The Promise of Paradise - By Allie Boniface Page 0,36

lines that crossed Eddie’s face. She’d memorized them by now, the hairline ones, the thicker one, the patterns they made across his cheeks.

“Okay.”

Eddie took her hand. Their fingers met and twisted together, as if they’d done so a hundred times before. She stumbled a little and then found her rhythm, following him as they shuffled in a slow, tight circle. He spun her under his arm, and strong fingers moved across the small of her back. They guided her away and then back to him. They pressed into her palm, burning her skin a little.

The music bled into her veins as they danced around the roof, and for a few minutes, Ashton Kirk forgot everything. She forgot her father’s arrest, her mother’s plaintive messages, her sister’s harsh words. She forgot all her sad feelings, her confusion about Colin. It was just she and Eddie and some silly song. Nothing else mattered, except being in Paradise with someone who wouldn’t judge her or expect anything from her. In that instant, she wanted to stay twenty-six, laughing and dancing on rooftops, forever.

The song ended too soon, and they drifted to an awkward stop. Eddie looked down, and Ash glanced away, suddenly self-conscious of her hand in his, of their shoulders brushing in the shadows.

“I should check on the food,” she said after a minute.

“Okay.” But he didn’t drop her hand. “Thanks for the dance.”

“Yeah. Thanks.” It was all she could manage. Ash slipped back inside to find a corner in which to calm her heart and splash some water on her burning cheeks.

* * *

“Hey, check this out.” The voice came from the living room, and when Ash peeked inside, she saw a small knot of people gathered around her television set. The news banner scrolling across the bottom of the screen read, “Kirk Charges Dropped. Two Men Charged in Political Framing of Massachusetts Senator.”

Ash dropped the trashcan she held, and beer bottles spilled everywhere. A few people turned toward her, startled, but she didn’t care. Pushing through the crowd, she reached for the remote and turned up the volume.

“In a stunning turn of events,” the news anchor reported, “all charges originally filed against Senator Randolph Kirk have been dropped. Earlier today, two men came forward and confessed to being hired by a prominent member of the Republican Party to plant cocaine in the senator’s vehicle. They also…”

Voices rose, clamoring at the revelation, and Ash lost the rest of the anchor’s sentence. By the time she wormed her way close enough to hear, the news had switched over to a segment about a local dog trainer.

“Would never have guessed…

“Told you he was innocent…

“Betcha it turns out to be one of those religious fanatics from…”

Fragments of conversation rose and fell around her, but Ash couldn’t make out any of them. In fact, she couldn’t follow a single thought beyond the ones racing inside her own head. Her stomach felt as though it might erupt. She reached blindly for a place to sit.

Innocent.

After all this time, her father was innocent. All those weeks, he’d insisted that someone had set him up. He was right. And no one believed him. His own family didn’t believe him. Ash shook her head. Unshed tears burned in her eyes. Is that why Colin had called last night? Did he already know? She blew out a long breath. Everything had suddenly become more complicated.

“Hey, you okay?” Jen said close to her ear.

Ash jumped, startled. “Did you see it?” One hand waved toward the television screen. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Did you hear what they said? My father’s innocent. Someone set him up.”

Her friend stared at her for a long minute. “Yeah, I heard. Now what are you going to do?”

Chapter Fifteen

Ash tied the last bag of garbage and set it near the door. “There. Done.”

The clock read after two in the morning. She felt as though she’d been run over by fatigue, but at least the place was clean. The last thing she wanted to do was wake up in an apartment that reeked of stale beer or find a half-naked couple lounging on her living room floor.

Frank and his wife had been the last to leave, about a half-hour ago. She could hear Jen fussing in the bathroom, and she guessed Eddie was somewhere downstairs, hauling boxes of empties onto the porch.

She sank onto the loveseat and let it cradle her. She’d switched shifts with one of the other waitresses at the restaurant, so at least