Storm Front (The Charistown Series) (Volume 2) (35 page)

He clearly wasn’t as smart as she thought because he had no
idea what the hell she was talking about. He shook his head silently and hoped
she’d continue to speak.

“You just answered all of your own questions. First of
all—and think before you answer—do you honestly, in your heart of hearts, think
Ashley is finished with you? Do you think a woman who hasn’t dated in…well, at
least the eight months that I’ve known her but I’ve heard it’s been longer, is
done? Is a woman who turns green with envy each time she sees another woman get
your attention, over you?”

He was stunned speechless, which was perfect because Lyla
continued to talk. “You’re sick of playing games? Well, thank God for that!
Because your games suck ass, Ry. Yes, you made her jealous and
that
probably did work in your favor, but I would venture to guess that, had you
just had an honest conversation with her months ago, all of this would have
been avoided.”

“That’s bullshit, Lyla.” A new wave of irritation swelled
through Ryan’s system. “I’ve tried to talk to her for
years
but she’s
slammed the fucking door in my face every single time. I’ve told her how sorry
I am. I’ve begged for her forgiveness. What more can I do?”

“And that is where the two of you keep failing.” Now she had
his attention, what was he doing that kept the wheels of failure spinning?
“Ryan, you’ve spent years apologizing for your mistakes. Yes, you fucked up.
Yes, your actions had consequences. But did you ever stop to think that she’d
already forgiven you?”

He could have sworn he heard the “click” as Lyla’s words
took root in his mind. What she was saying actually made sense. “I can’t sit
here and heal your relationship because you two need to do that yourselves, but
I can say this. Leo’s theory about her is spot on—she is stubborn as hell.
Think about this. Maybe, just maybe, you’re not the one that she’s holding the
grudge against. Maybe you’re not the one she’s punishing. Maybe it’s not
you
she deems unworthy.”

Lyla slowly stood up from her chair and traipsed through the
door to the right of the kitchen. She came back a moment later holding Ryan’s
clothes. “It’s getting really bad out there, you should get home.”

Ryan stood up and took the warm clothing from Lyla. His mind
reeled from their conversation. “Ry.” Lyla stared at him, concern heavy in her
eyes, “It’s important you get home safely. So bank our chat until you get
there, okay?”

There was so much sincerity in the small package that was
Lyla Dalton, he was embarrassed and even a little ashamed that he hadn’t taken
the time to get to know her better.
Well
, he thought to himself,
that’s
gonna change
.

He stood at the opened door and watched the sheets of rain
falling sideways from the sky. Turning to her he said, “Thanks for everything,
Lyla. Even if I don’t get the answers I want, at least I’ll get the answers I
need.” He looked at his booted feet. “It’s time I move forward one way or
another.”

“It’s time you got your ass out of my house—you’re letting
the rain in.” Her soft smile belied her sarcastic wit and he nodded and ran
quickly to his car.

Answer the Call

THE SOUND OF the ticking clock in
the hallway could be heard even above the noise from the wind and rain outside.
Whether it actually was, or she was just watching the time so closely, Ashley
didn’t know. Pacing the floor, she stopped every minute or so to look out of
the window, noticing the ever darkening clouds that were closing in around the
house. “Where are you, Ryan? Why aren’t you home yet?” Nervousness clawed at
her belly as she moved from the den to the kitchen. She ran her fingertips
along the granite counter top, the cool stone permeating her skin as memories
of the day they installed them played in her mind. She had wanted so badly to
upgrade the outdated kitchen but didn’t think she could afford the renovations.
Ryan had refused to let her give up and had talked her into making it a DIY
project. He convinced her that, since he lived in the house too, he should be
able to sink his money into it. After weeks of hard labor and various
disagreements, she had the kitchen of her dreams. Leaning up against the
refrigerator door her eyes moved to the green digital numbers of the clock on
the microwave oven. It had been more than two hours since she’d spoken to him.
Where was he? Was he okay?

Since Ashley’s cell phone was completely drained and resting
on the charger, the shrilling sound of the land telephone line in the kitchen
first startled her and then had her rushing to pick up the call.

“Ryan?”

“No, sweetie, it’s Julie. I just wanted to see if you were
holding up alright.” Julie’s voice lowered as the true reason for her call
surfaced. “I also wanted to know, if maybe you wanted me to come and stay with
you tonight?”

“Thank you so much, Julie, but Ryan should be home any
minute. We’ll be fine.” Ashley heard Danny’s voice in the background. She
couldn’t make out his words, but she knew that he needed his wife’s attention.
“Jules, go be with Danny. I’m fine. We’ll chat later.” She hung up the phone
and continued to pace, waiting for Ryan’s return.

The house creaked with the massive gusts of wind, while
heavy waves of rain and debris slammed against the side of the quaint,
brick-lined house. Anxiety ricocheted through her, sending sweat down her spine
and nausea up her throat.

Another half hour passed without word from Ryan. “No,” she
said out loud, “there is no way this would happen again.” Pieces that had been
held together for so long began to wiggle loose as she felt her body slide down
the stainless steel door and into a puddle on the kitchen floor. Quiet sobs
wracked her body as the fear and pain swelled within her, shattering the locked
box where she kept it hidden away.

“Ash, I’m home. Sorry it took so long, the roads are a mess
and I have no cell service.” So wrapped up in memories of the past and the
horrific thoughts of what could have happened, she barely heard Ryan call out
his greeting.

It wasn’t until she heard her name again that she managed to
call out her response, “Ry?” Hearing the pounding footsteps scurrying through
the house gave her comfort that he really was home and safe.

“Baby,” his voice was soothing and thick with emotion as he
settled behind her, wrapping his long legs around her frame, in a position that
was all too familiar to her. “Are you sick? What’s wrong, Ash, tell me, I’ll
make it better, Princess, I swear.”

His presence was a balm to her tormented soul. She slowly
lifted her head from her arms and turned to face him, the anguish in his eyes
stealing her breath away.

Tears burned her cheeks. Her teeth gripped the small hoop
that pierced through her bottom lip. Snuggling tightly into his arms, she
quaked when his thumbs touched her face to sweep away the tears. The
familiarity of this moment unleashed a whole new round of tears.

“Princess, please talk to me,” Ryan begged. Then, just like
the thunder crashing through the atmosphere her words came crashing through the
room.

“I…I thought something had happened to you.” She couldn’t
hold back her thoughts, or her fears. They were lava erupting from a
volcano—hot, molten, fire that needed to find air in order to cool. She
vigorously wiped at her face, trying unsuccessfully to remove any evidence of
her meltdown.

“I’m so sorry, Ash. After we spoke, I had a few errands to
run. I figured we would probably be stuck in for a couple of days so I wanted
to get a few things taken care of.” He pulled her closer to him sitting her on
his lap as he stroked her back and whispered comforting words in her ear. After
a long while filled with only their warm breaths and rapid heartbeats, Ryan
cleared his voice.

“Come on, Princess, let’s get out of here. My legs are
beginning to cramp.” She noticed that his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes,
but she didn’t care. Gratitude for his safety was the only thing that mattered
to her.

She took hold of his offered hand and on shaking legs
followed him towards the den.

“
I had a few errands to run. I figured we would probably
be stuck in for a couple of days. So I wanted to get a few things taken care
of…”

In the space of mere minutes, the meaning of his explanation
morphed in her mind. The words evolved, his simple statement turning into a
detonated bomb as it ricocheted, leaving shrapnel scattered all over her
exposed skin. Hurt and anger pulsed through her and she pulled away from Ryan’s
touch, wrapping her arms around herself to protect her body from further
damage.

Ryan recoiled at the sudden change in Ashley’s demeanor.
“Are you okay, babe? Are you hurt?”

“Oh, so
now
you give a shit if I’m okay,” she hissed.
“You didn’t seem to care while you were ‘taking care of things.’” She hated it
when people used air quotes but this seemed like the perfect time for them so
air quotes it was.

Ryan’s face changed as he realized what Ashley was saying,
but she didn’t give time to react before she continued her hysterical rant, the
words flowing from her mouth at break-neck speed. “I asked you—nicely, I might
add—not to have any of your lady-friends over here for what, Ryan, a day or
two? I didn’t want to be stuck listening to you getting your whistle blown, or
hearing how rough Sally can ride…but obviously that was too much to ask. You
had to go out and sink your dick in whatever Fun Dip you could get your hands
on to hold you over till after the storm.”

Ashley flailed her arms in Kynde Windmill style as she
marched past him to the stairs. When she hit the bottom step she turned around
to face him, her eyes glistened with unshed tears and her thumb rubbed up and
down over her sternum as she stared directly into his eyes and said in a low
voice, “Did you even think for one second about me? Did you think about how I
was feeling, sitting here in this house worrying about you? Thinking back to
the night my world changed? Did you give two shits about me while you were
fucking some bobble-headed Barbie, or were you too goddamn busy ‘taking care of
things’? I’m gonna guess you were too busy playing Ken.” She spat before
turning away from him to head upstairs.

Anger brewed in his already aching chest and with three
steps he closed the remaining distance between them clasping her on the
shoulder and spun her in his direction.

“Oh my God, you’re unbelievable. Did I ever think about
you?” He roared, staring her deep in her bloodshot eyes. “You’ve
got
to
be fucking kidding me, Ashley.”

Taking a small step backward he released her and inhaled
deeply, holding it in before releasing it slowly. “Did I ever think about you?
Princess, I’ve spent every minute of every fucking day since I was
nineteen
years
old thinking about you. Hell, if were being honest, even before then.” Even
though controlled, his voice was sharp, his stance was rigid, anger,
frustration, and years of holding back coursed through his veins. He refused to
play these games anymore, he made a promise to Leo, to Ashley and to himself
and it was time he lived up to it.

Ryan closed his eyes and whispered, “He asked me to make it
right with you.” Leo’s broken voice played in his mind. “He knew I loved you,
he knew I’d live my life trying to earn back your trust, so making that promise
to him was the easiest thing I’d ever done. So yes, Ashley, you’re all I’ve thought
about.” His gaze tightened as he willed her to understand.

Ashley returned his stare and he knew from her face that she
was stunned by his outburst but experience told him that she was still too
caught up in her own animosity to see his point of view. He stalked closer to
her, needing to feel her warmth around him, even if the heat came from anger
and despair.

“I fucked up, Ashley. I was a stupid, punk-ass kid who made
a horrible mistake. Did I deserve your anger? Abso-fucking-lutely. Did I
deserve for you to dump me on my ass and never look back? You bet. But, did any
of us deserve what happened with Leo? No! I didn’t, he sure as hell didn’t, and
as much as you would love to stand there and shoulder the burden for the rest
of your life, you didn’t either.”

Ryan pumped his fists open and closed, trying to encourage
the blood to flow through his fingers. He wasn’t angry. He was afraid—afraid of
actually losing her for good, after all these years of fighting to stay in her
life.

He watched her lip curl up in disgust. She crossed her arms
over her chest and her nostrils flared subtly. She was still refusing to listen
to him—he knew she couldn’t hear what he was saying because she was too
engulfed in pain and anger. Ryan’s chest tightened as he watched Ashley rub her
fist over her sternum in small circles.

Make it right…Take care of her, Ryan…

Leo’s words reverberated in his head like a dream. Better
yet, like a prayer.

“You,” she jabbed her finger into his chest, “are an
arrogant asshole.” Her face was flushed, her eyes burned with hurt, filled with
years of guilt and sadness. He watched as her body shook with…what? Fear?
Frustration? He didn’t know, but he
did
know that now was the time to
push—he couldn’t back down now that they had finally come to this point. He
needed to see this through. Something screamed at him, warning him that if he
pulled back he would lose her forever.

Make it right…

Leo’s voice rang through his head
. Yeah, buddy,
he
promised his best friend
, I will
.

“What makes me an asshole?” He ran his hands through his
hair, “I can’t wait to hear this,” he snapped sarcastically, moving so that he
was only inches from her frame as he stared intently into her eyes. “Seriously,
Princess, please enlighten me, because this is how I see it. From the time I
met you, you have yet to follow your heart….ever! Sure, you listen to that big
ol’ brain of yours, you let it make every single
smart
decision, but you
haven’t actually
lived
one day of your own life in twenty-four years.”

He watched as Ashley blanched at his accusation, but it
didn’t take long for her to react as he felt the full-force of her anger and
the venom in her words. “Have you lost your mind? Clearly, all of the stupid
women you’ve been fucking have rubbed off on you because I’ve been living my
own life since the day I left Miami!”

His stomach clenched. He knew his next words would hurt her.
He knew they were unkind but she needed to hear them. She could choose not to
hear him—hell, she could choose to never speak to him again—but he couldn’t
stand in the corner wishing for things to be different any longer. It was time
to face the past and move on, either together or apart.

Inhaling deeply, he ran his fingers through his hair,
stopping to massage his scalp.

“I didn’t say that you weren’t living on your own, Ash, I
said you haven’t been
living
, period. You’ve never once followed your
own heart. Leo knew it, he told you so himself, didn’t he?” Ryan watched as
Ashley took on the far-away look she got when thinking about the past. He
assumed she was getting lost in memories of her brother, but he needed her with
him…now.