The Promise of Paradise (9 page)

“I haven’t been
avoiding them. She just calls when I’m sleeping. Or working.”

“So you can’t call
her back?”

“And say what?” Ash
exploded. “How’s life on the home front? Is Dad ready for the
hearing? Tell me, Jess, did he call in another favor to avoid jail
time, or is that the next headline I’m going to read when I pick up
the paper?”

“Don’t be cruel.”

What am I supposed
to be, then? The good little daughter, who stands by her family no
matter what?

“When are you coming
home?” Jess tried another line of questioning.

“I’m not.”

Pause. “What does
that mean?”

Ash rubbed at the stain
on her shorts. Her fingers came away red. “It means I’m taking
some time off this summer, okay? Yeah, I left Boston for a while. To
get my head straight. Sorry if you and Anne have to handle the media
circus by yourselves. But I can’t do it anymore. I just can’t.”
To her surprise, Ash began to cry. Little choking noises broke from
her lips.

Jess didn’t say
anything.

“Don’t tell Mom and
Dad, please?”

“What am I supposed
to say when they ask?”

“That I’m
subletting an apartment for the summer.”

“Where?”

“New Hampshire.” It
was as much as she could say.

“New—” Jess
sputtered for a minute and then ran out of steam. “Fine. I’ll do
my best to lie for you.” The guilt stabbed Ash right where she knew
her sister meant it to.

Jess sighed. “You’re
sure you’re okay? Do you need anything?” The softness in her
voice threw Ash for a minute.

Jessica Kirk had always
been the strong one, in charge of the three sisters from the time
they were little. She was the director of all their backyard plays,
the ruler of the tree fort and the sandbox. She was the one who
tattled to Mom and Dad, the one who doled out cookies after dinner,
the one who turned off the porch light if her younger sisters stayed
out after dark. She’d been six going on sixteen going on forty,
even back then.

“I’m okay, thanks.
But I have to go. Tell Anne I said hi.”

“Tell her yourself,”
Jess said. “You don’t have to ignore her too.”

Ash hung up before she
could work up to words she knew she’d regret. She grabbed the
groceries and hauled them to her apartment. She dropped everything on
the kitchen counter and headed for the shower, pulling off her
clothes as she went. She could picture Jess dialing their other
sister, gossiping about where poor little Ash had ended up. They’d
laugh, the two of them, with their wonderful law degrees and gung-ho
political campaigns. They’d laugh and wonder how Ash had turned out
so different from the rest of the Kirk family.

She turned on the
shower, left it cold, and stepped under the stream of water. The
chill took her breath away, and for an instant she was glad. At least
goose bumps might make her forget where she was. Eddie. The blonde.
Her father. Jess. Ash let the water run down her back and shivered.
At that particular moment, everything in her life seemed twisted up
and wrong.

Every single thing.

Ash turned the key in
the ignition. Nothing. Not a single sound. Not a click or a cough.
“Damn!”

Forty minutes past
midnight, and here she sat in the back parking lot of Blues and Booze
with a car that wouldn’t start. She supposed she’d pushed her
luck, what with the sluggish way it had turned over the last few
days. Frustrated, she slapped one hand against the steering wheel. No
hope now. The thing was completely dead. She glanced at the moon,
nearly full. She supposed she could walk home. Everyone kept telling
her how safe Paradise was after dark. It was only three blocks back
to Lycian Street, anyway.

She climbed out again,
made sure the windows were rolled up and locked her doors. Thunder
had rumbled over Paradise for most of the night, and the last thing
she needed was her leather interior ruined by rain. Glancing at her
watch, she started across the parking lot.

She’d taken only a
few steps when she saw him in the shadows, a man with his hands
stuffed in his pockets, watching her. Ash froze. Her stomach clenched
with panic, and a thin layer of perspiration broke out on her upper
lip. Paradise safe after dark? Yeah, right. Her first night walking
home, and she was about to be mugged. Close to eighty dollars in
singles bulged in her right front pocket, gas and grocery money for
the following week. If this guy stole it, she’d have six dollars to
her name. Ash took a step back. She’d taken a self-defense course
back in college; what had the instructor always said?

Do not act or look
like an easy target…be confident.

She lifted her chin,
eyes darting from side to side.

Do not let yourself
get blocked in…always have an escape route.

Ash considered her
choices. She could cross the lot and follow Main Street down to the
square, cutting behind the church and winding home the back way. She
could make her way to Palmetto, the street running behind her, and
head for the train station. Sometimes a cab idled there as it waited
for late arrivals. Or she could get back in her car, lock all the
doors, and call the police from her cell phone.

Forget that last one.
She didn’t need to attract any attention from local authorities.
They’d take one look at her driver’s license and identify her as
Senator Kirk’s daughter right away. By the following morning,
everyone in town would know who she was. And the jokes would start
all over again.

As she stood in the
shadowy lot, heart pummeling against her breastbone, the man began to
move toward her. Thick arms hung from a solid frame, and he walked
with purpose. Oh, God. Forget about the money. What if he grabbed
her? What if he tried to rape her?

She wrapped her right
hand around her car keys, working the sharp edges so that they
pointed straight at him. Maybe she could stab him between the eyes.
Maybe she could kick him in the groin and then stab him between the
eyes. Maybe she could—

“Ash? What are you
doing back here?”

Her heart leapt at his
words, an instant before it puddled around her ankles. “Eddie! You
scared the hell out of me.” She’d never been so happy to see
anyone in her life. Suddenly boneless, her hand flapped against her
leg. Her keys slipped through shaking fingers and fell to the ground.

He bent down and
scooped them up. “It’s way past twelve.”

“I know.” She waved
in the direction of her lifeless car. “It wouldn’t start.”

He frowned. “You
should have told me.”

The concern in his
voice washed over her, smooth and warm. The tightness that had rolled
around in her stomach the last few days vanished.

“I didn’t want to
bother you.” She paused. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

Eddie dropped his chin,
suddenly fascinated with his shoelaces. He put a hand on the back of
his neck, opened his mouth, and then closed it again without saying
anything. When he answered after a long minute, his voice was gruff.
“Knew you weren’t home. Wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Ash bit her bottom lip
as her cheeks flamed. He’d been sitting up? Waiting for her?
Worrying about her? She smiled. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just tired.”

“So let’s go.”
Dropping one arm across her shoulders, he pulled her close, squeezing
for a moment before backing away again. “I’ll come down, take a
look at your car tomorrow morning.”

“Really? Thanks.”

They headed across the
lot to where it opened onto Main Street and walked in silence. Ash
tried to keep her short stride up with Eddie’s longer one.
Curiosity got the better of her after a few minutes. “What happened
to Savannah?”

He didn’t answer.

“Eddie? Hello?”
Maybe she'd gotten the name wrong.

“It was just a date,”
he said.

“Oh.” Ash dodged a
trashcan that had rolled into the sidewalk. “You gonna see her
again?”

He glanced over. “Don’t
know. Maybe.”

“That’s a no.”
She elbowed him. “What’s wrong with you?”

He stopped short on the
corner of Elm Street. “Nothing, last time I checked. Why?”

“You know you’re
totally self-destructive, right?”

“What’re you
talking about?”

“This whole thing
where you go out with women once or twice, show them a good time, get
them thinking maybe you like them, and then never go out with them
again…”

“I like women, Ash.
What’s wrong with that? One date doesn’t mean I want to get
serious with anyone. I like to keep my options open.”

“Well, that’s
obvious.”

He frowned. “Now
you’re mad at me? Are we fighting again?”

“No. Sorry. I just
meant…you give women the wrong idea, I think.”

“I never make
promises. Not to any of them.”

Yeah, I know. That’s
what breaks their hearts.

A white pick-up truck
missing a taillight rolled past them. The horn beeped, and Eddie
raised a hand in greeting.

“You know him?”

He laughed. “Know
just about everyone in Paradise.”

Ash considered that for
a minute. “Does it ever bother you? You ever want to live somewhere
else? Somewhere people don’t know your business?” The question,
from deep in her soul, burned as it crossed her lips.

He shrugged. “Not
really. Thought about it a couple of times, but I’m settled here,
you know?”

They walked a few more
paces.

“Thing is,” Eddie
continued, “I don’t think other places, small towns or big
cities, are any better at hiding out in.”

She jerked at his words
and stumbled over a tree root growing through the pavement. “I
didn’t say anything about hiding out.”

“No, I know.” He
waved a hand. “I just meant that…well…everyone thinks the grass
is greener. If they live in a small town, they think they got to move
to a city. If they live in a city, they think a place like Paradise
is better. Less scandal or corruption or something. But I gotta tell
you, people have the same problems no matter where they go. Big city
or small town, people get hurt. Friends steal from each other. Men
cheat on their wives. Kids sneak out at night and get drunk while
their parents think they’re sleeping. People get divorced, leave
home, desert their kids. And people sure as hell die, same as every
other place.”

He looked at the sky,
as if counting the stars strewn out like a map above them. “At
least here in Paradise, you know someone’s got your back. You know
there’s always someone you can count on, someone you grew up with
who’s gonna forgive you no matter how bad you screw things up.”
They turned the corner onto Lycian Street. “So no, I’ve never
really wanted to live anywhere else.”

Ash thought about that
as they turned into the walk leading up to their house. Safety in a
small town, huh? She wasn’t sure she could believe it. But then
again, why had she moved here, and why was she staying, unless
something about the way a no-name village drew its arms around her
felt right? She glanced sideways at her neighbor. For a guy who
hadn’t ever left his hometown, Eddie West sure seemed to know a lot
about the ways in which the world worked.

“Thanks for walking
me home.”

“No problem.” He
dug his hands into his pockets. One dimple popped as he smiled at
her.

“See you tomorrow, I
guess.”

“See ya.”

She felt his eyes on
her back all the way up the stairs.

* * *

Eddie pulled into the
employee parking lot behind Frank’s Imports just shy of nine the
next morning. Ash’s car, he saw, had been towed and dropped in
front of the shop.
Good
. He pulled on a faded blue baseball
cap and headed inside.

“What’s up with the
Volkswagen?” Frank sat behind his desk, feet propped up, hands
laced behind his bald head, an unlit cigar clamped between his teeth.

“Belongs to a friend
of mine.”

“You better take care
of Mrs. Myer’s oil leak first.”

“I got it. Don’t
worry.”

Ash showed up an hour
later, cheeks flushed and her hair pulled into a ponytail. Running
shorts brushed the tops of toned legs, and a tank top curved around
damp breasts. From the other side of the shop, Eddie swallowed and
told himself to think of cold showers.

“West!” Frank
hollered.

“Hang on.”

“You got a visitor!”
Frank crossed the room and kicked at his foot. Eddie wheeled the
creeper out from under the sedan he was working on. “You didn’t
tell me your friend was a chick,” his boss said, in a voice that
echoed in the cavernous space. “A cute one.”

Eddie cut a glance
Ash’s way and watched her smile. “Yeah? There’s a reason for
that.”

“Hi,” Ash said when
he approached. “I was out for a run, thought I’d stop by and see
what I owed you.”

Eddie pulled a rag from
his back pocket, aware of the dirt on his hands and the smell of
gasoline on his clothes. She looked fresh, alive, young around the
eyes in a way that she hadn’t when they’d first moved in. He
liked it.

“Haven’t had a
chance to look at it yet. Sorry.”

“Oh.” She raised
her arms, stretching over her head. “That's okay. I can come back.”
Her shirt pulled up a little, and for a moment all Eddie wanted to do
was run a hand across that strip of skin above her waistband.

With effort, he pulled
his gaze away and checked the clock. “Maybe around lunchtime? Can
you come back after one?”

“Sure.” She looked
around, taking in the enormous steel toolboxes, the hoses hanging
from the wall, and the lifts with cars sitting on them in various
states of repair. Eddie watched her catalog it all and wondered what
she thought.

“Do you—would you
like me to bring lunch? I sort of feel like I owe you.” Ash wiped
her forehead with the back of one wrist.