Chaste (McCullough Mountain) (48 page)

His
heart stopped then punched into overdrive and he bolted. “
Ashlynn
!”

When
he got to the truck, he hoisted his body up, stepping on the undercarriage and
climbing onto the door. He could barely see.

Please
don’t let it be her.

Dangling
sideways from the rearview mirror was her rosary. “Shit.” He crouched and
lifted the heavy door open.
“Ashlynn!”

She
was slouched against the driver door. Her airbag had deployed and her glasses
were shattered.

“Kelly?”
Her voice was weak.

Sirens
hummed in the distance. “Don’t move. The cops are on their way. Are you hurt?”

“My
hand,” she moaned, cradling her wrist against her chest.

Fuck!
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
“Keep
talking to me. What happened?”

“I
don’t know. I was coming to see you and suddenly there was a car on the wrong
side of the road. I swerved and lost control.”

Breath
clouded in front of his face. Two cop cars arrived followed by an ambulance.
Customers shivered outside of the bar in their costumes as they took in the
scene. He didn’t want to leave Ashlynn.

“Over
here!” he yelled and an EMT came jogging over.

“How
many in the car?”

“One.
It’s my wife. I don’t know how to get her out.”

The
officer climbed onto the truck and asked, “Were you in the vehicle when it
happened?”

“No.
I was working. That’s my bar.”

The
officer lowered himself into the truck and began asking Ashlynn questions. He
looked in her eyes with a flashlight and cut away the seatbelt.

“Sir,
you’re going to have to step back,” another EMT called.

Hesitantly,
he climbed off the truck so they could help her. “You have to get her out!”

“We’re
going to be a few minutes. We’re waiting for another truck.”

Shit.
He’d been gone longer than five minutes. He couldn’t think, but he needed to.
He needed to do something. “Tell her I’ll be right back.”

He
ran into the bar and grabbed the microphone from the singer who was unaware of
all the action outside. “Pack it up, folks. We’re closing.”

There
was a loud boo and the lights flipped on, putting a damper on everyone’s
evening. He found Tristan and Luke in the crowd and asked them to make sure
everyone cashed out with Sue.

“What’s
going on?” his brother asked.

Kelly
shoved past him. “No time. Ashlynn was in an accident.”

When
he got back to the truck, Ashlynn was gone. He panicked and scanned the area.
She sat in the back of the ambulance getting her wrist taped. He ran to her.

“I’m
here.”

She
appeared relieved as soon as he spoke. “Kelly.”

He
took her other hand and rubbed her cold fingers. There was a cut on her nose
where her glasses usually sat. “Are you okay?”

She
nodded. “Just shaken.”

“You
shouldn’t have been driving in this,” he snapped. It wasn’t her fault, but he
needed to yell at someone.

“Ma’am,
have you had anything to drink tonight?”

Ashlynn
turned her scowl from him to the officer. “No. I was coming from my dad’s.”

Kelly
faced the officer. “The other driver did. He was in my bar. I served him two
watered down drinks and sent him on his way.”

“That’s
under the limit.”

“But
I think he was drinking before he got there.”

The
cop frowned. “And you served him anyway? You lookin’ to lose your liquor
license, son?”

Kelly
knew the rules. So long as he didn’t provide over the legal limit he couldn’t
be held accountable, but deep down he knew those last two drinks might’ve been
what impaired the kid.

He
turned to Ashlynn and realized how lucky she’d been. Fuck. This was his fault.

They
took a sample of her blood anyway as well as the other driver’s. A tow truck
arrived and Ashlynn started to cry. “My truck…”

He
sat with her as they watched Great White get hauled away. The other driver was
fed into the back of a police car after failing two breathalyzers. They
wouldn’t know how much he had until the blood work went to the lab.

“You’re
free to go, ma’am, unless you feel you need a doctor.”

Kelly
helped Ashlynn stand. She was shivering, which he didn’t think was from the
cold. He walked her back to the bar. Customers were still finding their way to
their cars, but the lot was mostly empty. When he entered Luke rushed to his
side. “You all right, Ashlynn?”

“I’m
okay.”

Sue
brought her a diet cola. “I knew that kid was drinking before he got here.”

He
sat her in a booth with Tristan and Luke then went to pay the band. “Sorry
about tonight.”

The
drummer shrugged. “Shit happens. That your lady? She okay?”

Kelly
nodded. He wanted to get her home.

Once
the band was gone, Sue cleaned up and Tristan and Luke took off. “I should call
my dad,” Ashlynn said.

“Don’t
make him worry. Let’s get you home and in bed and then you can call him. That
way if he wants to see you he’s right down the road.”

She
nodded and moaned, “What am I going to do about my truck?”

“It’s
just a car, Ashlynn. What was inside was much more precious. I’m glad you’re
okay.”

She
nodded and he saw sadness in her eyes. “I’m still mad at you.”

“I
know. I’m mad at me too.” For more reasons than she probably realized.

He
was running on adrenaline. It was enough to get her home and put her to bed.
She passed out shortly after talking to her father on the phone and assuring
him she was okay.

As
he sat in the chair in their room, nursing a bottle of Tully, he stared at her,
thinking of how different the night could have gone. What if he had refused to
serve that kid? What if it hadn’t been snowing? What if they never had a fight
about that stupid pool and she’d been safe at home?

While
the weather was out of his hands, the rest was his own doing. He tipped the
bottle to his mouth and dropped it to the floor once it was empty. With bleary
eyes he stumbled to the bathroom.

He
didn’t want to disturb her. She’d been through enough. Fumbling down the
stairs, he scuffled his way to kitchen and then to the couch and collapsed. His
last thought before sleep claimed him was this never would have happened if he
wasn’t such a shitty husband.

Chapter Eighteen

Ashlynn
winced as she slipped on her robe. How long would her wrist be like this? When
she returned to her room she stubbed her toe on something that skidded across
the carpet. Bending, she picked it up. It was a bottle.

As
she tripped over various items on the floor, she made her way to her desk.
After rummaging around she found her old glasses. The prescription wasn’t
right, but it was better than nothing.

With
one hand, she scooped up Kelly’s clothes and tossed them in the hamper. Where
was he?

She
dropped the empty bottle in the wastebasket and headed downstairs. In the sink
were several dishes. She frowned. He could clean up his own crap. She couldn’t
do dishes with one hand.

When
she found him shirtless on the couch without even a blanket, she sighed.
Another bottle hung from his fingers.

“Oh,
Kelly…” She took the bottle, which was half-empty, and stuck it in the cabinet.

With
one hand, she gathered up the plate sitting on the table and wiped down the
counter. When she did as much as she could manage she went to the living room
and turned the television on low and waited for Kelly to wake.

By
noon, when he still wasn’t up, she attempted to dress herself. What a nightmare
that was. She couldn’t button her pants and kept bumping her wrist. It was even
difficult to brush her teeth using her left hand.

She
headed downstairs a while later, braless, in a loose fleece and overalls. Her
boots were impossible, so she settled for flip-flops. Kelly was still sleeping.

“Kelly.
Kelly, wake up.”

He
groaned.

“Kelly,
I need you to take me to the optometrist in town to get new glasses. My old
ones have the wrong lenses.”

He
blinked at her. “Why am I on the couch?”

“I
don’t know. Can you please get up? I also need help getting my boots on.”

His
gaze traveled over her. When his watchful eyes settled on her wrist still
bandaged then the scrape on her nose, he sat up. “Are you all right? Do you
feel okay?” He shook his head as if shaking his memory back into place.

“I’m
fine, but I’m getting a headache from these glasses. Can you take me into
town?”

“Sure.
Just let me get a shower.” He stood and stretched. As he passed her she smelled
the booze on his breath. His fingers gently touched her jaw as he went toward
the stairs.

She
waited in the kitchen at the table, flipping through a gardening magazine. When
Kelly came down his hair was damp and his jaw freshly shaven. She knew his
razor likely sat next to his toothbrush ten inches from the holders where they
belonged and the shower curtain was probably still open.

He
grabbed a banana, peeled back the skin, and bit into the end. “Sorry about the
dishes. I’ll get them when we get back. Ready?”

She
went to the coat tree and carefully slid her arms through her coat. Kelly
helped her with her boots. The drive into town was quiet. Kelly took the roads
extra slow.

“How
long do you think it’ll take to get my truck back?”

“Don’t
know. We can stop at the body shop and see.”

She
didn’t want to see her pretty truck all scraped up. “I probably won’t be able
to drive until my wrist is better. Is the person who almost hit me all right?”

His
jaw ticked. “He’s in jail.”

“Why?”

He
turned the truck into the eye doctor’s parking lot and faced her. “He was
drunk, Ashlynn. He could have killed someone. He could have killed
you.
”

She
didn’t understand how he could be so angry with someone drinking too much when
she'd found two bottles from him that morning and he owned a bar. She was
rightfully angry with the other driver, but Kelly sounded like a hypocrite.

They
went into the store and Dr. Marvin greeted her by name. After telling him what
happened and that she needed new frames, he promised to have them to her by the
end of the day.

As
she tried on various pairs Kelly watched her. “I like the first ones.”

She
glanced at the first pair she had tried on. “They’re almost three hundred
dollars.”

“So?”

“So
I don’t spend that much on glasses.”

“Why
not? You wear them every day.”

She
picked up a less expensive pair. “I don’t know how much my truck will cost.”

He
followed her to the mirror with the pricy pair. “We’ll manage.”

“You
didn’t just lose two months of a harvest.”

He
stilled. “Ashlynn, what’s yours is mine and vice versa. We lost something
together. I know the snow’s stressful for you, but we’ll be all right. Let me
buy the glasses for you.”

She
narrowed her eyes at him and carried the cheaper pair to the counter.

“What
are you doing? You like these. Put the other ones back.”

Turning
to him so Dr. Martin didn’t overhear, she hissed, “I don’t want any of your
money, Kelly. Who knows whose pride it cost for you to have it.”

His
lips thinned as they seemed to have some sort of stare down for the longer side
of a minute. “I’ll meet you in the truck.”

When
they returned home she waited for Kelly to do the dishes so she could make
dinner. Instead of going to the sink he went to the cabinet and pulled out a
bottle.

“We
haven’t eaten yet,” she said.

“Not
hungry,” he mumbled as he left the kitchen.

Ashlynn
blinked back tears of frustration. Unable to simply wait for results, she
filled one basin of the sink with soapy water and plopped the dishes in to soak.
It was impossible to cut vegetables with one hand so she called the pizzeria
and ordered a broccoli pie. As she waited for their food she swished the dishes
around and cleaned them as best she could.

The
doorbell rang. “Ash, did you order pizza?”

“Yes.
Hold on, let me get my wallet.”

Drying
off her hand, she went to her bag, struggling with the zipper. When she reached
the door the deliveryman was gone and Kelly held the box. “Hope you don’t mind.
I paid. If it bothers you, you can pay me back.” He dropped the pie on the
table and returned to the living room.