Chapter 13: Ashlyn
It took me at least two hours to stop crying, and maybe an hour more before I could finally look at myself in the mirror without cringing. I tried to get ready as quickly as I could, tying my hair in a loose ponytail and only adding touches of makeup to my face. I still had a job to do, after all, and I didn’t want Chuck and Martha worrying too much.
I walked into the living room, trying my best to create a mental checklist to keep my mind off of Chance, when I saw his things strewn next to the couch.
Damn you, Chance Ridder.
I felt tears well up in my eyes again, and I quickly pushed them back, taking a deep breath to steady myself as I collected everything in a bag and tossed it next to the door. I had never felt so humiliated in my life. I had opened up to him completely, trusted him fully, and it all came crashing back at me, like a brutal slap to the face. I didn’t even care that he had tried to fix it with his little speech. All I cared about was not seeing him again.
Which made my job even harder. The delivery to the motel would bring me in his vicinity, and I knew that he would probably try to talk to me again. I had to think of something to say to him, something that would stop us from making a scene in the middle of the motel. My only hope was that Hank had finished fixing the truck and Chance had left Ludwig for good. Then again, I knew I wouldn’t be that lucky.
Stop thinking about him.
Right, like that would somehow miraculously keep him out of my life.
I went through my morning rituals in the greenhouse as quickly as possible, and within an hour I had my truck packed and ready to go. My phone rang just as I got into the driver’s seat, and I almost ignored it if it hadn’t been sitting on my dashboard. Martha’s name flickered on and off on the screen.
“Martha, welcome back,” I said, answering the phone.
“I’d say the same to you, sweetheart,” Martha replied with a light chuckle. “Chuck tells me you’ve been missing for almost two days.”
“Was just down with the flu,” I lied. “Feeling a little better this morning. Actually, I’m on my way to you now.”
“Excellent,” Martha replied. “I’ll be waiting with fresh pie and coffee.”
I smiled, hung up, and headed toward town.
* * *
The first thing that caught my eye as I drove into the motel was the long black limousine parked in front of the office. It looked so out of place, I almost thought that I was dreaming things. It was the way the twins standing on the sidewalk ogling it that made it real.
Not bothering with staying anonymous anymore, is he?
I shook my head in disbelief. Chance was obviously in a hurry to get back to his playboy life. It only confirmed to me how much I knew nothing about him, and how badly he had played me. I felt even worse than before.
I parked next to the limo, purposely slamming my door open against it. The twins cringed, and Britney gave me such a look of horror, it made her look comical. I greeted them with as much false cheer as I could muster, and peeked through the window into the front office. I didn’t want to run into Chance, and if he was inside, then I would just get right to work and talk with Martha later.
The front office was empty, though. I walked in and called out my arrival.
Martha came out from the back room, all smiles and smelling like she had just stepped out of a bakery. She wrapped me in her arms, her hug almost suffocating me as she pressed me to her.
“Oh, how I’ve missed you!” Martha cried out.
“I missed you, too, Martha,” I laughed. She let me go and I tried to rub life back into my arms. “If that’s how you greet me after a couple of days, what’s going to happen if we don’t see each other for a week?”
Martha waved me away and strolled to the coffee pot, switching it on while she cut two pieces of pie for the both of us.
“Have you seen the car outside?” she asked, balancing the pies on plates and handing me mine. She winked. “Turns out we had a real billionaire in our motel.”
“Chance Ridder.”
“You knew?” Martha said, eyebrows raised.
“I recently found out,” I admitted. “He’s been keeping a low profile.”
“Not so much when it comes to women in the flower industry,” Martha gave me a knowing smile.
“Oh, come on,” I sighed. “I was just showing him around.”
“Whatever you say, honey,” Martha said. “Are you sure you didn’t show him just a little bit more?”
“Martha!”
Martha laughed and held my face in both her hands. “Sweetheart, I’d be thrilled for you,” she said. “He’s a handsome man, and have I mentioned that he’s a billionaire?”
“Didn’t take you for a gold digger, Martha,” I laughed. “Besides, there’s nothing there, trust me. He’s nowhere near my radar.”
“Well, he’s definitely on Earl’s radar,” she replied, walking back to the coffee machine.
“You heard, huh?”
“The whole town’s heard,” Martha said. “That car came with a driver, you know. The man’s over at the Sheriff’s station paying your billionaire’s bail.”
“What?” I asked, my eyes wide.
Martha frowned. “The bar fight,” she explained. “Wait, what did you think I was talking about?”
I didn’t reply. I just jumped to my feet and raced out.
* * *
The sheriff’s station was surprisingly empty when I walked in, but the people I wanted to meet the least were all there.
They all looked up when they heard me enter. The Sheriff gave me a bothersome smile, almost as if he was trying to apologize for being a useless piece of shit when it came to anything regarding Earl. Right next to him was Big Ben Greene, all dressed up and looking like he had come to attend a big business meeting. There was a man I didn’t recognize whom I assumed was the driver of the limo.
And, of course, Chance.
“Ashlyn, just the lady we wanted to see,” Ben said formally, his smile wide and warm despite the coldness of his eyes. “Didn’t I tell you that we could resolve this with Ashlyn’s help?”
I frowned and cocked my head to one side, trying to understand what he meant, but quickly ignoring it when Chance walked up to me and held both my arms, pulling me to a side.
“Are you okay?” I asked, momentarily forgetting how much I wanted to slap him.
“I’m fine,” he said, keeping his voice low. “I don’t think Earl’s doing too well, though.”
“What happened?”
“Ran into him at the bar,” Chance explained, glancing at the Sheriff and Ben as he spoke. Ben had his eyes on me, though, watching my reaction to Chance. “Let’s just say he’s going to think twice before taking on any more tourists.”
“Good,” I said. “That son of a bitch deserved it.” I put my hands behind my back to keep them from touching his bruised face. “Are you in any trouble?”
“Earl’s probably going to sue me, especially since everyone’s found out who I am,” Chance said. “But don’t worry about it, my lawyers can handle it.”
“Okay, that’s good to know.” I forced a smile for him. It wasn’t that hard to do.
Chance smiled back. “Listen, about this morning –”
I held up a hand to stop him. “I’m still angry at you, and a part of me still wants nothing to do with you, so don’t remind me why.”
“Yet you’re here.”
I bit my lip and folded my arms across my chest. “Martha told me what happened, and I came right away. Don’t read much more into it.”
Chance nodded and looked over his shoulder at the others now watching us.
“What did Ben mean by what he said? About me sorting things out.”
Chance shook his head. “Ignore him,” he said. “I can handle this.”
“Ashlyn, can we speak to you now?” the Sheriff called us over.
I looked at Chance again, but he was gazing at the Sheriff, his eyes shooting daggers. Whatever it was they had been talking about before I came, it obviously hadn’t sat well with Chance. And from the look on his face, I had a feeling I wouldn’t like it, either.
“You see, Ashlyn, Mr. Greene here has a proposition for you that I think can benefit all parties involved,” the Sheriff explained as I joined them. “Rather than press a bunch of charges and send anybody off to jail.”
“Ashlyn isn’t an involved party,” Chance said.
“I beg to differ,” Ben said, smiling despite the cold look in his eyes.
“I don’t care how you feel about it,” Chance countered. “The answer is no.”
“How about we let Ashlyn decide,” Ben suggested, all but ignoring me. “You see, my dear, it has recently come to our attention that Mr. Ridder here is quite the wealthy man, and is currently undergoing some terrible media attention because of his extensive drug abuse.”
“It’s all bullshit,” the limo driver said.
“Miles,” Chance warned the man, and he briefly looked at him and shook his head. “I got this.”
“Well, true or not, television has its own rules, and I’m sure that Mr. Ridder’s display of violence here will only make things worse. Wouldn’t you agree, Sheriff?”
The Sheriff nodded. Of course he agrees. He’d agree to you screwing his wife if it kept the money coming. I kept my mouth shut.
“Now, Earl is hell-bent on suing given he has multiple broken bones and a nearly-crushed trachea,” Ben said. “I tried to talk him out of it, but he’s determined to make Mr. Ridder pay for the damages inflicted on him.”
Bullshit. I wondered how long I could keep quiet before I burst out in rage.
“However, Earl’s agreed to drop all charges,” Ben continued, looking at me intently. “Under one condition.”
“And what condition is that?” I asked. I already knew the answer, but wanted him to have to say it.
“It doesn’t matter,” Chance said. “She’s not doing it, and I’ll see you in court, Mr. Greene.”
“Oh, don’t be so rash, Mr. Ridder,” Ben chuckled. “Let the young woman decide for herself what she wants to do.”
“What’s the condition?”
Ben looked at me, paused for a few seconds, then said, “That you drop the charges you filed against Earl yesterday.”
I froze, my eyes wide and my mouth dropping like a stone. “The rape charges?” I muttered. “Are you fucking serious?”
“Ashlyn, please, language,” Ben sighed.
“You know what? Fuck you, Ben,” I yelled and pointed a stiff finger at the Sheriff. “Watch my language? Your son tried to rape me, and this lapdog’s done nothing about it, and you want me to drop the charges?”
The Sheriff was about to reply when Ben held up a hand to stop him. “Be reasonable, Ashlyn,” he said. “We both know that Mr. Ridder here has become quite the acquaintance to you. The whole town’s talking about it. You have a chance to help him avoid public disgrace. And further damaged to your own reputation.”
Chance cut in before I could reply. “Trust me, your son’s lawsuit is the least of my concern. I told you, she’s not dropping the charges. Matter of fact, I’m going to make sure she’s got the support of a team of lawyers who will stop at nothing until your son is behind bars for a very long time.”
“Mr. Ridder, we both know that won’t happen,” Ben said. “You’re going to leave in your fancy car, with your fancy driver and your billion-dollar attitude, and go back to whatever life you had before you accidentally stumbled upon our town. You’ll forget all about us, my son will walk free, and the fact that Ashlyn wasn’t being reasonable today might mean she’ll have a very difficult life afterwards.”
“Are you threatening me?” I snapped. I glared at the Sheriff, who looked away.
“No, I’m just warning you,” Ben replied, no longer smiling. “Take the deal, Ashlyn, and let’s put this behind us. You have my guarantee that Earl won’t bother you ever again.”
“What use are your damn guarantee when you can’t keep your dog on a leash?”
“I think we’ve debated, Ashlyn,” Ben said, narrowing his eyes at me. “Let’s just finish this and call it a day.”
“No,” Chance stepped in front of me, “we’re just getting started. I am going to leave, and I expect to hear from your lawyer soon. And you’ll be hearing from mine.”
He gestured to Miles, who took me by the arm and began walking me out.
Chance’s voice turned to a growl as he said, “And if you ever warn Ashlyn again, I’ll come at you with everything I have. And that’s not a warning, Mr. Greene. That’s a motherfucking threat.”
* * *
“Come with me.”
We were standing by the limo, the driver already behind the wheel and the trunk packed with Chance’s things. There was a slight twinge in my chest at having to see him off, something I had hoped to avoid but found myself in the middle of despite my best intentions. If there was any doubt about how I felt about him, it flew out the window the minute I heard he had been arrested.
But I was still angry at him for lying to me, and now a little bit more because he thought that I would just drop everything and leave Ludwig.
“I can’t do that,” I said. “You know I can’t.”
“Ashlyn, you heard the man. They’re going to make your life miserable from now on.”
“I can take care of myself,” I said.
The look he gave me mirrored how much he didn’t believe that, and I had never wanted to hit him as much as I did now. The contradicting emotions I was going through were starting to take their toll on me.
“You can build a greenhouse in Austin,” Chance said. “Hell, you can open your own florist. I can move everything you have here in no time. It’ll be like nothing’s different.”
“Are you listening to yourself?” I asked with a huff. “I’d be in a completely different city, a huge city, one that’s foreign to me, surrounded by people I don’t know. How is that not going to be different?”
“You’d be with me,” he said softly.
“You’re not really that tempting at the moment,” I said. “I’m still having trouble dealing with the whole lying issue.”
“Ashlyn, my doctor –”
“Chance, just stop it,” I said, holding up my hands. “I’m not leaving Ludwig. Just, think of this as a fling or something, and I’ll try and do the same. You didn’t actually believe this would go somewhere, did you?”
He looked at me with a mix of shock and disbelief, and for a minute there, I felt like I had probably made a mistake. Did he actually think we could continue whatever the hell it was we were doing while he was in a different city? Was he as delusional as I had been last night?
“That’s not fair,” Chance said. “You’re not giving me much of a chance here.”
“A chance to do what?” I asked. “Chance, please, don’t make this harder than it already is. I’m channeling all my anger for what you did just so I don’t feel anything when you go. Let’s keep it at that.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way,” Chance argued, and I could see he was getting a little frustrated. He pressed two fingers to the center of his chest and blew out a long breath. He gazed into my eyes, pleading, making me feel like a total shit for not doing what he asked. “Come with me, spend a couple of days in Austin, and then make a decision.”
“You have a company to win back,” I said. “Meetings, press, and now a lawsuit. I don’t want to be in the middle of all that. I can’t handle that. How am I going to be able to decide anything when nothing around me is stable?”
“You’re really not looking at the bigger picture here.”
“Actually, I am,” I snapped. “Listen, I appreciate what you said you’d do about the lawyers, and I’ll never forget it. But I really think that should be the end of it. I don’t see this going anywhere good.”
Chance scoffed and shook his head. “You know, a couple of days ago, I would never have expected to be begging a woman to be with me.”
I bit my lip and looked away. “Sorry to disappoint, Sabbatical.”
He took a deep breath, let it out in a long sigh, and then nodded. “This fucking town,” he said.
I smiled despite the sorrow I felt in my heart. “Yeah, Ludwig has a way of changing people.”
“Not everyone, apparently,” he said.
Our eyes met, and we just looked at each other in silence for a few seconds before he turned and climbed into the back seat. The door closed, and I half expected the window to slide down, but it didn’t.
I watched as the limo left the motel, turned the corner, and Chance Ridder disappeared from my life forever.