“Did you tell them that you didn’t know about me until recently?” Drew made a face, and Ashleigh had her answer. “How’d they react to that?”
“A tiny bit stunned.” Drew held up her thumb and forefinger.
Ashleigh nodded as the mental picture of what it must have been like to have them all in the same room with Kaitlyn and Drew formed in her mind. “Did any of them seem pissed?”
“Not at all.” Drew shook her head emphatically. “Chantal acted a little put off when we had barely sat down and the redhead…Jaclyn asked about you. I think Chantal was a little embarrassed that Jaclyn was so abrupt.”
Ashleigh smiled genuinely then. “Jac hasn’t changed. Did Alex…what did she ask?”
“Nothing really, she just listened intently. I watched her eyes as we all talked. Her face was expressionless, she’s very hard to read. I got a pretty good idea about all the other personalities,” Drew said. “Vicki is kind of like me, never meets a stranger. Chantal reminds me of Kaitlyn, a little more reserved, but friendly. I can tell Jaclyn is high energy, and Lindsay, even though she was nice to us, I sensed that she’s a bit bitchy. But Alex, I couldn’t read her, that’s why I’m curious.”
“They all sound the same,” Ashleigh said wistfully.
Drew poked Ashleigh in the arm. “So paint a picture of Alex for me.”
“Alex,” Ashleigh said as she began toying with the string on her pants again. “Is…or was…extremely good-looking.” Ashleigh raised a brow at Drew.
“Still so,” Drew said too enthusiastically for Ashleigh’s liking.
“But arrogant. She could turn on that charm and have any woman she wanted eating from her palm. She could be caring and sweet if it got her what she wanted. Alex always zeroed in on a person, then grew bored very quickly…like she did with me.”
“Then what did you see in her, besides the good looks and great body?”
Ashleigh let out a long sigh. “I was a kid, just a stupid kid.”
“So there’s no chance that you’d…”
“Oh, God no, Drew. Even if I didn’t love Erica, there’s no way I’d allow myself to get caught up in her again.” Ashleigh glanced up at the clock and was shocked to see how much time had passed. “Erica should be home soon. I need to go.” She pulled on her shoes eager to be away from Drew’s scrutiny.
Drew slipped a dish of chicken salad into a bag and handed it to Ashleigh as she waited by the door. “Thank you for forgiving me,” she said with a hug.
“I’m still working on the forgiveness part, you little shit.” Ashleigh pushed the door open and stepped out. She looked over her shoulder and smiled. “I love ya, though.”
Chapter Eleven
Erica yawned as she tabbed through the ever-growing list of intra-company e-mail. She lifted the cup to her lips and gulped the lukewarm coffee that she hoped would give her a much-needed push. She couldn’t remember a time when she’d been so tired. She’d not been able to rest. Work was going at a hectic pace; she felt she had to be on top of her game every minute of the day. She felt that way at home, too. She and Ashleigh had settled back into a routine, but she couldn’t allow herself to relax.
Ashleigh was uncharacteristically moody. She’d said many times that she wanted things to be “normal” between them. Erica wasn’t sure what “normal” was anymore. Unspoken words seemed to hang between them; she kept waiting for Ashleigh to put a voice to them.
Lost in thought, she hadn’t noticed that her father had slipped into her office. He was sitting in front of her now, running his forefingers over the cuticles of his thumb, a nervous habit they both shared. “Good morning, Dad, I didn’t see you come in.”
He smiled over at her and took a deep breath before speaking. “I’ve made a decision this week. I think it’s time for me to step back and let you take the reins.”
“You bought the fishing boat, didn’t you?” Erica felt her stomach twist into knots.
“I did better than that. I bought the boat and a camp on Bell River. Your mom is there now getting it all fixed up.”
Kaitlyn waved from the hallway as she passed by the open door. “Katie,” Erica called to her. A few seconds later, Kaitlyn appeared in the doorway. “Would you close the door for me, please?”
“Mornin’, Dad…um, Bob,” Kaitlyn said with a smile as she complied with the request.
“Dad, I don’t think I’m ready for this,” Erica said nervously as she looked down and noticed that she was also rubbing her fingers over her thumbs.
Bob smiled proudly. “You’ve been doing it all for the past couple of months. I’ve merely presided to make sure you could handle it, and you have.”
Erica sat back in her chair; her anxiety was close to reaching its peak.
“You’ve been working here most of your life. This is second nature. I have no doubt whatsoever that you’ll take this place to the next level. Hell, I’ve probably been holding you back.”
Erica absorbed the rare moment of praise with trepidation. He was right—she had been handling the entire operation of the company, but she was comforted by the fact that she could walk into his office anytime she found herself in a jam. Now everything would rest heavily on her shoulders.
“When’s your last day?” Erica asked, already knowing the answer. Gone were the khaki pants and polo shirts replaced by jeans and a T-shirt with Bass Pro Shop emblazoned across the front.
“I’ll be around a few days a week, but you won’t need me. You haven’t needed me for a long time now.” Bob rose to his feet and gave Erica a kiss on the cheek. “There’s no one more qualified or dedicated than you are, precious. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going shopping. I need to restock my tackle boxes.”
“Dad,” Erica said, feeling suddenly very small. “I don’t want to announce this formally yet. Give me some time to adjust?”
“When you’re ready, baby.”
Erica swallowed hard as he opened the door and gave her a huge smile. She listened as he spoke to his former assistant and told her that he’d be out of the office for a few days. All of his calls would be forwarded to Erica.
Erica hit the intercom button and breathed a sigh of relief when Kaitlyn answered. “Would you come in here for a minute?”
“Be right there.” Kaitlyn appeared in her doorway a minute later.
“Close the door, please.”
Kaitlyn did as she was asked and took a seat in front of Erica, looking at her with apprehension.
Erica laughed nervously. “Dad just told me that he’s retired.”
“What?” Kaitlyn asked as though she didn’t understand.
“He just waltzed in here and told me that he bought a camp. We’re on our own.”
“I take it you’re in charge then,” Kaitlyn said as she got over the shock.
Erica sighed and leaned back, staring at the ceiling. “At any other time, this would’ve been kind of exciting—scary, but exciting nonetheless. But now it just seems like another straw on the proverbial camel.”
“You think if you told him what’s been going on, he’d delay his retirement for a while?”
“If I do that, he and Mom will be all up in our business. Mom will no doubt want to talk to Ashleigh, which will piss her off because they’ll know her secret too. That’ll be just one more thing I’ll have to deal with, and right now, I’m at my max.”
“We can handle things around here. We’ve been doing it forever. And when things go back to—”
“Normal?” Erica asked, keeping her eyes on the ceiling.
Kaitlyn was being cautious; Erica could hear it in her voice. She knew that Kaitlyn could see through her carefully constructed façade. “I think…you’re kind of just going through the motions right now. There’s a lot going on in your mind that you haven’t told me, and I know you haven’t shared with Ashleigh.”
Bingo. Kaitlyn had seen right through her, and she knew Ashleigh could too, but unlike Kaitlyn, Ashleigh wasn’t pushing for answers.
“
This is not going to blow over, Erica, at least not for you. It’s festering and you can’t let it go.”
The answers weren’t painted on the ceiling above, though Erica stared at it to avoid making eye contact with Kaitlyn. She’d uttered the words of forgiveness to Ashleigh, but in truth, that’s all they were—just words. She wanted to forgive, but the gnawing betrayal she felt reared its head anytime she wasn’t forcing it down into the deepest recesses she could find within.
“What are you going to do?”
Erica had been asking herself that question, and the answer was always the same. “I don’t know.”
Chapter Twelve
“You’re home early,” Ashleigh said with surprise. “I just got here. I haven’t even started dinner.”
Erica planted a quick kiss on Ashleigh’s lips and tossed her briefcase into her office. “Don’t worry about cooking on my account. I had a late lunch, and I’ll probably eat cereal if I get hungry.” Erica was exhausted; she could hear it in her own voice.
“Bad day?”
“Yes and no.” Erica poured herself a glass of wine and leaned against the counter with a sigh. “Dad retired today. He bought a camp on Bell River and plans to spend most of his time there.”
“But he said he wasn’t going to do that until next summer.”
“He got a wild hair.” Erica shrugged and took a sip of her wine.
Ashleigh opened the fridge and pulled out bacon, lettuce, and a tomato. “You already work long hours, honey, how much is this going to add to your day?”
Erica chewed the inside of her cheek. Her schedule had been a sensitive subject and had resulted in a few arguments. She knew the next one was about to begin. “A lot of work piled up while we were on vacation. I think after I get that caught up, things will level off.”
“Would you like a BLT instead of cereal? I can wait a little while until you’re hungry.”
“Um, yeah.” Erica was caught off-guard. She fully expected Ashleigh to launch into a tirade. Maybe it would come next when she’d have to admit that she needed to spend the evening at her computer. “I’ve got some things to go over. Can you give me about an hour?”
“No problem.” Ashleigh put the food back into the fridge. “I need to do some laundry and a few things around the house. I’ll start dinner a little later.”
Erica was bewildered by Ashleigh’s attitude as she moved into her office. Despite what Ashleigh had thought in the past, she didn’t enjoy coming home and catching up on things she couldn’t finish at work. She would’ve loved to pop in a movie and lounge on the couch until bedtime, but unfortunately, those nights were rare. And if she did take a night for herself, she couldn’t truly relax knowing the unfinished work would still be waiting and growing.
With chores out of the way, Ashleigh found herself restless. An idea brewed in the back of her mind, but she’d kept herself busy to keep from dwelling on it. Actually, the idea had been there for a few days, but she wouldn’t act on it. When the notion first came to her, she flatly refused to consider it, but it came back and kept coming anytime she wasn’t concentrating on something else.
She took the cordless phone and went onto the back porch where she took a seat on the swing. The flowerbeds needed weeding; she could do that. It was mindless work but wouldn’t keep the nagging voice from creeping into her mind. Taking a deep breath, she dialed the number and waited for Drew to pick up.
“We got crabs,” Drew said when she answered.
“How lovely for you and Kaitlyn. You want to stop by the clinic tomorrow? I’m sure we can get rid of your problem.”
“No, ass, we have good crabs. I picked them up at the seafood market today. Y’all wanna come over? I’ve got plenty.”
“Erica has to work, and I…I want to…” Ashleigh pinched the bridge of her nose, questioning her sanity. “I think I want Vicki’s number.”
“Hot damn!” Drew was barely able to contain her excitement. “Got something to write with?”
“No, just give it to me. I’ll dial it as soon as we hang up. If I write it down and give myself time to think about it, I won’t call.”
“Okay, okay, but after you talk to her, call me back. I want to hear all about it.”
Ashleigh dialed the number and stared at it before hitting the talk button on her phone. She found herself praying that she would get voice mail. When she heard Vicki’s voice, she struggled to form a sentence. “Um…hi…Vicki, this is…Ashleigh.”
“Ash.” Vicki sounded as though she’d been holding her breath as she spoke her name. “I was afraid I’d never hear your voice again.”
Ashleigh’s eyes filled with tears, and she was unable to speak. Vicki must’ve heard her sniff and understood that she was going to need help if they were to communicate at all.
“I’ve missed you so much,” Vicki said as her voice broke. “Since meeting Drew, I’ve hoped every day that I’d hear from you.”
Ashleigh smiled and sniffed again. “How are you?” she asked, unsure of what to say.
“Good, but so much better now.”
“I’m sorry, Vicki,” Ashleigh said with a sob.
“It’s okay, honey, it’s okay,” Vicki soothed. “I have a lot to apologize for, too. I should’ve been a better friend to you.”
Ashleigh could no longer hold back the emotion and sobbed helplessly while Vicki tried to comfort her. Vicki finally gave up and let her cry, until she once again was able to speak. “I was going to call you, Vic, but by the time I managed the courage, so much time had passed and I figured that you must’ve hated me by then.”
“You broke my heart, but never once did I hate you. I never could.” Vicki’s voice sounded raspy, and Ashleigh knew that she was doing her best to maintain control.
“I ruined your career.”
“Is that what you thought?” Vicki asked with sadness in her voice. “Baby, you were brilliant, and you did write our hit, but we still had a catalog of music that the record company wanted. We could’ve gone on.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“Don’t you remember how it was? We had to have male escorts for every function. We were stuffed back into the closet so as not to ruin our public image. Boy George wore more makeup than we did, and he didn’t come out for years. Don’t get me wrong, it was fun while it lasted, but the minute we were offered our freedom, we took it. That choice was unanimous. That’s why we’re still together after all this time.”
“But you didn’t seem unhappy then.”
“We didn’t want to ruin things for you and the rest of the girls, but Chantal and I were miserable. I was so homesick, I hated being on the road. We were going to wait until the end of the tour to test the waters and see if y’all were as disillusioned as we were.”
“So you were happy with playing clubs again?”
“Oh, Ash, don’t you remember? We were broke and hungry, but we had a great time. When I look back on it all, that was one of the happiest times of my life, and now we have an even better life. Did Drew tell you about the music store?”
“No, she didn’t, but I wasn’t very kind to her when she confessed to meddling.”
“I’m glad she meddled,” Vicki said. Ashleigh could tell that she was smiling. “If I’d meddled twenty years ago, we might not have spent all this time apart. But then again, I think things happen for a reason.”
Ashleigh smiled and dried her face on her shirt. “I was telling Drew that the other day. I might not have met her and Erica had things been different.”
“When do I get to meet Erica?” Vicki asked, sounding unsure.
Ashleigh hesitated before answering. “I’d really like to see you and Chantal, but I don’t know if I’m ready to see everyone.”
“You don’t have to see anyone else, but you have to see me, and well, Chantal, too.”
“Yeah,” Ashleigh said with a smile. “I’d like that.”
“How about this Saturday?” Vicki said with her voice full of excitement. “I’d l
ove for you to see the house. You can bring Drew and Kaitlyn. We’ll cook out.”
Ashleigh’s heart hammered in her chest as she considered the invitation. “It seems so strange. We haven’t talked in twenty years, but hearing your voice makes it seem like yesterday.”
“I guess with some friends it doesn’t matter how much time passes, it can’t diminish the bond.”
Those words were like balm to Ashleigh’s troubled soul. Years of pain and regret that weighed heavily on her shoulders seemed to lighten with every word Vicki spoke. Vicki was talking nonstop like Drew did when she was nervous. Ashleigh missed half of what she said as she reveled in the sound of her voice.
“So you’ll really come?”
Ashleigh heard herself agreeing. Her legs moved of their own volition as she walked inside and wrote down the address. After the phone call ended and Ashleigh stood in her kitchen looking down at the address, she found it hard to believe that she would be having lunch with Vicki and Chantal the upcoming weekend. How would she tell Erica?
She was still staring down at the address when the phone rang. Without looking at the caller ID, Ashleigh knew who it was. “How were the crabs?”
“Good, but I couldn’t eat that many. I was too excited about your chat. Did it go well?”
“Well…” Ashleigh successfully pulled off sounding somber.
“Oh, what?” Drew’s voice was heavy with disappointment.
“We’re having dinner with Vicki and Chantal Saturday, and you and Kaitlyn are invited.” Ashleigh pulled the phone away from her ear as Drew made a high-pitched squeal.
After the call with Drew, Ashleigh realized that nearly two hours had passed. The cereal bowl in the sink confirmed that Erica had already eaten. She walked into Erica’s office with an apology perched on her lips and stopped when she noticed Erica slumped over the desk. She was snoring softly, her pen still gripped in her hand.
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