6. Chapter Six
Chapter Six
Ash
A fter telling her mom off and leaving, Ash went home and cried.
It was overwhelming, too much. To know her mother didn’t support who she was, that she didn’t understand.
That her mother was more concerned with grandchildren than with Ash.
It was a lot. But it was to be expected, really.
Ash knew growing up that her parents, her mother in particular, were traditional and conservative in their values.
Not that it was a bad thing, it was just not who Ash was.
She had loved Michelle and James deeply.
But after James died, her heart wasn’t ready to love again.
When she saw men and women, she could recognize their attractiveness, but she wasn’t attracted to them. She doesn’t want to be with them, sexually or romantically. It can be lonely, but she has her job to keep her busy. Maybe love will find her again one day, but she’s not actively looking for it.
She sleeps for twelve hours before heading back to the station in Juniper Springs.
Sam is on shift with her, and she’s ready to vent to him.
Dropping her bag off at her bed, she finds him in their little gym.
Sam’s friendly, the guy next door. Tall and muscular, light brown hair, clean shaven, friendly as can be. A guy you’d bring home to mom.
“Sammy, how’s it going?”
“Good, just...what’s with the face, Ash?”
Ash feels herself tear up. Sam can always read her easily, and even though she felt like she has put up a strong front, he still manages to see right through it.
“My mom. I went to help her with making jam, and she just...she gets on my nerves. Nothing I do seems good enough.”
“What was it this time?”
“She asked why I didn’t want to give her grandbabies.”
Sam blows out a low whistle. “Damn, that’s cold. What did you say?”
“I didn’t really say anything. What can I say? I’ve told her before that I’m not interested in dating. That I’m not ready. But she pushes it. Tries to make me feel bad. Maybe I’m a bad daughter.”
“Hey now,” Sam comes over and throws an arm around her shoulder. “You are not a bad daughter. Who goes and helps her parents? Who moved to be closer to them after her dad got sick? Who takes care of their yard, their house, and their car? You are the best daughter.”
Ash huffs out a sigh and rests her head on Sam’s shoulder. It would be easy with him. As easy as it is now. But she doesn’t feel that way towards him, even after knowing him as well as she does. That spark you’re supposed to feel with another person? It’s just not there with Sam.
The alarm goes off, and they both move towards the door to the truck bay.
He shoots her a small smile as he climbs in the back with his gear, and she moves to sit up front.
The call is short. A domestic dispute between a son and father who’ve both clearly drunk too much.
They are spewing hateful words at each other while the woman, the mother and wife, cries and begs them to stop.
She says it isn’t the first time they’ve fought, and the police come and take both men to the station.
Ash wonders if it would ever get to that point between her and her mother. Not the violence, of course, but the hateful words. If it would ever get so bad that they needed to be separated. If it would ruin their relationship.
Ash’s shift seems particularly long. Even though it’s twenty-four hours and they usually can catch some sleep, the calls come in, and they have to go out.
At two a.m., they come back from a small kitchen fire call, and all go upstairs to crash.
Sam is lying in his bed two over from Ash when she comes in after brushing her teeth.
He opens the blanket in invitation, and Ash finds herself walking over before she can even think about it.
It’s just for comfort. Just one friend comforting another. She snuggles down, him spooning her from behind.
“Just for a few minutes, kay?” she mumbles back at him.
“Sure thing, Ash.”
She awakes to the sound of a phone alarm going off and realizes she’s still in Sam’s bed.
He’s tucked up close behind her, breath warm on the back of her neck.
She lies there for a moment. Sam’s breathing softly, and it’s nice.
It’s good to be held. He snuffles a bit and tightens his hand on her waist. They are both still in uniform, and the phone alarm is still going off.
Looking at her watch, she sees it’s seven a.m., and their shift is almost done.
She untangles herself from Sam and stands when he reaches out and grasps her wrist gently. She shakes him off and goes to fix her hair in the mirror.
“I see you and Sam have gotten closer.”
Turning, she sees the Chief with his steaming cup of coffee in hand, and she rolls her eyes at him.
“Long night, sir. We got back late and crashed.”
“And that’s all? No developing relationships?” He waves his hand in a circular motion for her to elaborate.
“No, sir, just friends and co-workers.”
He makes a noise of acknowledgement and moves on.
His loud voice carrying throughout the station.
When Ash gets back to the beds, Sam is up and gone, his bed straightened.
She fixes herself breakfast and waits for her shift to end.
She catches Sam watching her out of the corner of her eye, and when she looks at him, he shoots her a grin.
Going home, she wants to crash and sleep more, but knows it will throw off her schedule, so she plows through the tiredness.
When she moved into her small house, she planned on fixing it up, but life got in the way.
The rooms need painting, the roof needs fixing before next winter, the bathroom sink is still leaking, and it’s a mess.
She keeps the place clean, everything put away, not that she has a lot.
But the house needs a lot of work, she knows now why it was so cheap.
Digging out her painting supplies, she laid down the tarps and taped off the baseboards before driving into Silver Lake to the hardware store.
It seems like a lifetime ago that she was at that very store yelling at a man in the parking lot, but it’s only been a couple of days.
Was she ashamed of her behavior? Sort of.
He deserved it, though, parking too close and then smirking at her when she was yelling.
At the store, there are only two other cars in the parking lot when she goes in.
It’s a slow day for everyone except her, apparently.
Talking with the owner, John, she picks out a light gray paint color, and he starts mixing it up, making small talk about the annual fair coming up. That’s when she sees him.