by Jill Snow
“So, who is your dad getting advice from? His accountant?”
“No, I think it’s the bank.”
“He needs to speak to someone independent. The bank, while it may not do anything underhanded, hasn’t your dad’s best interests at heart. They just want their money back. It may be that filing for bankruptcy is the right thing, but it would be the worst move ever. You really need to find someone to speak to.”
“Like who?”
“Does Mack know anyone? He seems like a man who’s lived around here a long time. He could probably help.”
“I didn’t want to burden him. He and Charity have been wonderful to me.”
“It’s pretty easy to be nice to you. You’re a fabulous person.”
She backed up against the tree but he didn’t move an inch.
“Sorry, that came out a bit sleazy. I just think you’re amazing. Not many twenty-something’s would stay around paying their parents’ mortgage while dealing with idiots like Tyler and that Henry guy.”
“You know about Henry?”
“I think the whole ranch knows about Henry. He limped across the yard earlier shouting for ice. Bill threw him into the horse trough.”
Ashley burst out laughing. How appropriate. She must thank Bill later.
“It’s good to hear you laugh. But seriously, I would get someone to call an accountant or lawyer. I can lend you the money if cash is a problem. And before you get all jumpy again, it would be a loan. No strings attached. Okay?”
“Thanks, but no. I have enough to cover the bill. The initial one anyway. But it was nice of you to offer.”
Chapter 28
He stood up and held out his good hand to her. “Come on, you better get back before Mack comes looking for you. He’s pissed at Henry.”
“Before we go back, can I ask you something?”
Was it her imagination or did he stiffen? “I will answer if I can.”
“Why wouldn’t you take painkillers for your hand?”
“I don’t like them.”
She stared at him. Was he serious?
“I don’t like taking stuff like that. I prefer natural remedies.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. Why would you be using drugs if you feel like that?”
His eyes widened as he looked away. His whole body was stiff. She wouldn’t be surprised if he ran.
“I have never taken drugs.”
Surprise made her forget to breath. She got a fit of coughing.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine. I just don’t understand.” She struggled to keep her temper under control. “Are you saying you just supply them?”
“No, not at all. Look Ashley, I can’t tell you anything else. I have said enough already.”
“I don’t think you have. What is going on? You don’t take drugs but you smuggle them into the country so you can ruin other people’s lives?”
“No. I don’t touch drugs period! Ashley, I want to tell you the whole story but I can’t. All I can say is I am not what you think I am. In a couple of weeks the drugs charges will disappear. But you have to keep that to yourself for now.”
She took his hand but just as she stood, she stumbled and he had to catch her. She ended up held close to his chest. She didn’t want to move. He looked down at her and before she knew it, the impulse to kiss him almost undid her. She jumped back.
“Sorry,” she apologized, “I’m not normally clumsy.”
“Don’t apologize. I liked it.” He smiled at her, sending the butterflies in her stomach into orbit.
“Listen I have to go. I have to think about what you said.”
“Ashley, I know it’s a big deal to ask but please trust me. I have reasons why I am here but they are not mine to share. But I swear on everything I value, I never have or plan to be involved in any way with drugs.”
She wanted to believe him, every instinct in her body told her he was telling the truth. But could she trust him? She had trusted Scott and look what had happened.
“I will see you tomorrow.”
He looked so disappointed she was tempted to stay. But it was best for both of them if she left now. She walked toward her truck half hoping he would come after her but he didn’t.
Chapter 29
Ashley left her home early the next morning and was at the ranch before Mack even arrived. His expression showed his surprise but he didn’t comment. They worked in silence before Loretta rang the triangle calling them for breakfast.
She tried to ignore Adam but she couldn’t. Even if he didn’t say anything, she was aware of him. He didn’t try to engage with her in any way yet she was still overly conscious of his presence. It was a relief to leave the table.
“Mack, I am going to take Devil out to the far range and check for holes in the fence. Okay?”
Mack did a double take but thankfully he just waved her off. She knew he understood she needed some time alone even if he didn’t understand why. As she rode through the meadow, she tried to make sense of her jumbled thoughts. How could she be so attracted to someone like Adam? She hated drugs but then he said so did he. But yet he was here having been arrested for drug smuggling. But he had asked her to trust him, implying all was not as it seemed. So what was going on?
Adam worked hard all day doing whatever chores Mack gave him. He couldn’t stop as then his thoughts took over. He had to tell Ashley the truth. But he had given his word to Andersen. That was before he knew someone like her existed. She was everything he wanted in a woman. Loyal, caring, hardworking, attractive, made him laugh. If he had written a list and sent it to Santa, she couldn’t be more perfect. Aside from the fact she believed him to be guilty of being involved in drugs.
“You got a lot on your mind son, that’s the third time you polished that bridle.”
“Sorry Mack.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“Would love to but I can’t.”
“For what it’s worth, I think your cop friend would understand.”
Startled Adam looked up. Mack grinned.
“I was right. Go on lad. Go find her and tell her. You don’t have to tell her the whole story but enough to know. You could trust Ashley with the access code to the White House. She would never tell anyone anything.”
“Thanks Mack.”
“She will be back soon. You should find her over where you were chatting last night.”
Adam chuckled as he walked away. Nothing much escaped Mack.
Mack was right, he found Ashley just where Mack had said.
“Oh hi. I didn’t know you would be working here.”
“I’m not. Mack said to come speak to you. Do you have time?” Adam asked praying she said yes. He wanted to clear the air between them. He wanted her to look at him without the doubtful wary expression he saw in her eyes.
She was going to say no, he knew that by the expression on her face.
Chapter 30
“Actually, I was going for a walk. Just want to do a final check on everything. Want to come?” Where had that come from? She wanted to open her mouth and press rewind.
“I’d love to, thanks.”
He smiled again, his eyes lighting up. She wished he wouldn’t. It made concentrating on anything more difficult. What could they talk about? The silence between them while not uncomfortable, couldn’t last forever.
“So tell me about your family,” she said. Oh that was really cool, not! She sounded like her mother talking to someone she had met for the first time.
“I know you don’t have any kids but given how cool you are with them, I’m guessing you have nieces or nephews?”
“No, none. The only child around is Skye, the little girl I told you about. The Malone men have been rather tardy about settling down. Drives Mam mad. She wants to be a grandmother yesterday.”
“Your mom sounds like a nice lady. Do you get on well?”
“We did until I messed things up.”
She wanted to ask was that beca
use of the drugs but she didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere either. So she stayed silent.
“I suppose as families go we get along very well. With six children, there were a lot of fights growing up but my parents let us get on with it. They only interfered if Caitlin was involved. Her being a girl and everything. Although she can defend herself better than any of the rest of us.”
“I would love a sister or brother. Being the only one left sucks.”
The raw pain in her face cut him to the core. He reached out to push the hair out of her eyes, wanting to give her a hug but he wasn’t sure she would like that.
“Sorry, I guess I sound selfish. I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose one of my siblings. Even Caitlin and she drives me nuts.”
“What age is she?”
“Sixteen going on thirty. Honestly, she is the worst of the lot of us. She has my ma going grey.”
“Girls are harder than guys I suppose. More to worry about.” She didn’t look at him.
“Yeah maybe. My parents are very protective. Even more so now.”
“Now?”
“Ashley, there is something I need to tell you. I need you to know that everything you think you know about me isn’t true. It wasn’t me who smuggled the drugs in. But I cannot tell you anything else about it.”
“Why are you here then?” she asked wanting to believe him. The fact that he wasn’t involved fitted with the man she had come to know. But still he was here and had been dropped off by the police.
“That’s the part I can’t explain. All I can tell you is that I am innocent but you have to keep that to yourself. I can’t tell anyone else. Not even my family.”
“So that’s why they are annoyed with you? They believe you to be guilty.”
They hadn’t even considered the possibility he was innocent. That was the bit that hurt most. Here he was trying to persuade a stranger to accept his word. Only she wasn’t a stranger. He was closer to her than anyone else he knew, although that seemed weird. He looked at her. She seemed to be waiting for him to say something.
“Yes they do. In fairness it helps the whole case if they act that way so I cannot persuade them otherwise. Anyway, since I messed up. Caitlin hates me. She’s a really talented drummer, wanted to take my place in the band but our parents wouldn’t let her. I messed that up as well.”
“Sixteen’s a bit young for touring and stuff. You probably did her a favor in the long term. She’s too young to know that now. It’s tough enough being a teenager without having to cope with the pressures fame would bring.”
He moved closer to her, taking her hand. She didn’t withdraw but smiled up at him. He wanted to kiss her but maybe he should go slowly.
“Yeah being a teenager was the pits. All those raging hormones. I don’t know how my parents coped with five lads going through those years.”
“You sound like you guys had fun. I always thought a big family would be cool.”
“It has its drawbacks. Queuing for the bathroom is one of them.”
“Yeah right. As if.” She nudged him in the shoulder, her eyes dancing as she teased him.
“I’m serious. We lived in a one-bathroom house. There were three bedrooms. Caitlin shared with my parents until she was about three or four. Then Da converted the attic so we could have another room. Still only one bathroom though.”
“I assumed you grew up in a huge house. Given your success.”
Thinking of the house in Darndale being luxurious made him laugh.
“Nope. We grew up on what you call a housing estate. There were about two hundred houses, all exactly the same size but in a choice of four colors. They were built around a store, a pub, and a church. Then the council came along and built more houses and some schools. Few of the men had jobs, so they hung around the street corners until the pubs opened. The women did the grafting, finding ways of earning money to keep the kids fed. We were lucky. Da never was a big drinker and he held down a steady job. Still, it wasn’t easy for them. They had to raise six kids on a small wage. We didn’t go hungry. I guess we made our own fun. We used to build tents and forts out the back garden. You know, the sort of things you can do which don’t cost a lot of money.” Adam hesitated. Camilla would have been teasing him at this point about being the poor little rich boy. She was always sneering at him for something or other. Being Irish or coming from a poor background or whatever.
“I’m probably boring you. I tend to go on about my family too much.”
“It sounds great. Not exactly what I pictured.”
“So you were thinking about me?” He watched her face closely as a wave of pretty pink colored her cheeks.
Chapter 31
“No. What? Of course not. I just assumed you were the same as the others. You know.”
“Relax Ashley. I’m teasing. This is amazing, isn’t it? The sky is so clear you could see the way to the moon. Do you walk out here a lot?”
“Yes. I love it. It’s so peaceful. I’d hate to live in a town or a city. Where you can’t hear anything above the sound of the traffic and people roaring at each other,” she said.
“Do you think you’ll own something like this one day? Is that your dream?” he asked.
“My dream?”
“Yeah. We all have dreams. I wanted to be Spider-Man when I was younger. I thought all those webs would be super cool.”
“Spiders. Yuck. Snakes or anything else is cool, but spiders? I hate them. I know girly right?”
“Stop dodging the question. What was the dream?”
“It was silly really. Okay, maybe not as silly as Spider-Man. I wanted to take over my dad’s ranch. But first I wanted to train as a children’s therapist. Not like a psychiatrist, but one who uses play therapy to help kids like Gracie and David.”
“Cool, you would be great at that. Why didn’t you go for it?”
She gazed at him as if waiting for him to see something. Then it hit him.
“Money, right?”
“Yes, Mr. Millionaire. Money. Just a five-letter word but it has the power to kill more dreams than any super villain.”
“Sorry, I was crass. I sometimes get so carried away I forget. So can you not study while you work? You know so, someday, maybe you could follow your dream?”
“I’ve thought about that, but it would mean leaving here. If I got a job on a ranch specializing in helping kids it would give me credits toward the course. But…”
“Your parents need you to be close by?”
“Yeah, something like that. Anyway, enough about me. What’s your dream? Now you have realized Spider-Man isn’t an option and you’ve already achieved financial success.”
Adam stared up at the sky just in time to see a star streak across the inky background. A wishing star, his ma used to call them.
“Adam? Now, who’s stalling?”
“Sorry, I was thinking. I guess I don’t have any.”
“No dreams? Sorry, don’t buy that. If you don’t want to tell me, it’s fine but you said everyone has dreams.”
He turned to look at her, which was a big mistake. She was fast becoming part of his dream. He’d known for weeks now that he liked her. But could he tell her? What if she ran? What if she didn’t?
“I guess I want what Mack and his wife have. A partnership based on love. Someone to believe in me, for me, rather than the image I have as a rock star.” He kicked the dirt at his feet. She moved closer. He could smell the coconut shampoo she used. His neck stiffened as he waited.
“Adam, that’s the sweetest thing I think a guy ever said.”
“Great. I’m soppy.”
“No, you’re sweet.” She glanced at his eyes before her gaze flickered to his lips and back to his eyes. She leaned in slightly closer. “I think you should pursue your dream,” she whispered.
He brought his lips to meet hers. She tasted like coffee. His lips brushed hers, yet his skin shivered from the top of his scalp. He took her hand.
“I like you, Ash
ley.”
“I like you too.” She kissed him this time. He let her control the kiss, sensing she needed it. Then she pulled his hand. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”
They walked hand in hand closer to a small river he had seen but never explored. Sitting by the bank, they sat, hands entwined. “Look closely. What do you see?”
Chapter 32
He stared into the water, wondering if he was expected to see fish or something else. Were there water snakes around this part of the country? He kept looking but couldn’t see anything.
“Look closer,” she said, leaning over the river so far, he thought she might fall in. Instinctively he tightened his grip on her despite the shot of pain through his fingers.
“Careful. You’ll get wet. Do you mean that shiny stuff?”
“That’s gold.”
“Seriously?”
“Fool’s gold. See the way the edges are sharp? Real gold has smoother edges. In the olden days, people used to find gold around these parts. So when we were kids, Kayleigh and I used to go panning for gold in this river but farther upstream on my dad’s place. We thought we might find a real nugget. I don’t know how many hours we spent panning for gold. It was silly really, but dad showed us a TV program in which a young girl found a nugget and changed her family’s life.”
“Treasure hunting. Did anyone ever find any gold around here? Like recently?”
“No, not for years. Unless they did and they aren’t saying.”
They sat in silence looking into the river, the moonlight now playing on the water. He saw another shooting star, this time via its reflection in the water.
“Did you ever make a wish on a shooting star?” he asked.
“No. Did you?”
“Sometimes. It was for silly things like toys from Santa or a test at school or a kiss from Siobhan.”
“Sivaun? Say it again. Is that an Irish girl’s name?”
