Rescued Heart

by Georgia Beers

  “It’s nice to meet you, too,” Ashley said and meant it.

  “What are you having?” her dad asked. “And where’s your date?” He made a show of looking past her and Ashley laughed.

  “She’s running a little late. She’ll be here.” As her father signaled the bartender, she added, “I’ll have a Cosmo.”

  “Girly drink,” Rick scoffed, then winked at her.

  “A delicious girly drink,” Ashley amended and bumped him with her shoulder. As she waited for her cocktail, she watched Kelly chat up Diana. She knew her sister well and could tell by her direct eye contact that she was sizing up their father’s new woman, trying to get the lowdown. With a grin, she silently commended Kelly, whose questions were just shy of “What are your intentions with my father?” Drink in hand, Ashley moved so she stood near the two of them and could be included in the conversation.

  Diana turned to her. “So, Ashley, your father tells me you work in a bakery?”

  “I do. Been there since I was seventeen.”

  Diana made a show of looking her up and down. “And you don’t weight 350 pounds. Impressive.”

  “She should be running that place by now,” Kelly said, looking at Ashley over the rim of her gin and tonic.

  Ashley gave a half-shrug as she thought about her recent attack of mettle and wondered if it might stick. “Maybe one of these days.”

  “So,” Kelly said, focusing her gaze on Diana. “You and my dad.”

  Diana had the good sense to blush when she grinned and Ashley knew right at that moment that this was an important relationship for Diana. They already suspected their father was hooked, but Diana’s reaction to Kelly’s simple statement made it clear the feelings were mutual.

  “Yeah,” Diana said, then took what looked like a nervous sip of her wine as she glanced at Rick, who was deep in conversation with his son-in-law. “Me and your dad. He’s…kind of amazing.”

  “We like him,” Kelly said.

  Before she could add to the conversation, Ashley felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket. She pulled it out and saw the text from Lisa, who was in the parking lot.

  Meet you at the front door, Ashley texted back, then excused herself.

  Lisa looked stunning, and Ashley actually stopped in her tracks at the sight. She wore a brightly colored skirt in blues and greens that flowed around her legs like a gentle wave. On top was a sleeveless, lightweight sweater in a shade of green that both matched the skirt and accentuated Lisa’s eyes. Golden highlights glimmered in her hair where a streak of sunshine came through a nearby window. When Ashley recovered herself, she walked right up to Lisa and wrapped her in a hug. “You look ridiculously gorgeous,” she said in her ear.

  Lisa’s cheeks had pinkened when they parted. “Thanks. How’s it going?”

  “Great,” Ashley replied excitedly. “I haven’t been here that long, but I think my dad really likes this woman and she seems to like him just as much. My sister is giving her the third degree.” Running her hand down Lisa’s bare arm, she then grasped her hand. “Come on. I can’t wait for you to meet my family.”

  The bar was still bustling with happy hour customers and Ashley had to jostle her way through a couple of groups, politely murmuring apologies as she asked for space to get by. “Hi there,” she heard a man say and when she turned back, he was smiling at Lisa.

  Can’t blame the guy.

  They got to the corner where Ashley’s father, sister, brother-in-law, and Diana were all laughing about something. Steve and Diana had their backs to Ashley and Lisa. Ashley’s dad’s face broke into a wide grin as she saw them.

  “Well, hello there,” he said as he stepped around Kelly. “You must be my daughter’s…” He paused as if he wasn’t sure exactly how to label Lisa. “Date,” he settled on. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  As he held out his hand to Lisa, Diana turned around and her expression of joy slid right off her face like a greased mask as Ashley watched. In her hand, she felt Lisa’s stiffen, then pull away, and when Ashley turned to look at her, Lisa’s face had a very similar expression. In fact, now that they were facing each other, Ashley realized that Diana and Lisa looked very much alike.

  “Lisa,” Diana said, and the expression on her face was a strange combination of happiness and nerves.

  “Mom,” Lisa replied, answering all Ashley’s questions with that one word. Rick, Steve, and Kelly all stood in silence, sporting looks of discomfort and confusion. Turning to Ashley, Lisa said quietly, “You know what? I’m going to go.”

  “What?” Ashley’s eyes widened. “Why?”

  “I need to go,” was Lisa’s vague and unhelpful response. She turned and headed back toward the door.

  “Lisa. Wait.” Ashley followed her, being much less polite this time as she pushed through groups of happy, tipsy people who seemed to have multiplied in number since five minutes ago. By the time she got to the front door and pushed her way to the street, Lisa was walking quickly across the parking lot. Ashley called her again and jogged toward her. “Wait,” she said emphatically as she caught up.

  Lisa pushed the button on her keychain and her car door clicked. She pulled it open.

  Ashley put a hand on the door. “What the hell are you doing?” she asked, trying to keep her voice somewhat calm.

  “I have to go.”

  “So you said. Why?”

  Lisa gave her a look of exasperation. “Because that was my mother in there.”

  “Yeah, I got that when you called her Mom. Why are you leaving?”

  Lisa closed her eyes, inhaled through her nose and blew it out slowly, as if exercising patience with a small child. “I…” She looked off into the parking lot.

  “Look,” Ashley said. “I know you have baggage with your mom. I get that.”

  “Understatement. I have an entire set of luggage.”

  Ashley nodded. “I know.”

  “Yeah, except you don’t.” When Lisa turned her eyes back to Ashley then, they were the same icy green they’d been the first few times Ashley had met her. Distant. Cold. “I need to go.” She sat in the driver’s seat and Ashley needed to move her hand or lose a couple fingers. She took a step back in disbelief as Lisa shut the door, started the engine, and pulled away, never once looking back.

  Ashley stood in the parking lot for long moments, staring after Lisa’s car even once it was long gone. She took a deep breath, took stock of her emotions, trying to figure out how she actually felt. She was hurt. She was angry. But most of all, she was disappointed. Folding her arms across her chest, she took in a deep, irritated breath and blew it out, then headed back into the bar.

  How were there magically another fifty people in the bar since she’d left it five minutes ago? She tried not to be rude as she pushed through to where her family still stood, all of them looking at her with expectant sympathy—except for Diana, who just looked miserable.

  “Everything okay?” her father asked as Ashley picked up her drink and took two, long, very large gulps of it.

  “Oh, yeah. Everything is awesome.”

  A warm hand rested on her forearm and when she glanced up, Diana was looking at her with eyes that, now that Ashley knew who she was, were remarkably like Lisa’s, aside from color. “I’m really sorry,” she said quietly, and the pain on her face was obvious.

  “Your daughter’s kind of a pain in the ass,” Ashley said with a humorless chuckle. “I’m learning her, and I’ve discovered that this is what she tends to do when something is uncomfortable.”

  “She shuts down and leaves,” Diana said with a nod, then signaled the bartender for a refill. “I know. I’m sure that’s my fault.”

  “Maybe. But she’s also not twelve.”

  Diana nodded again, but said nothing, obviously trying to tread carefully.

  Ashley wanted to scream. She wanted to shout. She wanted to throw breakable glassware and punch walls and grab the guy next to her by his shirt and shake him. Hard. She did none of those thin
gs. Instead, she sipped the remainder of her drink like a civilized person, ordered herself another, and turned to her family. She caught her father’s worried gaze before he had time to wipe it off his face, and she smiled at him reassuringly.

  “I think we should order some food. Anybody else hungry?”

  Agreement all around was a good thing, and everybody seemed relieved that she’d broken the tension. This was good. Some calm. Some time with her family. Some good food and a little bit of alcohol. All of it was good.

  And it would give her to time to think about her next move.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  It was 9:23 when Lisa snapped the very last piece of the puzzle into place with a triumphant—albeit quiet—whoop. She knew this because Tiny was on a bookshelf he should not be on, standing near the clock. Her bare feet made no sound as she crossed the room and gently picked him up. Nuzzling his soft fur with her nose, she said, “You know better, Mister. What happens if you fall? Or worse, break something of mine I really like? Hmm?” She kissed the top of his head and set him down, then righted the knick-knacks he’d bumped out of place.

  Deciding one more cup of tea might be nice—and that making it and focusing on mundane things like beverage concoction and puzzle completion kept her from dwelling on more important things—she took her empty mug into the kitchen, turned the kettle back on and waited for the water to heat up, wondering, not for the first time, if a Keurig made any sense. Her father loved his. The one at work was fabulous. She knew she could buy tea for it as well as coffee.

  “I don’t know,” she said to Keeler, who was sprawled on the kitchen floor like road kill. “I hate the idea of all those little plastic cups ending up in a landfill. What do you think?”

  Before the dog could offer his opinion, there was a knock on her door. Furrowing her brow, she glanced at the clock on the stove, assuring herself that, indeed, it was still after nine p.m.

  When she pulled the front door open, Ashley didn’t wait for an invitation. Like last time, she didn’t even wait for a hello. She just blew into the townhouse like a storm, which was a good analogy, Lisa realized when Ashley turned to her and she saw the mix of anger, frustration, and disappointment on her face. Definitely stormy.

  Ashley paced the living room and the cats didn’t know what to make of this movement. Tiny watched from the couch. Groucho stood in a corner paying very close attention to Ashley’s moving feet. Hubbard was on a chair, her head moving slightly to follow Ashley’s path. Clyde was near the stairs, but his one good eye was focused on the visitor. Even Keeler, who would normally want the company’s attention, kept his distance as if he felt the crackle of energy in the room.

  Taking a deep breath, Lisa stepped into the living room. She didn’t have to wait long. Ashley stopped pacing and looked at her, then made a gesture with her finger, back and forth between the two of them.

  “Is there something here?”

  Lisa cocked her head. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, is there something here?” She made the same gesture. “Between me and you. Is there something or have I just been hallucinating?” Her voice was sharp and angry.

  Lisa cleared her throat. “No, there’s something,” she said, annoyed by the tremor in her voice.

  “Okay. Good. Glad we established that.” Ashley looked off into space as if searching for her next words, and Lisa was surprised by how beautiful she looked. Her skin was flushed, her blue eyes flashing. She looked confident, which was unusual. She looked sexy, which was not. “Is it something you’d like to pursue? I thought we’d been pretty clear about that, but I could be wrong.” Her voice was still sharp and heated, tinged with a hint of sarcasm.

  Lisa felt small. Embarrassed. But she answered. “I’d like to pursue it.”

  “Okay. Good.” Ashley turned and walked to the sliding glass door, stared out for a moment, then returned to the center of the room. Lisa was afraid to move, so she stayed rooted to the same spot. “This is the last time I’m doing this. For the record.”

  “Doing what?” Lisa asked.

  “Chasing you when you run away like a child.”

  “Oh.”

  Ashley looked her in the face and nodded slowly. “Yeah.” Then her expression seemed to soften as she said, “You’re not a child.”

  “I know.” Lisa reached up to fiddle with her earring.

  “I have an idea.”

  When Lisa looked up at her, Ashley’s expression had completely changed. Gone was the anger, the irritation. Instead, she saw only gentle kindness and hope. Resigned, she said, “Tell me.”

  “We’re going to role-play.”

  Lisa blinked at her. “I’m sorry?”

  “Yeah.” Ashley moved to the chair and perched on the edge of it so as not to disturb Hubbard—who looked disturbed anyway. “I’ll be your mom. You sit there on the couch and you tell me everything you’ve wanted to say to her all these years but never have.”

  The scoff was out of her mouth before Lisa could stop it. “Yeah, right.”

  Ashley tilted her head. “Really? Do you have a better idea? Because going on like this is not an option for me.” The sharpness was back in her voice and Lisa blinked at her again, startled. “You running away and shutting me out every time something is uncomfortable? Not an option for me.” Her eyes bored into Lisa. “So. Got a better idea?”

  “No,” Lisa said quietly.

  “Okay then. Sit.” Ashley jerked her chin at the couch.

  Lisa did. Keeler, as if sensing the discomfort in the room, squeezed between the couch and the coffee table and sat near Lisa’s feet. She dug her fingers into his fur, tried to draw strength from his solidity.

  “I’m your mother. Talk to me.”

  Lisa sat silently, a combination of too many thoughts and no thoughts at all warring in her head. She stroked Keeler’s silky fur and stared at the surface of the coffee table, absently noting that it needed to be dusted.

  “I left you.” When Lisa looked up at her, Ashley shrugged. “I left you and went away and never looked back. So what?”

  A wave of unpleasant heat coursed through Lisa. She swallowed hard.

  “I had things I needed to take care of,” Ashley went on. “For me. I made a choice.”

  Lisa poked at the inside of her cheek with her tongue. Her knee began to bounce up and down. She swallowed again.

  “Come on, Lisa. Talk to me. Stop acting like such a child.”

  That was it. Something inside Lisa snapped. She felt it, quite literally, in her chest and when she finally looked up at Ashley, the anger bubbled up so fast she could barely contain it. “Stop acting like a child? I was a child. When you left, I was a child. So were Eric and Ben and you didn’t give a crap because you had to find yourself or whatever the hell it was you decided you needed to do instead of raise your children.”

  Ashley nodded, her expression serious, as Lisa looked at her in utter shock over her outburst. “Keep going.”

  Lisa shook her head, touched her fingers to her lips, looked down at Keeler. She didn’t like this, didn’t like feeling this way. She’d rather just tamp it all down, bottle it in. That felt much easier. Safer. “No.”

  “There you go again. Just like a child.”

  “Stop calling me that.”

  “Why? You’re acting like one, like this is such a big deal.”

  “It was a big deal!” Lisa exploded, standing up so fast she scared Keeler and two of the cats, all of whom flew out of the room in panic. “It was a huge deal! What kind of mother just up and leaves her kids without a word? I had to take care of everything. Dad was a useless mess because you wrecked him. You wrecked him. He cried every day for months. The boys weren’t sure what was going on. The house was a disaster. I was supposed to go to college. I was supposed to start living my life. And instead? I had to live yours. I was eighteen years old and I needed my mother. Instead, you forced me to be one!” A sob broke through and Lisa was barely aware of the fact that she was crying heavily
until Ashley crossed the room, wrapped her up and sat them on the couch together.

  And just like that, the wind left Lisa’s sails. All the anger dissipated and nothing was left but a heart wrenching sadness. Turning her face into Ashley’s chest, Lisa cried like she hadn’t cried since the day her mother left.

  Time seemed to cease. Lisa stayed curled up in a ball in Ashley’s arms for what felt like hours. Her sobbing would subside down to little hiccups, but then the emotion would roar back up and she’d start again. Ashley said nothing, simply held her, handed her a clean tissue from the box on the end table when one was needed, and kissed her hair. Lisa couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so warm. So safe. So loved. She closed her eyes and burrowed in closer.

  When she next opened them, it was dark. The living room light was on a timer set to turn off at 11:30 p.m., so she automatically knew it was later than that. The knitted afghan she usually kept on the back of the couch now covered her body and she felt cozy and warm, like she was in her own personal cocoon. One of the cats was curled up in the crook of her knees. She couldn’t see which one, but judging by the gentle, familiar snoring, she assumed it was Groucho, which made a small smile tug at the corners of her mouth.

  Lisa was allowed a few more moments of blissful comfort before her brain reminded her of the events of earlier. The conversation with Ashley, the role-playing, Lisa’s complete and utter meltdown…it all came flooding back and the first thing Lisa wanted to know was where Ashley had gone. She sat up with a start and a small gasp, sending Groucho bolting off the couch and under a chair. She blinked rapidly, allowing her eyes to adjust to the dark and that’s when she turned her head and saw her.