Return to Rose Cottage

by Sherryl Woods

Josh glanced at the paper and saw that she’d written, “My fault. I owe you,” then signed her name in the kind of illegible scrawl usually used by physicians.

  “A confession?” he asked, amused. “Think it would hold up in court?”

  “It would if I wanted it to,” she said flatly, then lowered herself gracefully into her car, giving him one last intoxicating view of those incredibly long legs. “See you around.”

  “Oh, you can count on that,” Josh said, fingering the piece of paper she’d given him.

  He stood watching until she was out of sight, then tucked the piece of paper into his pocket and gave it a pat. Coming home was turning out to be one of the smartest decisions he’d made in a long time.

  And ironically the past couple of minutes had al ready given him insight into one of those important decisions he was here to consider. If he could feel this powerful tug of attraction to a woman who’d just creamed his beloved car, then the very last thing he ought to be considering was marriage to Stephanie Lockport Williams. First thing in the morning, he’d have to call and make it clear to her that despite her father’s wishes, they had no future.

  And right after that, he’d call the mysterious Ashley and invite her out for a crab feast. There was no better way to get to know a woman than watching her handle the messy task of picking crabs. Stephanie had flatly refused to touch the things, which should have told Josh all he needed to know months ago.

  Something told him that Ashley would show no such restraint. In fact, he had a hunch she’d go after those crabs with all the passion and enthusiasm of a local. There was something wildly seductive in watching a woman hammer away at the hard shells, then delicately pick out the sweet meat and dip it in melted butter, then savor every bite. He thought of Ashley’s lush lips closing around a chunk of backfin crabmeat dripping in butter, and concluded it was definitely a spectacle he could hardly wait to see.

  2

  “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” Ashley muttered as she sat with Maggie on the porch of the farmhouse Maggie and Rick lived in a few miles from Rose Cottage. It had an orchard out back, the trees laden down with ripe apples. The sun was beginning to drop in the western sky, splashing everything with orange light. It was so serene, it should have creeped Ashley out, but she had other things on her mind, like that ridiculous accident she’d caused by driving too fast on an unfamiliar winding road. For a split second she’d lost her concentration, and that had been enough to nearly cause a tragedy. There would have been no adequate defense for it.

  “What is wrong with me?” she asked her sister plaintively.

  Maggie glanced at her husband. Both of them were fighting a grin.

  “What?” Ashley demanded. “Why are you two laughing at me?”

  “We’re not laughing at you,” Maggie rushed to as sure her. “It’s just that the saint is discovering she’s human. It’s a wonderful thing to see. I, for one, never thought it would happen. I can’t wait to tell Melanie and Mike when they get here.”

  Ashley gave her sister a sour look. “You know, if you keep this up, you’re going to make me sorry I agreed to come to Virginia for five minutes, much less three weeks,” she told Maggie irritably. “I can go back to Boston first thing in the morning, you know.”

  “But you won’t,” Maggie said.

  Ashley found her confidence annoying. “Oh? Why is that, Ms. Know-it-all?”

  “You made a deal with us. If you break it, then we’ll know you’re in some sort of emotional meltdown that probably requires hospitalization.”

  Ashley scowled. “Not even remotely funny.”

  “I didn’t mean it to be,” Maggie assured her. “You need this sabbatical, Ashley, and one way or another we’re going to see to it that you take it. Rose Cottage is much cheaper and a whole lot more pleasant than some quiet sanitarium in a tranquil setting with shrinks watching your every move.” She let that image sink in, then asked, “Don’t you agree?”

  Ashley stared hard at her sister to see if she was joking. She didn’t appear to be. “You wouldn’t do that to me.”

  “If it was the only way to assure that you get some rest, we would,” Maggie retorted emphatically. “Don’t test us. That’s how worried we are about you.”

  “Mom and Dad would never allow it,” Ashley said.

  “Are you so sure of that? They’re worried sick, too.”

  “I’m not having a damn breakdown, though you could easily drive me to one,” Ashley said, barely keeping a grip on her temper. The last thing she needed to do was give them ammunition to have her committed. And they would do it. She could see that now. There was no mistaking the resolve in Maggie’s eyes.

  “You’re not having one yet,” Maggie agreed. “But you’re on the verge, Ashley. None of us have ever seen you strung this tight before. Everyone has their limits. What happened in court was only the final blow. You’ve been pushing yourself too hard for too long.”

  “I think we need to change the subject before you re ally get on my nerves,” Ashley told her sister. She deliberately turned to Rick. “Do you know of a Josh around here?”

  Rick looked as if he didn’t really want to be drawn into the conversation, even if the subject seemed to be neutral. Ashley could hardly blame him. When he shrugged, she turned back to Maggie. “What about you? Do you know a Josh?”

  “Is that the man you hit?” Maggie asked.

  Ashley nodded.

  “No last name?”

  “He didn’t offer one,” Ashley said, then remembered the exchange of notes. Maybe he had written it down. “Wait. Here it is. Madison. Josh Madison.”

  Maggie’s expression turned thoughtful. “There were some Madisons who had a summer place not far from Rose Cottage. I think Grandma knew them. Maybe he’s related to them. That would certainly explain why he was on that road. Melanie and Mike might know him.”

  “I suppose that’s possible,” Ashley said. “But he said he was local.”

  “Maybe he is now,” Rick finally chimed in. “But I don’t recall the name, and I talk to a lot of people around the area. I could ask Willa-Dean next time I go to Callao for lunch. That girl knows everybody, especially the single men.”

  Ashley shook her head. “No need. I doubt we’ll even cross paths again, unless he changes his mind about me paying for the damage to his car.”

  Maggie grinned. “Why so interested, Ash? Is he gorgeous? Sexy?”

  “Nice,” Ashley said, refusing to be drawn into a discussion of Josh Madison’s appeal. Nice was safe. Nice didn’t stir up hormones.

  Unfortunately, Josh Madison was a bit more than nice. As rattled as she’d been by that stupid accident, she’d noted that he was sexy and gorgeous, just as her sister had guessed. Not that Ashley cared, of course. Men were the last thing on her mind these days. But accepting that didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate a fine specimen when one happened to cross her path, even if this one was clearly not her type.

  After all, he’d been dressed in a faded T-shirt and equally faded jeans, with boat shoes and no socks. It wasn’t a look that appealed to her. She was drawn to men in designer suits and expensive imported footwear. She was drawn to men who reeked of ambition and success. Josh Madison looked…normal. Just an everyday guy. Ashley didn’t do ordinary.

  Not that she’d done all that well with the overly ambitious type, either. The one serious relationship in her life had been with a man every bit as driven to succeed as she was. He’d worn all the right clothes, gone to all the right places, been seen with all the right people.

  But Drew Wellington turned out to have this nasty habit of lying to her, hiding things from her such as the supposedly unimportant detail that he had a high-school sweetheart back home whom he saw every chance he got. He’d also failed to mention that his old flame was pregnant with his child.

  Not that he intended to marry her. She wasn’t suitable, he’d tried to explain to Ashley when she’d discovered his tawdry little secret. Ashley was the woman he wanted to marry.r />
  She wasn’t sure which part of that had made her sickest, the lying or the snobbery, but the betrayal had all come flooding back to her in that courtroom a week ago when she’d realized that her ex and Tiny shared a common lack of familiarity with the truth. What was it about her that made people think they didn’t have to be honest with her? Did they think she was too stupid to discover the lies, or that she wouldn’t care if she did?

  Either way, she definitely hadn’t done so well with her one foray into love of the proper kind. Still, that didn’t mean she was ready to start compromising her ideals for a man utterly lacking in style and ambition, even if that did make her into the very kind of snob she claimed to despise.

  Which was unfortunate, she concluded when Melanie and Mike arrived not five minutes later with Josh Madison in tow. Her heart promptly began the kind of enthusiastic staccato rhythm she hadn’t felt in years. Josh had cleaned up nicely. His hair was damp and spiked with gel, his cheeks were smooth and he’d changed into chinos and an expensive knit shirt with a designer logo emblazoned discreetly on the pocket. He was still wearing the disreputable-looking boat shoes, though, and no socks.

  “Look who we found,” Melanie announced cheerfully. “We ran into Josh on our way over and invited him to tag along. He’s our neighbor. You guys must remember the Madison house. And Josh remembers Grandma Lindsey. Hope you don’t mind, Maggie, but we didn’t want to leave him on his own. I know you always cook enough for a mob.”

  Ashley frowned at Maggie, who was struggling unsuccessfully to contain a chuckle.

  “I think it’s great,” Maggie enthused. “I just hope you didn’t run into Josh the same way Ashley did earlier. I doubt his car could take another encounter like that.”

  Melanie’s eyes widened as she turned from Josh to Ashley and back again. “Ashley is the person who hit you?”

  Ashley turned her scowl on Josh. “Couldn’t wait to spread the word, I see.”

  “Actually, I didn’t volunteer anything. Mike noticed the dent and asked about it,” he said. “Would you have wanted me to lie to him?”

  She sighed at that. “Of course not.”

  He regarded her speculatively. “I hope it’s not going to make you uncomfortable having to sit across a dinner table from me?”

  Ashley frowned. He seemed to be relishing the prospect of causing her a little discomfort. “Absolutely not,” she lied.

  Josh grinned. “You can always think of it as that penance you were so anxious to exact from yourself earlier,” he suggested. “Though don’t think tonight will get you off the hook on that other dinner you promised me. I’m counting on that.”

  Maggie and Melanie stared at them, clearly fascinated by the exchange. They were going to make way too much of this, Ashley could tell. She needed to defuse their speculation as quickly as possible.

  “Whatever,” she said with a very deliberate shrug of indifference. “I can stand it if you can. I’m used to uncomfortable situations.”

  “She’s used to staring down prosecutors,” Melanie explained. “She’s very good at it.”

  Josh’s grin spread. “A lawyer. I should have guessed. It explains a lot.”

  Normally she would have challenged him on a remark like that, but Ashley was in no mood to be drawn into the kind of passionate debate that might be misinterpreted by her sisters as some sort of chemistry. Instead, she reminded them mildly, “But right now, as I have been repeatedly told, I’m on vacation.” She turned her gaze on Maggie. “By the way, I’m starved. Didn’t you say something about dinner when you invited us over here, Maggie? Or was that some bait-and-switch thing?”

  “See, there you are in lawyer mode again,” Maggie retorted. “How are we supposed to forget if you can’t?”

  Ashley could see her point. “I’m working on it,” she swore. “I really am.” But something told her it was going to be easier said than done.

  When she glanced at Josh, she caught a commiserating look in his eyes. It seemed as if he actually understood what she was going through, and that made her wonder if she’d totally misjudged him. Then again, maybe that kind of sensitivity merely went along with being nice. Neither were traits with which she had a lot of experience. Drew had been smart and savvy and sophisticated, but definitely not nice. Her male colleagues were brilliant and clever but rarely nice, and hardly ever sensitive or considerate.

  “Something tells me there’s a story behind that,” Josh said quietly, his expression thoughtful.

  “Not one we’re going to get into tonight,” Maggie said decisively. She turned to Ashley. “Since you’re so anxious to eat, Ashley, you can help me in the kitchen. Rick, get Josh a glass of wine.”

  Ashley reluctantly followed her sister into the kitchen. She knew precisely what was coming, especially since Melanie was right on her heels.

  “First day in town and you find yourself a keeper,” Maggie taunted as she handed Ashley another place set ting.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Ashley retorted. “We don’t know anything about him.”

  Melanie beamed. “That’s why it’s so nice that you have all this time on your hands to change that.”

  “Even if I were interested—and I am definitely not saying that I am—what makes you think Josh doesn’t already have a girlfriend?”

  “Oh, please,” Maggie said. “Have you seen the way the man looks at you? It’s as if he can’t quite believe his luck.”

  “Drew used to look at me like that, too,” Ashley commented wryly.

  “No, he didn’t,” Maggie responded, her voice laced with derision. “Drew looked at you as if you were a particularly valuable possession he’d acquired along with his BMW and his Rolex.”

  Ashley couldn’t deny Maggie’s take on the past, but she rolled her eyes anyway. “Could we just get through dinner with the least amount of humiliation possible? Do not try to foist me off on Josh like some pathetic thing who needs to be entertained.”

  “I won’t have to,” Maggie said confidently. “You’ll see. Josh strikes me as the kind of man who’ll take things into his own hands if he gets the slightest bit of encouragement from you. Hasn’t he already gotten you to agree to have dinner with him?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “I rest my case,” Maggie said, her triumph plain.

  “I am not here to encourage some man I’ve barely met,” Ashley insisted.

  “I agree with Maggie. Just open yourself up to the possibilities,” Melanie pleaded. “That’s all we’re asking. Now go set a place for Josh, then sit down right next to it. Maggie and I will get dinner on the table.”

  Ashley laughed despite herself. “You two never give up, do you? Just because you landed fantastic men doesn’t mean everyone has to settle down to be happy. It’s possible to be single and totally fulfilled.”

  “Maybe,” Maggie conceded with obvious skepticism, “but you can’t blame us for wanting you to be as happy as we are. You nudged me and Rick together. Now it’s my chance to return the favor. Melanie’s, too.”

  “I don’t consider this a favor,” Ashley said, giving it one last try.

  Maggie smiled serenely. “Something tells me you will,” she said.

  Melanie nodded in agreement, then added with a grin, “Eventually, anyway.”

  Josh noted that Ashley had managed to seat herself at the opposite end of the table from him, much to her sister Maggie’s very evident dismay. He, on the other hand, was a little relieved. The woman overwhelmed him. He literally needed some space between them so he could catch his breath.

  Besides, he hadn’t made that call to Stephanie yet. It was a point of honor with him that he needed to officially break things off with her before he moved on. If Ashley were too close, he might toss aside his better judgment and try to figure out some way to crawl directly into her bed before the night was over. That kind of reckless, breakneck pace was a very bad thing, especially for a man who had supposedly taken some vacation time to make some tough decisions about his future
.

  He’d always been a plodder, taking things slowly, thinking them through. He’d just about thought the whole engagement thing to death, which was one reason—thankfully—that it had never happened.

  The woman sitting opposite him made him want to seize the moment, which was a very scary proposition. When he’d agreed to come to dinner tonight, he’d had no idea that Ashley would be here. The hop, skip and jump of his pulse when he’d spotted her dented car in the driveway had been way too telling. He was about to throw caution to the wind. The length of the dinner table and the presence of four obviously fascinated observers were the only things standing in his way.

  Well, those things and that look of distress in Ashley’s amazing eyes, which had turned a golden topaz in the candlelight. She was clearly vulnerable and hurting. It evidently had something to do with her career. Since his own was likely to go up in flames as soon as he broke things off with Stephanie, he could relate to Ashley’s professional uncertainty.

  Brevard, Williams and Davenport was one of Richmond’s premier law firms. Josh had been proud when they’d hired him straight out of law school, then promoted him quickly. But it had been increasingly evident that his future there was directly tied in to his relationship with Stephanie. If he broke up with her this weekend, he was very likely to be fired on Monday. The thought didn’t terrify him nearly as much as he’d expected it to. In fact, when he could ignore the churning in his gut, it seemed to give him an amazing sense of freedom.

  “You’re awfully quiet,” Mike said. “You sure you didn’t bump your head in that accident?”

  Josh shrugged off his concern. “Just thinking about how life takes a lot of unexpected twists.”

  Mike glanced over at Melanie, and his entire expression softened. “Indeed, it does.”

  “How long have the two of you been married?” Josh asked him.

  “Four months.”

  “Long engagement?”

  Mike grinned. “Hardly. We just met in March.”

  Josh stared at him in shock. “You seem like you’ve known each other forever.”