Anchor of Hope (7 page)

“Yeah, well, it's a beautiful place.” Ashley smiled looking around at the trees. “I can understand why he bought it. I mean, the view of the lake is—”

“Is that it?” Jay interrupted, staring her in the eye, brows furrowed and lips pressed together.

“Pardon?” Ashley was startled by his words.

“I said, is that it? Are we done? Because I’ve got work I need to do.”

Ashley didn't know what to say. It was obvious he didn't want her there.

“I'm getting the hint you're not too happy to see me.”

“You don't miss a thing.” His voice sounded hostile, and she saw his jaw tighten.

“I’m gonna go.” She said raised her hands in defeat and started back towards her car.

“Yeah, well, you're good at that.”

She opened the car door, cheeks burning.  “Ass,” she said as she stepped into the car, just loud enough for him to hear.

As she drove away she could see Benson leap back into the tray of his truck and he slowly continued along his path.

Her eyes burned and she almost felt like crying.

He was rude. Seriously, there was no need to act like that.

Since when had he grown so bitter? Then again, she had pretty much walked out of his life eight years ago with no explanation.

She wished she was brave enough to turn the car around and give him a piece of her mind.

But she wasn’t.

And she wouldn't.

Ashley followed the same path as her run yesterday morning. It felt a bit cooler which was a nice change from the stifling heat of yesterday.

Yesterday.

She mentally tried to shake off the memories of last night’s encounter with Jay. She still hadn’t gotten over his harsh insults. Any questions she had about how he felt towards her had now been answered.

Oh well, a few more days and I'll be out of this town and back with Steven.

She was planning on stopping in at the cafe and seeing Bryan but was hesitant, in case he asked her to work again. She could smell the aroma of freshly roasted coffee beans from a block away and the aroma won her over.

Ashley was relieved when she walked into the cafe and saw Amanda had turned up for work today, although it was still quite busy.

“Hey.” Bryan smiled as he walked out from the kitchen “You'll be happy to know I've decided to give you the day off work.”

“Ha ha,” Ashley said. “Best boss in the world.”

Bryan laughed. “That's what I keep telling everyone.”             

“How'd you go with that check for Jay?” He began making a cappuccino.

Ashley sat down on one of the stools near the counter. “Terrible. He hates me.”

Bryan frowned. “What? He does not.”

“Trust me, he does. Oh, and thanks for telling me that he moved.”

Bryan lifted his palm against his forehead and gritted his teeth dramatically. “Ahh, I'm so sorry. He hasn't lived there for years. I keep forgetting that you haven't been around.”

“Well, it doesn't matter now, he's got his check—and I wanted to let you know, if you ever need anything—and I mean
anything
—delivered to him, you'll have to do it yourself.”

Bryan handed Ashley a cappuccino. She laughed when she saw he had created a little peace symbol in the foam on top.

“You want anything to eat? We still have the breakfast menu going, but if you want an early lunch I can get Dean to whip something up.” Dean was the chef.

“No, thanks. Mom made me some of her gluten-free raisin toast earlier. Tasted like cardboard.”

Bryan laughed and returned to preparing a sandwich for one of the customers. Ashley flicked through the local paper. There were several pages were covered with photos and featured different articles about the upcoming Country Music Jamboree. She remembered back to a time when she dreamed about working for the Sweet Home Gazette.

“Well, I'll be.” A loud voice boomed from the entrance of the cafe.

Ashley looked up to see a familiar face. It was Sam, Jay's father.

“Little Ashley Harper, all grown up!” He smiled as he walked over to greet her and gave her a hug, cutting off her oxygen supply.

“It's good to see you, Ash. How's the Big Apple treating you?”

He hadn't changed a bit. He was tall, with thinning hair. He wore his regular attire—old jeans, leather belt with a big buckle, and a button-down shirt. He used to wear a cowboy hat and Ashley was glad to see he still had it, as he carried it in his hand. Ashley's father and Sam had been lifelong friends. His face was full of lines most probably from smiling too much.

“I'm well, Sam. The city is great; keeping me busy.”

“Good, good,” he said. “I suppose you're back for your Mama's wedding?”

“Yeah, back for the week.”

Bryan watched on with interest as he listened to their conversation.

“When do you go home? You should go and pay Jay a visit. I'm sure he'd love to see you.”

Ashley choked on her coffee and began coughing and spluttering. Sam patted her on the back.

“You all right?” He frowned.

“I'm OK, I'm OK.” Ashley insisted between gasps for air. Finally she cleared her airway enough to speak. “Uh, yeah. I might stop by and see how he’s going.” She gave a thin smile, knowing she had no intention whatsoever of returning to Jays property.

“Here you go, Sam.” Bryan interrupted and handed Sam a white paper and a large drink in a takeout cup.

“Thanks,” Sam said and shot Ashley a quick smile. “Best organic, free range, non-GMO, tree-hugging sandwiches in town.” He winked.

Ashley laughed out loud, gaining the attention of several of the patrons.

Sam paid and began to walk out. “I'll see you on Saturday, Ash,” he called.

Ashley waved, ignoring the fact that Bryan was struggling not to laugh.

“What?”

“Why didn't you tell him you already saw Jay?”

“And say what? Oh yeah, I did visit your son and he did
love
to see me. So much, in fact, he told me to get off his property.”

“Did Jay really tell you to leave?” Bryan asked, now serious.

“Not in so many words, but that was pretty much the gist of it.”

“That doesn't sound like something he'd say. We're pretty close and he's never said anything bad about you, even after everything that happened-”

“Everything that happened? What do you mean? I never did anything wrong.”

“I didn't mean it like that.” Bryan raised his hands. “I'm just saying after you left, it broke his heart. And I'm not saying it's your fault, or that you did it intentionally; I know you had to go and so did Jay, but it was hard on him for a long time.”

“We were kids. It wasn’t like it was anything serious.”

Bryan raised his eyebrows.

Ashley opened her mouth to say something but decided against it. She had learned in New York that sometimes in life it was better to say nothing and let it go rather than cause conflict. She sipped the last of her coffee.

“Are you mad?” Bryan asked cautiously.

“No. I guess we're even now though—you made the effort to drive all the way to Portland to pick me up, and I made the effort to drop the check to Jay.” She shook her head. “I should have smashed that pie right in his face.” She smiled at the thought of seeing his self-righteousness face smeared with pie.

Bryan shook his head, a lopsided smile on his lips. “What are your plans for tomorrow

“Nothing yet—why? What are Jess and the kids up to?”

“The girls are at a friends’ house today but we should do something tomorrow.”

“Good idea. It's not like I've got anything to do,” Ashley said. “Literally.” No work had left her with too much free time.

“Cool. I'll talk to Jess and I'll give you a call. Maybe we could head out to the lake for a swim.”

“Sounds good. I better get back and see if mom needs a hand with anything for Saturday.” Ashley stood up.

“Have you got Mom’s car?” Bryan asked.

“No, I'll walk.”

“Are you sure? It's a long walk. You can take the Prius if you like.”

“Thanks, but I don't mind the exercise.” Ashley smiled mischievously. “And I wouldn't be caught dead in that car!”

When Ashley arrived home she discovered her mom didn't need any help preparing for Saturday. In fact, she and Martin weren't even home, Jane had left
another
note informing her that they had gone to play golf.

W
hy didn't she text her instead of writing notes?

The rest of the day was uneventful.

Too uneventful.

Ashley paced from room to room, looking for random tasks to keep her busy. A bit of cleaning, straightening the ‘Bless This House’ and ‘A Family That Prays Together Stays Together’ plaques that hung on the walls.

She always found it intriguing, yet infuriating, that her mother had clung to her faith despite the fact that her husband had died a sudden and aggressive death despite all her prayers to the ‘Magical Man’ in the sky.

He must have been too busy to hear her
.

Her father was diagnosed with ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, only weeks after she’d graduated high school. He was given a year to live, and told there was no cure. He didn't even make it that long: within five months he was gone. By then he had deteriorated so much he was barely recognisable. Those few months had been like living within a nightmare—Ashley  watched as her father degenerated from being a strong, capable to a prisoner trapped within his own body. 

Ashley had avoided visiting him at the hospital towards the end—whether it was out of fear of seeing him, or anger that this had happened to them, she didn't know. Perhaps it was a little of both.

That was the one thing that irked her about religious people—the world could be crumbling around them and they would still be there, claiming
‘
My God will save me’
.
Delusional.   

        Then there was the fact that most of them were hypocrites, telling Ashley she had to get right with God as they praised God on Sunday morning, yet spending their Saturday nights shaking their booty in the club.

Her father had held to his beliefs throughout the steep slope of his illness. He spoke of God's goodness and mercy until he could no longer physically speak—and even then she knew he continued to praise God inside. What a waste of time that had been.

She needed something to keep her busy and keep her mind occupied. She resorted to reorganising the refrigerator.

Hoping to check in with Steven she tried calling him around three in the afternoon, but it went straight to his voice mail. He text her back shortly, after saying he was in a meeting and would call her tonight.

When Jane and Martin arrived home she was relieved that she could finally have some conversation.

She helped her mom cook dinner as Martin went out to fertilise the garden. Ashley caught her mother smiling out the window as Martin busily worked away, sprinkling organic fertilizer around the flower garden.

“He loves gardening doesn't he?”

“Oh yes, he's so good at it too, a real green thumb. It's incredible to think of how much the whole garden has grown and bloomed since he came along.” Jane smiled contentedly.

Ashley had been tossing the salad but stopped. “Do you mean the actual garden, or is this a metaphor for your life and love or something?”

Jane smiled again. “I was talking about the actual garden, but I guess you could say he has helped breathe new life into my garden too. After your father passed I thought that that was it for me. I thought I would never find love again. I was OK with that, but I guess God had other plans for me, and His plans are so much better than I could have ever imagined or hoped for.”

“Well, I'm happy for you guys.” Ashley smiled. “I really am. Martin is great—apart from all his lame ‘dad’ jokes.”

“What? I think his jokes are great.” Jane chuckled. “But thanks, honey. I think he's pretty special too. I can't wait for the day we get to plan
your
wedding.”

Ashley felt herself tense up. “Yeah, I don't know if that's something Steven and I want to do,” she said.

Jane looked confused. “You don't want to get married?”

“Not really—I'm mean, it seems like such an unnecessary event—for us, not for you. I'm happy for you and Martin of course, because that's what
you
want to do. I don't think I'm that interested in a wedding.” Ashley shook her head, keeping her gaze on the salad she was tossing.

“You think you might elope or something?” Jane was genuinely puzzled.

“No, I don't think we'll bother getting married at all.”

Jane stared at Ashley, eyes wide with surprise.

“What?” Ashley asked after an uncomfortable pause.

“Nothing.” Jane shook her head. “It's just that comes as a bit of a shock. I thought you always wanted to get married. Well, you did when you were younger.”

“I also wanted a pony when I was younger, but I guess things change. Steven and I don't consider marriage to be a priority. We don't need a piece of paper to prove that we love each other.”

Ashley began to chop the carrots, pretending she couldn't tell Jane was gawking at her. She knew her mother was disappointed by what she had said but it wasn't like she could force Steven to marry her. Besides, she didn't
really
want to get married, did she?

Her phone rang. She wiped her hands on the tea towel and answered it. Tania.

“Hey Tania, what's up?”

“Oh my gosh, craziest day at work today.” Tania was always over–dramatic, the kind of person who would drop a pen on the floor and declare that the world is ending.

“Why? What happened?” Ashley asked as she strolled out onto the front porch for some privacy. The sun was still out and a soothing melody of birds singing in the distance filled the air.

“Well, for one, Dianne is in a bad mood.”

Ashley scoffed. “When is she not in a bad mood?”

“No, she's like, furious. Stephanie couldn't find the editorial layout you created for this weeks’ issue, and Dianne completely lost it at us.” Stephanie was the young, bright new intern at the office.

“What? I emailed it to Stephanie on Friday—it's in her email.”