CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Ashley rubbed one of Matthew’s horses between his eyes. “Did you know that part of the reason I liked you was because of your horses?”
Matthew leaned against the barn wall, content to watch Ashley get her fill of their ranch. “No, but it doesn’t surprise me. You spent a lot of time out here.”
Chan, Nathan’s sorrel stallion, nodded his agreement from the stall beside them.
Ashley smiled. “Your mom told me I should have been born on a ranch. I guess I was destined to enjoy everyone else’s horses.”
Matthew kept his thoughts to himself. Reminding her that she could have had a happy life on his family’s ranch wouldn’t help anyone. “Tell me about Washington, D.C. Did you like the city?”
“I didn’t see much of it, but what I did see was beautiful. The museums are fantastic.”
“Did you see any horses?”
Ashley laughed. “No. The city needs to follow New York’s example and offer horse and carriage rides around the National Mall. The newspaper office isn’t far from the Lincoln Memorial. I could see the horses every day if I worked there.” She looked above them and frowned. “Did you hear that?”
Matthew followed her gaze. A scratching sound came from the loft. “It’s probably one of the cats.”
“Something’s not right.” She headed toward the wooden ladder. “I’ll feel better if I have a look.”
“You don’t like heights. I’ll go.”
“I can manage.” Ashley hauled herself up the ladder, gripping the rungs so tight that her knuckles turned white.
“I’ll follow you. Don’t look down.” He was surprised at how quickly she climbed. “If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you’ve been practicing going up and down ladders.”
Ashley pulled herself over the last rung and clambered onto the loft floor. “When I stayed on the ranch, Catherine and I decided to leave the cat bowls up here. I came up the ladder twice a day.”
Matthew poked his head over the edge of the loft. Ashley was quietly walking around, listening for the sound they’d heard from downstairs.
A pitiful meow filled the loft. Ashley moved to the hay bales stacked on one side of the floor. “It’s coming from in here.” She clambered across the hay and searched between the bales.
Another plaintiff meow had her moving to the right. “A cat is locked in Catherine’s playhouse.”
Matthew pulled himself into the loft. “Watch out for the rats.”
“Very funny,” Ashley muttered. “Catherine told me the barn cats are the best mousers in the world.”
“My niece is seven years old.” Matthew grinned. “She thinks the best of everything comes from Montana. And a mouse is smaller than a rat. It takes a special kind of cat to corner a rat and live to tell the tale.”
Ashley yanked open the playroom door. A cat flew out, heading straight for the food and water bowls on the other side of the loft.
“The poor thing,” Ashley crooned. “Grouchy must have been trapped inside for a few days.”
“I’m surprised Catherine didn’t realize he was missing,” Matthew murmured.
Ashley sat on a hay bale close to Grouchy. He was scoffing the cat grits as if he hadn’t eaten all week. “He’s starving.”
“He’ll be okay once he gets some food into his stomach. I’ll let Nathan know that one of the cats couldn’t get out.”
“It would have been worse if Catherine or Toby had been inside the playhouse.”
Matthew climbed over the hay bales and jiggled the handle. “We could almost take the lock completely off the door, then no one will get trapped again.”
Ashley watched him climb back to where she was sitting. “Life is a lot simpler here.”
“What do you mean?”
She kept her gaze on Grouchy. “You wake up each morning and know what you need to do. You’re living the kind of life that most people can only dream about. Half the time I lose myself in the hustle and bustle of the city. People aren’t as straight forward as they are here.”
“It sounds as though the job offers in Bozeman and Washington, D.C. could be good for you.”
“I think so, too. I spend a lot of time at cocktail parties and gala evenings in New York. Most people are friendly, and they’re there for a worthy cause, but it isn’t as real as living here.” Ashley patted Grouchy’s back. The old cat twitched, then went back to eating the grits. “It wasn’t until I started investigating The Reaching High Foundation that I felt excited about being a reporter.”
“You wrote some great articles.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you or Bonnie and Harry. It was a team effort.”
“Most things are. Even running a ranch is a team effort. Nathan has some interesting ideas about making the land more sustainable. He listens to what Sean and I think, then we decide what we’re doing together. There’s a whole team of ranch hands and suppliers working alongside us. It’s no different to being a reporter, except we aren’t followed by private investigators or interviewed by the FBI.”
“It all feels so surreal. I still can’t believe Jasmine hired a private investigator to follow me.”
“She was desperate to find out what you knew.”
“And to protect Congressman Welsh.” Ashley sighed. “I heard from the FBI yesterday. They’ve finished their financial audit of The Reaching High Foundation. Now that Jasmine has stepped down from the board, they’ve unfrozen their accounts. At least the staff will be paid.”
Matthew knew that a lot more would be happening soon, but he couldn’t say anything to Ashley. “Do you want to go for a ride after dinner? I could show you the Bison we bought a few weeks ago. Nathan’s hoping to grow our herd over the next few years.”
Ashley’s smile caught at his heart and made him wish for things that might never happen.
“I’d love to. Dad won’t mind staying behind.”
“He can come with us.”
“Unless Trisha managed to get him on a horse in San Francisco, he hasn’t ridden in years. I think he’d be more worried about falling off than seeing the ranch.”
Matthew stood and held out his hand. “You might be surprised.” Ashley’s hand fitted into his and he pulled her upright.
She overbalanced and stumbled forward. “Oops.” Her hand connected with his chest, branding him with the heat of her skin.
“Sorry. I, umm…”
She stepped away and his heart sank. He didn’t know what Ashley wanted from him, but he knew what he wanted. Her.
***
The next morning, Ashley woke with a smile on her face. She’d enjoyed every minute of her time on the Gray ranch and so had her dad.
Matthew had been right. Her dad had surprised everyone by deciding to go for a ride. They’d spent more than an hour on the horses, seeing the changes that Nathan, Sean, and Matthew had made.
The quiet solitude of the land reminded her of the times she’d spent on the ranch when she’d been dating Matthew. There was nothing more inspiring than seeing the sun set on the Bridger Range, or watching the evening shadows drift across the fields, cloaking the land in mystery.
She pushed the blankets off her legs and opened the curtains. The hotel her dad had booked was in the center of town. Tess’ café wasn’t far away and that’s where they were heading for breakfast.
Her cell phone blasted a tune across the room. Rushing to her bag, she pulled it out and smiled. “Hi, Bonnie.”
“You sound happy for seven o’clock on a Sunday morning.”
“Dad and I went horse riding last night.”
“You’re the only person I know who loves being around horses.”
“That’s because I’m the only person you know from Montana. It’s in our DNA.”
“True, but that’s not why I called. The youth center manager contacted me yesterday. Their building has been sold.”
Ashley sat on a chair. “I didn’t expect it to sell so quickly. The FBI didn’t unfreeze their accounts until two days ago.”
“Apparently, the offer the board received was too good to turn down. The money from the sale will go toward running all of their programs. They can even afford to start the ones that had been dropped off their priority list.”
“What about the youth center? Will they have to move? Just don’t tell me they’re closing.”
“That’s the best part. The Reaching High Foundation has been given a three-year lease. The new owners are sponsoring the literacy program, too.”
Ashley couldn’t believe so much had happened over the last few days. “Who bought the building?”
“That’s what Harry and I have been trying to find out. No one’s saying very much, especially the staff at head office. We have some leads to follow on Monday.”
“I don’t suppose it matters.”
“Outside of the local community, not many people knew about the center. The new owners must have read your story and decided to buy the building.”
After living in New York City for three years, nothing should have surprised Ashley. But the warehouse and vacant lot were huge and that meant the property would have been expensive. “What have you and Harry been doing?”
“We went to a science fiction convention yesterday. Harry was in his element. Some of the stars from The Twilight Zone were there.”
“I’m surprised you were able to drag him away.”
“It nearly didn’t happen—especially when he saw Morgan Brittany. We stood in line for an hour to get her autograph.”
“Who is Morgan Brittany?”
“She was in three episodes of The Twilight Zone when she was little. Harry didn’t stop talking about her all day.”
Ashley smiled. She knew how obsessed Harry was about his favorite TV show. “That must have been fun.”
“If I can survive thirteen hours at a science fiction convention, I can survive anything. How’s Bozeman?”
“Better than I thought. Dad arrived early so that we could spend more time together. He’s different to what he was like when he got married.”
“Different good or different bad?”
“In a good way. He’s more outgoing and listens to what I say.”
“Maybe that’s because you’ve both changed.”
Ashley sighed. “You’re probably right. We talked about seeing more of each other. He’s invited me to San Francisco for a vacation.”
“Will you go?”
“If I can get time off work I will. I still don’t know which job I’ll accept.”
“I can’t help with that decision, but I will let you know if we hear anything about the youth center.”
“Thanks. Are you and Harry still able to pick me up from the airport?”
“Of course we are. You won’t miss us—Harry will be wearing a bright yellow Twilight Zone T-shirt.”
Ashley laughed. “He really went crazy at the conference. It’s just as well he already has every Twilight Zone series on DVD.”
“Not the re-digitized ones. He came home with those, too. I’ll see you tonight.”
Ashley ended the call and looked through the hotel window. So much had changed since her first story about the Foundation had been published. At least the short-term future of the youth center was secure. All she had to do was decide where she wanted to work and her future would be more secure, too.
***
That afternoon, Matthew drove into town faster than he should have. He’d spent most of Sunday calling himself every fool under the sun. Letting Ashley leave Bozeman without telling her how he felt was the biggest mistake he’d ever made.
It didn’t matter if she didn’t feel the same way. Being friends was something he could live with. It was better than never seeing her again.
She was about to decide where she was going to live and he wanted Bozeman to be on the top of her list. Ashley liked working with Logan and she probably knew most of the staff at the Chronicle. It would be easy to fit in, to build a new life with or without him.
He glanced at the clock on his dashboard. Her dad’s flight left about the same time as hers. They’d planned on being at the airport by two o’clock at the latest. He was cutting it fine if he wanted to see her before she walked through security.
He pulled into the parking lot and ran toward the terminal building. Apart from a couple of gift shops and cafés, there wasn’t a lot to do in the downstairs area.
They weren’t on the escalator, so he raced into the nearest gift shop. A man wearing a Montana Grizzly Bear’s sweatshirt was standing at the check-out counter. “Trevor?”
The man turned around and smiled. “I didn’t expect to see you.”
“I wasn’t going to come, but I changed my mind. Has Ashley already left?”
“No. She went to the other souvenir shop to buy something for Bonnie.”
“Thanks.” Matthew ran out of the store, dodging the other passengers. By the time he made it through the crowd, Ashley was heading toward him with her carry-on in one hand and two big bags in the other.
“Matthew? What are you doing here?”
His heart pounded. “I couldn’t let you leave without telling you I love you. It doesn’t matter if you don’t feel the same way. We could be friends, see what happens.” He took a deep breath and plowed through the words he wanted to tell her. “I’ve missed you. If it doesn’t work out, then at least we’ve tried.”
Ashley’s mouth dropped open. “I don’t know what to say.”
It wasn’t the response he was hoping for, but he wasn’t going to let her surprise worry him. “Bozeman is the perfect place to live. We have enough horses to keep you happy for the rest of your life. Erin and Tess are here. Sally said you could volunteer at the animal shelter if you want to be surrounded by more animals. You like skiing, and Big Sky is one of the best resorts in America. The Bozeman Chronicle isn’t The Washington Post, but you’d be working with Logan. There are enough criminals in Bozeman to keep life interesting and—”
Ashley rushed forward and kissed him. It wasn’t the kind of kiss you planted on a friend. It was soft and sexy and so damn good that his knees nearly buckled.
When she stepped away, they were both breathless.
“I love you too, Matthew. Bozeman is a wonderful place to live, but I don’t know if it’s enough.”
He clenched his jaw, holding back the words that would only make everything worse. Coming to the airport was the worst thing he could have done. Why would Ashley live in Bozeman when everything she’d ever wanted was thousands of miles away?
He handed her the bags that had fallen to the floor. “What do you want?”
Her eyes filled with tears. “I don’t know anymore.”
Matthew wiped his own face and cleared his throat. “I hope you figure it out. Have a safe flight home.” And before she could say anything, he left the airport.
If he thought he’d felt miserable the last time she’d left, it was nothing compared to the gut-wrenching loss he felt now. Deep down, he had a feeling he wouldn’t see her again. That hurt almost as much as knowing she loved him but wasn’t prepared to do anything about it.