Chapter Thirteen Ashley #3
“Yeah, it’s the right time for them.” She straightens herself up and stands a little taller before shooing me out of the kitchen to set the table.
Chase comes through the front door with his hair still wet from his shower after our long day out in the vines weeding and making sure they’re looking healthy.
I hear a vehicle approaching and Chase calls out, “Are we expecting anyone?”
“Just Doc. I ran out of sugar and asked her to pick me up some on her way home, save me driving into town,” she answers him nonchalantly.
“What?” When I walk back into the kitchen, she’s taking the vegetables out of the oven, and I place my hand on the lid of the sugar bowl. “There was plenty of sugar when I made you a cup of tea this afternoon.”
“Oops, silly me, I spilled it all over the floor earlier.” But I’m not buying her story as she looks at me with a sheepish grin.
“What about the spare bag or two in the pantry?” Gran could almost be called a doomsdayer with the way she hoards food. We could easily live here for a month or two and never have to leave the property.
“Yes, dropped that too. Must be getting clumsy in my old age. Maybe I’m getting arthritis in my hands.” She continues prepping the dinner while she talks. There is no way this woman has arthritis; not with the way she crochets at speed.
“Gran, you can’t have Ash delivering groceries. She’s busy enough saving the animals of the world. I could’ve done it for you.”
She just shrugs her right shoulder while draining the potatoes.
I want to call her out on all this bullshit, but I can hear Ash’s car come to a halt and the engine turn off, so I head to the front door instead.
“Hey, are you back already?” Ash smiles as she walks up the steps toward me.
“Hi.” I lean forward and give her a quick kiss on the cheek, even though I want to give her way more than that. “Back from where?”
“Betty told me you and Chase were out hiking so she was having dinner on her own and that she ran out of sugar for her cup of tea. I was just about to leave the clinic anyway, so it was no trouble.”
And this is another reason Ashley makes my world a better place. The way she looks out for Gran has nothing to do with being with me. She would’ve been doing it whether I was here or not.
Before I can say a word, the screen door hits me in the back, and Gran pushes me out of the way.
“Ashley, dear, thank you so much.” Gran takes the bag of sugar out of her hand. “So very sweet of you. We’re just about to have dinner and there is plenty, so come, come. Chase, set another place at the table,” she yells as she links arms with Ash and drags her inside.
I’m left holding the door open while Ash looks back at me, wondering what the hell is going on, and all I can do is chuckle as I follow.
Gran leaves Ash standing in front of Chase and then rushes back into the kitchen to finish mashing the potatoes.
“Chase, this is Ashley Alleyne, Gran’s neighbor and the town vet.” Pulling Ash to my side and wrapping my arm around her waist, I lean in closer to Chase. “And my girlfriend, but if you don’t want me to hurt you, best you keep that from Gran for the time being.”
Chase knows what’s going on, but Ash asked for no fuss, so I wasn’t planning on telling Gran just yet anyway. It will be fun to string her along for a little while, teach her a lesson for her meddling matchmaking. I kiss the top of her head as Chase starts laughing at us.
“Nice to meet you, Ashley. I’ve heard all about you. Now get your grubby hands off her, Jake, so I can welcome her to the family.”
He pushes my shoulder and gives Ash a hug, just because he knows how much it will piss me off.
“Right, you have had one hug, but don’t think you will be allowed near her again. I don’t trust you, cuz.” I place my arm around her shoulder, feeling very territorial even though we are family. I really need to get this jealousy under control.
“Well, I’m almost afraid to ask what he has told you about me, but whatever it was, I’m sure it’s all story and there’s no truth to it.” Ash lightly smacks me on the stomach which has us all cracking up.
“Well, apparently you’re staying for dinner.” Chase looks at Ash and then leans in closer, whispering to us both, “So, I would run while you still have a chance.” He winks at her before disappearing to grab another set of cutlery and a glass.
“You know I wasn’t hiking, right?” I say, turning her to me. “I’m sorry about this. She means well.”
“I was starting to work that out. It’s fine, but you know if you told her about us, then she wouldn’t be trying so hard with her matchmaking.”
“No, it serves her right to be kept in the dark. I want to string her along a little first as punishment for her meddling.” I know that I won’t last longer than tonight’s dinner before I put Gran out of her misery, but I at least deserve a little fun.
Ash slips her fingers into the front pockets of my jeans and pulls me close. “You didn’t need her help; your irresistible grouchy personality hooked me from the beginning,” she teases.
“And now who’s making up stories, hmm?” Tapping her on the nose, we separate as we hear Gran approach.
“Sit, sit.” Gran is carrying two mountain-sized plates of food.
While I’m pulling out the chair for Ash to sit next to me, Gran places the plates in front of us both while Chase stands behind her with the other two plates.
“Jeez, Gran, I hope you aren’t expecting Ashley to eat all that. Damn, even I’m going to struggle.” And I eat a lot.
“Oh, shush, you. Doc works just as hard as you do—she needs a hearty dinner. Now eat. Start with the meatballs, Doc, they were Noel’s favorite.”
Chase smirks across the table at me for being scolded by Gran.
The conversation is kept minimal as we eat. We were all hungry, and there’s no disputing what an amazing cook Gran is, so everything tastes delicious.
“You know, Jake, now that Chase is here, you could help Doc with the renovations over at her place. She’s barely had time to sleep lately, but with that new vet, she’ll have more time to spend at home getting things fixed up.
You would both make a good team.” Gran sits up in her chair at the head of the table, looking at us both.
“Oh no, I’m fine. Jake already did so much with the fence. I’ll get there eventually. All good things come to those who wait.” Ash looks down at her plate and pushes around a few of the meatballs with her fork.
I know that time is not Ash’s only obstacle; it takes money to renovate. And even if I spent all my time over there, she’ll still need to buy materials.
“Gran, with all the work you want done here, I’m going to be fairly busy myself. It’s not like Chase knows anything about construction. I’ve got major works to start this week, if the council gives us the approval they promised after you went in and bullied them about it.”
“I didn’t bully anyone, young man. I just went in and told them to start doing their job, otherwise I would be bringing my friend Mayor Johnson in next time to see what was holding them up.
And then I dropped some of the mayor’s favorite cupcakes to his office, which he loved, of course.
” She crosses her arms over her chest, like she’s defending herself from my accusation.
“Gran, if that’s not bullying, it’s certainly bribery,” Chase says, teasing Gran. “You know that no one can resist your cupcakes. Poor Mayor Johnson will end up with diabetes at the amount of sugar you keep delivering. He’ll think you have a thing for him.”
Gran shoots Chase a glare. “Mayor Johnson thinks nothing of the sort. I’m a married woman.
Why would I even be looking at him like that?
” Her sentence catches us all off guard, and a silence falls over the table because we all know that’s not technically true anymore.
“Anyway, it worked. Everything is now approved, and we will be starting next week. It doesn’t matter how I got it done, just that I did. ”
“Well, that’s good news about the plans.” Ash speaks up with a sweetness she always shows Gran. “And Jake and I have some news for you as well. We’re together now, so you can rest easy and stop trying to push us into the same place all the time. We get that you think we would make a good couple.”
Gran almost jumps out of her seat with excitement.
“I knew the love meatballs would do it. Because you two were taking your sweet time. Someone needed to give you a little nudge.”
And I can’t help but laugh at Gran thinking it was all her meddling that got Ashley and me together.
“I’m not sure a sledgehammer is what you would call a little nudge, Gran.
It’s not like you’ve been subtle with your little schemes.
But we love you anyway. Now what’s for dessert?
Because I know you’ll have something out in the kitchen, even though you were ‘out of sugar.’” I raise my fingers and make air quotes, because we all knew how untrue it was.
“It sounds like you need to put these boys to work, Betty, so they aren’t just here for a holiday and to give you cheek.
” Ash reaches out and takes Gran’s hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze to let her know she doesn’t care about all her little games, and that she’ll protect her from her grandsons.
Little does Ash know that Gran has no problem handling us on her own, and she has since the day we were born.
I’ll be thanking Ash later for changing the subject so easily for Gran.
We all need to live in our grief, but by having family and friends around us, it makes the journey a little easier.
Ash just helped Gran come through that hard moment.
“Umm, do we get a say in this hard work you’re talking about?” Chase mocks annoyance at Ash.
“Nope, not at all. It’s why you are here, isn’t it?” Looking proud of herself, Ash reaches over to rest her hand on top of mine, and it feels amazing.
“Oh, you are going to fit into this family just nicely, Doc, not that I ever doubted it.” Gran gets up from the table to get the dessert, chuckling to herself as she heads to the kitchen.
“Thanks, Betty, but you might regret that statement down the track.” Ash is only joking, but I don’t like the way it feels like a barb in my heart.
“Never,” I growl at her, but she’s ignoring me.
“Now, Chase, surely you have some embarrassing stories about Jake that you can share with me. I already know he can’t sing in tune. What else is he bad at?” Ash changes the subject and turns to Chase, who’s sitting across the table from us with a devilish look in his eyes.
“Don’t you dare, or karma will come back and bite you on the butt one day.” I’m pointing my finger at him and Chase knows what I really want to say is, “Karma’s a bitch, buddy,” but we’re in Gran’s house, so I can’t. And I know full well that no matter what I say, nothing will stop him anyway.
“Well, there was this one time . . .” Chase relaxes back into his chair, and I know this is going to get ugly real quick.
“Here we go.” I roll my eyes at him and get ready for the onslaught.