Starcrossed Colorado (Hart County #1)

25. Emma

TWENTY-FIVE

Emma

“Don’t put your feet on the dash,” Ashford grumped at me. “It’s dangerous if we get in an accident.”

“You’re such a dad.” Smiling, I took my socked feet down.

“Daddy? Can I put my head out the window like Stella?”

I turned to look in the backseat of Ashford’s truck. Stella had her paws on the door, tongue and ears blowing in the wind from the half-open window.

“Not a good idea on the highway, monkey. But maybe in the parking lot of the campsite. When we get there.”

“But she’s having so much fun,” Maisie said, kicking her legs in her booster seat.

Ashford heaved a sigh. “All right. You can stick your hand out. But that’s it.”

“Softie,” I whispered.

Shaking his head, Ashford buzzed Maisie’s window down, filling the cabin with a rush of air that had my dark locks swirling around my head. I laughed, pulling my hair into a knot, then turned up the radio.

“Oh! Our road-trip playlist.” Bending to search through my bag at my feet, I found my phone and cued it up.

“You made a playlist?” he asked.

“Of course we did. Maisie and I.”

I was so ready for this trip. It was the first Friday of August, the sun shone down from a crystal-clear blue sky, and we had about five days of camping, breathtaking scenery, and open road to look forward to. We planned to camp for three nights and then meet up with Grace for a final night at a hot spring.

“I love this song!” Maisie shouted when a new one came on. “Daddy, we all have to sing. You too.”

“Not happening.”

“ Please ?”

“I don’t know any of these songs.”

“What music do you like?” I asked.

He shrugged, being all mysterious.

After that reporter had left town, we’d been on pins and needles for days wondering when the next might arrive. But no one had. Then the news broke that Ayla had resurfaced. She’d checked herself into a rehabilitation facility in New England for exhaustion. A media frenzy followed her there.

Ayla hadn’t returned Ashford’s call. I knew almost nothing about her, and I wished her well. I couldn’t imagine the pressure that her level of fame would put her under. But I was glad that the focus was off of Ashford and Maisie. At least for now.

As far as what would happen after we returned to Silver Ridge, what the last few weeks of the summer would bring, my plans for the fall…

Nope. Not thinking about any of that. Thinking about the future was off limits this week.

But I had made it my mission to discover what kind of music Ashford liked. Whenever I asked him about different genres, whether it was alternative or country or classic rock, he claimed to have no opinion. But I refused to believe that somebody had no opinion on music.

I turned and winked at Maisie. “We put a lot of different songs on this playlist. I bet we’ll have your dad singing along by the end of this trip.”

A few hours later, we pulled into the campsite. It was a perfect spot, surrounded by tall pine trees with craggy mountains looking down on us. The nearest other campsite was barely within view. Maisie and Stella had already run off to explore.

“How long ago did you book this?” I asked.

Ashford laughed as he unloaded gear from his truck bed. “After Maisie and I took our camping trip last year. Best bang for your vacation bucks, and spots book up fast.”

“It’s gorgeous.”

He hefted the bag with the tent on his shoulder, stopping to kiss me. “Even more gorgeous with you here. I’ll have to book it again for next year.”

His smile faltered, like he’d just realized what he’d said. Next year .

“You should,” I said quickly. “Maisie clearly loves it.” But I wouldn’t be there.

We set up the campsite, then hiked a nearby trail that took us up to a waterfall. Ashford didn’t let Maisie get too close, but she was able to splash a little with Stella right beside the bank. Then it was back to the camp, where we started a fire.

“Everything okay?” I asked. I’d noticed Ashford checking his phone.

“Just seeing if there’s reception. No service.”

I pulled out my phone and found it was the same. “That’s good though, right? No news is good news.”

He huffed a laugh. “That’s my motto lately.”

Around sunset, and after a dinner of campfire-grilled steak tacos, Maisie begged for s’mores. I grabbed my guitar. Because how could we have a proper campout with no music?

I started with the opening strains of “Dust in the Wind.”

Ashford chuckled. “I know what you’re doing.”

“What, Daddy?” Maisie was sitting in his lap. She looked up at him while she licked her sticky, marshmallow-covered fingers.

“Emma’s trying to get me to sing along to something.”

“I’m not giving up. I will find out what you like.”

I strummed and sang the words of “Dust in the Wind,” quickly losing myself in the lyrics and the melody and wishing I could play the solo on my violin, but I’d only brought my acoustic Yamaha. That song became another. And another. Until the campsite was dark around us, and embers from the campfire rose up toward the starry sky.

Then I started “Let it Be,” and Maisie said, “Daddy loves this one!”

I gasped. Ashford laughed softly. “Got me. See, I’m not that interesting.”

“I disagree. The Beatles are timeless.” I played my heart out, singing along, but nearly lost my place when Ashford started singing along. He shrugged at me and kept going. As if this wasn’t a minor miracle.

He had an amazing voice, too. Smooth and deep.

I played every Beatles song I could think of. When I stopped, Maisie was sound asleep in Ashford’s lap, and the fire had burned down.

“You have a great voice,” I said quietly. “Why don’t you ever sing?”

In the couple of months I’d known him, tonight was the first time I’d ever heard him. He was better than me. I had a serviceable voice, enough to get a song across. But Ashford had that extra special quality to his tone. Something rare and beautiful.

“I used to. Sang to Maisie when she was a baby. Lori could not carry a tune.” His teeth flashed in the dark as he smiled. “I guess I forgot how good it could feel. Letting go like that.”

I set my guitar carefully aside and moved closer to them. Ashford wrapped an arm around me while cradling his sleeping daughter. And suddenly, it felt like my chest was ready to break open with all I was feeling. Tears stung my eyes.

I told myself it was the smoke from the campfire.

“I’m glad you could do this with us,” he whispered.

“Me too.”

“Do you… Is everything settled for your new school? Does it start this month?”

What are you really asking me ? I wanted to say.

“The semester starts at the beginning of September. I’ll have to be there by the end of the month. Unless…”

“Unless?”

Unless you ask me to stay .

I was shocked when that thought surfaced in my head. It was one thing to consider sticking around Silver Ridge if I hadn’t gotten into a new program. But turning down an offer to transfer? Giving up my master’s? To do what?

I loved teaching music to the kids of Silver Ridge. And I loved a lot of other things about my life in Colorado. But my lease with Dixie ended soon. I didn’t have my own place here. Ashford didn’t want to share his space with me forever.

“Unless I don’t get off the waitlist,” I finally said.

“You will. They’d be idiots not to want you.”

I stared into the remains of the fire, no longer sure what I wanted.

“Aunt Grace is here!”

Before Ashford could stop her, Maisie dashed across the parking lot. Thankfully there were no cars moving anywhere near us. Grace had just gotten out of her sedan, and she knelt down, opening her arms for Maisie to run into them. The girl knocked Grace’s glasses askew and nearly sent the both of them sprawling on the concrete.

“I swear, I’ve taught her better than that,” Ashford said through clenched teeth.

“You’ve been blessed with a courageous kid.”

“Or maybe cursed.”

Grabbing our bags from the truck, we walked over to meet them. Grace hugged her brother, then opened her arms to me. “Warning you, I smell bad,” I said. “Haven’t showered in days.”

“I’m sure I’ve smelled worse. Oh. Wow, that is intense.”

We both laughed.

For the last three days, Maisie, Ashford, and I hiked, sang, and stargazed to our hearts’ content. Now we’d arrived at a hotel next to a public hot spring. All three of us could use a shower. Make that four, because Stella needed a more thorough bath than she’d gotten in the creek.

It had been idyllic, though. Spending every waking moment with them. Laughing at Maisie’s jokes and Ashford’s dry humor. Nestling in our sleeping bags in the tent with Maisie’s in between us. And no internet access.

Of course, I saw Ashford scanning his phone the first chance he got during check-in.

I leaned in. “All good?”

He nodded, tucking his phone away. “No news.”

“I’ve been keeping an eye on the tabloids and gossip sites,” Grace chimed in. Maisie and Stella were over by the hotel lobby’s aquarium, watching fish swim around. “Everything on Ayla has gone quiet since she checked into the rehab facility.”

“I hope she’s okay,” I said.

Ashford scowled. “I hope she stays on the other side of the country. And forgets my number.”

The clerk at the reception desk finished with our check-in and handed us key cards for two rooms.

I nudged Grace. “Guess it’s you and me, roomie.” I assumed Ashford and his daughter would take the other.

“Oh, I’ll stay with Maisie.”

“You don’t mind?” Ashford asked.

“Please, like that wasn’t your plan all along, big brother. A romantic hotel stay. Just keep it down, okay?”

“I would say something obnoxious, Gracie, but I don’t want you to change your mind.”

“I accept payment in Swiss chocolate. And French cheese.”

Ashford grinned. “If they have any of those things at the pool, I’ll buy it for you.”

Sadly, we didn’t have time for any hanky-panky right away, even though it had been days since Ashford and I had been truly alone together. We took lightning-fast showers, then got our swimsuits on to head over to the hot spring.

While Ashford took Maisie into the pool, Grace and I went for the hot tub. “That is gooood,” I said as I sank into the water. After chasing around a six-year-old in the woods for three days, plus a man in insanely fit shape, it felt amazing to unwind.

“So good,” Grace agreed. “Maybe better than an orgasm. Not that I have many prospects there. Unlike some people.”

I didn’t know whether to laugh or apologize. But at least she was loosening up around me. She’d left her glasses off and tied her auburn hair into a twist. Grace could’ve been a model if she’d wanted to. Her bone structure was incredible, yet she’d chosen a style of glasses that hid her face as much as possible.

Made me wonder what other parts of herself she was hiding. Maybe she had more in common with her brother than just her sharp cheekbones.

“It’s sweet of you to room with Maisie,” I said. “I’m sure that’s not why Ashford invited you.”

“Then my brother is more devious than you realize. But it’s fine. I love that girl. I’ve been missing her while you guys were gone.” She ruffled her hands through the water. “I had to turn down Elias for a date, though. Second time he’s asked me out. He’s persistent.”

“Yeah? You haven’t said yes?”

She side-eyed me. “Ashford hasn’t mentioned it to you?”

“No.”

“Well.” Grace turned on the bench so she was facing me. “Elias and I have been friends forever. We work together too. I do freelance accounting, and I handle his books for Flamethrower. Don’t you think it would complicate things? If I cross that line with him?”

I couldn’t believe it. Grace was asking me for advice. “It could complicate things. But it could also be amazing. Since you’ve been friends with him so long, you know what kind of man he is. You know what you’re getting into.”

“You sound like Piper, with her lectures about marrying the wrong guy and getting a nasty surprise.”

I barked a laugh. “Piper came by that opinion honestly. I don’t blame her for it.”

“You haven’t known my brother that long.”

Her words could’ve been harsh, but she’d said them gently.

“I feel like I know Ashford.” I glanced at the pool, where Maisie was screaming with joy as Ashford tossed her around. All his sexy muscles were on display, wet and golden in the sun, but it was his smile that really drew me. The adoration he showed to his daughter. The kindness and attention he showed to me.

“I really like him,” I whispered.

“What are you going to do about that?”

When I looked back at Grace, her dark eyes were sympathetic.

“I wish I knew.”