Eddie winked rather than answer and made a mental note to stay far away from the mobile home community until Paradise’s grapevine told him Simra had gotten herself another man.
He continued through the dining room, waving a hand to Zach Olson and his wife, then stopped to drop a friendly kiss on the cheek of Mrs. Wainwright, his fifth grade teacher. Still, he hadn’t caught sight of Ash and decided to head to the bathroom after all when the kitchen door swung open, and she nearly ran into him.
“Whoa!” Eddie took two steps back.
She backpedaled, and for a dangerous moment her tray tilted left. “Eddie?”
He reached over and helped her steady the steaming plates before they hit the floor. “Hi there.”
Her face lit up, and he hoped it was because she was glad to see him and not just because he’d rescued the nachos and chicken fingers. Out of habit, he gave her a once-over, taking in her tight black shorts and the t-shirt that curved around her breasts and stretched the words “Blues and Booze” in just the right way.
“You here for dinner?”
“Just stopped by for a drink. And to say hello.”
“Hey, sweetheart!” A burly guy Eddie didn’t recognize waved a hand in the air. “You gonna bring us those nachos while they’re still hot?”
“Sorry,” Ash called over, and her cheeks pinked. “I gotta go.”
“Yeah, okay.”
“I’ll come out and see you at the bar if I get a minute,” she added.
“Hey, sweetheart!”
Eddie cut another glance across the room and didn’t like what he saw: a middle-aged guy with red cheeks and bloodshot eyes, and two friends who looked in about the same condition. All three wore plaid shirts with the sleeves rolled up and expensive-looking watches. They aren’t locals. They’d probably stopped in Paradise on business or signed up for a two-day seminar at the junior college.
“I’ll see you later.” Ash raised the tray above her head, winding her way through tables until she got to the three idiots.
He watched her go, backing toward the bathroom after a minute, though what he really wanted to do was stay and make sure those guys treated her okay. He didn’t like the way they were looking at Ash, with grins splitting their faces apart and winks behind her back. As he watched, biting back a comment, they made her get them fresh napkins, fresh drinks, and extra plates before one of them finally ran a hand down her bare arm and let her go.
***
“So who’s the guy?”
Ash looked up from the salads she was making. Lacey, the other waitress, stood with one hand on the coffee pot.
“What guy?”
The twenty-year old college student clicked her tongue. “C’mon. The one who just ran you over in the dining room. The one who was talking to you.” She filled two mugs and headed for the door. “He’s cute. Is he your boyfriend?”
“God, no. Just my housemate.” Ash crooked her neck, trying to work out a kink. Thank goodness she was only working until eight. Already she’d had enough of drunken customers hitting on her to last through the summer.
“Cool. So is he available?”
Ash watched the young girl’s eyes light up. She had to admit Eddie looked good in his polo shirt and shorts. Who wouldn’t fall for those dimples, the hard body, that sensual voice? She straightened. Not her, that was for sure. It didn’t matter how good Eddie West looked. She wasn’t about to get involved with someone who lived downstairs from her. She’d learned that lesson in her first year of college.
“Ash?” Lacey stood in the doorway, waiting. “Do you know if he has a girlfriend?”
“Um… I don’t know. I don’t think so.”
“What’s his name?”
“Eddie West.”
Lacey’s brows flew up. “That’s Eddie West? Geez, one of my roommates was talking about him the other day. Said she took her car in to get fixed and this gorgeous guy spent the afternoon hitting on her. Said she’d go out with him, too, if he ever called.”
Ash laughed. “Did he?”
“No. I guess he’s like that. You know, a player.”
Ash swallowed. “Yeah? Could be. I really don’t know him. I mean, we both just moved in…”
Lacey bumped the door open with one hip. “Well, I don’t care. Guy looks like that, he can play with me all he wants.” She laughed, a little chirp that hit Ash the wrong way.
Ash watched the door swing closed and returned to her salads. See? That’s one more reason you need to make sure you and Eddie stay just friends. He’s already got a reputation a mile long. And if he’s looking at you like…well, like he wants something more, remember that’s what he does with any woman he meets.
She took another couple of minutes, hoping Eddie had made it back to the bar, before she headed into the dining room.
“Hey, sweetheart!”
Ash stiffened. When were those guys going to leave? Did they have any idea who she was? Who her father was? She pressed her lips together and turned around.
“Can I get you something else?”
One of them, the heaviest, ran his tongue over his bottom lip. “Sure can.”
How about the check? she almost said as she made her way over to their table.
Before she could stop him, the guy wrapped one arm around her waist and yanked her into him. “How about you give me your phone number, good-lookin’?”
Ash’s hipbone pressed into the spongy flesh of his belly as she tried to pull away. “Um, listen…”
“C’mon. Sweet little thing like you probably tastes even better than she looks.” The other two guys at the table guffawed. “What time do you get off?”
Ash shoved a palm against his shoulder. “Let go of me.”
But he wouldn’t. “What’s wrong? You got a boyfriend or something?”
“No, but – ”
“Take your hands off her.”
The voice, low and angry, came from behind her. Startled, the guy unwrapped himself from her waist, and she almost fell into Eddie in her rush to get away. He put one hand on her shoulder, and her legs turned wobbly with relief.
“You okay?” he breathed into her ear.
A tingle ran down her arm. Uh-oh. Tingles weren’t good. Well, they were, but not in this case. She wasn’t supposed to let her neighbor knock her off her feet with desire. Ash took a step back to catch her balance and nodded. Eddie glared at the guys, who’d turned back to their nachos with sheepish faces. He lowered his voice another degree, so that his next words came out as a clear threat.
“You touch her again, you even breathe wrong when you’re asking for a glass of water, I’ll make sure you don’t walk straight for the next week.”
“Whatever,” one of them muttered.
Eddie strode over to the table. Biceps flexed as he put both hands on the back of an empty chair and squeezed. “What’d you say?”
“Nothing, man,” one of the other guys said. “We’re leaving anyway.”
“Good idea.”
And as Ash watched, Eddie stood there with arms crossed as she brought them the bill and collected their tab, plus an extra twenty for her tip.
“You didn’t have to do that.”
He shrugged, the angry look melting away as the three finally stumbled out of the restaurant. “They were being assholes.”
She walked over to him, thankful down to the tips of her toes. Without letting herself think too much about it, she planted a kiss on Eddie’s scarred cheek. “Thank you.”
“Ah, it wasn’t anything.” But he didn’t move and neither did she, until a crowd of people came into the restaurant and she had to help Lacey with the order. The next time Ash checked the bar, Eddie was gone.
Chapter Six
The following week, Ash dragged herself back to Lycian Street after a hectic lunch shift. A toddler had managed to spill iced tea down her legs, and her right sock had turned a strange yellow color. Her arms ached. Her legs ached. And it was only four o’clock in the afternoon. Thank Go
d she had tomorrow off.
The sun beat down on a mid-June day that felt more like the heaviness of August. She checked her cell phone. Her mother had called once in the last week, leaving a teary message that pleaded with Ash to return to Boston.
“We need the whole family together,” Mamie Kirk wept on the voicemail. “Please, Ashton. Your father needs to know we all support him.”
But did they? Ash didn’t know what to believe. She didn’t know who was telling the truth and who was making up tales. She slowed as she passed Lou’s and breathed in the aroma of fresh bread and garlic. Two cars drove by. A mother with her baby in a stroller jogged down the sidewalk. The church clock chimed the hour.
The muscles in her neck unclenched, and her fatigue eased. It’s so different from Boston, she thought for the umpteenth time. True, Paradise had only one grocery store, no movie theater, and no Wal-Mart. It had a single stoplight that turned to blinking yellow after midnight. It did have a train station, but it seemed as though more people left the town than returned to it. It sat shrouded by low mountains, a stone’s throw from one of the largest cities in the country, and yet sometimes Ash felt as though she couldn’t have been more protected, more isolated, than if she’d moved to the moon.
“It’s nice,” she said aloud. And I don’t want to go back to Boston. Not now. Not yet. She just had to figure out how to explain that to her mother.
Reaching her street, Ash turned the corner and dug into her pocket for her keys. After a hot shower, maybe she’d see if Eddie was in the mood for some Chinese food. Though they hadn’t seen too much of each other in the last few days, she’d heard him down there, blasting his rock music and rearranging furniture. Since moving in three weeks ago, they’d shared a couple of early dinners and a beer or two on the porch. Other than that, their paths didn’t cross too often. Still, she liked knowing he was there. It made the house a little more full, the nights a little less lonely, when she curled into bed and tried not to dream of Colin.
A breath of air moved around the corner, blowing strands of hair that had fallen from her ponytail. The weekend stretched out ahead of her without so much as a single lunch shift to keep her busy. Anxiety bubbled inside her chest. She needed something to keep her mind off her mother’s calls. Off her father’s predicament. Off the heartache that wouldn’t go away.
Man, she hoped Eddie was home. She hoped he didn’t have plans for dinner.
“Hey, stranger.”
He sat on the front porch, a six-pack between his feet and a lazy grin on his face.
“Hey, yourself.” She smiled and dropped to sit on the top step. “You’re home early.”
“Yeah. Frank’s going outta town for the weekend, closed at two.” He flipped the top off a bottle and handed it over.
“Thanks. How’d you know that’s exactly what I need?”
Eddie took a long pull on his own bottle. “Figured you’d be pretty beat. Fridays always get a big lunch crowd down at the restaurant.”
Ash cocked one eyebrow. “Thanks for giving me a heads-up. You could have let me know.” She leaned against the porch railing. Nothing moved. No cars turned down their block. No joggers ran by; no kids played in the park across the street. She closed her eyes and welcomed the silence.
“So how was work this week?” she asked after a while.
“Same as always. Crazy customers want to know why we can’t fix their cars in an hour, when they’ve been driving around for two weeks with the problem.”
Ash smiled. “Yeah, people are funny that way.”
“So what’s for dinner?”
She turned. “Whatever you’re making.”
He laughed, and she noticed that his goatee had grown a little more in the last few days. Thick and dark, it caught the light and turned a reddish-brown in places. Not like Colin or anyone else I ever dated. All her past boyfriends had smooth faces and baby-soft cheeks. For the first time, she realized she liked the look of stubble on a man. Hot. Rugged. Rough in all the right ways.
She dropped her chin, hoping Eddie couldn’t read her thoughts. “I was thinking about ordering Chinese.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“You don’t have plans for tonight? It’s Friday. ”
“Nope.”
“No hot dates?”
“Not until tomorrow.”
“Oh.” Ash studied the stain on her sock. With one hand, she reached up and loosened her ponytail, damp with perspiration. “Who’s the lucky girl?”
Eddie cleared his throat. “Cheri Ryerson.” Long pause. “Don’t think you know her.”
Ash got up, sticking her empty bottle back inside the cardboard carrier. “Don’t think I do. She live in Paradise?”
“Next town over.”
“Well, lover boy, I’m sure you’ll have a good time.”
He stood too, following her to the door. “I’m sure I will.”
They were halfway inside when Helen called to them from across the street. Ash had one hand on the doorknob, and Eddie was picking up the empties, when the woman hobbled over.
“Ashley!” Helen’s voice scratched on the syllables, and her breathing came in great gasps. “Edward!”
In slow motion, Ash turned. She didn’t like the tone in the woman’s voice: eager, gossipy, dangerous. She took a step back, meaning to create some sort of excuse and head upstairs. But Eddie had already loped down the steps, a playboy grin on his face.
Helen stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, hands on her hips. “I was downtown today, getting my hair done.” She stopped, drawing in a deep, rattling breath. “And a newspaper reporter came into Hair Heaven. From Boston.”
Oh, God. Ash took two steps across the porch and tumbled down the stairs, straight into Eddie’s back. Into Eddie’s strong, tall, incredibly muscular back. He turned and grabbed her with both hands before she knocked the two of them over.
“You okay?”
She blew out a long breath, conscious of his hands on her even as she looked at her feet and willed Helen away. “I’m fine. Just tired. Sorry.”
The white-haired woman looked as though she hadn’t even noticed. “He was asking about someone named Ashton Kirk.” Her beady eyes stared at Ash. “I told him I’d never heard of anyone by that name.”
Eddie shrugged. “Guess it sounds a little like Ash’s name, but – ”
“But it’s not,” Ash finished.
“Of course it’s not.” He let his arm drop around Ash’s neck, looping it across her shoulders. “Why was he all the way up here, anyway?”
Helen pulled a crumpled tissue from her pocket and blew her nose. “I don’t know. Said he was looking for Senator’s Kirk’s daughter.”
“In Paradise?” Eddie began to laugh. “Why? Don’t those types stay close to home?”
Something like a stone sank inside Ash. Those types…
“That’s what I told him,” Helen said. “Said there wasn’t any reason for a stuck-up politician’s daughter to get her hands dirty way up here in New Hampshire. I guess he had some kind of lead. Thought maybe she skipped town to get away from the family mess.”
“Can't say I'd blame her.” Eddie turned to Ash. “You don’t know who she’s talking about, do you? You ever meet the senator’s daughter?”
The stone got larger and threatened to lodge itself in Ash’s throat. She managed to shake her head.
“Guess he’s out of luck,” Eddie said.
Helen reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out a business card. “Here. He passed them around to everyone who was in the salon, said to call if we had any information. I figure you have more chance of meeting someone like that than I do.” She handed the card to Eddie, who stuck it in the back pocket of his shorts. Ash caught herself looking at the smooth, tanned strip of skin along his lower back as his shirt pulled up and ordered herself to stop it, once and for all.
“Thanks, Helen,” Eddie said. “I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”
“Well, I hope so,�
�� the woman went on. “Sadie said she wouldn’t believe it, if a daughter of…”
Ash barely heard the words. It’s only a matter of time before someone finds out. She backed away and let Eddie’s arm drop, missing its heaviness when she did. What am I doing? How the hell did I think I could get away with this?
Chapter Seven
Sunday morning, Ash awoke to the sound of rain drumming the rooftop. Great. She’d planned on checking out the antique shops over in Silver Creek that afternoon. She rolled over and pushed her face into her pillow. Somehow, the idea of tromping through puddles on her way to and from the car didn’t appeal. She eyed the clock. Six a.m. Gray light filtered through the curtains. It curled into the corners of the bedroom and draped itself around her shoulders. No reason to get up, she thought, slipping back into sleep. No reason at all.
As she moved back toward dreams, she wondered if the rain would clear later on. Eddie had promised to come up and watch the baseball game with her, explain once and for all why the Red Sox southpaw was the league’s best pitcher in twenty years. If the lousy weather postponed the opening pitch, she’d likely be stuck watching Lifetime movies or Seinfeld reruns by herself.
“The Sox are playing the Yankees this weekend,” he’d told her Friday, over chicken lo mein (his) and tofu with seaweed (hers). “I’ll stop up on Sunday and show you how a real baseball fan watches the game.”
“You do that,” she answered, smiling at him as they counted fireflies from the rooftop. “You do that…”
***
The next sound Ash heard was a slam. Then a shout. She sat straight up in bed and stared at the clock. Quarter to eleven. Rain still poured down, pattering against the windows. She reached for her robe and listened for the sound that had pulled her from sleep. Nothing for a minute. Then it came again: a series of thumps, followed by a male voice swearing. Eddie’s voice. Ash swung her feet over the edge of the bed and rubbed her eyes.
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