48. Ashley
ASHLEY
W e returned from the grocery store as my family was unloading from Oliver’s van and followed them from the parking lot to the villa.
“You’re joining us for dinner, Fox?” Mom asked in more of an askance question than invitation, tone loaded with reserved judgment.
“Thanks, Whit.” I sent my sister a flat smile since she had clearly been gossiping about us. “Fox is cooking, Mom. Izzy’s coming, too. I’ll text her, tell her we’re back and she should come over whenever she’s ready.”
“Fun,” Whit said, sending an amused glance at Fox.
I pointed a warning finger at her while Fox emptied the groceries onto the counter and said to Oliver, “Ash said I could bum a beer for the barbecue sauce.”
“Waste of cheap beer, if you ask me,” Oliver chided, but handed a can to him before he began pouring wine. “Ashley?”
“Later, maybe. Thanks.” I needed a clear head.
Oliver handed a glass to Mom who promptly set it aside. He poured another for Whitney.
“Mom, I’ve got this,” I said as Mom tried to unpack the cardboard box they’d used as a picnic basket on their outing today. “This kitchen is too small for all of us in here. Sit.” I nodded at the stools on the far side of the breakfast bar. “Enjoy your wine. I need to talk to you about something.”
Mom hesitated, then moved onto the stool across from where Fox was setting out a cutting board. I moved her wine so she could reach it and called Whitney back from heading outside to the patio with her own glass.
I glanced to where Fliss was setting up a video game with Ryan on the sofa. “I want you all to know that I’ve made a decision.”
While Fox and I had meandered grocery aisles, he had coached me not to sugar-coat it. If you don’t sound sure, people think there’s room to change your mind . It was probably the best advice I’d ever received and the hardest to apply, but I was doing it.
“I’m going to Australia with Fox.” Bam. No argument. There it was.
A resounded silence, then Fliss asked, “For how long?”
“For... I don’t know.” So much for sounding sure.
Fox paused in digging through a drawer and came to stand beside me. His warm hand settled in my lower back.
“Australia is where we’re going to start.” He sounded very sure. “Wherever we wind up, it will be together.”
Another silence. Then Whitney said, “So you’re not going with him as a roommate.”
“We’re a couple. Yes.” I slid my arm around Fox’s back, tucking myself against his solid, but relaxed frame. How was he this confident? Didn’t he realize we were starting a fight we would have to finish? Why didn’t he hate this as much as I did?
“So you’re going with this guy instead of the other one,” Whitney waved a dismissing hand at Fox. “She’s using you to get back at Shane. You know that, right?”
“Whitney.” I curled my fist into the fabric of Fox’s T-shirt.
His hand slid to dig reassuringly into my waist. “Ash isn’t like that. You know that as well as I do.”
“Oh? You think you know her as well as I do? I beg to differ, cowboy.” Whit was really working herself up, pointing aggressively at Fox, then at me. “You’re taking advantage of her and no. You are coming home with us.”
“Oof. I think you missed the ‘young lady’ tag on that. No, Whit. If I want to go to Australia, I will go to Australia. I was going anyway. Why are you upset?”
“I’m not upset!” Whitney yelled.
“Clearly.” I could feel myself wanting to climb aboard the reaction train, but I was also genuinely puzzled by how mad she was. This was Mom’s purview. Or the tween with an axe to grind, not the newly engaged woman who finally had her act together.
“Are you going to marry him now?” Whit asked with another wild wave at Fox.
“Maybe. Someday. Right now, Fox has a lot to sort out with Shane and the house. They might end their partnership.” I looked up at Fox. He wore an impassive expression, but he wasn’t completely unaffected by that hard fact. Now tension had crept into him. Defensive, maybe?
We were going to be okay, though. I was sure of it, even if my family wasn’t.
“Right,” Whitney said disparagingly. “So you’re shacking up with a guy who stole you from his best friend, one who is losing his business and his house. You’ll have nothing .”
“I’ll have him . God.”
“Ash and I will be fine,” Fox said in a deep voice brimming with quiet affront. His fingers were biting into my waist. “Better than fine. I look forward to proving it to you.”
“And who’s picking up the pieces when that doesn’t happen?” Whitney charged.
“Why are you being like this?” I cried. “I was happy for you and Oliver. Why can’t you be happy for me?”
“Because you are breaking up the family. Again . And this time it is your fault. This is bullshit. This is fucking bullshit .”
I jerked, taking those words straight to the heart. Like a fucking blade .
My gasp had Fox closing his arms around me protectively while Whitney shot into the bedroom and slammed the door.
Into the profound silence, Fliss said, “It’s okay. My mom is just upset. I think she got too much sun today.”
We all looked over to see her hugging Ryan, glaring at all of us while Ryan’s lip quivered.
“She’ll put money in the swear jar later.” Fliss rubbed the boy’s back.
“I’ll go see about collecting it.” Oliver set down his beer. “It’s okay, son.” He gave Ryan a reassuring pat on his way into the bedroom.
Fliss gave Ryan another hug, then stood and held out her hand. “I bet you we can talk Grandma into letting us have ice cream before dinner.”
“Take my wallet from my purse,” Mom said.
Fliss did, and kept Ryan’s hand as they walked out.
“Hey,” Fox said, loosening his arms then giving me another gentle squeeze.
I blinked wet lashes, trying to shake off my shock. My profound hurt.
“This is not your fault, Ash.” Fox pressed a kiss to my temple, so tender it caused a fresh fracture across the break that Whitney had put in my sternum. “You’re living your life. How people react is not something you can control.”
I nodded and hugged myself into him, pushing my wet eyes against his T-shirt, but I didn’t really believe him. Not after Whitney had said that .
“Pass me your sister’s wine?” Mom set aside the glass she had just drained.
Fox released me and reached for Whitney’s, handing it over while I swallowed and ran fingers under my eyes, trying to sniff back tears I refused to shed.
Mom looked thoughtfully at Fox. “He’s right. You can’t control how others people react or behave. I’ve tried. The swear jar barely works.” Her gaze hit mine, dry and grave. “You did not break up our family, Ashley. I had to make choices based on your father’s behavior. His behavior. That was on him and we recovered.”
This wasn’t something we talked about often, but Mom had said something like this to me in the past. I appreciated hearing it again, but I was still hurt and angry with Whit.
This time it is your fault . She didn’t blame me for the past, but she was sure as hell blaming me now.
I looked at the bedroom door, torn between walking in there to tell her to fuck herself or walking out altogether.
“What are you making us, Fox?” Mom asked.
“Besides a hasty getaway?” I muttered.
He snorted. “I’m still here.” He set out a bowl and found a knife.
We’ll get through this , he seemed to be saying. We can get through anything .
Tears came back into my eyes.
“Barbecued ribs,” he told Mom. “I’m cheating with the sauce. I usually make it from scratch. When I’m being fancy, I use dark beer. This’ll do, though.” He had a bottle of prepared barbecue sauce, but was setting out fresh garlic and chopped parsley. “How were the turtles?”
“Bigger than I expected,” Mom said. “They didn’t move much, but one made its way into the water. We found a table in the shade where we could see them as we ate. Oh,” she recalled. “Ryan found me a treasure while we were beach combing.”
She dug into the pocket of her shirt and withdrew a square gold charm. It was engraved with the words ‘Great-grandma.’
“He wanted me to have it because I’m a grandma and he thinks I’m great.” She was both amused and affronted at the idea she was being called a great-grandmother.
“It’s biologically possible,” I reminded her. “Do you think Whit will have a baby with Oliver? Oooh, maybe she and Fliss can do that together.”
“Bite your tongue,” Mom ordered into her wine glass.
“Ruthless,” Fox said with a chuckle and a shake of his head.
“You’re originally from Seattle, aren’t you, Fox?” Mom asked. “Do you ever think of moving back there?”
Oh, Mom. Be more obvious .
He glanced up from chopping the ribs into sections and dropping them into the bowl of sauce. “Seattle is a great place to visit, but no, I don’t think I’d ever move back there. I’ve considered California a few times. Shane and I have discussed how and where to expand the business. We’ve talked about here, too. Those are long term goals, though. We’ve been concentrating on growing within Australia.”
“And now...?” Mom probed. “Are you liable to lose your stake in the business?”
“Mom.”
“It’s okay,” Fox assured me. “There are provisions in our partnership agreement on how to buy one another out if we decide we can’t work together. It will be expensive and messy, but I’ll come away with something. Enough for Ash and I to start fresh. What did you say the other day?” He glanced at me. “Something about viewing disaster as an opportunity to make choices that might not otherwise be available?”
“I doubt I was that eloquent, but sure, I’ll take credit.” I started washing vegetables for the salad.
“You can’t work in the U.S.,” Mom said to me, brows pulled with introspection. “You’re better off in Australia where you have a visa now, so you can both work. Australia has universal health care, too. Sandy was telling me about their system. Honestly, I think our government could learn a few things,” she added with a sigh.
“Mom’s a nurse,” I reminded Fox.
“Will you have to marry to put Ash on your plan?” she asked Fox.
“Mom. Put away your shotgun. You don’t even want me to get married. Ever,” I reminded.
“I never said ‘never.’ I’m just asking how it works.”
Fox glanced up from starting to peel potatoes, mouth twitching with amusement.
“Truth is, there might be some hiccups with Ash’s visa if she won’t be working for T&B since the company sponsored her. If that happens, we’ll reassess, but after she started running our social media, I had a few people ask me who we were using. We were cagey because she was trading work for rent, but there are definitely opportunities for her to do more of that.”
“Medi Wear would hire you remotely, wouldn’t they?” Mom said, perking up. “They offered that when you put in your notice.”
“Mom. Your rotors are showing.” It was something Fliss said when Whit was being a helicopter mom.
“I just want to know you’ll be all right,” she said pithily. “And I’ll say this once so it’s out there. You can always come home if you run into trouble getting on your feet. With Fox, unless he’s the source of the trouble.”
“ Mom .” But I was laughing now.
Fox caught my wrist in a signal to let him speak.
“I promise I won’t be, but thank you, Joanna,” he said sincerely. “I don’t think it will take us long to find our groove. You raised a bright woman capable of making good decisions and I make pretty good ones myself. Eventually.” He winked at me. “I’ll be doing everything I can to make sure we’re secure, but it means the world to me that you’d open your home to us if we were in a bind.”
“I just wish it wasn’t so far away.”
“I was already planning to visit my family in Seattle this Christmas. The dates aren’t firm, but we’ll add a leg to come see you.”
“Oh, that’s too soon. Too expensive if you’ll be starting new jobs.”
“Shane and I fly a lot. I have a ton of points,” Fox said.
“Even so, Seattle to Winnipeg is farther than people realize. Perhaps we could meet you in Seattle.”
“Or California,” I suggested. “Fliss would love that. So would Ryan.” Whit could stay the fuck home. I wasn’t going to forgive her soon.
Oliver came out of the bedroom as the potatoes were starting to boil. He looked for his son on the empty couch.
“They went for ice cream,” I said.
He gave a philosophical shrug. “Need any help with dinner?”
“I was about to start the barbecue,” Fox said, taking the bowl of sauce-coated ribs outside.
“Let me grab my beer. I’ll join you.” Oliver looked for the can I’d put back in the fridge.
I dried my hands on a tea towel and eyed the bedroom door, trying to figure out what I’d say.
“Maybe give her a minute?” Oliver winced as he saw where I was looking. “She’s still upset. Embarrassed. Worried about how Fliss is taking this.” He waved at himself. “She took it out on the wrong person.”
I nodded and Oliver walked outside, then I looked at Mom.
“Should I go talk to her?” I asked.
“I will.” Mom stood, but there was a knock on the main door.
“Izzy,” I said, starting to dry my hands again.
“I’ll let her in. I like him, by the way.” Mom nodded toward the windows where we could see the backward baseball cap on Fox’s head. “Which isn’t to say I won’t cut off his nuts and make it look like an accident if he hurts you again.”
“I’ll let him know,” I said dryly, then impulsively gave her a hug. “Thanks.”
“For?”
“Understanding. Not being mad. Loving me anyway.”
“Always.” She hugged me back, then went to open the door for Izzy.