Summer on Main Street

by Crista McHugh

  But why did you do it, Dad? Even if someone had set him up, even if someone planted the drugs and spiked his drink, what was he doing in a car with a girl younger than his own daughters? Tears started up, and as Ash made her way back to Lycian Street, she braked hard and edged to the curb. She didn’t know. She couldn’t find the answers. And she didn’t trust herself to ask her father.

  She looked up and saw a dark house. If Eddie was home, he’d turned off all the lights, even the porch one they always kept burning. Now it looked like all the other buildings on the block: lifeless and cold. She raised both hands to her face and wept.

  Chapter Nine

  Ash balanced a grocery bag in the crook of each arm and propped open the front door. She blew her bangs off her forehead. Where was the mild summer the weatherman had promised back in May? Each day in Paradise, she’d woken to nothing but humid temperatures that hovered around ninety. No rain, no relief, just heat and heaviness pouring down from above. At only noon on a Saturday, she’d already soaked through a T-shirt on her way back from the store.

  “Ugh.” She let the bags slide to the floor and checked her mailbox. She’d worked well past midnight last night, thanks to a lively crowd that kept the band playing long after regular closing. She really couldn’t complain, though, not with a pocket full of tips that totaled well over a hundred dollars.

  Someone giggled.

  Ash closed the rusted door to her mailbox and spun around. She frowned. No one on the porch. No gaggle of pre-teen girls walking along the sidewalk. She heard it again: a giggle, definitely feminine. Turning in a slow circle, she eyed Eddie’s door.

  “Woman stays the night, things get complicated…”

  She swallowed. Looked as though Eddie had set himself up for some complications after all. She negotiated the paper bags back into her arms, wanting to get upstairs as quickly as she could. Sure, her housemate was entitled to entertain whoever he wanted, whenever he wanted, but that didn’t mean she had any interest in seeing who it might be. They hadn’t spoken since that night in the bar, and she’d done her best to keep it that way. What would she say to him, anyway?

  Ash turned away, but not quickly enough. Eddie’s door opened, and a petite blonde stepped into the foyer. Eddie followed. At their feet trotted the kitten, batting at the blonde’s heels.

  “Y’all are too much,” she said, with a nudge at Eddie’s chest. “I don’t believe a single thing you say.” The words floated on the air, laced with a southern accent. Her mouth crinkled up at the edges as she laughed. Eddie scooped up the kitten and, with a rough pet across the top of its head, steered it back inside his apartment. The moment he shut his door, though, it began to cry, in plaintive little mews that broke Ash’s heart.

  She stared at a patch of wall behind Eddie’s head, one knee propped under a grocery bag that had begun to seep something sticky.

  “Oh, hi,” the blonde said. “I didn’t see you standing there.”

  Ash felt her grip loosening. “Hi.”

  “I’m Savannah,” she added.

  Ash fought back a smile. Savannah? Did people really name their children such things? Yet somehow it fit this model-thin woman standing in the entryway, smelling like Eddie’s soap and flushed with morning lovemaking. Her fingers threw long, thin shadows on the walls as she adjusted her ponytail, like anemone waving in ocean breezes. Ash looked down at her own knotty knuckles and wondered if Eddie noticed hands as much as she did.

  “Ash,” she said after a minute. “I live upstairs.”

  “Oh.” The blonde’s eyes widened. “You’re the lawyer, right?”

  Ash shot Eddie a look. He’d told his bed bunny about her? While something about that pleased her, down deep where she didn’t dare analyze it, she didn’t need too many people knowing about her past. Least of all someone who probably chattered to half of Paradise on a daily basis. Ash should have known better. She should have kept it all to herself, every last detail. It was just safer that way.

  “Well, sort of. I haven’t passed the bar exam yet.”

  Savannah shook her head. “Wow. I couldn’t even make it through two semesters at JC. Too boring.”

  Ash’s back began to ache. She glanced at Eddie. Say something. Don’t just stand there. But he didn’t. Not to her, anyway. He just put his arm around Savannah’s waist after a minute and led her out into the morning.

  Ash watched them go, and jealousy sparked a hot stone in her stomach. That’s what he likes? A ditzy bottle-blonde who barely made it out of high school? She slid to a seat, knees rubbery. Raspberry jelly had leaked through one bag, gluing her shorts to her legs. She rubbed her temples and told herself not to care.

  She'd barely had a half-dozen conversations with him. He wasn't her type, anyway. He spent two years in college. She went to Harvard. He spent his life in Paradise, and she was using it as a place to hide out. He dated a different woman each week. She was trying to get over a three-year relationship. He fixed cars, and she—what, Ash? What exactly are you going to do with yourself now that you’ve decided that a hundred-thousand dollar degree isn’t going to work out the way you’d planned?

  As if on cue, her cell began to ring.

  Ash pulled the phone out of her pocket and checked the screen. Her oldest sister. Terrific.

  “Hello?”

  “Ashton? Where are you?” Jessica Kirk-Malloy’s voice, no-nonsense and demanding an answer, spat through the receiver.

  “What do you mean, where am I?”

  “Don’t play stupid. I know you moved out of your apartment. I saw Colin last week.” She paused, and the edges of her words softened a little. “I didn’t know you two broke up. Sorry.”

  Like you really care. “Yeah, well, things weren’t working out.”

  “Mm hmm.” Jess paused. “So what happened? Dad knows you turned down the job at Deacon and Mathers, by the way. He’s furious. You know he went to school with Bill Mathers, right?”

  Of course she knew. It was all he’d talked about after they offered her the position. It was the other, unspoken, reason Ash hadn’t felt right about taking it. She wanted to prove herself after law school, make it on her own. Finding out her father had pulled strings had soured her on the whole deal.

  “Mom says you’ve been avoiding her calls.”

  “I haven’t been avoiding them. She just calls when I’m sleeping. Or working.”

  “So you can’t call her back?”

  “And say what?” Ash exploded. “How’s life on the home front? Is Dad ready for the hearing? Tell me, Jess, did he call in another favor to avoid jail time, or is that the next headline I’m going to read when I pick up the paper?”

  “Don’t be cruel.”

  What am I supposed to be, then? The good little daughter, who stands by her family no matter what?

  “When are you coming home?” Jess tried another line of questioning.

  “I’m not.”

  Pause. “What does that mean?”

  Ash rubbed at the stain on her shorts. Her fingers came away red. “It means I’m taking some time off this summer, okay? Yeah, I left Boston for a while. To get my head straight. Sorry if you and Anne have to handle the media circus by yourselves. But I can’t do it anymore. I just can’t.” To her surprise, Ash began to cry. Little choking noises broke from her lips.

  Jess didn’t say anything.

  “Don’t tell Mom and Dad, please?”

  “What am I supposed to say when they ask?”

  “That I’m subletting an apartment for the summer.”

  “Where?”

  “New Hampshire.” It was as much as she could say.

  “New—” Jess sputtered for a minute and then ran out of steam. “Fine. I’ll do my best to lie for you.” The guilt stabbed Ash right where she knew her sister meant it to.

  Jess sighed. “You’re sure you’re okay? Do you need anything?” The softness in her voice threw Ash for a minute.

  Jessica Kirk had always been the strong one, in charge
of the three sisters from the time they were little. She was the director of all their backyard plays, the ruler of the tree fort and the sandbox. She was the one who tattled to Mom and Dad, the one who doled out cookies after dinner, the one who turned off the porch light if her younger sisters stayed out after dark. She’d been six going on sixteen going on forty, even back then.

  “I’m okay, thanks. But I have to go. Tell Anne I said hi.”

  “Tell her yourself,” Jess said. “You don’t have to ignore her too.”

  Ash hung up before she could work up to words she knew she’d regret. She grabbed the groceries and hauled them to her apartment. She dropped everything on the kitchen counter and headed for the shower, pulling off her clothes as she went. She could picture Jess dialing their other sister, gossiping about where poor little Ash had ended up. They’d laugh, the two of them, with their wonderful law degrees and gung-ho political campaigns. They’d laugh and wonder how Ash had turned out so different from the rest of the Kirk family.

  She turned on the shower, left it cold, and stepped under the stream of water. The chill took her breath away, and for an instant she was glad. At least goose bumps might make her forget where she was. Eddie. The blonde. Her father. Jess. Ash let the water run down her back and shivered. At that particular moment, everything in her life seemed twisted up and wrong.

  Every single thing.

  Chapter Ten

  Ash turned the key in the ignition. Nothing. Not a single sound. Not a click or a cough. “Damn!”

  Forty minutes past midnight, and here she sat in the back parking lot of Blues and Booze with a car that wouldn’t start. She supposed she’d pushed her luck, what with the sluggish way it had turned over the last few days. Frustrated, she slapped one hand against the steering wheel. No hope now. The thing was completely dead. She glanced at the moon, nearly full. She supposed she could walk home. Everyone kept telling her how safe Paradise was after dark. It was only three blocks back to Lycian Street, anyway.

  She climbed out again, made sure the windows were rolled up and locked her doors. Thunder had rumbled over Paradise for most of the night, and the last thing she needed was her leather interior ruined by rain. Glancing at her watch, she started across the parking lot.

  She’d taken only a few steps when she saw him in the shadows, a man with his hands stuffed in his pockets, watching her. Ash froze. Her stomach clenched with panic, and a thin layer of perspiration broke out on her upper lip. Paradise safe after dark? Yeah, right. Her first night walking home, and she was about to be mugged. Close to eighty dollars in singles bulged in her right front pocket, gas and grocery money for the following week. If this guy stole it, she’d have six dollars to her name. Ash took a step back. She’d taken a self-defense course back in college; what had the instructor always said?

  Do not act or look like an easy target…be confident.

  She lifted her chin, eyes darting from side to side.

  Do not let yourself get blocked in…always have an escape route.

  Ash considered her choices. She could cross the lot and follow Main Street down to the square, cutting behind the church and winding home the back way. She could make her way to Palmetto, the street running behind her, and head for the train station. Sometimes a cab idled there as it waited for late arrivals. Or she could get back in her car, lock all the doors, and call the police from her cell phone.

  Forget that last one. She didn’t need to attract any attention from local authorities. They’d take one look at her driver’s license and identify her as Senator Kirk’s daughter right away. By the following morning, everyone in town would know who she was. And the jokes would start all over again.

  As she stood in the shadowy lot, heart pummeling against her breastbone, the man began to move toward her. Thick arms hung from a solid frame, and he walked with purpose. Oh, God. Forget about the money. What if he grabbed her? What if he tried to rape her?

  She wrapped her right hand around her car keys, working the sharp edges so that they pointed straight at him. Maybe she could stab him between the eyes. Maybe she could kick him in the groin and then stab him between the eyes. Maybe she could—

  “Ash? What are you doing back here?”

  Her heart leapt at his words, an instant before it puddled around her ankles. “Eddie! You scared the hell out of me.” She’d never been so happy to see anyone in her life. Suddenly boneless, her hand flapped against her leg. Her keys slipped through shaking fingers and fell to the ground.

  He bent down and scooped them up. “It’s way past twelve.”

  “I know.” She waved in the direction of her lifeless car. “It wouldn’t start.”

  He frowned. “You should have told me.”

  The concern in his voice washed over her, smooth and warm. The tightness that had rolled around in her stomach the last few days vanished.

  “I didn’t want to bother you.” She paused. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

  Eddie dropped his chin, suddenly fascinated with his shoelaces. He put a hand on the back of his neck, opened his mouth, and then closed it again without saying anything. When he answered after a long minute, his voice was gruff. “Knew you weren’t home. Wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  Ash bit her bottom lip as her cheeks flamed. He’d been sitting up? Waiting for her? Worrying about her? She smiled. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just tired.”

  “So let’s go.” Dropping one arm across her shoulders, he pulled her close, squeezing for a moment before backing away again. “I’ll come down, take a look at your car tomorrow morning.”

  “Really? Thanks.”

  They headed across the lot to where it opened onto Main Street and walked in silence. Ash tried to keep her short stride up with Eddie’s longer one. Curiosity got the better of her after a few minutes. “What happened to Savannah?”

  He didn’t answer.

  “Eddie? Hello?” Maybe she'd gotten the name wrong.

  “It was just a date,” he said.

  “Oh.” Ash dodged a trashcan that had rolled into the sidewalk. “You gonna see her again?”

  He glanced over. “Don’t know. Maybe.”

  “That’s a no.” She elbowed him. “What’s wrong with you?”

  He stopped short on the corner of Elm Street. “Nothing, last time I checked. Why?”

  “You know you’re totally self-destructive, right?”

  “What’re you talking about?”

  “This whole thing where you go out with women once or twice, show them a good time, get them thinking maybe you like them, and then never go out with them again…”

  “I like women, Ash. What’s wrong with that? One date doesn’t mean I want to get serious with anyone. I like to keep my options open.”

  “Well, that’s obvious.”

  He frowned. “Now you’re mad at me? Are we fighting again?”

  “No. Sorry. I just meant…you give women the wrong idea, I think.”

  “I never make promises. Not to any of them.”

  Yeah, I know. That’s what breaks their hearts.

  A white pick-up truck missing a taillight rolled past them. The horn beeped, and Eddie raised a hand in greeting.

  “You know him?”

  He laughed. “Know just about everyone in Paradise.”

  Ash considered that for a minute. “Does it ever bother you? You ever want to live somewhere else? Somewhere people don’t know your business?” The question, from deep in her soul, burned as it crossed her lips.

  He shrugged. “Not really. Thought about it a couple of times, but I’m settled here, you know?”

  They walked a few more paces.

  “Thing is,” Eddie continued, “I don’t think other places, small towns or big cities, are any better at hiding out in.”

  She jerked at his words and stumbled over a tree root growing through the pavement. “I didn’t say anything about hiding out.”

  “No, I know.” He waved a hand. “I just meant that…well…everyon
e thinks the grass is greener. If they live in a small town, they think they got to move to a city. If they live in a city, they think a place like Paradise is better. Less scandal or corruption or something. But I gotta tell you, people have the same problems no matter where they go. Big city or small town, people get hurt. Friends steal from each other. Men cheat on their wives. Kids sneak out at night and get drunk while their parents think they’re sleeping. People get divorced, leave home, desert their kids. And people sure as hell die, same as every other place.”

  He looked at the sky, as if counting the stars strewn out like a map above them. “At least here in Paradise, you know someone’s got your back. You know there’s always someone you can count on, someone you grew up with who’s gonna forgive you no matter how bad you screw things up.” They turned the corner onto Lycian Street. “So no, I’ve never really wanted to live anywhere else.”

  Ash thought about that as they turned into the walk leading up to their house. Safety in a small town, huh? She wasn’t sure she could believe it. But then again, why had she moved here, and why was she staying, unless something about the way a no-name village drew its arms around her felt right? She glanced sideways at her neighbor. For a guy who hadn’t ever left his hometown, Eddie West sure seemed to know a lot about the ways in which the world worked.

  “Thanks for walking me home.”

  “No problem.” He dug his hands into his pockets. One dimple popped as he smiled at her.

  “See you tomorrow, I guess.”

  “See ya.”

  She felt his eyes on her back all the way up the stairs.

  ***

  Eddie pulled into the employee parking lot behind Frank’s Imports just shy of nine the next morning. Ash’s car, he saw, had been towed and dropped in front of the shop. Good. He pulled on a faded blue baseball cap and headed inside.

  “What’s up with the Volkswagen?” Frank sat behind his desk, feet propped up, hands laced behind his bald head, an unlit cigar clamped between his teeth.