by Dee J. Adams
“Sounds like you liked him.”
“I did, but we were just friends. Elle, my best friend, and I were really tight, but we also hung out with a group of five or six guys. Some of them had girlfriends, and some didn’t, but we were allowed on boys’ night out and the girlfriends weren’t. And, no, the girlfriends were not happy with that,” she said before he asked. “Jim was one of the guys and even if I saw him on Saturday night and knew he hadn’t hooked up with anyone, I’d still ask him on Monday morning. It always put a smile on his face and that made me happy. He had a nice smile.
“Anyway, I tend to want to pair off single friends. Elle can tell you I was a real pain in the ass.”
“Are we friends?” he asked.
The question caught her off guard and she cocked her head. “Was I assuming too much? I guess I feel like neighbor is another word for friend and you jumped right in yesterday so—”
He smacked her forearm playfully. “Kidding. Anyone who shares an award-winning chicken sandwich with me once, much less two days in a row, is a friend.”
“Cool.” Ashley suddenly felt as if she had the world at her feet. A new friend. Someone to talk to and joke with. Someone to keep her company and help her forget all the things she wanted to forget. She found the cooler and started unloading food. Sandwiches, chips, bottled water. The ocean crashed in front of her and peaceful silence descended as Mel and she dug into their lunch.
“Before I forget,” she said around a bite. “I was wondering if you wanted to join us for Thanksgiving?”
“You and Lizzie?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Lizzie’s going up north to be with her folks. My mom and her boyfriend are driving in from Barstow and my sister and her husband are flying in from Chicago. Just the five of us. But you’re welcome to join us.”
“Thanks. I appreciate the offer, but I’ve got plans.”
“Oh.” A sense of loss washed through her, but she quickly recovered. It wasn’t as if she’d really thought he could make it. The man must have friends and he’d mentioned calling family after the earthquake so of course he’d be spending the holiday with them. “Are you going out of state?” He’d said his parents lived in Arizona.
He shook his head. “No, no. I’ll be in town. With friends,” he added belatedly.
“That’s good. I hate to hear that people are alone during any of the holidays. It’s a time for friends and family.” She couldn’t remember spending a holiday without her family. Every year they took turns hosting and because Sheryl and Rick were committed to spending Christmas at his parents’ house, and because last Thanksgiving had been at her mother’s in Barstow, this Thanksgiving fell to Ashley. She’d had to convince her mother and sister that she could handle it and besides, she knew the second they hit town, they’d take over and fuss over her like two mother hens, especially since she’d told them not to come after the fall. She hadn’t wanted them to make a trip early and cancel on Thanksgiving. The holidays were the one time of year she could count on seeing the people she loved most. It was usually four days of catching up, gossiping, eating, laughing and cheating at cards.
Besides, she had Lizzie to help her prep and she wanted more than anything to prove to her family that she could survive on her own. The best way to do that was to show them.
The waves rushed in and out. Ashley closed her eyes, imagined the white caps instead of straining to see them in her periphery, and a comfortable peace descended. She finished her sandwich and lay back in her beach chair.
“Why do I remind you of your friend from school?” Mel’s question came from out of the blue and Ashley turned toward him.
“I don’t know. Just the way you were so protective yesterday during the earthquake. Sticking with me afterward was something Jim, or Billy or Bryan or one of the other guys would’ve done.”
“And you never had a fling with any of those guys?” he asked.
That was a loaded question. “It depends on how you define fling.” Ashley crossed her legs and adjusted the sarong. “We were friends first. Always friends. But on occasion there was a little more to it. High school is hard. People get lonely and sad. Sometimes it’s nice to share a kiss with someone and know it’s in friendship. There’s no pressure for anything else. Sometimes curiosity can get the best of you so maybe kissing turns into touching and…well, sometimes you want to feel what it’s like to…” How did she say this? God, this all seemed so personal and way too much information.
“Yeah, I’m listening. Feel what it’s like to what?” he asked.
“How did we get on this subject?” Ashley felt her cheeks heat up.
“I asked if you had a fling with any of those guys.”
“Right. Flings. Uh…no, well, kind of, but not really.” She exhaled hard. “Here’s the thing.” She sat up and faced him. “I may have kissed a few of them and messed around with one of them, but I didn’t ‘sleep’ with any of them.” She didn’t want Mel thinking she was some sort of slut. She’d already come clean about her lack of libido, but it wasn’t like a girl wanted to be thought of as a tramp.
Even though she could, at one point in her life, have been termed a tramp. Those days were long gone.
“Sounds to me like you had a damn good time in high school.”
Ashley smiled and leaned back in her chair. “Actually, I did. I had fun in college too. I learned a lot about boys and I don’t regret any of it.”
“Do you still keep in touch with your buddies?”
Shaking her head, Ashley sighed softly. “No. I get a Christmas card from a couple of the guys, but that’s about it. Most of them moved away and I haven’t talked to any of them in years. I miss their friendship.”
He laughed. “No, you miss messing around.”
Ashley’s mouth dropped open. “Oh, my God.” She laughed. “I can’t believe you said that.” She smacked his arm and hurt her hand. “Ouch! Jeez, what are you made of? Brick?” She rubbed her fingers.
“Only from the waist down.”
* * *
Shit. Had he really just said that? It took Ashley a full second to get his meaning then she smacked him again, but this time she was laughing so hard, she barely made contact. No wonder the guys liked her. She had a great sense of humor. He hadn’t offended her and briefly wondered if he’d been trying to. Clearly, he was stuck with her and he didn’t mind. What he minded was the uncertainty that came with having neighbors in general. Neighbors who had friends who came to visit. Friends who might recognize him. That was just fucking unacceptable.
He couldn’t really hold a grudge against Ashley, but it would sure help if he didn’t like her. So far, that was impossible. There was too much to like. Maybe what he liked about her most was the way she joked with him and talked to him like a normal guy. She wasn’t trying to impress him or make a play for him. It had been so long since he’d had a female friend… Hell, he couldn’t remember ever having a female friend.
He relaxed back in the chair and took another bite of his sandwich. He’d been out here more than an hour already and had been about to go inside when Ashley had popped up. Hearing she had lunch set his taste buds on salivate. “I know what you’re up to,” he said.
Her hair blew in the breeze as she lifted her chin. “You do?” She cocked her head and sunlight made a silvery line of her scar. With a hint of a smile on her face, she looked absolutely innocent and spectacularly beautiful. She was the whole package. Fun, pretty and talented. He envied her painting skills. If he could wield a paintbrush as well as he played guitar, he’d start painting her right this second.
“Yeah. You’re purposely getting me addicted to your sandwiches. In another week or so I’ll be begging. Then you’ll start charging. It’s a wicked, wicked thing you’re doing.”
Her smile really was gorgeous. It lit up her face and almost made her scar completely unnoticeable. “You have my word of honor, as a friend, that I will not start charging you for lunch. I may start asking you to help make it i
f this becomes a habit, but there won’t ever be a charge.” She paused after handing him a bag of chips. “Actually, I really like having a friend.”
Maybe it was her sincerity that got him. Maybe he just couldn’t resist how damn sweet and honest she was. Either way, he couldn’t deny how he felt about her.
“I like having a friend too,” he said. Before he said anything else that sounded as sappy, he took a bite of his lunch. Goddamn, she made a good sandwich. He might consider falling in love with her for real if she fed him like this on a regular basis.
“Lizzie was afraid she scared you away yesterday,” Ashley said around a bite.
It hadn’t been Lizzie so much as her friend. “That’s ridiculous.”
“That’s exactly what I told her.” She laughed. “Oh, my God, though. I couldn’t believe the way Paula honed in on you. She was a heat-seeking missile and you were definitely her target.”
He’d had the same feeling. “So that wasn’t just my imagination.”
“Oh, not by a long shot.” She perked up. “Hey, you want me to set something up. Just real casual. A dinner at the house or something?”
“Hell no!” That might have been on the extreme side, as Ashley reared back and laughed.
“Okay. I get it. No. Was it her perfume? Too much? I know Roamer isn’t thrilled with it. Every time she’s been to the house he sneezes. Poor puppy.” She took a swig from her insulated cup and chomped some ice.
“Yeah. Her perfume.” Mel jumped at the excuse. “She seemed a little too jaded for my taste.”
“Ah, so you like them young and innocent…like your boss?” She smiled but the reminder took Mel’s hunger away in a flash.
He shook his head as he set the sandwich in his lap. “Actually, I don’t like them young, but there’s something to be said for innocence.” He didn’t manage to keep the anger out of his voice and took a swig from his bottled water.
“I was kidding. Really, Mel, I didn’t mean to make you mad. Sometimes I don’t think before opening my mouth. I’m sorry. I’m sure Seger is a friend of yours and I have no right to talk about him like that.” She dropped her chips in the cooler. “Wow. I sure know how to kill a good lunch, don’t I?”
Mel shook his head again. How the hell did he get himself into this situation? “Here’s the thing,” he said. “This is in confidence.” She turned his way and sat up, all ears. “Seger hasn’t been the same since that concert in Idaho. It really did a number on his head and everyone could tell. He separated himself from the crew. Not in a bad way, but in a way that everyone noticed.” Greg had told him as much. How a lot of the guys had worried about him. It had made Mel feel good and bad at the same time. Good that they’d been concerned and bad that he was pulling away from people who cared about him.
“I know he wasn’t in the news as much after that,” Ashley said.
“I think he made a decision to lay low. He had to finish the tour, but he did it as quietly as he could.”
“Not an easy thing to do for a man who’s lived his whole life in the spotlight,” Ashley said.
Speaking of spotlights, maybe it was time he got out of this one. He couldn’t afford to get too comfortable with Ashley. What if he slipped up? What if he said too much and she somehow figured him out? Mel quickly demolished the rest of his sandwich and made a show of looking at his watch even though she probably couldn’t see it.
“Sorry to eat and run,” he said, gathering his towel and folding up the chair. “I’m meeting a pal to talk about a new guitar.”
“Sure. No problem.” Ashley smiled, but it wasn’t the bright one from a few minutes ago. The woman craved company. He saw it in her eyes. Eyes that couldn’t see him. It was royally fucked that the thing he liked most about her was her worst nightmare.
Chapter Twelve
Four days later, as promised, the heat wave snapped and a cold front moved in. Clouds obscured the sun and a gray mist engulfed the mountain. It blended with the gray of the ocean until you couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.
Thanksgiving Day. Mel couldn’t remember the last time he spent Thanksgiving with people. Usually he spent it recovering from a hangover. Occasionally he’d spent time with friends, but he’d had to be the rock star and that had been agonizing. He didn’t need the big turkey and all the trimmings to have a happy Thanksgiving. He was thankful to be by himself.
Someone rang the doorbell around two and he swore as he got up from his stool in the music room. He hadn’t let anyone through the gate so it had to be Ashley or Lizzie. He got downstairs and opened his door.
Ashley was huddled in a white down jacket. A pretty blue turtleneck peeked out from the collar and brought out the sharp blue of her eyes. “Hi. Sorry to bother you. I was afraid I’d missed you.”
He’d told her he had plans today because he’d had no desire to spend time with her family. “Nope, you caught me. I was just going to take a shower and hit the road.” Lying to her shouldn’t bother him as much as it did.
“I just wanted to beg you not to take home leftovers from your friend’s place tonight. I have food coming out my ears and no one to eat it. My sister’s plane was grounded in Chicago and my mom’s boyfriend is in the hospital so they couldn’t come and Lizzie left last night, so…” Blinking her eyes, she looked on the verge of tears and Mel felt his heart twist. “So, I was just hoping that maybe in the next day or two you could help me eat all this food. That was all.” She took a step back. “Hope you have a nice Thanksgiving.” It seemed like she wanted to say more, but she started for home, turned back for a moment and gave a half-hearted wave. “Bye.”
“Uh…bye.”
She was already down the walkway, her shoulders hunched against the wind, and it took Mel a second to realize she was crying. He may have spent most Thanksgivings alone, but she never had. Fuck. It wasn’t like he could leave her stranded. He looked up the stairs toward his music room where his guitar sat waiting for him. He hadn’t been getting anywhere with his music so he couldn’t say Ashley was taking him from anything.
Mel climbed the stairs and jumped into a quick shower. He pulled on a pair of jeans and shrugged into a warm green cable-knit sweater he’d never worn in his life. He couldn’t even remember when or where he’d gotten the damn thing. Then he slapped a navy knit cap over his head. Twenty minutes later he stood at Ashley’s front door and rang the bell.
“Coming,” she called. Mel saw her through the frosted glass of the front door. The original owners must have gotten a deal on the doors. They were all the same.
“It’s me,” he said. “Mel.” The door opened as she hastily wiped at her eyes. Roamer pranced around, happy to have company. “I thought if you didn’t mind, I’d help you start eating that food tonight instead of tomorrow.”
A tremulous smile broke her lips. Clearly, she’d been crying and her red-rimmed eyes shredded his heart. “What about your plans? I didn’t mean for you to cancel with your friends.”
Mel shrugged. “I had a stomach thing yesterday and I didn’t know if it was contagious so I canceled with them last night.” Luckily, he hadn’t gone to the beach and because he hadn’t seen Ashley at all, she didn’t know the truth. “They told me to come by if I was feeling better and I was going to since I woke up this morning healthy and feeling fine, so…” He looked up, waiting for that lightning strike. What a liar he’d become. “Anyway, they’re still thinking I’m not coming, so if you want me, here I am.”
She reached forward, connected with his arm and tugged him in. “Want you?” she squealed. “Are you kidding me? I didn’t know what I was going to do with all this food.” She dragged him into the den where a fire crackled and the Cowboys played football on the big screen. Roamer continued to walk around and in between them, letting his presence be known. The house smelled like Thanksgiving. Food and fire. It was warm and homey. Mel liked the place. He loved her murals. He could stare at them all day and keep finding new details. From the first time he’d seen them, h
e had a respect for Ashley that went beyond her courage and determination. She was a fellow artist. She could create beauty from paints and brushes, just like Mel created music from notes on his guitar.
“Here, let me get your jacket,” she said, taking it and setting it over the back of a nearby chair. “Can I get you something to eat?”
That was the general idea, wasn’t it? Mel grinned at her hostess gene. “When’s the turkey ready?” he asked. “I’d hate to wreck my appetite.”
“Usually we eat kind of early. Around three or three-thirty. Is that okay with you?” Her face was priceless: questioning and hopeful at the same time.
“Sounds like I’m right on time, then.” The relief on her face made him smile bigger. “What can I help you do?”
“Ever carve a turkey?”
“Not once.”
“Oh, well, then we’ll be virgin carvers together. I just pulled the turkey out of the oven. Unless you want to stay in here and watch the game.” Her cheeks flushed. “I had the TV on for background noise,” she admitted. “The house was too quiet. But I can probably fake it with the turkey, so—”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said. “I can help you. I don’t have to watch the game.” He’d never much been into football. He’d always been about music. Every spare minute. He followed Ashley into the kitchen, his eyes on the murals as he passed each room, taking in details he’d missed before. He stopped short at all the food taking up space on the kitchen counter. Green beans, carrots, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, salad, a Jell-O-something and croissants. Not to mention the turkey. He spotted a pie cooling on the far counter in the corner. “Jesus, looks like you were planning to feed an army, not just five people.”
She flushed again. “I usually make enough so that we have leftovers for a couple of days, so…” She sighed. “I really hope you’re hungry.” Her voice cracked and she turned her back on him.