Ashton growled.
“Ashton Knight!” his aunt hissed. “Ever since Jenna passed you’ve had a thorn in your backside. Where are your manners?”
The entire table went quiet and his aunt seemed to have realized what she said, because she slumped over, head down.
Jenna.
He’d lost a woman named Jenna.
“I’m going to feed the chickens.” Ashton put down the stack of plates and stormed outside.
His cousins Jackson and Richie went into the kitchen to start on dishes while I played with the hem of my dress.
“I’ll call a cab. I don’t want to be where I’m not wanted,” I told the three women left at the table. Trudy, his aunt Maggie, and Gran all looked at me with pity.
His grandma’s hand reached out and clasped mine. “First let me tell you a story. Then you can go if you want.”
She looked at Maggie and Trudy nodded. They got up, leaving the dining room.
“Once upon a time, my daughter met the love of her live, Wayne, at the state fair.”
Ahh, so she was Ashton’s grandmother on his mom’s side. I’d wondered that.
“Wayne had a troubled childhood. No parents to speak of by the time he was seventeen so I took him in as if he were my own son and I’ll always see him that way.”
My heart pinched at her words.
“They fell deeply in love, got married, bought the bar and lived in the apartment above it.”
That made me smile. Imagining Wayne in his prime, owning the bar and living where I now did.
“And then they got pregnant with twins.”
A stone fell in my stomach as the smile was wiped off my face. Twins.
Jenna. She was Ashton’s twin? From what I’d heard and read, twins had such a special bond, it went beyond that of normal sibling relationships.
“When the kids were just two years old, my daughter found the lump on her breast.”
Tears lined my eyes and she squeezed my hand.
“I’m so sorry,” I told her.
She nodded. “Me too. She was able to fight it the first three times, but that last time she didn’t last long. It was stage four and … well, after that Wayne went into a spiral and I agreed to take the kids and raise them while he figured his life out.”
I gulped, suddenly uncomfortable with hearing Ashton’s story from his grandma. I wanted him to tell me this stuff but he never would. Who wanted to relive these memories?
“What happened to Jenna?” I croaked. Gran released my hand and wiped one of her eyes, catching a tear there.
“Jenna always loved her daddy. He came to visit them on the weekends, and Jenna and Wayne had a really special bond. Those two were thick as thieves.” She smiled at the memory as I sat on the edge of my seat taking in every word. “When things got really bad, five years ago, Wayne asked Ashton to take over the bar because he couldn’t keep up.”
How sad for Ashton. To grow up without your mother and then lose your father to a bottle of whiskey.
Gran smiled. “Despite the rough upbringing, Ashton was always a happy kid. Always respectful and helped me on the farm, looked out for his sister.”
My heart pinched as I waited for that story. How she died. The accident.
His Gran seemed far off in a memory before she shook herself. “Anyway, I think Ashton should tell you the rest, but I wanted to mention it because he wasn’t always like this. And I’ve never seen him so … alive lately. Ever since you came along.”
My heart hammered in my chest at her words.
I make Ashton feel alive.
“Alive with anger,” I muttered.
Gran chuckled. “That’s just his way of working through the emotions he must be wrestling with. He’s never brought a girl home, no matter how many times I’ve asked and threatened.”
What? Never brought a girl home? I wasn’t sure what to say to that. I mean, it’s not like I was his girl. We’d started this morning as business associates and now we were … business associates who had kissed. Whatever that was.
“You’re good for him. Only a fool would deny that.” She patted my hand. “Go on and feed the chickens. We’re having cake in an hour. I just need to frost it.”
Feed the chickens, that’s where Ashton had gone. Why would I go out there with him after he’d all but tried to kick me out? “I think I’d rather stay here.” I gave her a small smile. “Need help frosting?”
Her eyes were kind, but you