Chapter 10 Ash
ASH
Later that day, Ash stood in the driveway of Lawrence Farm, holding Maya’s hand.
They’d had an incredible early morning at the park with Allie, and a wonderful afternoon, too.
All day long, Maya had been talking about going to Miss Lawrence’s house for a big family dinner. She let slip all kinds of things Allie had shared with her students about her brothers and parents and the farm, and Ash had filed away each detail to think about later.
But now that they were finally here, Maya had gotten out of the truck and then stopped in her tracks.
“What’s the hold-up?” he asked lightly.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly.
“You don’t have to be sorry,” he told her, crouching down so that she could look right into his eyes. “It can be scary to meet new people.”
Maya just looked down at the ground.
“I’m a little nervous too,” Ash heard himself admit.
Maya’s eyes flashed up to his again.
“I really like Miss Lawrence,” he explained. “And I want her family to like me too.”
“Yes,” Maya said in a surprised way. “Me too, Daddy.”
“Well, I know they’re going to love you,” Ash told her. “Do you know why?”
Maya shook her head, but her eyes were alive with interest.
“First of all because you’re awesome,” he told her. “And second of all because Miss Lawrence told me that you remind her of her when she was little. And we know they already love her, so they’ll definitely love you too.”
“She said that?” Maya asked.
Ash nodded, keeping his eyes on hers so she would know he was serious.
“That’s nice,” Maya said, nodding.
“And if you need to take a break from indoor behavior, you just let me know,” Ash told her. “We can come back out here and have a race in the driveway.”
Her relieved smile hurt his heart.
Why should it be such a bad thing that she needs to stretch her legs once in a while?
“I’m ready now,” Maya said.
“Should we race to the front door?” he asked her.
“No,” she said. “Because they’re watching.”
He looked up and sure enough, a middle-aged couple was standing on the porch now, smiling at them.
“Wow,” he said. “Let’s go.”
As they walked calmly toward the stone farmhouse, the front door opened again and Allie appeared.
The next thing he knew, Maya was flying up the drive to get to her, all her thoughts of a dignified walk apparently forgotten.
Ash chuckled to himself and jogged to catch up.
“I’m so glad to see you,” Allie was telling Maya as Ash reached the porch. “It’s been so long.”
“You saw me this morning,” Maya said, laughing like it was the best joke she’d ever heard.
Allie bent to hug Maya close, and then pulled back and turned to her parents.
“Maya, this is my mom and dad,” she said.
“Hi, Mr. Lawrence,” Maya said politely, just like she had practiced with her dad at home. “Hi, Mrs. Lawrence. Nice to meet you.”
“It’s so lovely to meet you too, Maya,” Allie’s mom said. Her blue eyes were so much like Allie’s, right down to the twinkle in them. “And you must be Ash.”
“It’s very nice to meet you, ma’am,” he said, extending his hand.
She hugged him instead, and he was pretty sure he’d never received a more reassuring embrace.
“I’m Maggie,” she told him as she pulled back. “And this is Daniel, Allie’s father.”
“Good to meet you, sir,” Ash said, shaking hands with Allie’s dad, who clasped his arm and smiled hard at him, like the two of them had an inside joke.
“A man with a strong grip,” Allie’s dad declared approvingly. “Come on in. It’s cold out here.”
Allie gave him an encouraging smile and took Maya by the hand.
Ash followed them inside and closed the door behind him.
“Shoes,” voices near the back of the house yelled out.
“We normally take our shoes off at the door,” Maggie Lawrence explained. “Since most of us spend at least part of our day getting our boots very messy on the farm.”
“My brother Tripp never remembers,” Allie added. “So we’re all in the habit of yelling out a little reminder whenever someone opens the front door.”
Ash was proud to see that Maya was already industriously removing her boots. He kicked his off as well and placed them on one of the trays in the front hall.
They followed the Lawrences down the hall, past a cozy living room with a big Christmas tree and a fireplace, and through a formal dining room to a great big kitchen that stretched across the whole back of the house.
It smelled incredible, like wonderful things were cooking. There was already a couple sitting at the long wooden table, and the brother he’d seen march Allie away at the school yesterday stood by the stove.
“Tripp Lawrence, keep away from that food,” Maggie scolded fondly.
“Ashwin Tailor,” Tripp said, ignoring his mother and fixing Ash with a suspicious stare.
No one called Ash by his full name.
“Hi,” Ash said casually, heading over to shake his hand.
It hit Ash that Tripp had been right there last night. He probably knew the whole thing was fake. If that was the case, he was going to be a tough one to win over.
Tripp shook his hand a little too hard, but didn’t say a word, which Ash figured was as good an interaction as he could have hoped for.
“Hi, I’m Charlotte, and this is Tag,” the lady at the table said, indicating the man next to her. “The little one is Alonso, and his big brother is Chance.”
Ash looked over to see a toddler sitting at a little chair and table by the far window, playing with blocks with an older child.
“Hey,” the boy said. “My sister, Olivia is out in the barn with the calves.”
“That’s a part of your leg, but it also means baby cows,” Maya said excitedly. “Baby cows.”
“Would you like to see them?” Chance asked her.
“Yes,” Maya said.
“Only if it’s okay with your dad,” Chance said, looking to Ash.
“Will you be careful, and do exactly what the big kids tell you?” Ash asked Maya.
“Yes, Daddy,” she said, her eyes so serious.
“And if you miss me, Chance will bring you right back, right?” he asked.
“I will,” Chance said importantly.
“Thank you,” Ash told the boy. “Have fun, you two.”
“Chance,” the toddler yelled.
“Can I play with you, Alonso?” Allie asked, hurrying over to the little table.
The little one chuckled and pushed some blocks toward her on the table.
“Sorry,” Charlotte said with a smile. “He loves his Aunt Allie.”
“No worries,” Ash said. “I know I can’t compete with a face like that. How old is he?”
Charlotte beamed and told him all about the kids she and Tag shared, and Ash seated himself opposite the two of them.
Charlotte spoke so much, and her husband was so silent, that at first Ash was afraid maybe he was in even more trouble with this brother than the other one.
But when Ash asked about the farm, Tag perked up and began regaling him with details about the animals, the weather, and of course the ice cream shop that Charlotte had put back on the map.
Little Alonso eventually wandered back to his mama and crawled into her lap, and Allie came to sit at the table beside Ash.
All he wanted was to hold her hand again, and the way she set her hand on the table was almost like an invitation.
But if he wanted to make her fall for him for real, he had to make her realize she wanted him. And that meant making them both wait.
“Allie,” Tripp said softly, walking over to her side but not sitting. “Walk with me?”
But at just that moment, another of her brothers came in along with his wife, Becca, and their twin boys. Ash had met Becca and the boys yesterday, but not Zane, so Allie made introductions and Tripp went down and sat at the foot of the table instead, frowning to himself.
Maya ran inside a moment later, followed immediately by Chance and a young woman who introduced herself as Olivia.
“That makes you Tag and Charlotte’s daughter, and Chance and Alonso’s big sister, right?” Ash asked.
“Wow, you’re good,” Olivia said, as the others clapped lightly.
But Tripp kept his eyes on the window, though what he was looking at out there Ash couldn’t imagine. The view was nothing but snowy fields all the way to the mountains.
“Are we too late?” someone called from the front door.
“Shoes,” the rest of the family called back.
“Oh, that’s my brother West and his daughter Elizabeth, along with his wife Dulcie and her little sister, Delphine,” Allie said to Ash.
“Got it,” he said, hoping that he really did. He was usually good with names, but Allie sure had a big family.
In Ash’s own life, he always liked to fit the puzzle pieces neatly together. The company had kept him so busy that organization was key if he wanted any peace.
He expected to be a little off-balance today. But somehow, this big, noisy, chaotic family had him feeling more at peace than he had for a long time.
“I saw baby cows,” Maya said, bouncing over to him. “And we fed one of them with a bottle."
“Oh, that was so kind of you,” Maggie said, coming over to hand Maya a small mug of hot cocoa. “And now I won’t have to stop and bottle-feed Minnow during dinner.”
“His name is Minnow, Daddy,” Maya said, her eyes wide with wonder. “Because he was so small.”
“That’s amazing, Maya,” Ash told her. “Was it nice to feed him?”
“Yes,” she said firmly. “He eats fast.”
“You ate fast too when you were a baby,” he told her, chuckling.
But she was already following Chance over to the little table to see what cool thing he would do next.
“She fits right in here, doesn’t she?” Allie asked, her eyes on Maya and a sweet smile on her lips.
“She does,” Ash agreed.
Allie was right, Maya was really happy here. This was the type of day she could never have had in the city, and the Lawrences seemed to be the kind of people who knew just how to keep a child busy and content, and not worry too much about loud, happy voices or too many comings and goings.
“It’s a wonderful place to grow up,” Allie said, as if she had heard his thoughts.
His hand moved to hers and squeezed before he could stop himself.