But that was all temporary because now I knew about it, and I was taking steps to get him out of her life for good. I was going to free her from his dead weight. And maybe then, she would see that taking a risk with her dreams was worth it. Once the one thing weighing her down was gone, she might be willing to go all in and just go for it.
At least, I hoped she would.
16
Ethan
I should have worn my sandals across the sand to the hotdog stand. The soles of my feet were burning as I hop-stepped from tent to tent in desperate search of shade. But if I lingered a little too long, the person working the booth would scowl at me, and I’d be forced to dash across the sand again.
I went in a zigzagging line all the way across the market, somehow managing to balance a tray of four drinks and another tray full of hotdogs and fries. When I came back, Ashley was just finishing up painting a lion on a little boy’s face. His mother paid her, and the two walked away happily, the little boy making rather pathetic lion sounds.
I ducked under the tent and put the trays down on the table. Jesse and Dean wasted no time in unwrapping their hotdogs and setting to work on them. Ashley on the other hand meticulously began cleaning the brushes she had just used. She took care of her tools, and when she was done, she laid them out on a towel to dry in preparation of her next customer. Then she tucked her legs under the table and dipped a fry in ketchup. She washed it down with a sip of soda and smacked her lips. “Thanks for grabbing this, Ethan. I didn’t realize how hungry I was.”
“No problem,” I said with a mouth full of food.
Ashley nodded at a bag she had tucked under the table. “Do you guys want to sit? There’s a blanket in that bag you could put down, and there should be enough shade cover.”
Dean put his food down and pulled the blanket out of the bag. It had a multicolored pattern of all shapes and sizes. He laid it out flat, and the three of us each claimed a corner. Ashley didn’t seem to like sitting alone at the table, so she took the fourth spot and tucked her legs beneath her as she ate.
When she was done, Ashley dabbed her mouth with her napkin and leaned back. “So have any of you seen your dad lately?”
Jesse didn’t answer. He and our father weren’t on the best of terms. Dean was still chewing, so I answered on their behalf. “We don’t see him as much as we used to. Things are still a bit tense, and he’s still seeing that woman. The one your mom caught him with. And it feels weird for us.”
Ashley nodded and then shrugged one shoulder. “Well, if you do see him, tell him I say hello.”
“Don’t you hate him?” Dean asked.
Ashley hesitated before answering. “No. I hate what he did but not him. If he cared for someone else, he should have just had the nerve to tell my mom he wanted a separation before he, you know, screwed another woman in their bed.”
“Agreed,” Jesse said sourly.
“I hope it doesn’t ruin the relationship you guys have with him, though. You should know my mom is doing pretty well for herself. Her house is lovely, and she does seem pretty happy. Minus the whole me and Nick breaking up thing. That’s getting to her.”
“Why?” I asked.
Ashley laughed. “Don’t you know me and my mom? Anything that tarnishes her idea of me is a strike in her books. A broken engagement definitely falls in that column, just like being an artist.”
“Your mom is a little nuts, hey?” I asked.
Dean and Jesse chuckled, and Ashley nodded. “She can be. She has good intentions most of the time but just really bad execution. Like, really bad.”
“I think a lot of parents are like that,” Dean said.
“Maybe.” Ashley stretched her legs out in front of her and crossed her ankles. “She just really grinds my gears sometimes. And now that I’m moving back, there won’t be any distance between us to keep me sane.”
“You’ll be fine,” Jesse said.
“I hope so.” Ashley sighed.
We talked a little longer about Ashley’s mom and the divorce. It had been a rocky time for my brothers and me, and we’d felt like we were walking on egg shells for the months that Anne and our father were meeting with the lawyers to settle everything. Our dad made several comments along the way about wishing he had signed a prenuptial agreement, and I knew he had tried to guilt Anne into settling for less, claiming she was stealing from our inheritance fund.
I also knew Dean had gone to her personally and told her not to worry about us. We were just fine. None of us would ever mention any of the nitty gritty stuff to Ashley. It had been for the best that she wasn’t around when shit hit the fan. Seeing a loving relationship crumble and turn into hatred wasn’t pleasant, especially when it was your parents.
I looked over at Ashley as she pushed herself up to her feet and began collecting the wrappers from our meal to throw in the garbage. Then she looked up sharply, and her eyes widened. I followed her stare to see Lulu rushing across the sand to our tent.
We all stood, watching Lulu come toward us with a worried look on her face.
“Lulu,” Ashley said, concern in her voice. “What’s up?”
Lulu stopped at the booth and pressed her hands to the table. She was a bit out of breath, and her cheeks were pink. She glanced around at the three of us, but her attention returned to Ashley. “Nick showed up at the house an hour ago.”
“What?” Dean asked, stepping forward. Ashley just stood there with her mouth open. I moved to stand behind her and put my hand on her back.
Dean took over the dialogue and prompted Lulu for more information. She wrung her hands together. “I shouldn’t have opened the door in the first place. But I thought it was one of you, He looked like a real mess, Ashley. Bloodshot eyes. I think he might have been drunk. He asked for you.”
Ashley still wasn’t talking, so Dean asked, “What did you tell him?”
“I told him I didn’t know where she was. I told him I hadn’t seen her since last week.”
“Good.” Dean nodded, pressing his thumb and forefinger to his temples.
I rubbed Ashley’s back. The color had drained from her face. “You okay, Ash? We’re here with you, all right? You’re safe with us.”
She nodded but didn’t answer.
Jesse cleared his throat. “What did he say when you told him Ash wasn’t there? You think he believed you?”
Lulu nodded. “I think so. I told him I knew Ashley was back in town, but that she had her hands full with dealing with the divorce of her mom and stepdad. I’m pretty sure he bought it. He started asking other questions, like where you were staying and if you had a new job. I told him I didn’t know anything.”
“You played it smart, Lulu,” Dean said. “Good call. Did he say whether or not he was staying in town?”
Lulu nodded once more. “He told me he’d be around and to call him if I knew where Ashley was. I asked him why he was looking for her. I didn’t want him to get suspicious, so I made a comment about not knowing where his own fiancée was. And then I told him to call me if he found her, too, just in case he was suspicious. Then he left.”
“I’m sorry, Lulu,” Ashley whispered.
Lulu blinked. “What? Why? There’s nothing to be sorry about, Ash.”
“Yes, there is. I can’t believe he came to your house. Did he try to scare you? Try to get inside?”
Lulu looked away.
I wrapped my arm around Ashley and pulled her close. This wasn’t good. None of this was good. I noticed Dean cracking his knuckles before he pressed them flat to the surface of the table. This was the stance he used to assume when we used to be in the field discussing the strategy of a mission prior to commencement. Dean saw Nick as his next mission, and if I were Nick Myles, I’d be shitting myself.
Dean spoke Lulu’s name to get her to look at him. She did. “Lulu, you can tell us the truth. Did he frighten you?”
Lulu nodded, and Ashley buried her face in her hands. I held her to me tighter.
De
an continued. “Did he try to get inside?”
“Yes.”
“Fuck,” Jesse growled.
“But you didn’t let him in?” Dean asked.
Lulu shook her head firmly. “No. I knew he’d recognize Ashley’s things straight away. He tried to come inside, but I told him I didn’t know him well enough to let him inside. He backed off, but there was something about his eyes. For a minute, I thought he might force his way in anyway.”
Ashley groaned in my arms. “I feel terrible.”
I rubbed her shoulders. “Don’t feel bad, Ash. You never could have known he’d do something like this. And Lulu is a badass. She can handle it. Right?”
Lulu gave me a tight smile. “Right.”
Dean and Jesse were both watching Ashley with concerned expressions. Dean’s jaw was clenched, and Jesse’s brows were drawn together in his signature scowl. Jesse sighed and shook his head. “You want to stay out here a bit longer Ash, or do you want us to help you pack it in?”
Ashley glanced up. Her eyes were wet. My heart ached for her. I hated that this asshole was making her feel this way; the guy she used to love, to boot. She dabbed the tears away at the corners of her eyes and nodded. “If you could help me pack it up, that would be great. I think I want to go home.”
“All right,” Jesse said. Then, without another word, he began collecting all her things and packing them neatly into boxes. He’d helped her with this the day before, so he must have already known where everything was.
Dean, in the meantime, came and stood beside me and Ashley. He looked down at her with his arms crossed over his chest. “I have a sticker from our security company that is for surveillance purposes. It warns people they are being filmed. Can I put one on the front door to have some peace of mind?”
Ashley looked over at Lulu, who nodded.
“Good,” Dean said with a curt nod. Then he began helping pack up as well. I joined them, and Lulu and Ashley were quick to follow. With the five of us working, tear down took minutes, and soon, we were walking back to the parking lot with all Ashley’s boxes.
She asked us to put them in Lulu’s Beetle, which was an epic game of Tetris that took us a good five or so minutes to figure out, and then she turned to us and smiled apologetically. “Sorry the day came to such a disappointing end.”
Dean grabbed the surveillance sticker from the back seat of his car and gave it to her. “Just put it on the front door. It will give him something to think about if he decides to knock again. And if he does show up, don’t answer the door. Call me straight away. Got it?” He looked back and forth between Ashley and Lulu.
Both the girls nodded, and then Lulu walked around the car and got behind the wheel. I gave Ashley a hug and rubbed her shoulders. “It’ll all be okay, Ash. Promise. Just call or text if you need anything, okay?”
“Okay,” she said, her voice barely louder than a whisper.
She hugged Dean and Jesse too before getting in the passenger seat. The three of us stood and watched her go, and then I looked over at my oldest brother. “What are you going to do, Dean?”
Dean watched the taillights of the Beetle disappear. “I’m going to tell the PI to hurry the fuck up. We need to be able to tail Nick immediately. No more surprises.”
I nodded, satisfied with his answer.
Nick Myles had no clue who he was fucking with. I could hold my own against anyone, and so could Jesse. But Dean was another story entirely. He was a fierce fighter, and when he was protecting something that was his, the last place any man wanted to be was in his path.
And Nick Myles was right at the end of Dean’s scope.
17
Ashley
Neither Lulu or I said anything on the drive back from the market. I ignored the sand in my sandals and stared out the open window, enjoying the way the wind blew through my hair and cooled my face.
Lulu parked the car in the driveway, and we both brought the boxes in. My head was on a swivel every time I was out front of the house. I kept my eyes peeled for a big, blonde-haired man lurking in the corners somewhere. I was so paranoid that Nick was watching me that I couldn’t think of anything else.
“Ashley,” Lulu said softly as I brought the last box up the front steps.
“I’m okay,” I said.
Lulu closed and locked the front door behind me. Usually, she never locked the door. Nick really had her spooked, too. “I don’t think you are. You don’t have to be.”
“I’m mostly mad. I’m mad that he had the nerve to show up here and do that to you. I’m mad that he thinks he can walk back into my life. I’m mad that he thinks he deserves any of my time. I’m just so over him, and I want to leave him where he belongs. In the past.”
“I get it, girl. Shiraz?”
I blinked at her. She smiled back. “Hell yeah.
Lulu laughed lightly and kicked off her sandals. I did the same and followed her into the kitchen, where she popped the cork from a bottle of red wine and filled up two glasses. She handed me one, and we made a simple toast: fuck Nick Myles.
“It’s all going to be okay, Ash. I know it will be. You have the Thomas brothers to look out for you. And the look on Dean’s face? Let’s just say I wouldn’t want to be Nick when he finally finds him.”
I smiled but her words didn’t make me feel better. I hated being a burden to anyone, and this made me feel like a four-hundred-ton burden being placed on everyone’s shoulders. “I hate him,” I whispered.
“I know. I know. So do I.”
I sighed and sipped my wine.
Lulu hooked her elbow in mine and led me down the hall to my temporary bedroom. “Let’s go through your clothes and pick out your outfit for your first day of work tomorrow to get your mind off of it. What do you say?”
“Sounds good.”
Lulu put her wine down on the dresser against the far wall and then began rummaging through it. She pulled out a couple tops and then went to the closet where she scowled sourly at me for a couple of the things she found. I’d been known to make ugly purchases every now and then.
She found some skirts and pants that she liked and then began laying everything out on the bed to see what went best with what. “Okay. I think you should try this skirt with this blouse first. And these heels. Very sexy sophisticated.” Lulu grinned as she handed me the pieces of the outfit.
I stared down at the black pencil skirt, floral blouse, and blue pumps in my hands. “I can’t wear this to a school.”
“Why not?”
“It’s—it’s—”
“Cute?”
“That’s not what I was going to say,” I muttered.
“Oh, just put it on.” Lulu went to the dresser and swept up her wine again. She downed a few mouthfuls before plopping down in the chair by the window. “Come on. Put on a little fashion show for me. I’ll tell you what looks best.”
I obliged her. Maybe it was because I felt guilty for Nick showing up and scaring her. Maybe it was because I was afraid and trying on clothes offered a good distraction. Either way, the fashion show, coupled with the wine, turned out to be a good time, and within forty-five minutes, I had an outfit picked out for my first day: gray straight leg business pants, a white sheer blouse with a purple undershirt, black strappy heels, and gold jewelry.
“You look hot,” Lulu said.
“I don’t think hot is what I should be going for as a sub.”
“Oh, please. Hot is always what you should be going for. You want to be the teacher all the other teachers want to be around, right? And dressing nice makes you feel good. You still look professional. Don’t worry. It’s a good balance.” She gestured at all of me.
“All right. I trust you. Now I’m changing into something more comfortable and then opening another bottle of wine. Care to join me?”
“You’re speaking my language, girl.” Lulu grinned.
***
The school I was working at on Monday was much nicer than the one I’d been placed at in N
ew York City. The kids were nicer too, but they were still kids, so they liked to push the boundaries and see what kind of shit they could get away with under the new substitute teacher. Desperate to try to start things out on the right foot this time, I didn’t tolerate any of their shenanigans. I had given out two detentions by the time the school day ended.
Lulu’s coffee shop was only a few blocks down the road, so I decided to walk over and grab a macchiato before going back to the school to grade some papers. My heels clicked on the sidewalk, and my feet hurt as I walked. I cursed Lulu for making me wear such high shoes, but some of the teachers had given me several compliments.
I rounded the corner on the street to the coffee shop and stopped in my tracks.
At the curb, leaning against the crosswalk sign at the corner of the intersection, was Nick.
He had his arms crossed over his chest, and he was wearing a plain T-shirt and dark jeans. His ankles were also crossed, and he was looking at me from beneath his thick blonde eyebrows. I was rooted to the spot and could do nothing but watch as he pushed himself off the post and walked toward me.
What should I do? Scream? No. That would be foolish. I was in a public space. Cars were flying by, and there were several other pedestrians on the street walking by either side of me. I was safe.
Nick closed the distance between us and stopped when he was only a few feet away. I could smell his crisp cologne, and it brought back flashes of memories of standing in the bathroom brushing my teeth while he got ready for work in the morning. I remembered cooking in the kitchen while he watched the football game, washing the dishes while he packed up leftovers, sitting on the couch watching a movie, him above me in the bed, looking down at me like he owned me.
I shivered.
“Ashley,” he said, his voice low.
“Hey, what are you doing in St. Simmons?” I asked, trying to sound as normal as possible. I didn’t want him thinking I knew he was in town. I couldn’t throw Lulu under the bus like that. She’d had my back yesterday when he showed up unannounced, and I was determined to protect her, too.
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