Chapter 24

Brock

I could really get used to having Anna around. She was timely, organized, and efficient, and even though her attitude was a little irritating at times, she was making a better secretary than I had expected. No one could replace Helen, of course—we’d worked together too many years—but Anna was doing a passable job.

“There have been a few calls this morning. I left the messages on your desk,” she said, not looking away from her computer screen.

I chuckled when I glanced at it. She was browsing for baby gear. I guessed I couldn’t really complain that she was doing it on my dime. The office was tidy and the phone wasn’t ringing. At least she wasn’t filing her nails, and if anyone walked in the door, they would assume she was busy considering the intense way she was staring at the screen.

I sat at my desk and reviewed the messages. One in particular had me excited. I quickly called the person back and discovered that a gentleman who owned a large parcel of land on the outside of town had passed away. His surviving relatives wanted to unload it.

“Yes!” I shouted at the ceiling.

“What?” Anna shouted back.

“Nothing, nothing,” I told her quickly, pulling up the information about the land.

This could be a good deal for me. It was a bigger piece of property than the farm. It was a little further out of town, but I knew the sellers were in a hurry. The family wanted the cash, not the land. I wouldn’t have to worry about another Ashley coming along and ruining my deal.

I called the developer I’d worked with on our ill-fated farm purchase and let him know about this new property. He was hesitant, and clearly still irate about our other deal falling through, but asked me to put together a proposal for his review. This could work out to be an even better and more profitable deal for me.

When one door slammed in your face, kick out a window. That was my motto, and it looked to be proving true. I got busy pulling information from the county, getting some comps put together, and then packed up to leave the office. I needed to get my eyes on this property. The family said there was a decrepit cabin on the place but didn’t think it was worth anything. That was fine with me. The place would be bulldozed anyway if this deal went through.

When I saw it, I felt a little guilty about what I had planned for the pristine area. I didn’t want to put condos on it and cut down all the trees. It would be a beautiful place to build a home. I wondered if I could talk the developer into building upscale homes on ten-acre parcels. The property was one hundred acres. It could still be a lucrative development deal.

It was after lunchtime by the time I made it back to my truck. I had snapped a few pictures of the property with my camera but would need to get some better ones, which reminded me of Ashley.

I wanted to see her and Jasper, which gave me an idea. As soon as I got back to the office, after spending the entire trip back building up my courage, I called Ashley.

I hoped she would pick up. We hadn’t talked since I’d left her with a pile of boxes at the farm. I wasn’t sure if she had played nice because she’d needed the help and we were back to hating each other or if she had been too busy to call. We had to work out a deal that satisfied both of us when it came to me seeing Jasper.

“Hey.” She answered with genuine pleasantness.

It was a little weird, but I guessed I wasn’t the only who had buried the hatchet regarding our past.

“Hey. I wanted to talk to you about seeing Jasper. Can I take him to dinner tonight?”

There was a brief pause before she answered.

“Sure, but with one stipulation.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m coming too.”

That was unexpected. “Why?”

“I need to get used to the idea, and I want to make sure you two get along. As far as I know, you have zero experience with kids.”

I bit back the retort on my tongue. I had zero experience with kids because she had denied me the chance to learn like every other new dad.

“Fine. Should I pick you guys up or do you trust me to drive with a kid in the truck?” I quipped. I instantly regretted it. I didn’t want to fight with her.

“You can pick us up if you would like, or I can meet you there. It’s up to you. Jasper does use a booster seat, but I can take it out of my dad’s truck for a trip into town.”

“I’ll be there at six. Is that too late?” I asked, suddenly realizing that could be too late for a kid.

She laughed. “No. That works perfectly. I’ll have him dressed, clean, and ready to go.”

I hung up the phone. I heard a shuffle of feet and looked up in time to see Anna scurrying away. She had been eavesdropping.

I stood and went to her desk. “Anna?”

“Yes?”

“I think you know. You can’t eavesdrop on all my conversations.”

“I don’t. Well, not all of them. Only the ones that involve my sister.” She said the last word with a sneer. “I’m assuming you were talking to her.”

“Private calls are meant to be private,” I said, dodging her question.

“You’re a fool if you think she will stick around and you guys will have some happily ever after. She’s going to get you to fall in love with her all over again and then take off. Again.”

I shook my head. “You two really need to work out your differences. She’s not so bad, Anna.”

She scoffed. “She had your baby and never told you!”

I eyed her closely. “You’re the anonymous person who emailed me, aren’t you?”

She was unapologetic as she stared at me. “Yep. I thought it was about time you knew. I mean, she brought him back here and had no intention of ever letting you see him.”

I wasn’t sure about that. I had a feeling part of the reason she came home was to unburden herself.

“Thank you. I appreciate you bringing it to my attention.”

“What? That’s it?”

“What did you think I would say?”

She shook her head in obvious bewilderment. “I thought you would say we were horrible people, that Ashley was a scandalous bitch for doing what she did. I can’t understand why you hired me or why you’re being so nice to Ashley. What’s wrong with you?” she asked with disgust.

I threw my head back and laughed. “Did you actually think I would be pissed you told me about Jasper? Or pissed I had a son? I mean, yes, I was a little angry to find out I had a son that I didn’t know about, but I want to move forward. Maybe you should too,” I told her.

“You’re crazy.”

“No, Anna. It’s called growing up. You have to learn to forgive people. Move on and be happy. People can change. Ashley changed. I want a relationship with my son, and that means I need to get along with his mother. You really should try talking to her. She’s not so bad.”

Her lip curled and her nose wrinkled as if she had just stepped in a fresh pile of dog poop. “No. Not going to happen.”

“Your loss, Anna.”

I went back to my office and got to work on the potential land deal with the developer. I had to sell it. This was not the kind of housing project this developer normally invested in, but I couldn’t let him destroy that gorgeous property with a series of high-rise condos. If he rejected the proposal, I would present it to another developer.

I had stepped out for a few minutes, and when I came back into my office, I had missed a call on my cell. I listened to the voice mail and wasn’t surprised a bit. Ashley had decided to meet me in town at the diner. She claimed she had to run errands in town and wanted to save me a trip.

Sure.

I knew she wasn’t all that comfortable with me going out to the farm. Plus, if she decided she didn’t like the way things were going at dinner, she could get up and go. I got it. She didn’t need to make excuses.

I pulled into the diner about five minutes early. She pulled in beside me within a couple minutes.

“Hi,” I said.

Jasper jumped out of the back seat and ran toward me. “Hi, Dad.”

“Hey, buddy!”

Ashley was standing at the front of Tanner’s truck, watching Jasper and me. She wasn’t the only one watching. The people in the diner’s window seats were getting a great show. I looked up and stared back at the busybodies who were watching us so intently.

“You okay with this?” I asked her in a low voice.

She shrugged her shoulders. “It has to happen eventually. No one can keep secrets around here.”

“Okay. Maybe we can go somewhere else, though. Somewhere that isn’t quite so busy.”

“This is fine. I’m going to have to deal with it at some point. I’d rather get it out in the open now before school starts. These people don’t want to see me defending my son from their nasty rumors.”

“Or me,” I growled, feeling fiercely defensive of Jasper.

“Let’s go eat!” Ashley said with fake enthusiasm. She looked at me. “You’re buying.”

Laughing, I agreed.

Ashley took a deep breath, raised her chin, and threw her shoulders back. I felt a twinge of sympathy for her. She had run out all those years ago and then showed up in town six years later with a little boy. There would be no stopping the gossip, but I hoped with me in her corner, it would eliminate some of the embellished details that were sure to arise.

We walked in and looked for a table out of the way. We found a booth toward the back of the diner, near the kitchen door. It would afford us some privacy. She and I sat on opposite sides of the table with Jasper tucked into the booth next to me.

I could feel the stares as people put two and two together. I ignored the nosey diners and focused my attention on Ashley and Jasper. Ashley was obviously uncomfortable.

“I bet you could really use a drink right now,” I said in a low voice.

She chuckled. “Yeah, or five.”

“I could drive you home.”

She shook her head. “No way. I am not giving these people anything else to gossip about. I’m sure we’ll be the talk of the town for days.”

“What’s gossip, Mom?” Jasper asked innocently.

“It’s when people talk about things they have no business talking about,” I said in a loud, clear voice.

I looked up and around the diner, making sure everyone heard me loud and clear. The old women who passed their days gossiping looked properly offended and guilty. I looked at Ashley, who was a pretty shade of pink.

“Ignore them,” I whispered. “They don’t matter.”

She jerked her head, pushed her hair out of her face, and smiled. “They don’t matter,” she repeated.

“I’m getting the fried chicken dinner,” I announced. “What do you want, Jasper?”

The boy picked up his paper menu. “I don’t know. Mom, what do I like?”