by Marr, Maggie
Oh. My god.
My throat tightens. What I’m going to say? How am I going to say it? I turn around and like a salmon fighting my way upstream, I wade my way back through the crowd going the other direction. I haven’t found Matt and now I have to tell Sarah and Teddy that I’ve lost him a second time.
* * *
“I’m so sorry,” I say. I press my hand beneath my eyes and wipe the tears from my cheeks. I’m so upset. I can’t believe Matt left his job and his family all so I could keep my job at Bliss Boards. This is not what I wanted or what I expected from him. I breathe deep. All I really want right now is to be with him. “On the up-side,” I say through my tears, “I have a lot of time on my hands and can babysit Teddy for you any time.”
“Stop,” Sarah says. With Teddy on her hip she opens the front door of her apartment. “I’m sure your Uncle will give you your job back.” She puts Teddy down in the center of his Legos where he immediately starts building a car. She walks to the kitchen and starts a fresh pot of coffee.
“I’m not sure I want the job,” I say. “I mean he’s completely different than who I thought he was. There’s no way he should’ve let Matt resign. He should’ve fought harder to keep him there…he should’ve given him the scholarship he should’ve—”
“He should’ve done exactly what he did,” Sarah says and sets a cup of coffee in front of me.
Her words surprise me. I thought she was on my side, Matt’s side, our side. “What’d’ya mean?” I ask.
Sarah sits at the table across from me. “Look you two didn’t know about each other the first night, but after that you did and I get what your Uncle is saying about it being a conflict, and to be honest both of you do too.”
I close my eyes. I’m trying really hard not to get swept up in my emotions, but I’m failing miserably because all I can think about is what I’ve lost and what Matt has lost and what I want.
“I mean, if you two want to be together as badly as you want to be together, you had to know that one of you was going to have to leave your job.”
“I…I think that someone should’ve been me,” I say.
“Right, and Matt, obviously thought that someone should be him,” she takes a sip of her coffee. “And he wants to go back to school. This lets him do that. Twelve months and he’s got enough money for his last year.”
I’m so frustrated by what she’s saying, because it seems unfair and wrong to me that someone as good and as wonderful as Matt should sacrifice himself like this for me…for what he wants…for what is right.
Sarah reaches out her hand and grasps mine. “Look, Ash, this is the way that he thought he could get you what was best for you and get him what was best for him. I may disagree with what he thought he had to do, but, I understand the need to do something in order to get what is best for everyone,” she glances over her shoulder at Teddy. He picks up a blue Lego and places it on top of what looks like a castle he’s building. “It’s okay to postpone some of the things we want to get to the next goal we have.” A small smile crosses her face. “And that’s exactly what he did.”
I nod. I understand what she’s saying even if I don’t like what’s happened or how Matt went about it. I finish my coffee and play with Teddy for an hour and then head home. I need to give my Uncle back his car and start to look for a new job, because I don’t know if I can go back to Bliss Boards while Matt is away. The place…everything about it reminds me of Matt.
Chapter 23
Matt
I stare at the water. This isn’t how I expected my day to go. I had plans and I changed them. The sun is high in the sky and the waves roll into the shore. I pull out my phone and see that I’ve got a ton of messages. I pull my eyebrows together and scroll. Text messages. Voicemails.
My heart aches. The decision I made wasn’t the right one. I’ve broken my heart and Ashley’s. I turn around and look toward the buildings and start to walk.
A car pulls in and stops.
“Oh my God, what are you doing here?”
I smile. “I couldn’t do it,” I say.
The car door slams and Ash runs to me. In an instant she’s in my arms. The scent of ocean and sunshine. The press of her warm body against mine. I press my lips to her lips. This is home, this, being in Ash’s arms, is home for the rest of my life. If I have to take out student loans, work three jobs, do whatever I need to do—doesn’t matter, because here in this place with Ash is where I’m supposed to be.
“I…I quit my job,” Ash says.
A smile breaks over my face. “So now we’re both unemployed?”
“Not exactly,” Jack’s voice breaks through to us. He stands behind us just outside the back door to Bliss Boards. He’s got a serious look on his face, but he’s not angry, just serious. He looks at me and then at Ash.
“Here’s the thing, I need you at Bliss Boards Ash,” Jack says.
Her gaze slides to me and then back to her Uncle.
“But I need you here as the person who’s going to run this place and run it really soon and really well. Which means I want you to come back. I want you to work here.”
“But what about–”
Jack holds up his hand, “ Give me a minute.” He turns his gaze to me. “I need her to be happy. I’ve always believed that happy workers are the best workers. That’s why we started the scholarship program, and the sabbatical, and the employee benefits, and buy-in program. The people who work here are what make Bliss Boards special. And you,” he nods at me, “Are special not only because my niece chose you to love, but because you’re a great guy.”
I smile. I like Jack. I’ve always liked Jack and he’s always been a great boss. “Thank you,” I say.
“I can’t give you the Bliss Boards scholarship,” he says. “And I can’t have you working here, because Ash is working here.”
“Uncle Jack,” Ash starts
“But Emma is starting a not for profit that is teaching kids to surf,” Jack glances over his shoulder and Emma now stands next to the back door. “It’s a program for kids who wouldn’t normally be able to afford surf school, and if you’re open to it, she’d like for you to run the program.”
A smile breaks across my face. “Are you kidding?”
“Not kidding,” Jack says and smiles. “We’re running the program out of Bliss Boards, so you’ll be here a lot, and the two of you will still be working together, in a way, but Matt won’t be reporting to Ash and Ash won’t be supervising you. And,” he says. “The gig comes with tuition reimbursement.”
“Are you kidding?” I can’t believe what Jack is telling me. I look at Emma and she too has a giant smile on her face.
“Not kidding,” Jack says. “So, go get yourself registered, because your school is paid for.”
“I…I don’t know what to say…”
“Say thank you and just take good care of my niece,” Jack pats my shoulder. He looks at Ashley, “So you’ll come back and run my board shop?”
Ashley nods. “Absolutely.”
Jack reaches out and gives her a giant hug. Wow, this is amazing, because all the sudden I feel like not only have I just scored the best gig and I get to finish college, but I have the woman I love and suddenly it feels like I’m part of this family.
“I’m sorry I was so stubborn,” Jack says. “I just saw one way…my way. And it felt like we were arguing over what was right and wrong and we weren’t.” He pulls back from the hug and looks at Ashley. “Emma reminded me that when it comes to love there isn’t just one way. There isn’t a right way and a wrong way and there’s always a solution.”
Ash presses her fingertips beneath her eyes.
“Don’t cry,” Jack says and gives her another hug.
“I’m just so happy,” she says. “I have you and I have Matt and I have my job, and it just feels like I have everything I’ve ever wanted and I’m…it’s just perfect,” Ash says.
And she’s right, this moment is absolutely perfect. This moment is huge
and perfect and just exactly what the two of us want—the beginning of the rest of our lives together.
Epilogue
Matt looks cute in a mortar-board,” Julia says. She leans close. Sarah stands on my other side and Teddy is on my hip. The weather is eighty and sunny with a great breeze. My heart is full of joy. Uncle Jack stands behind me and so does Emma, though I don’t think she’s nearly as comfortable as the rest of us. This will be her absolute last trip to the states until after the babies are born.
“There he is,” I say. I see Matt way in the distance. “He looks so happy,” I glance at Sarah she smiles so wide. How proud is she? How proud am I? Her brother and my boyfriend is graduating with honors. After working nearly full time—Matt got honors. I can’t hardly believe how hard he worked.
“Here he comes,” I say.
Matt’s smile is giant. He holds his diploma and now, after all this work, he’s finished. And I recently heard a rumor that Emma wants him to run the entire Surf Side School for under-privileged kids. Which would include supervising nearly seven employees. The not for profit has grown so big in just over a year.
“Congratulations,” I say. I wait for my hug after he hugs Sarah and Teddy. He shakes hands with Uncle Jack and gives both Emma and Julia a hung. Alright, alright, I think it’s my turn now. I turn to snuggle into his arms….but he’s not there.
“Ma—” My gaze drops.
My heart leaps. My fingertips cover my lips. Oh. My. God. I can’t breath, tears stream down my face.
“Ashley Elizabeth Nelson, you are my world. You make my heart sing with joy. Will you be my wife?”
“Yes,” I yell. “Oh my god, yes!” This must be what an out-of-body experience feels like because everything is in slow motion. I hold out my hand and he slips this gorgeous diamond onto my finger, I glance at Julia and I know she must have helped him pick out the perfect ring, because it is perfect. Then Matt is up on his feet and I am off mine because I am in his arms and he is swinging me around. People are laughing and cheering and I am crying and the joy is overwhelming. Matt’s lips are on mine and I absolutely can’t believe that I just got everything in my entire life that I’ve ever wanted. Forever and for always a best friend, a family, and a future that includes it all.
Thank you for reading HUGE! I hope that you loved Ashley and Matt’s super-sexy love story! Read about Uncle JACK and his second-chance enemies to lovers romance with EMMA in SURF!
Read Brice (Brett’s brother) and Ava’s sexy enemies to lovers story in DIRTY!
Don’t forget to read HARD GLAMOUR book 1 in my Glamour Series for FREE!
Read Brett and Torrey’s enemies to lovers romance in BLISS!
Jack and Becca get a HOT second chance romance in the enemies to lovers romance BUILT!
Carmen and Dave get a sexy surprise in their second-chance romance BUMP!
The End