CHAPTER SEVEN
The last time Ashley had been to Sunset Hills Cemetery was for her mom’s funeral. As she walked under the tall pine and spruce trees, she felt the same cold dread creep along her spine, the same sadness that had gripped her heart and laid her soul bare.
She turned right, walked past a sculpture of an angel and headed toward a row of maple trees.
The hum of an engine filled the air. Ashley looked across the manicured lawn. The arm of a small digger lifted and fell as another grave was prepared for a burial.
In the blink of an eye, the last three and a half years disappeared. On the morning of her mom’s funeral, she’d visited the cemetery with her friend, Erin. She’d wanted to clean her grandparents’ headstone and decorate it with flowers before her mom was buried beside them.
When they’d arrived, a small yellow digger had been removing the soil for her mom’s grave. She’d stood beside Erin, watching the way the men carefully worked. In an odd way, being there had helped her come to terms with her mom’s death.
She took a deep breath and gripped the flowers in her hand. Her mom and grandparents’ graves were halfway along the next row.
Her feet slowed as she neared their headstones. The black granite glistened in the early morning sunshine, sparkling just how her mom and grandma wanted it to.
Ashley bit her bottom lip as she stood in front of her mom’s grave. Gabriella Marie Fisher, beloved wife of Trevor and cherished mom of Ashley. She wiped her eyes and read the words her mom had agonized over. Time passes, love remains.
Cancer had robbed her mom of the future she’d dreamed about, but she hadn’t wanted it to influence how she would be remembered.
She read her grandma and granddad’s headstone. Plant smiles, grow giggles, harvest love. Her grandparents had enjoyed gardening. After her granddad died, her grandma had asked the stone carver to decorate the edge of the headstone with carved pumpkins, apples, and images of their prize-winning dahlias.
Ashley and her mom had always smiled when they’d visited the grave and that, she supposed, was the whole point of why Grandma Josephine had chosen the headstone.
She pulled an old dishcloth out of her pocket and walked toward the nearest faucet. Returning to the headstones, she wiped the dirt and grime from the granite. Next came the vases. Once they were filled with water, Ashley divided the pink and white roses between them. When she was finished, she sat on the grass between the graves.
The digger had stopped, and the cemetery was bathed in heavy silence.
With her eyes closed, she imagined her mom, granddad, and grandma wrapping their arms around her, squeezing her in a group hug that would last forever.
Tears slid down her face. She remembered their last family Christmas together, the last photo before her granddad died. She hadn’t realized just how important those family gatherings had been until it was too late.
Her hand reached for a tissue and she wiped her eyes. A gentle breeze whispered through the trees and ruffled her hair.
She took a deep breath and thought of her mom. She would have been proud of what Ashley had achieved. But the story about Congressman Welsh and The Reaching High Foundation was different than anything she’d done. Tearing a person’s reputation to shreds wasn’t something she took lightly. By association, Jasmine Alfredo would be dragged down with Congressman Welsh, and it wouldn’t end well for her.
And then there was Matthew.
She’d left Bozeman to become a better reporter, to make a difference in the world. Living in New York had changed her, and she wasn’t sure if it was for the better.
“What am I going to do, mom?” She waited, searching for a sign that she was doing the right thing. But the cemetery remained silent.
***
Matthew left his hat on the hall table and walked toward the kitchen. He had been worried about Ashley for most of the day. She’d called at lunchtime and told him she’d sent her story to her editor. He had no idea when she’d leave, but it would be soon.
He walked into the kitchen. Ashley was sitting in front of the counter. “Hi. You’re home early.” Her forced smile worried him. “Have you heard from your editor?”
“He called twice.”
“Is that a good thing?”
She nodded. “He likes the story.”
“Have his legal team looked at it?”
“They’re doing that now.”
Matthew took a mug out of the pantry and made himself a cup of coffee. For someone who had just written the story of her career, she didn’t look happy.
“I made lemon muffins. Would you like one?”
“That would be great.”
Ashley jumped off the stool and took a container out of a cupboard. “Here you go.”
He took one of the muffins and leaned against the counter. “What else did your editor say?”
“He wants me to fly back to New York.”
He watched her face. “That was the plan.”
Ashley sighed. “I know, but…”
“But?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ve booked my ticket. I leave tomorrow afternoon.”
Matthew left the muffin beside his coffee. He’d choke if he tried to eat it now. “I thought you might stay for the weekend.”
“I can’t. My editor wants to see me before Monday.”
Matthew sat on a stool beside her. “Will you stay in your apartment?”
“No. I’ll stay with Harry and Bonnie. I thought I’d come back to Bozeman in a few weeks to say hello to everyone…if that’s okay with you?”
“It’s your decision, Ashley.” Matthew didn’t know what else to say. He didn’t want her to leave at all. A visit in a few weeks wouldn’t change anything.
Her gaze fell to her hands. “I need to leave.”
“I know.” He took a deep breath and distanced himself from the disappointment building inside him. “Is someone meeting you at the airport?”
“Harry and Bonnie will be there.”
He nodded. “That’s good.”
“I’m sorry I can’t stay for longer.”
Matthew looked through the kitchen window, needing the connection with his family’s land more than ever. “It’s probably better that you’re leaving tomorrow. I can’t keep thinking that one day this will be enough for you, because it won’t.” He took a deep breath and turned to face her. “I hope you find what you’re looking for.”
Ashley’s eyes filled with tears. “I shouldn’t have sent you the ring. I’ve made a mess of everything.”
“It would have been worse if you’d stayed in New York.”
The back door flew open and Sean rushed into the kitchen. “Someone’s stopped outside Nathan and Amy’s house. I don’t recognize their SUV.”
Matthew’s gaze shot to Ashley. “Was anyone coming to see you?”
“No.” She grabbed the papers off the counter and slid them into a folder. “I’ll leave these in my office.”
Matthew held her arm. “Stay inside until we know who it is.”
“I might recognize them when they get out of their SUV.”
“You can look at them from the office window. If it’s someone associated with Congressman Welsh, stay away. Sean and I will make sure they leave.”
Ashley gave a quick nod before leaving the kitchen.
He wasn’t sure if she would listen to him, but either way, he was glad Sean had seen the vehicle. A few minutes warning was better than none, especially where Ashley was concerned.
***
Matthew opened the front door and waited on the porch with Sean. Anyone with half a brain wouldn’t have driven so fast if they wanted their arrival to be a surprise. The cloud of dirt behind the vehicle would have told anyone within a ten-mile radius that they were on the ranch.
As soon as he saw the SUV, Matthew started eliminating potential owners. With a rental company’s license plates, the chance of the driver being from Montana was slim to none. That left Ashley’s friends from New York or someone who wanted to stop her from publishing her story.
Sean leaned against the railing, waiting for the woman who was driving to leave the vehicle. His mouth dropped open about the same time the woman’s four-inch heels hit the ground.
Matthew crossed his arms. If that was Bonnie, Ashley’s friend, he’d eat his hat for dinner.
With her jet-black hair pulled into some kind of fancy braid and a cream skirt and jacket hugging her slim build, she looked like someone who had a lot of money.
Matthew moved closer to his brother. Sean’s expression was still stuck on gob-smacked.
The woman’s pale pink lips lifted into a smile. “I’m looking for the Gray family ranch. Is this the right place?”
Matthew walked down the stairs. “It is. Who are you?”
The woman’s smile grew wider.
Matthew frowned.
“I’m looking for Ashley Fisher. A lady in Bozeman said I could find her on the Gray ranch.”
“You still haven’t answered my question,” Matthew said. “Who are you?”
The woman’s smile disappeared. “I’m Jasmine Alfredo. I’d like to speak to Ms. Fisher.”
Matthew tried to keep his surprise from showing. In the photos he’d seen of her, she looked as though she was in her fifties. But Jasmine wasn’t much older than him.
She lifted the strap of her bag onto her shoulder. “If Ms. Fisher is here, I’d appreciate seeing her. I’ve just arrived from New York City.”
Sean cleared his throat. “She’s not available at the moment. If you’d like to leave us your cell phone number, we’ll make sure she gets it when she returns.”
Jasmine’s blue eyes narrowed. “I have something important I need to discuss with her.”
“We’ll ask her to call you when she’s available.” Matthew started to walk toward her SUV. “When are you flying back to New York?”
Jasmine didn’t move. “After I’ve seen Ms. Fisher.”
“That could take a few days.”
“Then I’ll be here for a few days. Can you recommend a hotel in town?”
If Matthew hadn’t looked at Jasmine’s face, he might have been fooled by her polite question, but her eyes were as sharp as shards of glass. Jasmine Alfredo wasn’t impressed with their delay tactics.
The front door opened and Ashley stepped onto the porch.
“Are you ever going to listen to me?” Matthew growled.
Ashley stuck her hands on her hips and scowled something fierce. “Jasmine isn’t the bad guy in all of this.” She walked down the stairs and shook Jasmine’s hand. “Welcome to Montana. Excuse Matthew and Sean. They’re just trying to protect me.”
“Protect you? What happened?”
Matthew looked at Sean. His brother was still star-struck by Jasmine. He moved closer to Ashley, hoping she realized how important it was to keep quiet about the person who had been following her.
“It was nothing important,” she muttered. “Why did you come to Bozeman?”
Jasmine waved her hand in front of her face. “It’s hot. Do you think we could have this conversation inside?”
Matthew didn’t think having any conversation with Jasmine Alfredo was a good idea.
“It will only take a few minutes,” Jasmine added.
He glanced at Ashley. She nodded, and he sighed.
“Fine,” he mumbled. “You can come inside for a few minutes. But as soon as the conversation is over, you have to leave.”
Jasmine’s eyes didn’t lose any of their frostiness. She held her head high as she followed Ashley inside.
Matthew pushed his brother toward the front door. If nothing else, their discussion should be interesting. And as long as Ashley didn’t mention the newspaper article, they’d all be okay.
***
Jasmine sat on the edge of the sofa. Her gaze skimmed across the overstuffed furniture, the family photos and the rug that brightened their living room.
Matthew leaned forward. Jasmine didn’t look comfortable and neither did Ashley. The sooner this meeting was over, the happier he would be. “We didn’t introduce ourselves. I’m Matthew Gray and this is my brother, Sean.”
Jasmine looked at Matthew, then at Sean. “Are you twins?”
Sean nodded. “I’m the oldest.”
Matthew didn’t know what was going on with his brother. He was acting as if he’d been abducted by aliens and dropped headfirst, onto another planet.
Even Ashley was sending Sean weird looks—not that he noticed. The only person Sean was paying attention to was Jasmine.
Matthew ignored his brother. “I’m surprised you flew to Bozeman, Jasmine.”
Confusion replaced the surprise on her face. “It was too far to drive.”
“I wasn’t referring to how you got here. I meant about making the journey at all. From what I’ve read, I would have thought you’d have staff who could ask the questions you want answered. Private investigators could have done the same job.”
Jasmine’s perfectly arched eyebrows rose. “I wanted to speak to Ashley myself.”
“What did you want to speak to me about?” Ashley asked.
Jasmine’s gaze landed on Matthew and Sean. “What I have to say is just for Ashley.”
There was no way Matthew was leaving the room. Before he could tell Jasmine he was staying, Ashley started speaking.
“Matthew and Sean know everything that’s happened. They won’t say anything.”
Jasmine didn’t look impressed.
Ashley smiled. “I’ve known Matthew and Sean for a long time. I trust them with my life.”
“I need to be confident that what I’m about to say won’t go any further than these four walls.”
“You have our word,” Ashley said.
Jasmine sighed. “I’ve been traveling for a long time, so you’ll need to excuse my bluntness. I’ve been told that you are investigating one of my charities?”
Ashley nodded.
“I’ve also been told that Congressman Welsh has become the focus of your investigation.”
Matthew jumped into the conversation. “Who have you been speaking to?”
“I hired a private investigator after the treasurer of The Reaching High Foundation called me.” Jasmine looked at Ashley. “Last year, the non-profit charities I manage contributed more than four million dollars to various projects. Negative publicity about myself or my charities is unacceptable.”
Ashley glanced at Matthew. She looked uncertain about what to say next, and he couldn’t blame her. If Jasmine knew about the article, she could stop it from being published.
Jasmine pulled a folder from her bag and handed it to Ashley. “This is the file my private investigator gave me. I believe you know Bonnie Adams and Harry Kingston?”
“They’re my friends,” Ashley said. She opened the folder and looked through the information. “Your private investigator was thorough.”
“I don’t pay him to be anything else. I wanted to know who you have been associating with, who you have spoken to. Congressman Welsh was also investigated. We uncovered some disturbing information about his involvement in The Reaching High Foundation.”
Ashley handed Matthew the folder. He flicked through the documents and raised his eyebrows when he came to the photos. In one of them, Ashley was walking into a building with a blond-haired man. The stranger had one arm around her waist and a suitcase in the other.
He replaced the photo and looked at the next one. “Is this Bonnie?”
Ashley frowned at the photo. “It is. I don’t know where it was taken.”
Jasmine studied the photo. “That’s in the foyer of my office building. Ms. Adams was on her way to see someone on The Reaching High board. Am I correct in assuming that I need to be worried about Gareth Welsh’s involvement in my charities?”
Ashley watched Sean look through the folder. “Some of the documents your investigator uncovered are identical to the ones I found.” She paused and looked at Matthew.
He gave a small nod. Jasmine’s private investigator had uncovered a lot of information about Congressman Welsh. She should have been worried about his involvement in the Foundation.
Ashley took a deep breath. “We think Congressman Welsh was using money from The Reaching High Foundation to pay for his failed mayoral campaign.”
Jasmine didn’t seem surprised. “That’s a serious allegation. What proof do you have?”
“A search warrant was used to look at his financial activities over the last twelve months. The police report should be available in the next twenty-four hours. We found other information, but the files are in another room. It will only take me a couple of minutes to get them.”
Matthew stood. “I’ll come with you.”
Ashley didn’t say anything until they were upstairs. “What am I going to do?” she whispered. “What if Jasmine and Congressman Welsh are in a relationship? Jasmine might not want to see the information we’ve found.”
“Or she could tell him about what you’ve found.”
Ashley paced backward and forward. “If she were going to confront him, she would have done it before now. She has more to lose than he does.”
“What about the information you found on Jasmine? How involved has she been in Congressman Welsh’s life?”
“Until the mayoral election was over, he wasn’t seen with anyone apart from his wife. After that, he spent a lot of time at the same events Jasmine attended. It could have been a coincidence, but I don’t think so.” Ashley picked up two folders. “It will only make everything worse if Jasmine sees the information I collected about her.”
Matthew took the folder she handed him. “We’ll leave this here. Is the other folder focused on Congressman Welsh?”
“It is. Do you think Jasmine will read between the lines and realize that we thought she was involved?”
He wouldn’t have expected anything less from the wealthy socialite. “Probably. We need to know what she intends to do with the information her private investigator found.”
“I don’t think she’ll be going to the police.”
Matthew held out his hand. “There’s only one way to find out. Are you ready to face the lion’s den?”
Ashley squared her shoulders and placed her hand in his. “As ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s go.”
***
Two hours later, Jasmine left the ranch. While Matthew cooked dinner, Ashley and Sean had finished a few chores around the ranch.
Sean had come inside ten minutes ago. Ashley had stayed in the barn. She had a soft spot for Chan, Nathan’s horse, and Matthew couldn’t blame her. As well as having an easy-going personality, he was the most intelligent horse they’d ever owned.
He opened the oven door, checked dinner, then headed out of the house toward the barn.
Chan and Sandy were in their stalls, content to munch on their oats. There was no sign of Ashley. The tack room was empty, and so were the rest of the stalls.
“Ashley? Are you in here?”
“I’m in the loft,” she yelled from above him.
Matthew stood in front of the ladder. “What are you doing up there?”
“Feeding the cats.”
He hauled himself up the ladder and stared at her. She was sitting in the middle of the floor surrounded by their six barn cats. Grouchy sat on her lap, purring like a freight train.
“You’ve made a friend.”
She tickled Grouchy under his chin. “He’s a good boy.”
Matthew could have sworn the old cat grinned. “Dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes.”
“Thanks.”
Seeing Ashley sit cross-legged with straw in her hair made him wish for a lot of things that would never happen. He studied the line of her jaw, the way her mouth tilted into a smile when Grouchy licked her hand. She was as much at home on his family’s ranch as he was, only she refused to admit it.
“Why didn’t you fly back to New York with Jasmine in her private jet?”
“Too risky. If someone took a photo of us, Congressman Welsh would know something was going on.”
He nodded and looked through the loft window. From this height, the land looked like a patchwork quilt. The early evening light painted the ranch in splashes of purple and deep green. In the distance, the Bridger Range rose and fell, shrouded in a blanket of shadows and mystery.
Ashley patted Tabitha, their oldest barn cat. “I’m going to miss your cats. They’ve all got different personalities.”
He watched Hoppy push Gonzo out of the way of the grits. “Some are bossier than others. I’m surprised you’re up here. I thought you didn’t like heights.”
“I don’t, but I force myself to come up here each day. I might be able to stand on the roof of my apartment building when I get home.”
“What’s on the roof?”
“A garden. Mrs. Moretti and Mr. Stokes live in my apartment building. They decided to make a rooftop garden last year. Up until now, I’ve only seen photos of their flowers and shrubs. When I see the plants in real life, I’ll tell them it was because of your barn cats.”
The happiness on Ashley’s face was almost enough to make him forget she was leaving. She was more content than she’d been all week. In some strange way, it felt as though the last three years had never happened.
Sissy and Spinach, his twin cats, jumped off a hay bale. He moved his legs as they ran toward their dinner. “I’m surprised Jasmine agreed to your plan.”
Ashley had convinced Jasmine that the only way she would come out unscathed from what Congressman Welsh had done, was to tell everyone her side of the story.
They’d spent more than an hour together, talking about The Reaching High Foundation and Congressman Welsh’s involvement in its activities.
Ashley lifted Grouchy off her lap and moved across to the cat bowls. “Jasmine wasn’t kidding when she said the non-profits she manages are important to her. Everyone assumes she’s another daddy’s-little-rich-girl, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. She knows what she’s talking about when it comes to business.”
Matthew frowned. “She wasn’t very clever when it came to Congressman Welsh.”
“I’ve met him at a couple of charity events. He’s a charmer. More people than Jasmine were sucked into believing his stories. The sad thing is that his fraud would have gone unnoticed if he’d won the mayoral election. Over time, his new salary would have more than covered the money he stole. No one would have known what he’d done.”
“Has Jason called you with the results of the search warrant?”
Ashley sighed. “Not yet.”
“What are you going to do with the information Jasmine gave you?”
“I’ll write a follow-up story, then send a copy of the interview to the police. I hope Jasmine’s charities survive what’s happened.”
Tabitha rubbed against Matthew’s leg. He absently patted her head. “You’re getting more and more involved in this story.”
“You say that as if it’s a bad thing.”
“I’m not a reporter, but I’d say one of the worst things you can do is become too attached to your story. What if Jasmine turns out to be a bad guy? What are you going to do then?”
Ashley wiped her hands on her jeans. “I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. But just for the record, I don’t think she is involved in the fraud. She cares too much about the people she’s helping.”
“I think you’re right, but you don’t have the proof you need. If it gets too messy in New York, you can come back here. Bonnie and Harry could come, too.”
“I don’t think that would work. Bonnie and Harry are always bickering. I’m amazed they’ve survived living together.”
Matthew frowned. “Bonnie was in trouble. Harry didn’t have a choice. He had to help her.”
Ashley glanced at him. “Why did you help me?”
He looked into her blue eyes and sighed. If she didn’t know by now, she never would. “I didn’t have a choice, either. I’ll see you inside for dinner.”
“I’ll come with you.” She slowly followed him down the ladder, not saying anything until she had both feet on the ground. “Catherine and Toby are lucky to live here.”
It wasn’t the right time to point out that she could have lived here, too. “We’ve all been lucky. A lot of kids aren’t able to experience what mom and dad gave us.”
“I’m glad they didn’t mind me spending my weekends here.”
“They enjoyed your company as much as I did.”
Chan’s head appeared over the rail of his stall.
Ashley stopped and rubbed his nose, smiling as he blew warm air onto her face. “Good boy,” she murmured. “I’ll see you again, sometime soon.” She gave Chan a final scratch before leaving the barn.
Matthew wanted to believe that she’d be back, he really did. But life had a way of overtaking every promise Ashley made. He hoped that this time he was wrong.