice grassy spot to the rear left of the park and Jess laid out their picnic rug. Ashley could see the food vans off to the far right and assumed that’s where Bryan had set up his van to serve coffee and cakes. With the amount of people around, he’d make a killing this weekend. Meika spotted some of her school friends and asked Jess if she could go and dance with them.
“Yes, but you have to stay where I can see you and you can see me, O
K?”
Meika nodded and ran off.
Coco and Harley danced along to the music, providing great entertainment for Ashley and Jess, although the volume made conversation difficult.
Jess leaned close to Ashley so she wouldn't have to shout so loud through the noise.
“Have you heard anything about how Henry is doing today?”
Ashley shook her head. “Not yet, but I'm assuming if mom hears anything she’ll let me know.”
She hadn’t been too concerned about her grandfather since visiting with him last night. He looked well, and she knew someone would contact her if he did take a turn for the worse.
Jess nodded. “Bryan said he visited him earlier and he looks good—ready to go home, but they won’t let him leave yet.”
“It’s probably best that he gets some rest.”
“Mom,” Coco called. “Can we get a hot dog?” She had her eyes locked on a man nearby eating one.
“No, darling. Look I've got some yummy strawberries and watermelon here. Or you can have a ham and salad wrap?”
“Aww, you never let us have treats.”
“Those hot dogs do look good.” Jess licked her lips. “All right, but don't tell Daddy?”
She turned to Ashley. “He’d kill me if he knew I gave them processed food.”
Ashley laughed. If only Jess knew Bryan had given them cupcakes yesterday.
They sat, listening to the music, observing the passers-by, and applying sunscreen on a regular basis. It was almost 2 p.m. when Harley announced he had a sore tummy.
“Too much refined food and fizzy drink,” Jess said, giving him a hug and rubbing his back. He promptly vomited all over her shoulder. Ashley covered her mouth and felt her stomach churn as the smell hit her. Jess didn't seem too bothered by the fact that she had chunks of hot dog on her arm.
“Oh my gosh. What do you need? I don't know what to do.” Ashley tried not to laugh as she looked around for something Jess could use to clean up the mess.
Jess laughed. “Don’t worry. It’s not the first time I’ve been spewed on. I think there's a towel in my bag. Could you hand it to me, please?”
Ashley did as she was asked.
“All right kids, it looks like it’s home time.”
“No, Mom, why? Can’t we stay a bit longer?” Meika asked, pouting.
“I can’t girls. Harley has a pain in his belly, and he's due for a nap. We’ve been here long enough anyway.”
“But Mom, we haven’t even seen the good singer yet,” Coco whined.
“There are lots of good singers, darling.” Jess stood up and began to pack the bag.
Coco drooped her shoulders dramatically. “No, Miss Davis said he was going to be here later on today.”
Ashley saw the disappointment in the girl’s eyes. “I can stay with them for a bit if you want to take Harley home.”
“You don’t have to do that. I’m sure you’ve got other things you want to do.”
“Actually, no. I’d be happy to hang out with the girls. It’ll be fun.”
Coco and Meika cheered and hugged her.
“Are you sure, Ash? They can be a bit of a handful.”
“What’s the worst that could happen?”
Jess raised her eyebrows and pressed her lips together.
“Don’t answer that!” Ashley said. “You take Harley home, and we’ll hang out here for a bit.”
“OK, give me a call when you’ve had enough and I’ll come back and pick you all up before we visit Grandpa.”
Ashley helped Jess pack the rest of her bag. Jess picked up Harley, who was looking rather pale, and headed off towards the exit.
“Dance with us, AA,” Coco pleaded. She and Meika took Ashley’s hands and began to dance. She felt ridiculous, but she didn’t recognise any of the faces around her so she began to sway and move to the music, spinning the girls around. Country music had never been her thing, but some of it was all right. The kids seemed to have an endless supply of energy and Ashley started to think they’d dance long into the night if she let them. After about half an hour Ashley collapsed on the picnic rug and the girls jumped on top of her, trying to tickle her. She laughed and struggled to fight them off.
“Still ticklish, I see,” came a familiar voice.
They all turned around to see Jay standing nearby, hands in his pockets, looking rather amused at the spectacle in front of him. He was wearing beige chino shorts with a dark blue T-shirt. Ashley sat upright, trying to catch her breath. Her hair was messy and she had a tomato sauce stain on her top.
“You’re it!” Coco squealed, tapping Meika on the shoulder and running off. Meika sprang to her feet and chased Coco.
“Stay where I can see you!” Ashley called.
“We will,” Meika called back.
Ashley stood up, brushing the grass from her knees and trying to straighten her hair. “What are you doing here?” she asked. “I didn’t think you were coming.”
He shrugged. “I wasn’t going to but I saw Jess heading home and she told me she had left you here with these two. I thought you might like some help.” He plucked a piece of grass from her hair. “How are you feeling today, Sleeping Beauty?”
She blushed and smiled, looking down as she remembered him carrying her to her bed last night. She tucked her hair behind her ear.
“Very well, thanks.” Ashley turned to watch the girls as they dodged and weaved their way through the crowds of people sitting on the grass and camping chairs.
“So you like country music now?” Jay turned towards the stage where a man wearing a cowboy hat sang into the microphone whilst strumming his guitar.
“No, not really. I came along to spend some time with the girls.”
“Is that why you were dancing?” He kept his eyes towards the stage, a smirk on his face.
Ashley’s mouth dropped open. “OK, they made me dance with them, but it was only for one song.”
“That was more than one song.” His smirk turned into a grin.
“How long were you watching?” she asked.
“Long enough.” He cast her a quick glance.
She laughed. “Well, that’s just totally embarrassing.”
The current singer finished and they began to re-set the stage.
Coco ran over, excited. “Jay! This is Miss Davis’s favorite singer!” Then she ran off to join Meika and a few other girls they’d been running around with earlier. The mention of Miss Davis’s name caused Ashley to experience emotions that made her feel uneasy.
“Miss Davis seems lovely,” Ashley said, hoping to gauge Jay’s reaction.
“Huh? Yeah, I guess.” Jay shrugged.
“I think she likes you.” Ashley raised one eyebrow as she recalled Nicole’s obvious flirting from the other day.
“Who? Nicole?” Jay frowned. Ashley couldn't tell if he was playing dumb or if he really hadn’t noticed.
“Yes, Nicole. I saw the way she was talking to you at the school. It’s obvious she likes you.”
“She wanted me to have a look at one of her walls,” Jay said.
Ashley raised her eyebrows, smiling.
“Strictly business,” he said. “She wants to put a doorway in.”
Ashley didn't believe him, but it wasn't any of her concern.
“Besides, she’s not my type,” Jay said, turning back towards the stage and folding his arms across his chest.
“A girl like Nicole is everyone’s type,” Ashley said, thinking of Nicole’s beautiful long red hair, piercing blue eyes and rosy red lips. A natural beauty.
The next singer came out on to the stage and the crowd went wild. Ashley and Jay sat down on the rug and watched the girls dance, twirl and spin to the music. Totally uninhibited. Ashley envied them—their innocence, unexposed to the harsh realities of the world.
Jay didn’t say much, as usual. Ashley usually talked enough for the both of them but this time they sat, side by side, content with one another’s company.
&nbs
p; It was almost five by the time the singer came to his last song. It was a slow love song.
“Dance!” Coco yelled to Ashley and Jay. Coco had a little entourage of kids behind her, all giggling and watching Jay and Ashley.
Ashley laughed and shook her head.
“Dance!” Coco yelled again, giggling.
“Well, we can’t disappoint our audience, can we?” Jay stood and held out his hand to Ashley.
She shook her head and reluctantly took his hand. He pulled her to her feet and spun her around straight away. All the little girls laughed and pointed. Ashley felt embarrassed and out of her comfort zone, but Jay looked as though this was a completely normal thing to be doing. He placed his left hand on her lower back, grasped her left hand with his right and spun her around, much to the delight of their young spectators. Ashley couldn’t stop laughing.
Then he stopped and leaned forward towards her, dipping her back so far she thought she was going to fall over backwards. Coco and her friends clapped and joined hands, trying to copy Jay and Ashley’s movements. A few other spectators had started watching on with interest. Jay straightened Ashley up and lifted her into the air, slowly spinning her around. She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked down into his eyes. She had been laughing so much her cheeks were beginning to hurt.
He looked happy, enjoying himself as he watched her laugh and step out of her comfort zone. She felt the smooth muscles contracting and expanding as he slowly lowered her and they stood there face to face trying to catch their breath, still laughing. The whole time they had been dancing he never took his eyes off her once, seemingly oblivious to the onlookers.
The song finished and they cheered and clapped along with everyone else.
“Well, thank you for the dance,” Ashley said.
Jay laughed. “Thank you.”
“We'd better get going. We have to back at Mom’s for dinner at 5:30.” Ashley looked around at the girls.
“Do you need a lift?” Jay asked.
“You aren’t going to stick around? There are still a few more performers tonight,” Ashley said.
“Nah, I’m exhausted now,” he said, rubbing his back as though he had injured it.
Ashley laughed. “Well, in that case, that’d be great. Thanks. I’ll text Jess and let her know.”
She called the girls over and they said good bye to their friends.
Jay turned around as he heard a voice over his shoulder.
“Nice moves.”
There were two young men, who both looked to be in their early twenties.
“Hey.” Jay smiled. “What are you two doing here?”
“Making the most of our free time. This would have to be the first weekend in a while our boss has given us off.” The man speaking turned towards Ashley, smiling. “Our boss is a real tyrant.”
“So this is the reason you've been skipping out of work early, is it?” he asked Jay, nodding his head in the direction of Ashley.
Jay frowned, rubbing the back of his neck again.
Ashley couldn't help but smile.
“Hi.” She held out her right hand. “I’m Ashley.”
The man placed his beer in his left hand and shook her hand. “James. This is Tyler.” He nodded towards the other man.
“So you guys all work together?” Ashley placed her hands on her hips, looking at Jay and the two younger men.
“I guess you could say that,” James smiled. “He’s our boss.”
“Not for much longer if you two don’t get out of here.” Jay feigned anger.
“We’re going.” James laughed and held up his hands, palms towards Jay. “You two have a good night. Nice to meet you, Ashley.” James smiled, and so did Tyler.
“Hey boys,” Jay called. “Don’t drink too much. I don't want any phone calls on Monday morning saying you’re too hung-over to show up for work!” He smiled, but Ashley couldn't help feel that he would be a stern, no-nonsense kind of boss.
As they were walking they passed Nicole. She was with another woman. Nicole was wearing a white sundress which left little to the imagination. With her curves and stunning features, she caught the attention of men from all around the park. Ashley felt guilty that she was with Jay when she knew Nicole fancied him. Nicole’s eyes rounded when she spotted Jay with Ashley, and she looked as though she wanted to reach out and talk to Jay but he simply nodded in acknowledgement and continued walking beside Ashley, leaving Nicole standing stunned, mouth ajar. Perhaps she wasn’t used to being rejected by men—or at least, not by the man she had her eyes set on.
It was still light but the sun was beginning to go down as they headed towards the exit. The girls spotted the animal petting tent. It had baby rabbits, lambs, piglets, and ducklings.
“Can we go in?” the girls asked.
“I don’t know girls. We don’t want to be late.”
“Pleeeease?”
“All right, but quickly.” Ashley succumbed to their irresistible pleadings.
The lady operating the tent looked to be in her late forties, plump with brown hair and a friendly face.
“Hi, Jay. How you been doing?” she asked as the girls went in to play with the baby animals.
“I’m well thanks, Donna. How’s the family going?” They sparked up a conversation. It appeared that Jay and Donna were acquaintances.
Ashley had her hands full of rubbish—empty drink cans and hot dog wrappers. Perhaps she should throw the trash out while the girls played.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” she said to Jay, holding up the rubbish to indicate that she was headed to the trash cans.
He nodded in acknowledgement and continued his conversation with Donna. If Ashley remembered correctly, there were two large trash cans around the rear of the toilet block near the back fence.
As she turned the corner three men were standing around the bins, laughing about something. They looked drunk and Ashley hoped she could dump her trash without drawing any attention to herself. There wasn’t anyone else around and something about the men made her feel uneasy.
She dropped the rubbish in the bin and turned to leave.
The shirtless man jumped in front of her, blocking her exit. He had a can of beer in his hand and he reeked of alcohol.
“Where are you off to?” His words came out slurred.
“Home, actually. Excuse me.” Ashley tried to step past him. He sidestepped, blocking her again, and his two friends came up beside him, laughing and spurring him on.
She turned around deciding she would go in the opposite direction, but as she did she felt the shirtless drunk grab her backside.
“Hey!” She spun around, smacking his hand away.
He held up his hands in self-defence.
She was angry but they weren’t worth her time. She turned to walk away again and heard them laugh.
“Come on,” he taunted. “You wouldn’t be wearing them shorts if you didn’t want it.”
His friends laughed and she felt a rush of anger surge through her.
She spun on her heel, facing them. “How dare you! I can wear whatever I want without having to defend myself from morons like you!”
They all laughed harder, as if entertained by her outburst.
“You have no right to touch me. You should be ashamed of yourself!”
She saw the drunk men look behind her and she turned to see Jay standing directly behind her.
“Everything OK here?” Jay asked, looking at the men, then at Ashley.
Ashley nodded, not wanting to get him involved.
“You her boyfriend or somethin’?” shirtless drunk asked.
“No,” Jay replied, coolly.
“Husband?”
“No.”
“Brother?”
“No.”
The guy laughed, looking at his two friends for encouragement before turning back towards Jay. “Then you got no business here.” He spat on the ground, tucking his thumbs into the front of his belt buckle.
Ashley saw the muscle along Jay’s jaw clench and his hands formed fists.
She intervened, placing her hand on his forearm. “It’s OK, it’s nothing. Let’s go. I’m fine, really.”
He slowly turned his eyes to hers. He nodded once and together they turned to walk away. After a few steps Ashley was sprayed with beer. The shirtless drunk had thrown his can at Jay, hitting him between the shoulder blades, spraying alcohol everywhere before bouncing off onto the ground.
Jay stopped walking and tensed up. Ashley bit her lip, not knowing what to expect. She could see he was furious and trying his hardest to control his anger.
The shirtless guy said something inaudible, but Ashley knew it was offensive and she held her breath, hoping Jay wouldn’t react. She could see he was using every ounce of strength not to turn around and pound them all.
Before she even had time to grasp what was going, on the shirtless guy had run up behind Jay and was poised ready to hit him in the back of his head with his closed fist. Ashley's hand involuntarily shot up to cover her mouth as she watched on in shock. In one swift movement Jay ducked, dodging the blow, rotating 180 degrees on his heel as he came up and brought his right fist up, impacting with a sickening crunch on the shirtless drunks chin. Ashley was stunned at the speed and ability with which Jay moved. If there had been any previous doubt as to the functionality of Jay’s upper body following his war injury, it was dismissed now. The drunk dropped to the ground as though his legs had failed to operate. He lay there moaning, blood beginning to seep out of the side of his mouth. He spat. Saliva mixed with blood pooled onto the ground.
He cursed as his friends ran to his side. “You broke my tooth!”
Jay stood there, breathing heavily, anger burning in his eyes. His fists were still clenched. It was all over before Ashley had had time to comprehend what was happening. Jay looked at Ashley, his face blank and unreadable.
He blinked a few times and looked back at the guy on the ground. He was sitting up now rubbing his jaw.
Ashley frowned as Jay held out his right hand towards the man on the ground. The drunk slapped his hand away but Jay held it out again, not saying a word. The drunk spat out blood again and reached out, accepting Jay’s hand. Jay pulled him to his feet and the two met face to face.
Ashley waited expecting Jay to throttle him again, but he didn’t.
“You don’t ever touch a woman again without her permission,” Jay said.
The man raised his hand to his jaw, moving it from side to side as though testing out it to see if it still worked.
“Got it?” Jay demanded.
“OK, got it,” the man said, holding up his hands in surrender.
“Now apologize.” Jay loomed over the man.
“Man, I—”
“Apologize!”
The drunk man winced as he prepared for another blow.
“All right, all right. I’m sorry!”
Jay nodded once. “I’m sorry about the jaw.”
The man was speechless.
Ashley didn't think anyone understood what was going on, least of all her. With Jay turned and walked towards her.
“Are you all right?” His eyes had softened and they were full of concern.
She nodded, still unable to open her mouth. She didn't know whether to throw her arms around him and thank him, or to be afraid of this strong mountain of a man. He took her hand in his so gently she could hardly believe the comparison between what she had just witnessed and how gentle and caring he could be. Her fears vanished. She felt safe and didn't think anything could possibly harm her. Not while Jay was around.
“Let’s go and get the girls.”