Chapter 22
Hunter and Jill were walking through the Captain's Catch, outlining the plans for where to put the stage and set up the tables for that evening's gala.
"Are you sure Ashleigh won't come?" Jill asked.
"Call her and see," Hunter responded. Maybe she'd come for Jill. One thing he knew: she wouldn't come for him.
Jill took out her phone and called Ashleigh, tilting it so he could hear as it rang. "Hey, Ashleigh," she said. "Listen, the auction is tonight. Can you come by this afternoon so we can go over everything that needs to be done?"
There was a slight hesitation. "Oh, Jill. I'm so sorry. I should have called you," Ashleigh said, sounding bright and bubbly, as if nothing were wrong. As if she hadn't ripped Hunter's heart out an hour earlier. "But with everything going on with… everything," she continued, "I completely forgot."
Jill's smile dropped. "That's okay. What's up?"
"I got the part in that Paris movie I auditioned for. They want me on a plane to France later this afternoon."
"Oh."
"I'm really sorry, but there's no way I can MC the auction for you."
"No, I understand." Jill paused. "Uh, I hope you don't mind. Violet's publicist called and asked if she could be a part of the auction. Apparently she's coming with a full entourage of cameras. Do you mind if I ask her to MC the auction instead?"
"No, of course not. I totally understand."
Hunter winced. Not even a hitch in her voice.
"Thank you, Ashleigh. For everything you've already done. It was wonderful to catch up with you, and congratulations on getting the part. No one deserves it more."
"Thanks. Again, sorry for the late cancellation."
"No problem. I understand." Jill disconnected the call and turned to Hunter. "Did you hear all that?"
He nodded. "I was really hoping once she heard about Violet coming tonight she might change her mind."
"I'm really sorry, Hunter. I know how much you care about her."
"I really thought we were finding our way back to one another. But then she found out about my money."
"Why didn't you just tell her?"
"I don't know. The timing never seemed right. Money has always been a thorn between us, and the last thing I wanted was her thinking that I'd used her to get money out of her mother, or a job from her father. Not that it helped, since that is exactly what she thought anyway. I wanted to spend time with her first, let her get to know the real me. To build some trust. And we had. I was going to ask her to marry me."
"You were?"
He pulled the ring out of his pocket and showed it to Jill.
"Oh my God. Hunter, it's beautiful. Did she even see it?"
"No. She ended things before I got the chance."
"You can't give up on her that easily."
"Do you have any brilliant ideas?"
"No. But it sounds like you'd better figure it out quick. Otherwise, you'll be flying to Paris if you want to talk to her."
"I'd fly to the ends of the Earth if I thought it would do any good."
"Don't give up on her, Hunter."
"I won't. I let her slip away once before, I won't let it happen again."
"Good."
He helped her carry in the boxes of decorations, but with each step, the feeling that he couldn't let Ashleigh leave without telling her how he felt grew. How much he loved her. He wanted to marry her.
Jill's phone rang again. He hurried toward her, hoping it was Ashleigh, telling her she'd changed her mind. Jill glanced at her display and shook her head.
Damn.
"Hi, Mom. What's up?" She looked over at him. "Yeah, he's right here. I'll put you on speaker."
She hit a button and laid the phone down on a box between them.
"You know I don't usually pay attention to hospital gossip." His mother sounded worried. "But today I heard something that has got me concerned."
"What is it?" Jill asked, her eyes meeting Hunter's.
Hunter hoped it didn't have anything to do with Ashleigh's dad. "Is Mr. Welsley okay?"
"What? Yes, it's nothing like that."
"Then what is it?" Jill asked.
"Apparently, Ashleigh went into the OB-GYN department and got herself a pregnancy test. Hunter, would you know anything about that?"
A lump formed in Hunter's throat. Jill's eyes got huge. "No, can't say that I do," he said.
His mother blew out a deep breath and his sister looked at him with suspicion. "Well, you might want to find out. I'll see you both later tonight."
"Bye, Mom," Jill said, and disconnected the call.
They stared at each other for a long moment.
"Well?" Jill demanded.
"Well, what?"
"Why would Ashleigh be ordering a pregnancy test?"
"Got me." He opened the box he was leaning against and started unloading it, running through his mind the fact that they hadn't used a condom that one time. But if she wasn't using birth control, why hadn't she told him? In fact, she hadn't mentioned anything at all.
Could she be pregnant? And if she was, what did that mean? It meant he was going to follow his instinct. He wasn't going to let her get away.
Not again.
"I've got to go," he said to his sister.
"What?"
"Sorry. I'll be back. I promise." And then he was tearing out the place, rushing back to the hospital, hoping Ashleigh was still there.
He wasn't going to lose her. Not again.
***
Ashleigh tucked the results into her purse without reading them, then hurried to her father's room. According to what the nurse had told her mother this morning, he'd had a good night and was out of the ICU. He was awake, and she couldn't wait to see him.
"Hi, Daddy," she said as she walked into his room. He had his breakfast tray in front of him and was picking at his oatmeal.
"Hi, sweetheart." His face brightened and he pushed the tray away. "It is so good to see you."
She hurried toward him, fighting back her tears, and leaned over his bed to give him a hug. "It's really, really good to see you. How are you feeling?" She plopped into the chair next to the bed.
"I'd be doing much better if I didn't have to eat this breakfast." He gestured toward the tray with the bowl of plain oatmeal.
She grinned.
"But never mind that. How are you? You look beautiful."
"Thank you." They stared at each other for a long moment. "I'm so sorry I've been gone so long."
"Life happens when you're busy living it."
"It sure does. Goes by too fast."
"Your career seems to be taking off. Your mother brags about you all the time."
That surprised her. "I just got a terrific new movie role, and the best part is I get to live in Paris for the rest of the year. My flight leaves later this afternoon." She tightened her grip on her purse sitting in her lap and the unopened test results inside.
"Paris? You have to leave so soon?"
She saw the disappointment on his face and thought of her decision the night before to stay, to spend more time with him. But that was before Hunter had lied to her again. "Yes. But I'm never too busy for you. You know that, don't you?" The sadness lingering in his eyes broke her heart.
"I do now. Have you talked to your mother?"
Her smile faltered and she took a deep breath. "You know me and Mom. We are never going to be able to get along."
"You need to forgive her."
She took a deep breath. "I'm trying."
"It's been fourteen years. Don't you think that's long enough?"
"Honestly? No. Not after everything that happened. But we did have a good talk yesterday, and, like I said, I'm working on it. Now let's not spend our time talking about her."
"Okay, what about Hunter? Have you seen him?"
"I have."
"And?"
And he's still the same old Hunter, keeping too many secrets. "And nothing. He has his life. I have mine. On a different coast. In a different world." A much different world.
"A happy world?" he asked.
"Yes.
"Oh. You have someone special, then?"
"No. No time." This was beginning to feel like an inquisition. She wanted to ask him about his life, to change the subject off her, but what did she really know about her dad? She hadn't seen him since she was a kid. The realty of the situation hit her—hard.
"Sweetie, that's not happiness. You need someone in your life to make you feel full inside." His words surprised her.
"Does Mom do that for you?" she asked, unable to imagine her mother fulfilling anyone.
"Absolutely."
Another surprise. She guessed she really didn't know her parents at all.
"And you think Hunter can do that for me?" she asked.
He shrugged. "I don't know. All I know he's a good man—honest, fair, and with a hell of a work ethic. He wouldn't be where he was today without it. He's a very wealthy man, but he worked hard to get it. Over the years, he's been like a son to me, and he really helped me at a time when I needed it the most."
Ashleigh had no idea.
"And he was able to do make you happy once upon a time," her dad continued.
She smiled. "A long time ago in a land far, far away from where I live now."
They laughed, though to her ears it sounded forced and strained.
"Truth is, Dad, he keeps too many secrets."
"Don't we all?"
She clutched her purse with her pregnancy results inside tighter.
"You can have your fairy tale, Ash. Love doesn't have to be so complicated. You just need to learn to forgive. People are human. They make mistakes. They grow. They need to be forgiven for those mistakes, just like you want to be forgiven for yours."
She gave him a rueful smile. "When did you become such a shrink?"
"I live with your mother, don't I?"
They laughed again, and tears filled her eyes.
"What's the matter, sweetheart?"
"I don't want to leave you. I feel like I've already lost so much time, and you almost died. If you had, I never would have gotten the chance to tell you how much you mean to me, and how much I've missed you."
He took her hand. "I didn't die. And you're always welcome here. You know that, don't you?"
She nodded. "I do now. I'd like that, I really would. I… The timing is just all wrong, and I don't know what to do."
"Then don't do anything until you do. I sure wouldn't mind if you stuck around for a while. I know your mother is difficult, but believe me, she would really like it too. Though she'd never admit it, she is very sorry about what she did all those years ago."
"I love you, Dad. I've missed you so much."
"I love you too, sweetie. Don't put off your happiness. Take it from an old man who's been up close and personal with Mr. Death himself. Being happy is the only reason to wake up in the morning. Everything else is only noise and distractions."
At that moment, the nurse came in. "Mr. Welsley, why haven't you eaten your breakfast?"
"It's awful, that's why."
She heaved a big sigh. "Very well. It's time for more tests, anyway."
"You just like poking me, admit it."
She smiled. Ashleigh leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see you later, Daddy."
"You're not leaving for Paris?"
"Not today. Like you said, I have a lot of thinking to do."
She slipped out his door and into the hallway, and once she was alone in the elevator, she took the envelope out of her purse, her hands beginning to shake as she opened it and read the results.
When the doors opened on the first floor, Hunter was standing there, his eyes widening as he took in the envelope in her trembling hands. "Is that what I think it is?"
She shoved it back in her purse.
"Are you pregnant?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I have a right to know."
"And if I were?"
"Then we'd figure out what to do together. I love you. I've always loved you. I don't want to lose you."
Tears slipped down her cheeks, her father's words coming back to haunt her. A good man. Like a son to me.
"I can't, Hunter. Not now." She stepped out of the elevator and walked past him.
"Ashleigh. Don't leave."
"I'm sorry, Hunter. I have too much to think about."
"And the baby?"
She closed her eyes, absorbing the emotions coursing through her. The loss. The disappointment. The surprise at how badly she wanted the results to be different. "There is no baby."