Chapter 7
Seven
Reegan
I was curled up on the couch in Ashlyn’s living room when she emerged from her room sometime around noon.
I smiled as she waved, still half asleep.
I’d always wanted to be able to sleep all day, but I never could.
Ashlyn confessed she wished she was like me and up early and functional. We always wanted what we didn’t have.
Like my morning coffee with Josh.
I’d gotten used to seeing him every day, and his absence that morning bothered me more than I wanted to admit. He didn’t owe me anything, and all we did was share coffee and a few kisses, but it still stuck in my head, like a hangnail I couldn’t stop messing with.
“What are you reading?” Ashlyn joined me on the couch with both hands wrapped around a mug.
I showed her the front of the book, and she grinned.
“That’s a good one. My book club read it in the spring.”
“You’re in a book club?”
She nodded. “I am. Sage started it. We try to meet every month and talk about the book we read. Summer is a little harder sometimes.”
“You’ve really made a good life here, haven’t you?”
Ashlyn grinned and looked around her house. “I have. My family thought I was crazy to move here, and I think the locals expected me to bail after the first winter, but I love it here.”
“I’m really happy for you, Ash.”
“Thanks.” She sipped her coffee, watching me over the rim of her mug. “You could be happy here, too, you know.”
The idea of staying had been teasing my mind since that first day, but I wasn’t sure if it was right for me. And until I decided, I was not going to tell Ashlyn I was even considering it. “Yeah, yeah. Living in your guest room and mooching off you is not a life plan.”
She shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind having the company. It’s not like I need the privacy.”
I examined my bestie closely. She seemed to be doing okay without Rob, but I knew Ashlyn kept a lot of things close to the vest. She wasn’t going to make a big deal of a problem she couldn’t solve, and Rob walking out wasn’t for her to fix.
If he wanted to be gone, she couldn’t change his mind.
Even if she wanted to. “We should do something today.”
She scrunched up her face. “I have to meet a client in an hour. But Sage asked if she could come over later. She wants to meet you.”
“That would be fun. Tell me about her.”
Ashlyn inhaled sharply. “Oh, jeez. How do you capture a person in a few minutes? Sage is smart. She has this ability to piece things together in ways that always eludes me. She’s kind and thoughtful, always going out of her way to help people.
She loves this place as much as I do, even though we were both campers. ”
“She’s older than us?” I asked.
“Yeah. She’s Shana’s age, so about four years older than us.
They were close when we would come here for the summers, but the age difference back then was a lot.
Shana and I didn’t get close until we were both out of college and adults.
” Ashlyn’s sister, Shana, lived in their hometown with her wife and two kids.
I remembered Ashlyn talking about her older sister when we were in college, but I didn’t meet Shana until graduation.
“What does Sage do?”
Ashlyn looked at me like she didn’t understand the question. “I thought you knew. She’s the news anchor.”
“Seriously? Sage Barrett?”
Ashlyn nodded. “I thought I told you that.”
I shook my head. “Nope. But that’s cool. I get what you mean about her putting things together. When she’s just talking, I can tell she’s very intelligent.”
“She is. And so sweet. Shana told her when I moved here, and she reached out my first week. I don’t know if I would have made it here without her.”
“You never told me that.”
Ashlyn shrugged. “It was hard to move somewhere without anyone I knew. I know you did it, too, but being a teacher, you had a built-in community. Real estate is so isolating. Everyone is competing with everyone else, even if you want to believe you’re friends, it’s not always the case.”
“I’m sorry, Ash.”
“It’s okay. Sage called that first week.
She’d been here a few years and had already made a little bit of a name for herself.
She was a feature reporter, and I thought she was such a big deal.
She picked me up and took me to dinner, then we spent some time in town.
She showed me her favorite places and introduced me to some people she knew. She made this place feel like home.”
“Then I love her already for giving you that.”
Ashlyn grinned widely. “Like I said, she wants to meet you. I said she should come over for dinner. We can light the fire pit and open a few bottles of wine. She might stay the night, if you don’t mind.”
“No, of course not. I can take the couch.”
Ashlyn shrugged. “Sage is low-maintenance. She’s good with whatever. I have an air mattress, too. We can toss that on the floor.”
“We’ll figure it out.”
“Yep.” Ashlyn tipped her mug up and drained the last of it. She stood and drew a breath, stretching her arms wide. “I need to shower and go. I shouldn’t be too long, though.”
“I’m good with the book. You go make money so you can support my slovenly ways.”
Ashlyn snorted. “You’re the least lazy person I know. But it’s summer, and you’re supposed to be enjoying your downtime. It’s the only time you have any.”
I nodded as Ashlyn walked back to her room. I picked up the book again and dove back in, letting the story suck me in as Ashlyn headed out.
The book held my attention all afternoon, distracting me from everything going on around me. When the front door opened, I looked up at Ashlyn, squinting against the bright light flooding in behind her.
“Have you moved since I left?” she asked with a chuckle.
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. What time is it?”
“It’s almost four. Sage is on her way over.”
I blinked a few times to force myself to wake up and focus. I was still in my pajamas, and I hadn’t showered yet. “I’m going to jump in the shower, if that’s okay.”
“You don’t need my permission to shower. In fact, I’d rather you didn’t wait for me to approve.”
I snorted and flipped her off as her laughter followed me down the hallway to my temporary bedroom.
I took a relatively quick shower, but when I got out, I heard two voices in the living room.
I tied my wet hair up in a bun on top of my head and dressed in cotton shorts and a dark tee.
I left my dirty clothes in the basket I was using and headed out to meet the woman I’d been listening to in the mornings since I arrived.
“There she is.” Ashlyn and Sage were in the kitchen, munching on a cheese plate.
Sage turned when Ashlyn spoke, and her smile was wide and friendly.
She was even more beautiful in person than on television.
Her brown skin was smooth and flawless, with laugh lines around her eyes and mouth.
She wore simple hoop earrings and a fine mesh shirt over a camisole that looked elegant and stunning.
Her jeans hugged her curves down to her bare feet with burgundy-painted toenails.
Sage approached me, pausing right in front of me. “I feel like I know you. Can I hug you?”
I laughed. “Of course. I feel like I know you, too.”
We laughed as we hugged, feeling like old friends even though we’d never met.
“Ash tells me you came running when that jerk walked out. You’re a good friend.”
“She’s the best,” Ash said, grabbing a piece of cheese and popping it into her mouth.
“I was done for the summer, and coming here sounded like a good idea. Plus, she did the same for me when I got dumped a few years ago.”
“Well, I’m happy you came. And I’m happy to finally meet you. I can’t believe we’ve never met,” Sage said, offering me a glass of wine. “Cheers to friendships, old and new.”
We all clinked glasses and sipped our wine.
“Oh, that’s good,” I said.
“Local vineyard,” Ashlyn said. “They gave me a basket a few weeks ago. I helped them to book out their new B&B for the summer.”
“She’s so good at what she does,” Sage said, shaking her head. “I just read what they put in front of me. This one goes out and finds the perfect words to describe a place that no one else sees. She’s opened my eyes to new places, and I’ve lived here longer than she has.”
“I think you’re both impressive. I watch you and know you do a lot more than just read what’s in front of you,” I said.
Sage ducked her head as her brown cheeks turned slightly red. “Thank you. I could never do what you do. Managing a bunch of kids sounds like torture.”
I laughed. “Most people say that. I love it, though. I’ve always loved kids.”
“Do you have any?” Sage asked.
I shook my head. “Uh, no. I love being able to give them back to their parents at the end of the day.”
Sage’s eyebrows spiked. “You don’t want kids?”
“No. It… I know it’s not normal, but I just… I’ve never wanted kids.”
Sage raised her glass. “Same. Most people think I’m crazy, but I love my life the way it is. I never saw myself settling down at all. No husband, no kids. I like not having to answer to anyone else.”
I grinned. “Wow. I don’t meet a lot of people who understand.”
“Neither do I.” Sage chuckled, then reached for a slice of prosciutto.
“I think you’re both crazy. I always wanted kids. I just never found someone who wanted me,” Ashlyn said.
“We want you,” Sage told her. “And you deserve better than Rob. I told you that from the start.”
“You did?” I asked.
Sage nodded. “He doesn’t have a great reputation around town. She deserves someone who’ll dote on her and put her first. Rob was never that man.”
“I agree with her,” I told Ashlyn, smiling.
Ashlyn shook her head but grinned. “You guys are amazing. Thank you. Now if only you could materialize that man, I’d be all good.”
“He’s out there,” Sage said, hiding behind her glass as if afraid to say more.
I didn’t call her on it because I didn’t know her that well, but it made me wonder who she was talking about. I hoped it wasn’t Josh.