CHAPTER TWO #3
“I was driving to Cedar Falls from the airport. After a day full of traveling delays, I thought a beer was in order. I saw the sign for Hank’s, the busy parking lot in front of it, and . . . here I am.”
I cross my arms and huff at his response. He smiles.
“I didn’t mean in Hank’s, and you know it. Stop mocking me and answer the question.”
“You always were bossy,” he murmurs, showing me he does remember me. The old me, anyway. “That big resort that the whole town is up in arms over?” He raises his hand. “That would be mine.”
Realization slams into me. “You’re S.I.N.?”
“Guilty as charged.” He glances around as if he’s waiting to encounter animosity if anyone overhears him. “Sharpe International Network, otherwise known as S.I.N.”
Talk about being blindsided. I knew his father was big in the hospitality industry and ridiculously wealthy. That was clear by where they stayed, by the outrageously expensive everything Ledger and his brothers had, and by the cars they drove while here. But I had no idea S.I.N. was that company.
“How did I not know this?”
He shrugs. “We rebranded a while back and since we’ve added on so many international properties in the past ten years, we became S.I.N.”
“We?”
“Yes. We.” The grief in his eyes is fleeting, but I catch it nonetheless. “My father died two years ago.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” My words are a polite reflex for a man vilified in my memories.
He nods in acknowledgment. “My brothers and I run the company now.”
“For the company’s sake, let’s hope you don’t bicker as much as you used to.”
“At times.”
I laugh. It’s the first time I have, and somehow it eases the heaviness between us. “So you’re here in Cedar Falls to do what exactly with the hotel? Calm the mob over its mere existence?”
“Something like that. Mayor Grossman deems it necessary that I stay here for the next two months to be at his beck and call or else he’ll withhold our occupancy permits and prevent us from opening.”
“I could lie and say that surprises me . . . but sadly, it doesn’t. He’s a greedy man who thinks more of himself than should be legal, and with reelection coming up . . .”
“Great. Something to look forward to.” He rolls his eyes.
“Are you sure you don’t want to drive back to the airport and escape while you can?”
“It’s that bad, huh?”
“Depends on what side you fall on.”
“And what side do you fall on, Asher?” he asks, but for some reason, I feel like the question he’s asking means so much more than whether I agree with the new resort in town or not.
And before I can answer his question, Nita shows up like a whirlwind of energy and chaos, as is her usual fashion.
“Oh my gosh,” she says, hastily tying an apron behind her waist as she pushes her way behind the bar. “Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She leans in to kiss me on the cheek, giving me the disruption I unknowingly needed. “You’re a lifesaver. A total freaking lifesaver, Ash.”
It’s in that moment she must sense the connection between Ledger and me because her motions falter as she looks from me to him and then back again.
“Well, hello there handsome,” she purrs in a way that only Nita can get away with without coming off as forward or desperate.
“I’d offer to get you something a tad sweeter to whet your palate, but it seems to me that Asher here was taking care of you just fine.
I’ll—uh, go clear some tables so you two can, you know, finish whatever needs finishing.
” She looks Ledger over, and the nudge she gives me is anything but subtle.
If she only knew . . .
“No need to leave and clear anything,” I say as I untie my apron and scrunch it into a ball, needing something to do with my hands.
It’s as if the events of the last fifteen minutes have come crashing down on me, and I suddenly need a minute alone to think and process and .
. . breathe. “You’re all set here.” Nita eyes me cautiously, wondering no doubt, why I’m acting so weird. “I really need to get going.”
“You’re leaving?” Ledger stands up abruptly, his barstool loud as it scrapes across the floor when he does.
“Yes. I was only helping Nita out while she went to a school function with her son.” I offer a strained smile as my heart races in my chest. “This isn’t my—I don’t regularly work here.”
How does this end?
Do I just walk away? Do I get anything else off my chest while I have the chance to? Do I even want to? Or is this enough for me? Will I finally have the closure I didn’t realize I needed simply from talking to him?
“That means you can stay and talk then.”
“I can’t. I have . . . things to do,” I say and give Nita an air kiss on the cheek before heading toward the back storage room to grab my things.
I have a sudden need to flee. To have some solitude and some quiet. Two things that are impossible to have when his presence is clouding my every thought like it is right now.
I’ve just about reached the end of the bar and the door to the back room when Ledger grabs my elbow.
“Asher. Wait. You’re going to leave just like that? Without another word?”
It’s a horrible feeling, isn’t it?
But I don’t put words to the thoughts. Can’t. It’s best to leave this as is. In a better place. More settled. As is.
“I have to go,” I say to save face, but when I turn and meet his eyes, my feet refuse to move.
“You sure?” He dips his head to be on my level so his eyes can search mine.
“I’m sure.”
He rocks on his heels, clearly not believing my lie but letting me think he does anyway. For that, I’m more than grateful.
“It was great to see you, Ash.” There’s that lopsided smile again. It’s genuine and real, and I hate that despite our past, a part of me sags at the sight of it. “Actually, it’s better than great.”
“It was nice to catch up. Good luck with everything.”
“No. Not yet.” He sighs and glances around the bar before he meets my eyes again.
“Look . . . we were kids, starry-eyed and not prepared for anything life was going to throw at us. Things happened that . . . that happened. Things I still don’t understand, and that I’m starting to think neither of us could control.
We could talk about the past and dwell on the what-might-have-beens, but that would be pointless. ”
“Agreed.” I nod when, in reality, I want to dissect every word he just said to me. “It was good seeing you, Ledger.” I start to walk away, but his words stop me.
“I’m going to be in town for a couple of months. I’d like to get together sometime . . . have a drink. Catch up.” He glances down for a beat before meeting my eyes. “Be friends.”
Emotion is thick in my throat as I stumble for a response I’m not sure I know the answer to. “Maybe.” I push on the door and look over my shoulder at him. “We’ll see.”
When I walk through the door and it shuts, I lean my back against it and blow out a long, drawn-out sigh.
I can’t see him again.
I don’t want to.
I do want to.
Shit.
There’s something about Ledger Sharpe.
Yes, he owned my heart once upon a time, but he’s right. I’m not a starry-eyed teenager anymore.
So much has changed from the girl he once knew.
I’m stronger.
I’m independent.
I’ve finally found my purpose.
And I’ll be damned if I’ll let his handsome face and a pocketful of nostalgic memories get close enough to me to change anything about me this time around.