Affairs & Atonements (6 page)

“We’ll have to talk about that first, Ash.” Christy trembled.

“I’ll stay.” Ashton added quickly. “You go catch your show and I will talk it over with your mother.”

The boy disappeared out the door, leaving his perplexed mother glaring at her long- lost husband.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she snarled. “You can’t stay. You know very well you can’t stay.”

“And why not?” Ashton challenged her. “You heard the boy. There are rooms available.”

“That’s not the point! You can’t just force yourself into his life. You will have to gradually introduce yourself into it. You’ll hurt him at this pace!”

“Don’t you think we’re a little too late for a
gradual
introduction? The boy is ten years old for god sakes.” He glanced harshly at her. “I missed out on his early years, Christy, and I shall never forgive you for that.”

She paled. “I was afraid. You’ve got to understand that.”

“The only thing I understand is that I have a son who barely knows me. You should be glad I’m not taking this further than I should. I’m only willing to settle this because I don’t want my son suffering as a result of your stupidity.”

“Stupidity?! Have you not heard-?”

“I haven’t finished!” He snapped back. “I’m staying here for two weeks - with him. If there isn’t a room, make one. I’m not going anywhere without spending time with Ash. I don’t care how you feel about it and I certainly don’t care to share your opinions on it. You’re not my concern. Making sure that I get that time with Ashton is the least you can do for me after hiding him away from me all these years!”

*****

She collapsed onto a stool in the kitchen.

“What am I going to do, Margaret?” Christy croaked, almost bursting into tears.

The older, graying woman sat quietly beside her, putting a comforting arm around her.

“It’s done,” Margaret said softly. “There’s nothing more you can do about it except your best to work things out with him. On the brighter side, you don’t have to avoid him anymore. He knows now. And didn’t it turn out far better than you had expected?”

“I’m so scared, Margaret.” She shivered. “What if he changes his mind? What if he decides to take Ash away from me?”

“And what if nothing?” Margaret said, raising her brow. “This is the choice you made and these are the circumstances resulting from that. You’re lucky, Christy, that all he is asking for now is two weeks with his son. Give it to him the best you can. Not only for your sake, but for your son, particularly. So he would be proud of you. And if things get worse, then we’ll all deal with it together- like a family.

She leaned onto the woman’s shoulder. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Margaret.”

“Ssshh,” the woman whispered into her ear as she caressed her head. “That’s enough now.”

Margaret heard them laughing in her living room and she guessed that the deep, hollow bass voice must belong to no other than Ashton Pryor.

‘“Dinner won’t be long.” she announced, interrupting them as she walked in with a tray of two mugs of hot, steaming coffee.

She glanced over at the man seated beside her grandson. He was handsome and chiseled. She could understand why Christy had fallen for him in her teen years.

“You must be Ashton.” She set the tray on the table and strode towards him, her hand stretched out to shake his.

“Hello.” He smiled, taking her hand appreciatively. “I’m sorry I pounced on you so suddenly. I didn’t mean to inconvenience you.”

“Not at all.” She ruffled the younger boy’s hair as he stood by his father proudly. “I’m glad he’s finally met you.” She took in a deep breath. “I’m Margaret Dabney. I used to own the bed and breakfast along with my husband, Evan until three years ago, when he passed away.”

“Used to? You don’t anymore?”

“I suppose I do, technically.” She sighed. “But Christy’s been handling it all this while, it’s almost practically hers. It would be once I’m gone.”

“Is …” He hesitated. “Are you and Christy family?”

“No. But she is now. And we, Dabneys are too darned protective of our families,” she said in a serious tone.

He clearly noted the underlying warning wrapped succinctly within it.

She smiled at the boy again. “Isn’t it so, JR?” The boy grinned and she let out a chuckle. “I will have to get used to the name.”

“I’ll give you three days, Nan.” JR teased.

“Three? That’s far too short,” she exclaimed, joking along with him. “A week. Deal?”

“Yeah, okay.” He turned up his mouth in thought as he mulled over her bargain.

“You might want to start now with the guests though. There’s a small one playing in the lobby. You might want to go introduce yourself to him- as JR.” She winked.

His smile widened with excitement and made to move when he stopped again. “Is it okay if I go?” he asked his father.

Ashton laughed, giving him a friendly pat on his back. “Of course, you can. Get outta here.”

JR flew out of the living room before either of the adults could change their minds.

“He loves making new friends. He’s never been a shy one. Even as a baby.” Margaret smiled after the boy, but then glanced up at Ashton and coughed. “I’m sorry. That was a little insensitive of me.”

“No, that’s totally fine. I am bound to hear such sentiments. He is, after all, a great kid. I’d have to give Christy that. She has raised him well on her own. And of course, you and your husband.” He added quickly. “So thank you.”

“There are no thanks required in being there for the people we love. It is not she who needed us. But we- her. And Ash?” She shook her head with her memories. “He is a true blessing. I’m glad my husband at least got to know that love before he passed away.”

“Thanks for putting up with me,” Ashton said in an attempt to detract her. He could clearly see the torment in her eyes as she recalled the memories of her husband. “I know I’m taking up one of your rented rooms so I will pay for the time I do stay.”

She walked over to the table and picked up one mug, handing it over to him. “I thought we could sit and talk for a while since you will now be an integral part of Ash’s life. You must have some questions you want answered and perhaps I could help you with some of them.”

He took the mug appreciatively, loving the heat of the hot coffee warming his hands.

“If you say you’re not related, how is it that Christy knows you? I don’t remember any Dabney back in Bennett,” he started, hoping he wasn’t being too intrusive.

She settled into a couch chair. There was still a little light left in the horizon, outlining the peak of Mount Rainier.

“I remember sitting right here about this same time when we received that fated call from Megan Eddings. Christy had fled to Los Angeles after she left the hotel. Her mother had given her some cash and she had assumed she could pull it through if she found herself a job. She was tired of her miserable life back in Bennett and you didn’t seem to have made it any easier on her. She must have thought it would just make it easier on everyone if she simply removed herself from their lives. But most of all, she did it for Marshall. She didn’t want to bring more trouble to their marriage which would very likely be once your sister learned of your marriage to Christy.” She took in a deep breath. “She was a mess- that poor child. So many mature problems for a girl as young as she was. Life was so unfair to her. She hung about subway stations and dingy motels the first few days and then she found a job as a waitress. It was at one of those small truck stop restaurants. The work was hard and the pay was little. But she is always so proud of that first paycheck she received. She finally was beginning to think she was going to make it after all. And then she missed her first period and she grew worried. She held onto hope and waited for the next. But when that didn’t come, it broke her heart. Just when she was making something of herself, she was faced with yet another obstacle. It was one she wouldn’t climb over so easily though. She was pregnant and for a woman struggling on her own, the easiest choice she had was to drop it. But Christy…” She shook her head. “Well, Christy is Christy. Abortion didn’t come easy to her. She loves babies and kids. In her desperation, she called Megan Eddings, the only woman in her life who made sense. I was a school teacher a long long time ago and Megan was one of my past students. And even after graduating high school, for some odd reason, Megan and I… we had always stayed connected. She knew Evan and I needed help with the B & B, so she suggested taking in Christy for a little while. I was always a softy when it came to troubled girls. Must have been a habit I carried from my teaching days.” Her eyes lowered as she grew quiet briefly. “I couldn’t turn my back on Christy once I heard her story. Evan and I thought we’d keep her until the baby was born and a little more- just enough time to get Christy back on her feet. But it wasn’t surprising that we gradually got attached to her and then her child. We never had kids of our own, so I guess it became very easy for us to get attached so quickly.”

They sat quietly as the evening crawled upon them, fading out the outline of the mountains in the distance into its dark canvas.

“Thanks for telling me that,” Ashton said slowly. “I don’t think Christy would ever have told me her story.”

“Well, you needed to know it for you to treat her fairly.” She sighed and then stood up to collect the now empty mugs. “Christy can be stubborn sometimes. But that’s because she feels vulnerable. That she would get hurt again. And sometimes smart people make foolish decisions because they’re trying to protect their heart and those of the ones they love.” She stopped again, fiddling with the edges of her tray. “All I’m asking you, Ashton, is that you please be gentle with her.”

She turned and walked wearily out of the room.

Ashton glanced after her. He could tell that life had tired her out. She clearly missed her husband and she wanted the best for Ash and Christy. But he didn’t know if he could give her the latter. He was still angry with Christy and he needed more than two weeks to completely forgive her for what she had done to him.

*****

The evening passed on quietly. Christy and Ashton barely spoke to one another over the dinner table. She made a good effort to ignore Ashton which only irked him more. He followed her around the kitchen as she tidied it up, clearing away all remnants of their dinner.

“Do you need to put these away too?” he asked, pointing at the candlestick holder.

She shook her head. “No,” and then continued on quietly at stacking the plates in the dishwasher.

“What about these placemats?”

“If you don’t mind putting them in the drawer there, please?” She pointed out to him.

He collected them, perking his lips as he glanced over at her.

“This one?” he asked, standing next to a set of draws.

“Yes.”

“The top one?”

“The second one.”

“From the bottom?”

“From the top.”

“On the left?”

“Yes.”

“This left?”

She clenched her fingers, taking in a deep breath. “Yes.”

“It’s a large drawer. Where do you want me to put it?”

She marched over to him and took the placemats from him. “They’re just placemats, Ashton.” She threw them into the drawer and slammed it shut before turning back to her dishes again.

He ambled up to her, leaning against the sink bench, watching her. Her body swayed to and fro as she scrubbed vigorously at a pot. Her movements raised an uneasy spark in him, recollecting memories of her when she swayed to a different beat on that first night when she solely belonged to him. He shuffled his feet, crossing his legs to ease the discomfiture he was beginning to feel between them.

“Must you stand there?” she grumbled.

“Excuse me?” He cleared his throat.

“You’ve been standing there, staring at me. And it’s making me uncomfortable.”

“I thought we could talk…”

“I’d rather not.” She cut him. “At least, not now.” She wiped her hands and moved away from him, trying to maintain a safe distance between them.

Each movement she made, the way she ran her hand over her dark hair, biting the corner of her trembling lower lip, excited him. He would never have thought he would notice such minute gestures in her. He was meant to sever all ties with her. Instead, he was finding that he was tangling himself in his own desires for her.

“I just wanted to know how you were doing,” he said.

“Don’t you think it would be better if we kept our conversations relevant to Ash?” she said shakily.

He raised his brow. “Everything is not just about Ash, Christy. I chased your ghost for eleven years. You owe me some explanation as to where you had been all this time, what happened in all these years.”

Her eyes grew cold, her face tensed from the growing rage inside her. “I owe you nothing. You married me for the wrong reasons. If you chased me, then you did so for your own selfish purpose to ease your own guilty conscience. It had nothing to do with me.”

Something snapped inside him. “You don’t know the damn you’re talking about! You have no idea what you put me through. And if you’re not careful, I’ll gladly put you through the same just so you know how I felt all these years.”

She breathed heavily, her eyes locked angrily with his. “Isn’t that the old Ashton I know? Vengeful and mean. You sounded too good to be true. I’m glad I don’t have to beat myself over deceiving you anymore. You just reminded me why I ran from you in the first place.”

He clenched his fists, holding himself back from tugging her against him. She riled him to his core; one moment seducing him with her little ways and the next, provoking every inch of him.

She bowed her head down, palming her forehead tiredly. “Please, Ashton, let’s stop. Let’s stop pretending to be so cool about this. I know you would want nothing more than to pay me back for what I’d done to you. And I- I just want to get on with my life with my son.” She raised her eyes, tears replacing the anger she once carried in them. “It would be best if you ate your meals in the lodge like the rest of the guests. Ash could join you there.”

She pushed past him, trying not to touch him as best as she could.

He stood there in the middle of the now empty kitchen, staring after her in a speechless daze. His feet moved slightly, on the verge of following her. He didn’t understand why he did that. Perhaps, it was a habit he had acquired over eleven years. Whatever it was, it was time he stopped.

*****

“Do you like it here?” he asked the boy as he bounced about in the field of wild grass and flowers.

“Yeah.”

“And what about your friends? Do you get to see them often?”

“I meet them in school. It’s enough,” said JR as he peered into a dead tree-trunk. “Hey, Dad, look at this. A baby squirrel.”

He walked up to him and peered alongside him. “Oh yes, it is. It’s an orphaned baby. His mother probably lost or abandoned the poor thing.”

“Or something could have happened to the mother?” JR said, his eyes wallowing with sympathy for the tiny creature nestled in a corner of the trunk.

“Yes, that too.” Ashton nodded. He noticed its pink skin and lack of hair, its head tucked into its body and its eyes tightly shut. “It can’t be more than a week old.”

“Can we take it home?”

“Let’s hang about a little longer.” He pursed his lips in deep thought. “Its mother might return to fetch it. And it does have a better chance of surviving if it’s with its mother.”

The breeze rustled through the forest, growing steadily.  After almost thirty minutes of waiting, he grew restless and concerned about the strong winds that were now wildly swaying the tree branches above them.

“We should go now, JR,” he said, studying the trees about them. “The weather’s getting rougher.”