The Promise of Paradise - By Allie Boniface Page 0,50
behind his head. “Just leave, Ash. Or Ashton. Or whatever your name really is.”
“Eddie, please. I'll tell you. I'll explain everything.” Ash sucked in a breath and held it.
But he didn’t say anything, just shook his head again. The muscles in his back drew tight with tension. In silence, she pulled on her shorts and grabbed her shirt and panties from the couch. She couldn’t find her socks and shoes, but she didn’t dare stay. In another minute he’d throw her out himself. As it was, the air, thick with anger and betrayal, nearly pushed her out the door.
“I’ll stop by later,” she said in a low voice. “Maybe we can talk then.” She pulled the door shut before Eddie could answer. She wasn’t sure he would forgive her this time. And she wasn’t sure she would blame him if he didn’t.
* * *
Senator Kirk waited on the front porch, rocking in one of the wicker chairs. Ash closed her eyes and pressed her back into the wall. I can’t do this. I can’t. She opened her eyes again. I have to. She took a deep breath and stepped outside.
“Dad, what are you doing here?”
“This isn’t exactly where I expected to find you.” He didn’t look at her.
I am not apologizing to him. Her cheeks turned hot. I am not going to feel guilty about any of this.
“Your mother called you the other day,” he went on.
“Yes.”
“Told you we were going to the Vineyard next weekend. As a family.”
“And I told her I was working.”
At that, her father stood and turned. “Sweetheart, I know why you’re here.”
You do?
He reached for Ash and pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry,” he whispered into the top of her head. “I’m sorry for everything I put you through.”
She began to cry.
“I know what you’ve gone through the last few months. I know it’s been hell.”
Her shoulders shook, and the more she tried to stop the tears, the harder they came.
“But please come home. Please. I want to…” He stepped back and swiped a thumb across her cheekbone. “I’m going to make things right. But I need you there. All of you.”
Ash hiccupped. “I don’t know…”
Her father glanced around, taking in the house with its peeling paint, Eddie’s truck parked by the curb, the auto shop logo on her borrowed shirt. “This isn’t what you want. Is it? This isn’t really you.”
How did he know what she wanted? Or who she was? “Maybe it is.”
He tilted his chin a little and smiled. “Come on. That—” He nodded toward Eddie’s front window. “That’s just a distraction. I understand. I know you've been upset about Colin. I won’t tell your mother about it. About any of it. Just come back with me.”
Something inside Ash shifted. A distraction? Not Eddie. You don’t get to take shots at Eddie. Not when he’s the one true thing I’ve found this summer. Maybe the one true thing she'd found in her life. “I can’t.”
“This place has nothing to offer you.”
“You don’t know that.”
Senator Kirk barked out a laugh. “Yes, I do. I’ve been in a hundred of these towns, sweetheart. They seem charming at first. They’re nice to look at. The people are welcoming enough. But there’s nothing here for you. Where the hell would you find a job? You’re brilliant. You need to live in Boston. Or New York. Not someplace so small. So limiting.”
“Limiting?” He would never understand, she thought, and for the first time, she saw the distance in her father’s eyes, the cold sliding scale that measured people and places. She was tired of it, tired of wondering where she fell on that scale. And tired of knowing that no one really measured up.
“You should go,” she said.
His brows rose. “You’re saying no? Just like that?” He paused, rubbing his jaw. “Your mother will be devastated. Colin too.”
The mention of her ex was enough. Ash stepped away from her father, toward the door of her home. “I’m sorry you wasted your time coming here. Tell them whatever you want. But I’m not leaving Paradise.”
Chapter Twenty
“My father was here.” Even as Ash said the words, she couldn’t believe them.
“What?” Jen’s voice raced up the octave. “In Paradise?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re kidding.”
Ash didn’t answer. One hand wound itself through her hair, still damp from the shower.
“You’re not kidding?”
“It gets worse.”
Jen whistled.
“I was at Eddie’s.”
“This morning? As in you spent the night there?”
“Yeah.”
“Holy shit! It’s about time.” Jen practically purred her approval across the telephone line. “So how was it?”
“How do you