Fall for Me (Wilson Creek Book 2)

by Reese, K. R.

  Scrubbing a hand over his face, he sighed. He was going to regret his next words. He already knew that. Ashlee was going to ask him to leave and that would be the last of it. “One was a woman. Nothing ever came of it; she didn’t have enough evidence. We settled out of court and went our separate ways.” He had to pinch the bridge of her nose. A dull ache had started behind his eyes. “I wanted you to hear all of this from me before someone in my family decided to tell you instead. Ashlee, I didn’t do all the things she accused me of. I shoved her, that’s it. And…”

  “Stop.” Michael fell silently instantly. Avoiding her stare, he studied the paintings throughout the room. Hell, had he just told her all his legal problems? And asked her if this was just about sex to her? A distinct image of Ashlee laying underneath him last night at the hotel placed itself in his mind, front and center.

  Regretting telling her the truth now. No, she needed to know.

  “I’ll go grab my clothes and get out of here. I’ll see you later at my parents’, but won’t contact you unless you initiate it.” Before she could protest, he climbed out of the bed, holding the towel closely to walk down the stairs. Grabbing his clothes from the dryer and dressing quickly, he found his keys and wallet and went out to his car.

  “I just need some time to think, Michael.”

  He recoiled from the tone of Ashlee’s voce behind him. He waved a hand without looking back and peeled out of the driveway. Looking in his rearview, he saw her standing on the porch with her arms wrapped around herself. Michael squirmed in his seat and dialed Trevor, waiting for an answer.

  “My plans changed. I’m needed back out in Nevada. Please tell Mom, Dad, the kids and Ella sorry for me.”

  Damn it, damn it, damn it. There was already a strain on his family for never visiting and not coming home when they found out his mother had cancer. But if Ashlee never wanted to see him again after knowing the truth, it was probably wise if he left Wilson Creek. If he stayed here, he wouldn’t be able to avoid her, and he wouldn’t be able to stay away from her.

  “Fuck, Michael. Are you trying to tear our family apart? Mom isn’t doing good and Dad’s going to have your ass if you leave. You’ll be lucky if he doesn’t come out to Nevada just to drag you back home.” Now that was rich. Using his father as a threat had never worked on Michael. Trevor knew it as well as he did.

  “Dad will have to wait for me to get a break. I only took time off for the wedding, but something’s come up in my um, legal problems, and I’m needed back there.” He heard Ella talking in the background and Trevor whispering, then a sigh.

  “Just come back as soon as you can, okay? We’re going to make it to dinner, so I’ll let everyone know what’s going on.”

  Michael tried not to pay attention to the weight of Trevor’s comment, but it was hard to ignore. “Ashlee already knows everything. I told her today before she heard it from any of you. Look out for her, Trevor, okay?”

  “Did something happen between you two? Michael, I warned you that if you…” Michael hung up. He couldn’t deal with it right now. Quickly packing all his things and changing his flight at the airport, he was boarded and ready to go two hours after the conversation with his brother. He’d come back, and soon, just not until things cooled off between him and Ashlee.

  Chapter Eight

  Ugh!

  Ashlee continued digging through her closet, trying to find anything that resembled presentable. She was having dinner with Ella and Trevor tonight while the kids were at their grandparents. She didn’t understand why they didn’t want to spend the time alone, but whatever, she wasn’t going to question it. Finally finding the black slacks she’d been looking for and her light-yellow blouse, she stepped out of the closet, put them on and looked in the mirror.

  It would have to do. Ashlee rushed through putting her makeup on and blow drying her hair. Glancing at the clock, she noticed she had five minutes before they were going to pull into her driveway. She had to go around the entire house to find her purse, keys and phone when the horn honked outside. Ashlee knew there was going to be talk of Michael, and this time she couldn’t avoid it.

  Before her ass was planted in the seat, her cell phone began to chirp. Digging it out of her purse, she just stared at the screen. Hell, no! Cursing under her breath, she clicked ignore on Michael’s call and stayed focused on Ella. She wasn’t ready to face him. Not yet. Plus, he left without even a goodbye after releasing all his problems onto her, and they hadn’t talked since. Sure, he’d tried contacting her a few times, but she always ignored it. If he wanted to talk, he shouldn’t have run away.

  “Why didn’t you answer the phone?” Ella looked over her shoulder curiously. Guess there wasn’t anything she could do about keeping it to herself.

  “No reason.” She responds and shrugs. “Just not trying to be stuck on the phone right now. How did the kids do getting dropped off today?”

  “They were fine,” she said it like it didn’t matter. “But, getting back to Michael.”

  “We weren’t even talking about Michael.”

  Ella laughed. “Seriously?”

  “I’m not going to tell you what happened, so you mine as well drop it. I’ve told you this for weeks now.”

  “Ah! But something did happen! I knew it!”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Ashlee caught Trevor’s eyes in the mirror. Of course, he knew, their brothers.

  “I knew something happened between you two when he was here for the wedding! I kept telling Trevor that something did, but he ignored it.” Ella smacked Trevor on the shoulder, grinning.

  “Nothing happened, Ella. End of story.” When they stopped at the red light, Ella turned in her seat to say something, a serious expression on her face. The phone began ringing again. Holy fuck, why does he choose now to call a dozen times? Ashlee looked up at the roof and laid her head on the back of the seat. Why was she being tortured?

  “Just answer the phone, Ash,” Ella pleaded. “He’s been hounding Trevor and me for weeks because you won’t answer any of his calls or text messages.”

  “Alright, alright. Are you happy now?” Ashlee snapped back.

  She swiped the phone to answer the call. “Ashlee?” There was a hint of worry in his voice.

  She takes a deep breath and answers. “I’m here.”

  “Why have you been ignoring me?”

  “I think you know the answer to that.”

  Michael’s sigh tells her that he does. “Well, do you think you can forgive me and get over it? I’m flying in tonight. I’m on a layover in Arizona right now. I thought you’d want to know.”

  Shit! Ashlee began to process the words he just said and come up with some plan to get out of seeing him. While she was beginning to panic with a million thoughts racing through her head, Ella continued staring at her. Looks like she doesn’t have an option. “I’m going to take your silence as a no.”

  “I didn’t say that. I just-“

  “Just what, Ashlee? You don’t have to lie to me, you can be honest.” His voice was less than enthusiastic.

  Ashlee sighed loud enough for Ella and Trevor to hear, only to find that they had pulled into the restaurant, both expectantly staring at her now. She covered the phone with her hand so he couldn’t hear. “Go ahead in, I’ll be right behind you in a minute.”

  They both nodded and got out of the truck. “Sorry about that,” Ashlee mumbles. “I’m going to dinner with Trevor and Ella so they’re waiting for me.”

  “I’ll see you tonight around nine-thirty,” he said. “And Ashlee?”

  “Yeah, Michael?”

  “Think about it.”

  “Michael, there’s nothing to….”

  He cut her off. “Just think about it. See you soon.”

  Ashlee hung up the phone and put it on silent. The last thing she was ready for was to see Michael again. She hadn’t been in a good mood for almost two weeks. How could one man be so appealing, but so annoying and frustrating, to
o? She had an overwhelming need to slap the shit out of him for leaving without saying goodbye, but at the same time, she just wanted to feel his arms around her again. Damn him.

  There wasn’t any use in trying to maintain a normal conversation at dinner. Ashlee was distracted, and Ella and Trevor knew it. Her mind kept drifting to Michael and the impending meeting tonight.

  When they dropped her off at home around seven, she was too distracted for much of anything. Pacing the room, she checked her email on her phone. There was one from Michael that had come in three minutes ago.

  Hey, Ash. Plane due to land at 8:55. See you very soon.

  Ashlee couldn’t lie and tell herself that there wasn’t a huge part of her that wanted to drive to the airport and wait for him to arrive. Oh, to hell with it. She e-mailed him back quickly. If he answered in time, she’d have just enough time to make it to the airport before his plane got there. Michael’s response was almost instant, like he was waiting to see if she replied. Grabbing her keys and jumping in her Jeep, a thrill raced through her.

  What happens now? She needed more information about his lawsuit situation, and to know if that’s why he’d left, but she couldn’t wait to see him either. Guess they were about to find out.

  The closer Michael was to approaching the airport, the more fear and anticipation took over. Everything wrapped into one big ball of stress. He wasn’t sure what was worse right now, having to deal with other passengers or having to wait to see Ashlee. There were two scenarios that could happen. The first was that Ashlee could open her arms to him and not turn him away. That’s what he was going on right now. In the second scenario, she’d turn him away and he’d have to move on without her. He didn’t want that to happen, but he couldn’t stop her if that’s what she chose.

  Michael would give it all up, too, even though he loved knowing he had built his business from the ground up, an achievement in his book. But if Ashlee would give him a chance, he’d gladly do it.

  As the plane landed on the runway and taxied to the gate, his breathing increased. He was so close to seeing her that his nerves were getting the better of him. Michael let most of the other passengers’ unload before him, giving himself room to get his carry-on bag and slowly go out the door. When he exited the gate, he started to baggage claim when a voice behind him stopped him dead in his tracks.

  “Michael! Michael!”

  Turning around, he seen Ashlee running towards him. Her face was flushed and she seemed a little out of breath. She sprinted right into him, wrapping her arms around his back in a hug. He dropped his carry-on bag and slid his arms around her waist, pulling her against him. He loved how she fit against him so perfectly.

  “What’re you doing here?” He could feel her smile against his chest. “Tell me,” he said without letting her go.

  “After I got your e-mail, I paced my living room for fifteen minutes deciding on what I wanted. I thought a lot. About how you make me feel when I’m around you.” She sighed, and he didn’t say anything, giving her a chance to finish. “I realized that I was being selfish, Michael. I was judging you by what everyone else had told me, and by what you told me about your lawsuits. I haven’t heard the full story about those, and just because everyone else thinks you’re such a bad person, I should be the judge of that.”

  “Sounds like you’re thinking we need to talk some more.” He kissed the top of her head and breathed in her scent before letting her go.

  “We do. There’s some things I need to tell you, too, but we’ll get there, slowly and over time.”

  He noticed when Ashlee tensed, staring past him to the other gates. Turning around, he saw a man walking towards them, smiling. Michael protectively put his arm around Ashlee’s back and whispered where only she could hear. “Do you know him?”

  Ashlee nodded without moving her gaze.

  “Ashlee McCoy?”

  Her shoulders didn’t relax, but she leaned into Michael a little more for support. “Hi, Adam. What are you doing here?”

  The guy smirked and sat down his bags. “Well, looking for you actually. I heard you were living up this way and I thought I’d come to see how you were doing. Everyone misses you back at home, ya know?”

  Michael said nothing as he glanced between them. “And who are you exactly?” he asked. For a moment, Adam’s smile faded before he took a step forward.

  “I’m Ashlee’s fiancé’s younger brother. Who are you?”

  Chapter Nine

  Ashlee could feel Michael’s fingers digging into her hip, holding her against him as if he was going to run for the hills. She just stared at Adam and didn’t know what to say. She could hear other people in the airport make remarks about them standing in the middle of the long hallway. She swallowed, unsure of what to say to diffuse this situation. She wished she could crawl under a rock and hide. Yes, Ashlee had been engaged to Nathan, but everything had changed four years ago. Seeing Adam, it was like seeing a ghost.

  “Can we go somewhere and sit down, Adam?” It’s the only thing she could get to come out of her mouth now. Michael hadn’t asked for any of her secrets and she felt his hand stiffen around her hip more.

  “Well, I was hoping we could go somewhere private and talk, if that’s okay with you?” The question was aimed more towards Michael and he knew it because Adam’s eyes went straight to him when he asked.

  “Anything you say to me; you can say to Michael. Isn’t that, right?” Ashlee tried to smile brightly and she wondered whether Michael had heard the strangled noise at the end of the sentence.

  “Ashlee, I have to go get my bags from baggage claim. You two can talk as much as you want, I’ll get a rental car and see you later.” Michael’s words were direct and didn’t falter. He let her go and walked away. The guilt began eating at her, because she hadn’t told Michael anything about her previous engagement or about Nathan’s death. Even now, she couldn’t talk about it easily.

  “I’m sorry, Ashlee. My intention wasn’t to come upset your life or cause problems. I felt that you needed to know the truth, and I should have come sooner, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

  “Know the truth about what?” Ashlee slowly found her voice, but it sounded weak.

  “Let’s go get something to eat and we’ll talk. I don’t know where to start, honestly. I had this whole talk planned out, but now that I’m here, I don’t know how to say any of it.”

  Ashlee followed Adam to the airport bar and they found a booth. After the waitress had come and taken Adam’s order, he entwined his hands and stared at her. She decided to speak up. “Look, Adam, I appreciate you coming here and all, but I left our hometown for a reason. I wanted away from everything and everyone there who reminded me of Nathan. I thought I’d made that quite clear to everyone.” She said it as calmly as she could, but there was no mistaking the quiver in her voice.

  “You had every right to want to get away from all of that, Ashlee, to move on and find someone else, but that doesn’t mean you had to forget about all of us who were family to you. And something came up with Nathan’s will. That’s the real reason I’m here.”

  Ashlee had to force herself to continue breathing. She swallowed hard. “What… what do you mean something came up in Nathan’s will? I was there when it was read, I heard the same thing everyone else did.”

  Adam looked down at his hands before continuing. “Apparently, the will that was read in the lawyer’s office that day was fraudulent. It wasn’t Nathan’s living will.” He paused to pull a folder out of his bag, sliding it across the table to her. “This one is his living will.”

  Ashlee stared at the folder as if it were going to burst into flames. Was this a joke? “My mom admitted to making a false will. She loved you, Ashlee, but she didn’t think it was right for you to get everything when you guys weren’t married. This will was found when we were cleaning out Nathan’s bedroom. It’s been processed by the lawyer and everything is already done and in your name. It’s up to you to decide what to
do with it all.”

  Adam must have seen the haunted look on Ashlee’s face because he reached across and grabbed her hand. What the hell had their mother been thinking? Instead of asking that question, she pulled her hand back and fumbled to open the folder. Inside was a living will, signed and released, a home deed, also signed and in Ashlee’s name, as well as car and motorcycle titles, a list of personal belongings, and keys that were labeled. “This isn’t real.” She flinched as she heard her own voice. The emotions running through her were unbelievable.

  “Well, it is real, and I’m sorry everything happened this way and that you’re just now hearing about it. None of us knew. Did Nathan ever say anything to you?”

  She looked up at him, eyes wide. “He had a million times, Adam, but we were in high school. I didn’t believe he’d go and do it before it mattered. A living will is something you do when you start getting old; not something you do at eighteen. I’m twenty-two and still don’t possess a living will.” She opened her mouth to say more, but nothing came out.

  “I know this is a surprise to you. It shocked all of us. What’s going through your head right now?” Adam watched her from across the table, waiting it out while she thought. “You can tell me, Ashlee. I loved him, too.”

  “I now, and I still haven’t been able to shake what happened. I know it’s not everyone’s fault back home, but they all act like I owe them something. I know, Adam, there’s no way I owe them anything, trust me, but a part of me is still holding on to that life and the past. I feel like Nathan abandoned me. When that thought crosses my mind, though, I feel disgusted with myself because I know there’s nothing he did wrong. We didn’t choose this. This wasn’t our life plan.” Her hands were shaking and she squeezed them together tightly.

  “Ashlee, I have that same feeling sometimes. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, it’s normal. I started seeing a grief counselor right after you left. He was my older brother, my role model, and I looked up to him. After the funeral, I lashed out at everybody. I blamed Nathan for leaving me, blamed him for not being around. I knew it wasn’t his fault, but that didn’t stop me from doing it. It took a while for the grief counselor to convince me that it was normal feelings I was having, but he finally did. We haven’t all moved on entirely from his death, but we’ve learned to cope with it because we’ve all helped each other. It doesn’t seem like you’ve coped with Nathan’s death at all.”