Chapter Five Ashley #2
When his eyes meet mine, it’s like I’m in a vortex that I’m not sure how to break out of.
And then he winks at me again. What the fuck is with these winks!
It just reminds me of his arrogance. Standing there in his jeans, a white V-neck T-shirt that fits snug across his chest, showing off his abs .
. . the same ones I pictured licking, and I hate to say it, but they are perfection.
His sunglasses pushed up on the top of his head and, as annoying as it is, just the sight of him has my body tingling, reminding me how long it’s been since I’ve been touched by a man—let alone one who looks like that.
“Ashley.” The sound of my name snaps me out of my ogling. Dragging my eyes away from Jake, I turn to see Betty waving at me from her table about ten stalls up, all her beautiful hand-crocheted wares set out in front of her.
“Hurry, I need you,” she calls out to me frantically.
Shit. My feet start moving quickly toward her.
“Betty, are you okay?” I take her hand that she’s waving around at me and hold it to see if it’s clammy or hot, then slide my hand up a little to try to feel if her pulse is racing.
“No, no, I’m not. I need Jake. Please can you get him for me. Now?” she claims.
Without even hesitating, I’m rushing across the grass toward him and the moment his eyes lock on me again as I approach, they look worried.
“Ashley, are you okay?”
I don’t even speak to the women around him, who are all giving me the stink eye.
“Betty needs you urgently.” I tug on his arm and pull him back in the direction of Betty’s stall. Jake’s long legs mean he outpaces me as he races over.
“Gran, what is it? Are you okay?” he asks, concern thick in his voice.
“Oh, nothing. You just needed saving from those crazy ladies. Ashley’s here and I thought you might want to spend time with her,” Betty nonchalantly replies.
“Gran.” Jake sighs. “You can’t scare us like that.”
“Betty!” I exclaim.
“What? The vultures were circling. Now I got rid of them. So why don’t you two go wander together.
There are plenty of treasures to be found here.
” She’s waving her hand around in the air toward the other stallholders with the biggest smile on her face.
“What lovely weather to spend an afternoon getting to know each other.”
“I think I have learned all I need to know about Jake, Betty. And it looks like he has plenty of people here to become friendly with.”
Because the last thing I need is for the rest of the town to see Jake and me together. I love living in a small town and I moved here hoping to form friendships and find belonging and community, but the gossip chain that comes with this small town is a killer.
Growing up in a high-rise in San Francisco, all I had felt was isolated and lonely.
Especially after my dad left, when my mom threw herself into her career and I was left on my own most of the time.
I hated being alone. My dog, Sally, was my only companion, and she became my whole world, I loved her so deeply.
I used to read stories that were based in small towns to escape my reality.
Which had me starting to dream of moving to a place where people knew your name.
But what those stories never put in was the cruelty of the idle chatter—sure, being the new kid in town came with its challenges, but listening to everyone and their sister’s opinion on my breakup?
No! I was not entering the rumor mill of Abbey Falls ever again.
“Sorry, Betty, I have to go.” I spin on my heel and stomp back toward Tiff, who’s so engrossed in her teapots that she hasn’t even noticed the commotion.
“I think she really is allergic to you, Jake,” I hear Betty commenting from behind me as Jake the Jerk laughs with her.
“You could be right, Gran,” he replies.
I want to turn around and have my say but that will just make things worse.
Instead, I walk up to Tiff and tell her I need to leave because I have a job to get to. She gives me a skeptical look but thankfully doesn’t call me out on it.
Climbing back into my car, I realize I didn’t get my fudge or lemon butter and I can’t go back now. I’ll have to wait another month.
Men! They ruin everything.
Why is it every time I turn around, I seem to be running into Jake? As much as I try to stop thinking about him, it’s like the universe won’t let me.
Before I can start my car, there is a tap on my side window that makes me jump.
Lowering the window, I scowl at the very man causing me all these problems.
“What?” Seriously, what do I need to do to get rid of him?
“Snappy, aren’t we.” I try to lean away from him as he rests his arm on the open window of my door.
“What do you want, Jake, I’m kind of busy.” My pants should be on fire by now with the number of lies I’ve been telling.
“I just wanted to apologize for Gran. She means well but gets a little carried away.”
I try to pull back my frustration that is partly from what just happened, but crazily enough it’s also a little sexual frustration at having him this close to me.
I can smell that same cologne he was wearing that night at Grizzly’s, which seems to have branded me the moment I took the long deep breath in on his chest.
“I know. I adore Betty, but she’s way off base here. There are plenty of eligible women in town that you can chase. And it looked like you were already taste-testing the menu back there. So, I suggest you head back and continue on with that.” Why does Jake bring out the bitch in me.
“Not happening, Ashley. I’m not here to hook up.
I’m in Abbey Falls to help my grandmother and that’s it.
” He’s crouching down a little and leaning his face closer to mine.
“And I was hoping I could be at least friends with the neighbors, but unless you put your claws away, that’s not going to happen either. Have a good day.” He pulls back.
My breathing is shallow and my cheeks are warm. My heart is beating that bit harder and I’m wet in places I haven’t been for years.
It can’t be purely from Jake being around. It’s just that I’m a desperate wrinkled prune who has forgotten what it’s like to be touched.
Nodding at me, he takes another step back from my car and I’m quickly starting the engine.
As I’m reversing out onto the street, I look forward out the windscreen, seeing him standing there smugly, hands in his jeans pockets.
I slam the car gear stick into Drive with force.
He lifts one hand and waves to me like we’re best friends, with another damn wink.
“Uggghhhh!” I scream to myself in the car.
Jake
Since my run-in with Ashley at the fair and getting swarmed by those women, I’ve managed to avoid town for five days.
But even that hasn’t stopped the madness, as I’ve had two phone calls on Gran’s house phone asking me to meet for a drink, and then some random woman turning up at Heatherbrae to drop some pie for Gran but asking if I was around to say hello.
I’m not interested but I don’t want to get a name for myself while I’m here of being an awful person and turning down every eligible female.
Ashley already thinks I’m an asshole. I don’t need the rest of the town joining in.
But when Gran says she needs some things from the store and is too tired to drive into town, I can’t say no.
As I get to the road that passes Windemere, I see Ashley turning into her farm gate. I try to give her a friendly wave, and she waves back, but there is little emotion in it. Which gives me a good laugh—being nice to me must have almost killed her.
She’s home early again so I’m assuming I’ll find more fencing done when I look in the morning. I have to give it to her, she’s doing a great job, even with the little adjustments I had to make in a couple of places. But for someone who didn’t grow up on the land, she has learned quickly.
My phone starts ringing and the name do not answer flashes across the screen.
My stomach drops as I send the call to voicemail.
It will only be the bank, checking on progress of the payment of the overdraft on my business account.
Even though my house is held as security, there is very little equity in it as we’d just bought it a year before Danika left.
Like everything else, our first house wasn’t up to the standard she wanted.
So, we’d stretched our finances and upgraded, plus done some renovations to make it perfect for her.
Looking back, there was nothing wrong with our home before that, but I would’ve done anything for Danika.
And she’d said once we bought a bigger house, we could start trying for a family.
Pulling off to the side of the road, I throw the truck in Park and try to breathe. How the fuck did I get here?
Instead of living a blissfully happy life, married, children, a successful business, I’m drowning under two hundred thousand dollars of debt, single, thirty-nine, and living with my grandmother.
I was already struggling after Danika cleaned out our bank accounts and left me with the mortgage and debt, but then came the client from hell who’s arguing my workmanship is faulty and refusing to pay the one hundred and sixty thousand dollars that he owes me for the job I finished three months ago.
I have lodged a dispute claim in the courts, but it takes months to sort out, and I don’t have the money for any high-flying lawyer to sort it out quicker. And this guy knows it.
I could go to Beckett . . . but then I will have to live with the shame and embarrassment for the rest of my life when he keeps reminding me of this latest in a long fucking line of failures.