The Reunion: Ashley's Mountain Retreat (Starting Over Series) (5 page)

“Parker, wait…” Ashley said coming to her senses.

“What’s wrong?” he asked pulling back a bit.

“We can’t do this. I’m leaving tomorrow, and I don’t know when I will be back. I just can’t start something like this right now,” she said jumping down from the counter.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought you here… I put you under so much pressure,” Parker said.

“No, no… Please don’t think that. Parker, I really like you. I mean I really like you a lot. But, I live in Texas. My work is there. My home is there. This cabin will just be a getaway a few times a year. I can’t do that to you.”

“Do what to me?” he asked cocking his head.

“I can’t lead you on. You deserve an amazing woman who can share your life with you. It just can’t be me…” Ashley said. “I think it might be best if you take me back to the cabin now.” She stood by the living room doorway as he gathered his keys and wallet. Without looking at her, he opened the front door.

The drive back to the cabin was silent. He didn’t appear to be angry, but she knew he was hurt. She felt awful about the way she was leaving things. She had only come to Georgia to buy a cabin, not to fall in love with Prince Charming. How had this happened so fast?

When he pulled in front of her cabin, he shut the car off and looked at her.

“I want you to know that I will handle this real estate transaction professionally. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Of course you will, Parker. I never questioned that.”

“I didn’t mean for this to happen, Ashley. It took me by surprise too. I shouldn’t have let things get so far off track. That was my fault… mixing business with pleasure…”

“Parker, I will never regret our time together these last two days. It was a whirlwind romance I will always remember fondly.” With that, Ashley got out of the truck without looking back for fear that she would jump in his lap and kiss him again.

“Good to see you back, girlfriend!” Candice said as Ashley arrived for her shift. Ashley was exhausted from another fitful night of sleep. Parker was invading her dreams, and she couldn’t seem to get the smell of his cologne out of her hair.

“Thanks. It’s good to be back,” Ashley said with a smile that Candice saw right through.

“Everything okay?” Candice asked as she started to pack up to go home.

“Sure. Everything is fine…”

“No, it’s not.”

Candice knew her well, and Ashley also knew that there was no getting out of this conversation.

“Just a little heartsick, but I will get over it soon enough,” Ashley said with a smirk. “And I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

“Okay, okay… but you know where to find me when you want to talk,” Candice said patting her on the shoulder as she got on the elevator.

The next two weeks were pure drudgery. The labor and delivery department seemed awfully busy, and Ashley was anxiously awaiting the closing on her cabin. Of course, that meant another trip to Mountainview. It also meant seeing Parker again. Excitement and anxiety shot through her every time she thought about it.

She had hoped that Parker would call her or text her when she went home, but he never did. Her gut told her that he was angry with her, or at least hurt. How could a short two day meeting result in her feeling completely heart broken?

“Excuse me, nurse?” an older woman said from behind Ashley.

“Yes, ma’m?” Ashley responded.

“My granddaughter is the one who had the stillborn baby this morning. Can you tell me when the doctor will come by to see her?”

A young woman with a seemingly healthy pregnancy had come in that morning and delivered a stillborn baby girl. The whole staff was grieving along with the family as it was completely unexpected. To see the young woman sob as she held her lifeless baby was almost too much for Ashley to take.

“He should be by in about two hours. I am so sorry about your great grandbaby,” Ashley said putting her hand on the woman’s shoulder.

“Thank you. We are all still in shock, I think. But, God will provide as He always does. Just another life lesson for us all…”

“Life lesson?” Ashley wondered what kind of lesson that could possibly be.

“Everything has a lesson in it, my dear. Sometimes, these things happen and it teaches us to appreciate what we have while we have it. Some relationships are so brief. But, I know my granddaughter will always remember those nine months of feeling her daughter kick and move around in her tummy,” she said with a faint smile.

“I’m sure.”

“Can I give you a piece of general advice, honey?” the woman asked.

“Of course,” Ashley said.

“Never leave anything unsaid to those you love. And, as an old woman, I can tell you another piece of advice. Always take chances because they often lead to the best things in life.” She smiled as she squeezed Ashley’s shoulder and then turned to walk away.

Ashley stood there stunned for a moment. Why had this random woman given her this message? And what would she do with the advice?

***

“Miss Tate, you can sit right here. When the seller and  his agent arrive, they will sit across the table from you so that we can easily pass the closing paperwork back and forth,” the secretary said as she took Ashley into the closing room. It had been two more weeks of waiting when the closing got delayed due to inspection issues. The seller ended up having a major plumbing leak repaired. Ashley was starting to worry that her cabin in the mountains was not to be.

“Thanks,” Ashley said as the woman left the room. A big bowl of candy sat in the middle of the table. Ashley reached for a mini candy bar to ease her grumbling stomach.

“You know, that stuff will ruin your appetite for lunch.” His voice rang through her like a bell. She felt her insides start to quiver as memories of kissing Parker shot through her.

“Parker,” she whispered as she looked up at him with a smile.

“The seller will be here shortly. He got caught up in traffic coming through Atlanta,” he said as he sat down across from her. His hair was perfectly messy, and he wore a thick gray sweater that smelled of his cologne.

For a moment, they just stared into each other’s eyes. Ashley thought about the advice that the old woman at the hospital had given her. She was determined to make the best use of every moment she had with Parker.

“I’ve missed you,” she whispered as she played with the candy bar wrapper.

Parker’s eyes got wide when he heard her words. She could tell he was genuinely surprised.

“You have?” he asked.

“More than I ever expected. I think I made a mistake,” she said with a smirk.

“You did?”

“Are you dating someone now?” she asked hoping the answer was no.

“Nope. You are a hard act to follow, Miss Tate,” he said in a husky voice that made her want to climb across the table. “And, for what it’s worth, I’ve missed you too.”

“I just got scared, you know? It was all moving so fast.”

“I know. But sometimes the best love stories happen that way,” he said with a grin.

“True. I have something to tell you…”

Just as she said that, the seller and attorney joined them. As the closing went on, Ashley’s heart raced at the thought of what she needed to tell him. Once the closing was over, he offered to drive her up to the cabin so she could leave her rental car in town.

When they got into his truck, he let out a big sigh and threw his head back. “Okay, I can’t stand it anymore. The suspense is killing me! What do you have to tell me?” he asked.

“Let me explain first. Ever since Dave and I split up, it has been hard to live in Houston. Everything reminds me of Dave. Even the hospital reminds me of him because he would often pop in and surprise me early in our relationship. Every restaurant reminds me of him. These are not good memories, you know? They are memories of a wasted eight years of my life,” she said.

“I can understand that.”

“I started to wonder why I was staying there, in the safety of what I knew for so long. Did I really want to live in Houston? What was keeping me there? And I realized that it was comfort. And I don’t want to spend my life being comfortable. I want to take risks and see what’s on the other side of safety…”

“And?”

“I resigned from the hospital and sublet my apartment in Houston. Yesterday I got confirmation that I will be the new head labor and delivery nurse at Mountainview General!” she said grinning from ear to ear. Ashley really was excited about working in a small town hospital and living in her mountain cabin.

“Seriously? You’re moving here?” Parker asked still trying to process the information.

“Are you going to hug me or what?” she asked with her arms out.

“No. I am going to kiss you!” he said throwing his arms around her waist and pulling her closer. His warm lips felt like home to her.

“Look, I can’t make promises about where this will lead, Parker. I want to take it slow and make sure that we are both happy…”

“Of course. I want you to be comfortable, Ashley. No pushing, I promise. Now, are you ready to go home?” he asked smiling.

“More than ready,” she said.

As Ashley drove to meet her three friends, she was bursting with anticipation to tell them about her whirlwind two years. They would never believe how her story turned out. Finding her Prince Charming had been so unexpected, yet it was the best thing she had ever felt in her life.

Saying her vows with Parker six months ago in a private ceremony by the Franki Falls had been magical. More magical than that was the lump that was growing day by day in her belly. She had just learned that her baby was a girl. They had decided to name her Hope since that summed up what their life together had been about.

Taking a chance had turned out to be the best thing Ashley had ever done. Now living in Parker’s dream house, the couple used the mountain cabin as a place where friends and family could come up and spend time in their quaint little town. Life was as good as Ashley could ever imagine, and she couldn’t wait to find out what had become of Emma, Shelby and Claire. Had they been as lucky as she had? Stepping out of her car, she walked toward the hotel to find out.

Thank you so much for buying and reading THE REUNION: ASHLEY'S MOUNTAIN RETREAT novella!  This story is the second in "The Starting Over Series." Since word of mouth is so critical to readers and authors alike, I would really appreciate it if you'd pop back to Amazon and leave a review of this story. It will only take a minute or two, but you opinion is priceless.

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Read the first book in the series!

http://www.amazon.com/The-Reunion-Vacation-Starting-ebook/dp/B009SRIGX4

About the Author

According to her family Angelina Rose was a sweet child … maybe a little shy. She often spent a lot of time making up stories rather than running around and playing outside with her brother and sister. She won several writing competitions and used the prizes to help her single mother pay the bills.

Like Emma, Claire, Shelby and Ashley, Angelina Rose is a Nurse. At a recent reunion of her graduating class she could not help but notice how the same girls would group together and laugh, chat and even shed some tears over their lives since graduating. Many of the girls had divorced … so Angelina thought "what if a group of the nurses came up with a plan to meet in two years and have a new love story to share?" Then this first story in the series was born!