Chapter 9: Chance
“She’s still not here.”
I snapped my head around just as Chuck handed me a mug of coffee and a plate of pie. “Thanks,” I said. “Who’s not here?”
Chuck smiled knowingly and shook his head at me.
It couldn’t have been more obvious, come to think of it. I had woken up early, knowing Ashlyn usually made her rounds at around ten, and had been waiting in the office patiently for her arrival.
I’d had a blast the other day, and was actually hoping to invite her to breakfast, maybe convince her to show me a little bit more of the country side. The truth was, I couldn’t care less about Ludwig, and sightseeing was probably going to take me twenty minutes, tops. I could probably be through the entire town and back at the motel before she was even done replacing the flowers. It was the company that I craved. I wanted to be with Ashlyn in every conceivable way.
I looked at my watch, the cheap Timex my mom had given me for high school graduation, then back out at the road leading up to the motel, slowly sipping on my coffee. It felt strange to be anticipating someone’s arrival this much. The last person I had looked forward to meeting was the CEO of a small company we had purchased a few years back, and the only reason then was because she was hot as hell. We eventually came to an agreement, and she came screaming my name.
But this was different. I wasn’t even thinking of Ashlyn that way, which struck me as odd. All I wanted to do was have a cup of coffee and talk, which sounded pretty lame in my head, but didn’t change my attitude towards it. If Alice could see me now. She would probably ask me where I had left my balls.
“Isn’t she usually on time?” I asked Chuck, no longer trying to hide my anxiety.
Chuck laughed. “She doesn’t really keep any specific time,” he said. “She should be here by now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she decided to skip a day. Sometimes you just wake up and don’t really feel like doing anything.”
That didn’t sound like Ashlyn, though. Yesterday she had been full of life, ready to take on anyone and everything. It didn’t seem like her. Granted, I didn’t really know much about her, and who was to say that she hadn’t decided to kick back and relax for a day. Still, it felt odd.
“If it’ll make you feel any better, I could give her a call,” Chuck offered.
“That’s okay,” I said, although I did like the idea.
“No, you’re right,” Chuck said, picking up his phone and sliding his finger across the screen. “Martha would have called her by now. No hurt in checking up.”
I stood up, downed the rest of my coffee and stepped outside to light a cigarette, but stopped myself before putting fire to the tip. The only other tenant in the motel had made an appearance today, sitting by the pool, hurriedly scribbling something in a pad on his lap. I toyed with the idea of going for a swim to kill the time, or at least build an appetite before I passed by the diner again.
“Hey,” Chuck stuck his head out the door. “No answer. I say she’s probably still sleeping.”
I tried to act nonchalant, but I had started to worry just a little. I had no idea why, but it was there. Are you falling for this girl?
“I think I’ll check on Hank,” I said. “See how far he’s come with the truck.”
“In a hurry to get out of here already?” Chuck smiled.
“No, not at all,” I chuckled. “But I do have to keep moving if I want to make that meeting in Houston.”
Chuck only nodded and disappeared back into the office. I stuck the unlit cigarette back into the pack and made my way to Hank’s.
* * *
“Has it been two days already?” Hank asked when I stepped into the small garage. He had the hood of the Chevy up, but the real work seemed to be going into an old Ford Fairlane parked to one side. Tools littered the floor around it, and the engine hung dangerously above the hood, balanced on chains that seemed to groan in protest.
“Just checking up on the old girl,” I said.
Hank wiped his hands on his overalls and made his way to a desktop in the corner. His fingers flew across the keyboard at an impressive pace, and windows popped up and closed like a flash on the screen.
“Should be here in the morning,” Hank said, squinting as he read his invoice. “Like I said, UPS comes once a week. I could probably take my truck and pick it up if you’re in a hurry.”
“No hurry,” I said. “That’s fine.”
“Enjoying your stay so far?”
Hank slumped down in the chair in front of his computer and used his grease rag to wipe the sweat from his brow. Although the weather was warm outside, the garage itself felt like a furnace. I could already feel beads of sweat running down the line of my back.
“So far,” I smiled, when a sudden thought struck me. “That truck of yours, do you need it over the next few hours?”
“Thinking of going on a road trip, Mr. Ridder?”
I shook my head. “Want to check on a friend,” I said. “She hasn’t shown up today, and I’m a bit worried.”
Hank squinted at me for a few seconds, then nodded and tossed me a set of keys. “She gives a nasty kick when you start her up, so be careful,” he said.
“Thanks, Hank.”
“No problem,” he said. “Glad you’ve made friends so quickly.”
I waved and walked out the garage.
* * *
I drove the way to Ashlyn’s from memory alone, although I knew that if I stopped to ask for directions, I’d be pointed the right way. I didn’t need to do that, though. As soon as I was off the main road and had managed to find the dirt road with the red marker, it was a straight drive all the way up to her house.
Her truck was parked by the side of the house, the tarp drawn and the back empty. I pulled up beside it, peering through the windshield at the greenhouse in hopes of seeing her moving about inside. The plants made it impossible for me to make anything out, but either way, the door was closed with the padlock still hanging from outside.
Maybe Chuck’s right. She could still be asleep.
“Then there’s no harm in making sure, is there?” I asked myself as I climbed out of the truck and slammed the door behind me, hoping that the sound would announce my arrival before I knocked on the front door.
I had barely made it up the front porch when she stepped out, the screen door swinging closed behind her. She had her arms crossed over her chest, and her hair fell across half her face. She looked gorgeous, despite the fact that her smile seemed a little forced and her eyes didn’t shine as much as they had the other day.
You’re overstepping. You fucking idiot, maybe she didn’t want to see you today. Why are you acting like a love struck, high school nerd?
“Hey,” I greeted, stopping at the bottom of the porch steps.
“Morning, Sabbatical,” she joked, although I could see it wasn’t genuine. She was being nice, and I felt like a fool.
Turn around, go back to the motel, and remember that women chase you, not the other way around.
I ignored the voice in my head. I didn’t know what it was. Maybe it was because I had enjoyed her company. Maybe it was because I needed a friend who wasn’t humoring me because I was rich. Whatever it was, I felt like I would have chased her to the ends of Texas if I had to.
Which pissed me off. Just a little.
“Afternoon, actually,” I said. “Missed you at the motel this morning. Thought I’d check up on you.”
She smiled, genuinely this time. “What did you do, walk here?”
“Hank lent me his truck.”
Her eyes widened. “Hank? Really?” She shook her head. “He must really like you.”
“I guess so,” I said. “Looks like you’re taking a little sabbatical of your own.”
She shrugged. “Didn’t feel like work this morning.”
“Do you feel like coffee, then?” I asked. “My treat.”
She gazed at me, rocking slightly on her feet and biting her lip. The silence lasted long enough to make things awkward.
“Ashlyn?”
I caught the tear that ran down her cheek before she could wipe it away, and I was up the stairs in two strides, holding her by the arms. “What’s wrong?”
She looked away from me, her lower lip shaking slightly as she bit down hard and tried to maintain her composure. I tried to get her to look at me, and that’s when I saw the bruise on her cheek. I frowned, pushing her hair back, only now realizing that the locks hadn’t fallen across her face like that by mistake.
She pulled away from me quickly, readjusting the hair to cover her bruise.
“Is that what I think it is?” I asked.
“It’s nothing.”
I couldn’t fathom how she could have gotten it. It looked like the result of a nasty beating, only I had been with her for most of yesterday, and I couldn’t imagine when someone could have done that to her.
“Did someone hit you?” I asked.
“It’s nothing, Chance, seriously,” she said, stepping back from me. “I appreciate you coming here to check up on me, and tell Chuck I’m sorry I missed his call. I’ll call him back later. But right now, I’m just really tired. Can we do coffee another day?”
“Ashlyn, what’s going on?”
“Chance, please,” she said, tears welling in her eyes and falling down her cheeks faster than she could wipe them away. “I just want to be alone.”
“Absolutely not,” I said, shaking my head and following her retreat. “I can’t just leave you like this.”
“Yes, you can!” she yelled, and I stopped cold. She looked at me with a mix of sorrow and anger, like I had somehow embarrassed her or something. “You don’t even know me. You don’t owe me anything. Just go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She was crying freely now, and I had no idea what to do other than what my instincts were telling me to. I closed the distance between us, grabbed her by her arms and pulled her in, wrapping my arms around her tight.
She resisted, for the briefest of moments, then her body went limp and her shoulders shook with her sobs. Her cries came in short gasps and whimpers, and I pressed her tighter against me, burying my face in her hair as I tried to calm her.
“Shhh,” I cooed. “It’s going to be alright. Whatever it is, it’s going to be alright. I’m right here.”
I had no idea just how convincing I sounded, but what I did know for sure was that my blood was boiling. I was skeptical at first, but her reaction told me everything I needed to know. In the hours between last night and now, someone had obviously come here and decided to use her for punching practice. The only question was who.
Her sobbing had eased, and she softly pushed away from me, sniffing as she wiped her tears and turned away from me. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Not exactly the way I wanted you to see me today.”
“Ashlyn –”
“Chance, it’s alright. Thank you, really, but this isn’t something you can help with,” she said. “Actually, I wouldn’t feel comfortable bringing you into the middle of it at all. Let’s just leave it at that, okay?”
I took a deep breath and let it out in a long exhale. “How about this?” I started. “You invite me in, I make us both some coffee, and we pretend that we’re at the diner without having to leave the house at all. Then, when you feel comfortable enough, you can tell me what the hell happened.”
She looked at me for a beat, then looked away, biting her lip again. It would have looked cute if not for the bruise on the side of her face and the tears in her eyes.
“I’m not sure if that’s such a good idea,” she said.
“Sure it is,” I insisted. “Besides, what do you have to lose? I’m going to be leaving town in a day or two anyway. It’s not like I’m going to be spreading gossip or anything.”
“You don’t seem like the gossip type,” she smiled.
“I’m not,” I replied. “I could just really use some coffee right now.”
She smiled softly, and it was good to see the cheerfulness in her eyes. “Fine, coffee it is.”
She led me inside.