She pulled away from my grasp and stared up into my face. “Are you serious?”
“Dead,” I replied, quickly losing myself in the closeness of her.
“When?”
“Today.”
“Let’s go,” she agreed.
Less than an hour later we were both dressed, packed, and on our way to the airport.
SCARLETT
When Ash asked me if I wanted to go to California to get away from everything for a few days, the idea sounded perfect. I didn’t want to face anyone, I didn’t want to have the conversations that needed to be had,
I
just wanted to run as far away from it all as possible. However as I sat in the terminal of the airport, I began to have second thoughts about my hasty decision.
I had pretty much been silent for the entire day since we had left Ash’s house. He had taken care of everything at ticketing and check-in, only asking for my driver’s license on several occasions. I followed him around like a lost puppy, which wasn’t too far from how I felt. My life was in shambles and I was putting my trust in the one person that I knew could drag me down even further. Sounded like a brilliant plan.
“Do you want to talk about it anymore?” Ash asked sincerely as he turned to face me in the uncomfortable blue chairs that we waited in.
I continued to stare straight ahead out the window at the planes taking off and landing. My thoughts drifted off to the memory of Mason’s last night in Houston when we had sat on his motorcycle doing the same thing. Well, we did more than just sit, but nonetheless, the planes made me think of how happy we were together that night and how I had really thought we had a chance to make it work. If I’d had any tears left, I definitely would’ve been crying, but instead I just sat there expressionless.
“Whenever you’re ready Scarlett,” he said with a small smile. “No rush.”
I tilted my head slightly so that our eyes met and my stomach tightened. Once he knew what I had done with Max, he would lose all respect for me, and I didn’t even want to think about how Jess or
Evie’s
parents were going to react. I was realizing that with one drunken bad decision, I had pretty much alienated myself from the majority of the people in my life
who
cared about me. I wasn’t even sure if I would be welcome at Mina’s wedding the next weekend. Max was one of Noah’s groomsmen, and I honestly had no idea where in the world we stood at that moment.
“Why are you helping me?” I asked him.
“I consider you my friend, Scarlett. I help my friends when they need me.” Ash shrugged and looked away.
“So any friend that you had in need of help, you would take to your sister’s house across the country?” I cocked my head, almost daring him to answer affirmatively.
His blue eyes snapped back to mine and without him saying a word, I knew. I needed him to say it though.
“You know it’s different,” he said softly. “
You’re
different. And I let you down once; I won’t do it again.”
Reaching his hand out towards me, he pushed my hair out of my face and tucked it behind my ear. As his fingertips lightly brushed my skin, a tingling sensation ran down the length of my body and I shivered in response. He quickly pulled his hand away and turned his attention back to the window. Saved by the announcement that it was time to board, we both quickly grabbed our carry-ons and eagerly stood up to get in line.
After we were settled in our seats, the flight attendants did their spiel about what to do in the event of an emergency. I tuned them out as I always did ~ if the roof flew off the damn thing or the plane landed in the ocean, I just accepted that I was a goner. When they made their final announcement to turn off cell phones, I leaned down to make sure that mine was off but couldn’t find it. I actually had no idea where it was, I didn’t remember seeing it after calling Ash for help.
“Do you know where my phone is?” I asked as I searched through my purse.
“Yeah, it’s at my house,” he answered. “We are going to get you away from everything, you don’t need it.”
I stopped digging and looked up at him. “But what about my parents? Or Mina? Or …”
“I called your parents and Mina and Max and told them all that you were safe. I told them that I was going to take you away for a few days to help you get through everything.”
Hearing him say Max’s name made me cringe. I wanted to ask about his specific reaction to the call without seeming suspicious, but I was more worried about what he had told everyone else.
“Through everything? What the hell did you tell them?” I hissed.
He winced at my tone. “I think everyone is a little worried about you with Tuesday coming and all. I didn’t say anything about Rat or whatever happened, but even though they didn’t ask, I’m sure they were wondering why I called. I just figured you could tell them when you were ready.”
“Tuesday? What are you talking about?” I didn’t even bother racking my brain to figure out what he was referring to.
He gave me an odd look and cocked his head to the side. “
Ummm
… the one year anniversary of…”
“Oh my God,” I murmured as his voice trailed off. I hadn’t even realized what the date was on Tuesday. I had been so wrapped up in
me
, I hadn’t even thought about the anniversary of
Evie’s
death. I mean I knew when it was, I just hadn’t even thought that far in advance. I was so disgusted with my self-centered behavior; I really thought I was going to be sick.
At that moment the plane began to take off down the runway and I pulled my knees to my chest, burying my face in my hands. I felt Ash move the arm rest between us and move closer to me. He wrapped me in his arms and pulled me into his chest. Rocking me soothingly as the plane ascended into the air, I drifted off to sleep as he held me tightly.
Hours later I woke up as the plane touched down on the landing strip at LAX, still cuddled up to Ash’s body. It had been so long since I had been that close to him, but his smell was still so familiar and it inexplicably put me at ease. I tried to sit up to get my things together, but he tightened his arms around me.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“I’m okay… I just don’t know what the hell I’m doing,” I confessed.
He kissed the top of my head. “We are
gonna
fix you Butterfly. Whatever it is… we are
gonna
get you flying again.” I wished I could believe him. I really did. Unfortunately, I didn’t even know where to begin.
After getting our luggage from baggage claim, we went to meet Ash’s sister in the pick-up area. I really had no idea what to expect when meeting her, but what I wasn’t expecting was a female version of him. When I saw her standing across the room, I knew it was her immediately. When she noticed us walking towards her, her face lit up and she began waving at us.
Once we reached her, Ash immediately picked her up in a bear hug and swung her around. I couldn’t help but smile at their obvious love for one another. There
was
no doubt they were siblings with the same dirty blonde hair, facial bone structure, and striking blue eyes. Even though I knew she was closer to thirty, she could’ve easily passed for twenty, and her body would’ve made models everywhere jealous. Something about her looked so familiar but I assumed it was because she looked so much like him.
“
Crys
, I would like you to meet Scarlett,” he said as he set her down on the ground, and turned his attention towards me.
I smiled and stuck my hand out in greeting, but instead she threw her arms around
me .
“Scarlett! I’m so happy to finally meet you, well officially anyway,” she said cheerfully. “I’m Crystal, but I guess you already knew that.”
I was confused by what she meant about “officially” but didn’t want to ask, so I just smiled and replied, “It’s so nice to meet you too. Thank you so much for having us on such short notice.”
“Of course. Ash is welcome at my house anytime; he practically lives here when he isn’t in school anyway. And any friend of Ash’s, is a friend of ours.” She quickly looked over at him and lifted her eyebrows before grabbing my elbow and pulling me towards the door. “Come on, let’s get home. Will is grilling steaks and the boys can’t wait to meet you.”
I looked back at Ash, and he had a silly grin on his face and chuckled. “Oh I bet they can’t. They are
gonna
be all over you. They love pretty girls… Uncle Ash has taught them right.” I jokingly rolled my eyes at him and allowed
Crys
to lead me to the car.
About an hour later we pulled up to the modest two story house, and before we even pulled into the driveway, two little blonde boys came bounding out the door, with whom I assumed was
Crys
’ husband, Will, chasing after them. Not waiting for the car to stop, Ash jumped out of the car and went running towards them, picking them both up, one under each arm, and took off across the yard.
His sister started laughing and shaking her head as she got out of the car. “Sometimes I think all men get mentally stuck at the age of six.”
I shyly stood next to the car, not really knowing what I was supposed to do. Will met his wife with a kiss and then walked over to me.
“You must be Scarlett,” he greeted me with a hug. “Welcome to our house, please make yourself at home.” Damn if he wasn’t a blonde
hottie
as well. This was the nicest, best looking family I had ever been around.
I turned to get my bags from the back of the car, but
Crys
grabbed my arm again and led me toward the house. “The boys will get the bags. Come inside and relax, let me show you around.”
After the full tour of the house, she and I went to the kitchen to make drinks as the guys finally made their way inside. The little boys came bounding into the room, both red-faced and sweaty.
“Oscar and Evan come meet Scarlett,”
Crys
said as she grabbed a couple of beers out of the refrigerator.
I bent down to be eye level with them as they approached me. “Hi boys,” I smiled at their adorable faces.
“Hi Miss Scarlett. I’m Oscar. I’m six,” the older of the two boys said. Evan, the younger of the two, bashfully stood behind his big brother.
“It’s very nice to meet you Oscar. And you too Evan,” I said as I reached around and lightly tickled the toddler.
“Mommy says we need to be really nice to you ‘cause you’re special to Uncle Ash,” Oscar said proudly.
“Boys get out of here,” she tried to cut him off. “Go outside with Daddy.”
We both pretended that he didn’t say anything and she handed me two beers. “One for you and Ash, I’ve got ours. Let me grab these appetizers, and we will head outside as well.”
The rest of the evening was very enjoyable. The weather was perfect for outside dining. The guys grilled,
Crys
and I talked like old friends, and the boys played on their play set. For a little while I completely forgot about everything that had happened in the previous couple of days and was able to relax.
You could tell immediately that
Crys
and Will were amazing parents. Everything they talked about revolved around the kids, and they were attentive to their needs but not overbearing. However, I was not prepared to see how amazing Ash was with the boys. They obviously admired their uncle and wanted to do everything like him. At one point he was chasing them around the yard, and I hadn’t even realized I was staring at him, but he stopped mid-jog and turned and looked at me. He smirked as if he had caught me doing something, and I rolled my eyes and stood up to get another beer. I heard him laughing as I walked away and couldn’t help but smile myself.
No one had discussed sleeping arrangements before we headed in for the night. I had noticed during the tour that there was only one guest bedroom, but was more than okay with sleeping on a couch. After all, this family had taken me same day notice; I almost couldn’t believe I was even there.
“Ash, will you show Scarlett where everything is in the bathroom and bedroom upstairs? I’m
gonna
bathe the boys in my room,”
Crys
said as she finished rinsing the dishes and loading them in the dishwasher. Will was trying to corral Oscar and Evan into the master bedroom downstairs.
“Yeah, I think we are
gonna
shower and get some sleep. We’re two hours ahead sis.” He kissed her cheek and then faced me. “You ready?”
I nodded and thanked her again for having me before following Ash up the stairs. Both of our bags were in the guest bedroom, but before I could ask, he said, “I’m
gonna
sleep on the couch in the game room but keep my stuff in here. You can shower first, okay?”
“You don’t have to do that, Ash. I can sleep out there,” I offered, opening my bag to get my pajamas and toiletries out.
“Scarlett, don’t…” He grabbed my shoulders and made me look him in the face. “You’re sleeping in here. I want you as comfortable as possible so you can get some rest. Now go take a shower. Everything you need is in the cabinet in the bathroom.”
Standing there, staring into his captivating eyes, a wave of desire passed over me. Desire for him to hold me, kiss me, tell me everything was going to be okay. I was pretty sure he felt something too but all of a sudden, he spun me around to face the door and said, “You. Shower. Now.”