Chapter 17: Ashlyn
I groaned when the knocking on the door woke me up.
I was under the covers, my phone on silent and my alarm turned off, having had fully intended to sleep in as much as possible. It was December 31st, and the fact that the New Year was rolling in just twenty-four hours away had made me feel even more depressed than the cold weather did.
Plus, I had spent Christmas alone for the first time in years. I had put up and decorated a beautiful tree, but that was the extent of my holiday cheer. I made myself a pitiful turkey TV dinner for Christmas dinner and cried myself to sleep.
I know. Pathetic.
Chuck and Martha had taken that vacation they had wanted to take, and for the past seven weeks, life had been pretty slow and mundane. The motel didn’t get any new guests, and the men responsible for the renovations at Polly’s old store had been almost as secretive and quiet as the writer, despite their leader’s initial creepiness and perverted glares at my ass when he thought I wasn’t looking.
They had checked out yesterday, and although they said their work was over, no one in town had any clue as to what exactly they were doing or who was the new owner of the renovated space on Main Street. It had been a little mystifying at first, slowly developing into annoyed curiosity, and then angry demands that the people of Ludwig had a right to know what was going on in their own town. Soon, though, that passed as well, and people began to ignore the store completely, which had sat perfectly well with the four strangers from Austin.
The writer had checked out as well, a week before the renovators, a wide smile on his face and a loud declaration that his work here was done, and he was ready to return to civilization. I would have found that insulting had I not been happy to see him go.
With all three rooms now vacant, I had decided to lock the motel up for a few days and just spend New Year’s in bed, sleeping through the festivities, waking up when the world was back to its normal routine and the only difference anyone could recognize was the need to get accustomed to remembering the right date.
I felt like a hibernating bear, completely content with staying in my room until winter was over. I had even brought a few books up to keep me company.
Which was why the knocking that had woken me up annoyed the fuck out of me.
I pulled a sweater on and made my way downstairs, the cold floor making me shiver as I skipped to the front door. I had half the mind to verbally assault whoever it was who thought it a good idea to wake me up, but froze when I opened the door.
“Good morning, Miss Carter.”
I blinked several times, instantly recognizing Chance’s driver, Miles, but oblivious as to why he was here.
“Miles, right?” I asked.
The man smiled and nodded. “I hope I’m not intruding.”
“As a matter of fact, you woke me up,” I said. “So, if Chance has anything to do with this, please let him know that if he wants to frustrate me this early in the morning, he should do it himself so I can scream at him instead of you.”
“Mr. Ridder actually sent me to pick you up,” Miles said, still smiling despite my threat. “He would have done it himself if he believed you would have opened the door for him in the first place.”
“Smart man, your boss,” I said. “And what makes you believe I’ll come with you? I think I made it pretty clear to Chance where I stood in regards to…well, whatever.”
Miles nodded again. “He told me you might say that, and wanted to let you know that he is in no way trying to intrude on your life. He merely wants you to join him while he unveils his new business venture on Main Street.”
“That was you?” I almost yelled. “Chance bought the store? Why the hell would he do that? He doesn’t take a hint, does he?”
“I’m afraid not, Miss Carter,” Miles said.
“Well, you can tell him that I wish him all the best, and hopefully will not run into him while he’s here,” I said, closing the door.
Miles stopped me, and quickly pulled what looked like a small picture frame out of his inside suit pocket. It was barely the size of my palm as he handed it to me, and I looked at it in confusion. A dried lily had been expertly placed inside the glass frame. I looked up at Miles and frowned at him, waiting for an explanation.
“On the back,” Miles said with a smile.
I turned the frame over and read the inscription.
One of the lilies that was in my room.
The reason why we met.
Chance
I felt a short surge of emotions, and a small twinge in my chest. Stop playing hard to get. You’ve missed him, just admit it, and now he’s here and wants to see you. Go, goddamit!
I looked from Miles to the frame, then back at Miles again. He stood there waiting, his smile unfaltering, his hands behind his back.
“Give me fifteen minutes,” I finally said.
* * *
I had never been in a limousine before, and the drive back into town was amusing yet borderline uncomfortable. I felt like I was being whisked away by some rich guy back to his mansion, where he would show the small-town cottage girl all the wonders that gold could buy. It was pretentious to say the very least, but then again, I couldn’t expect Miles to pick me up in the old Chevy truck, right?
A small crowd had gathered around where Polly’s store once stood, and I felt all eyes turn towards the car as it pulled up on the opposite side of the street where I was to get out. I hesitated, feeling a little awkward, scared of what the people watching and waiting would think once they saw me exit the car.
Miles turned around and smiled at me. “I would open the door for you, but I have a feeling you’re already uncomfortable enough,” he said. “Unless you’d prefer it if I do.”
“That’s alright, Miles, I can open a car door on my own,” I said, smiling awkwardly. I hesitated for the briefest of moments, took a deep breath, then let myself out.
Everyone watched me as I approached the store, some smiling, others frowning in confusion as they tried to figure out what was going on. The cold weather had most of the onlookers crowded beside each other for warmth, but as I walked past them, they seemed to detach from each other just to get a better look.
Chance was waiting for me near the door, and I froze in my tracks when I looked past the store windows into the space inside.
The store had been turned into a retail greenhouse similar to the one behind my house. Flowers of all shapes and sizes decorated the store front, and inside I could make out rows of shelves and benches, all stocked with plants. My eyes slowly rose, and I gasped when I saw the sign hanging above the door.
Ashlyn’s Flowers.
I felt tears well up in my eyes, and my hands began to shake. I clenched them together, trying to force the tremors to stop, but couldn’t. My lower lip quivered, and I quickly bit down on it, fighting back the tears, willing myself to hold it together.
“I always love it when you did that,” Chance said, coming up beside me.
I looked at him, his blue eyes boring into mine and mesmerizing, his smile instantly making me melt. If it were possible, he looked even better than when he had last been here, and his face seemed to shine. His eyes had a mischievous little glint in them, and I could see he was proud of what he had accomplished, happy that I was reacting to his surprise this way.
I fell in love with him right there and then. I quickly forgot about the lies he had fed me, the conviction I had that I could never be with him, the fact that I had been trying to get over him for almost four months now. All I felt now was a deep sense of longing, a wish that he would take me in his arms and press me to him, so that I could wrap my arms around his neck and tell him how much I had missed him.
“Chance, what is this?” I asked, already knowing the answer but scared to admit it to myself.
“It’s a flower shop,” Chance replied. “I thought that would be obvious.”
I laughed, and a tear ran down the side of my face. “I can see that,” I said. “I mean, why is my name above the door of the flower shop?”
“It has recently been brought to my attention that flowers are becoming the next big thing, and that with a proper store in the right place run by the right person, it could really be a flourishing business,” he said. “Pun not intended.”
I smacked his arm and folded mine across my chest, my entire body now shaking in excitement. The store looked absolutely beautiful, and I knew that if I stepped inside, it would be even more breathtaking. I was at a loss for words, my emotions racing through me like tidal waves, crashing against each other, making me wish for the briefest of moments that I had just ignored the knocking on my door.
And at the same time, I was extremely grateful I hadn’t.
“It’s beautiful,” I finally said.
“It’s yours,” Chance replied.
I glanced at him and met his gaze. “Why?”
“You wouldn’t come to Austin,” Chance said, “so I thought I’d come here to you.”
“What?” I gasped, refusing to believe what I was hearing.
“You wouldn’t answer my calls, or my texts, so I assumed you were still mad at me. I thought I needed an entrance if I wanted you to hear me out.”
“I am still mad at you,” I said. “It’s going to take a lot more than a flower shop to make me come around.”
“I can give you the limo,” Chance joked. “Call it a belated Christmas gift. Or a New Year’s Eve gift.
“Seriously, Chance.”
“I am serious,” he said. “I have two of them.”
I laughed and shook my head in disbelief. “I don’t want your money, you jackass.”
Chance laughed, took both my hands in his and turned me around so that I was looking right at him. “I know,” he said. “I’m not trying to buy you back into my life, Ashlyn. I’m here because I want to be a part of yours. I’ve wanted it since the moment I met you, but I had to go through a couple of lawsuits to realize it.”
“You’re a very strange man,” I smiled.
Chance shrugged. “One of my better traits.” He squeezed my hands softly, rubbing my knuckles with his thumbs. “I’m not going to lie to you. I do have a crazy life, and I won’t be able to leave my company after everything I’ve been through to build it. But I understand that it’s not all about me, and that I can’t expect you to do what I was unwilling to do myself. But I want to find a way. I want this to work. I need this to work.”
I looked at the shop, then back at him. My mind raced, and I tried to come to terms with what he was asking of me. I didn’t know if we could pull it off. I didn’t know if there could be an ‘us’ with all the complications that came with it. But I was definitely willing to give it a shot. I couldn’t deny it anymore, couldn’t kid myself otherwise; I wanted Chance Ridder in my life. I needed him just as much as he needed me, and it didn’t scare me to admit that.
“So what are you proposing, Mr. Ridder? A partnership?”
Chance laughed and shrugged. “I’m not sure,” he said, “but I’m here on a ‘break’ for a week or two, so I’m sure we’ll figure it out somehow.”
“Another sabbatical?” I asked.
He leaned down, pulling me to him and locking his lips with mine. The kiss was so passionate, so loving, I felt my knees threaten to buckle beneath me.
He broke away and cupped my chin, looking me straight in the eye. “This can be whatever we want it to be. Happy New Year, Ashlyn. I’ll do everything in my power to make this coming year amazing.”