Out of the Storm (19 page)

Eric stared for a minute in silence, then nodded and ran up the stairs. This was a new Ashley—personality number three—the cool, aloof Ashley. Eric considered making a catalogue of her moods.

Frustrated by her behavior, Eric came to a decision. He cared for Kylie. There was no doubt. And he knew he was in love with Ashley. There were times during his restless dreams when her image teased and haunted him in ways that no one else ever had. But he couldn’t keep up with her personality shifts and the mystery that enveloped her. He’d follow Louise’s counsel: be polite but keep his hands off.

Though the activity level was less than Saturday, the day dragged. Kylie had come with them that morning since Lu had worked the night shift and needed her beauty sleep. The poor child had trudged listlessly after Bobby, then taken a long nap on the hide-a-bed in the storeroom. Louise came by and picked her up about two.

“How’s it going?” she asked.

He ran his hands through Kylie’s rich hair. “Let’s say I think giving Ashley her space will be no problem.” He hadn’t intended the words to sound so cold but they did. Lu saw through him immediately.

She bent and put her arms around Kylie’s chest. “Could you go out and wait in the car, honey? For just a minute,” Louise asked in the pleasing way. Words of wisdom were in the offing.

She watched Eric then found his hand, squeezing it tightly. “Close your eyes for a minute.”

“What?”

“Close your eyes,” she repeated. It was an order.

“All right,” Eric followed with an impatient sigh.

“You’ve been abused by someone you love and have a child when you’re a teenager,” Louise began.

“What?” Eric asked in confusion.

“Keep your eyes closed and use your imagination,” she instructed.

“Okay.” Eric exhaled and frowned.

“Your mother’s been killed in an auto accident,” she continued. “The man you thought of like a father tells you to leave because something bad may happen to you and your little girl. You trudge through the rain and the cold with a frail child and a puppy and arrive at the home of the one person you think might give you shelter, then you faint from exhaustion and awake to find you’ve had a miscarriage. After two days in the hospital you go to a strange house where you know no one and try to pick up the pieces of your life and your child’s, still not sure if somebody or something is out there in the dark to harm you. Finally, after being there for a few days, you discover that you’ve fallen head over heels in love with your protector, the person you sleep next to every night. How would you handle that, Ricky?”

Eric slowly opened his eyes as he held Lu’s hand. He swallowed. The lump in his throat felt as big as a basketball. “I get it. How’d you figure all that out?”

She laughed softly. “Read too many mystery novels. And your body language. It seemed to fit.” She paused. “I’ve known you for twenty years, Ricky.”

“Not bad. You should work for the CIA.” He squeezed her hand tighter. “Thanks for the dope-slap.” Eric was still reluctant to discuss his feelings for Ashley with Louise. “I guess I’ve been self-centered.”

“No, you’ve been kind and wonderful to the girls. The problem is that you feel as much for Ashley as she does for you.” She released his hand. “You’re torn. You’re worried about Elaine’s memory and the commitment it might mean if you give yourself to them, to her.”

Eric nodded slowly, staring in amazement. His mother-in-law had some psychic blood in her. “But what if…”

“You’re the finest man I’ve ever known, Eric. Whatever you do is all right with me. And for what it’s worth…”

He nodded.

“… I love them, too.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Of course Louise was right. Nothing new there. He needed a swift kick and she’d accommodated. Eric tried to imagine what Ashley must have gone through—confusion, fear, the terrible loneliness. He knew them all too well, especially the last. He’d been there not long ago.

Eric bumped around the rest of the afternoon doing his best not to punish himself for overreacting to Ashley’s moods. At 5:30 he put his ego in his pocket and headed to her office. Ashley stood bent over the open window sill, watching the boats coming in from their afternoon on the Sound.

“Anybody home?” he asked quietly with a knock.

Ashley straightened and turned slowly, her face smudged with tears. She walked to him and took his right hand, playing with the fingers as she raised her eyes to his. “Just me,” she whispered.

Eric found her left hand and took it in his, caressing it while she did the same with the right. “Good enough for me.”

Ashley sighed and shook her head. “Why do you put up with me?”

He gave her a scowl, studying her with mock concern. “’Cause you’re such a good cook.”

She let his hands go, wiped her cheeks, and sniffled as a smile crossed her face. It morphed into a grin.

Eric stood, taking in her large brown eyes, thick, dark hair, her smile. He checked his watch. “Come on.” He took her arm. “We’re going home and get cleaned up. I’m taking you out to dinner.”

She opened her mouth as if to protest.

Eric put his fingers to her lips. “No argument. You’re my date for the evening.”

She put her lips together and took his hand as they got their things and locked up.

They showered, got dressed, and left a revitalized Kylie playing in the backyard with Lola and Louise as they headed out for the evening. Eric told Ashley it was a thank you for all the work she’d put in over what seemed an endless and exhausting week.

He tried but found it impossible not to stare. Ashley was very pretty and had a wonderful figure. That was a given. She looked great in jeans and a T-shirt. But Eric had never seen this Ashley—the dressed-up, spectacular version with makeup, lipstick, eye shadow, and a knit dress that looked form-fitted.

“Will you please watch the road before you get us both killed?” she whispered as her face grew red.

“Sorry,” he mumbled in embarrassment. “I just…” He shook his head.

They pulled into the parking lot of the Scargo Café, a popular restaurant on Route 6A on the Cape’s north side.

“Looks very busy,” Ashley said as she surveyed the parking lot filled to overflowing. Her mood was cheerful but subdued. “Must be great food,” she added as she turned toward Eric.

“Yep, this was—” He stopped as he caught himself in mid-sentence, realizing he’d been about to tell her this was Elaine’s favorite eating spot. “I used to come here a lot,” he said, attempting a course change.

“It’s okay,” she said quietly. “We both had lives before I knocked on your door.”

Her lips pushed into her signature pout.

Eric pulled in behind a large SUV.

“Are you sure this is okay?” Ashley asked.

“Sure. The Tahoe belongs to the owner,” Eric explained, finding her hand when he’d parked the Jeep.

“I don’t mean that, Eric.” She looked straight ahead. “I mean you and me bein’ here like this. Like we were, you know. A couple?”

It took him a minute. Eric had always been a quick study in all things intellectual and physical but when it came to social issues, well…

“I should have thought of this earlier, but you know a lot of these people. I’m living in your house, sleepin’ in the room next to you with my daughter down the hall. Don’t you think some folks are already talking about it? And seein’ us together, like this, will just cause more gossip?”

Eric pushed back in his seat and put his lips together tightly. She was right. Whatever their feelings for each other they’d done nothing wrong. Kissed a few times and held hands. Not the stuff steamy romance novels were made of. But…

“Eric?” She took his hand tightly. “I’ll do whatever you want, but I just got here and I think, hope, that maybe, there’s somethin’ special here for us—you and me and Kylie. Something real
special.
”

“But we’ve done nothing wrong,” he argued, raising his voice. After a year of grieving Eric had found something, someone he cared about very much. He wanted to take her out, show her a good time and yes, even show her off. Was that wrong?

He knew the answer. She was right. “Okay,” he gave in reluctantly.

Ashley’s eyes glistened as she squeezed his hand. She sighed deeply. “We can still go home and I can fix us something.”

Eric held up his hand. “I promised you a night out. And a night out we’re gonna have.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Half an hour later, they sat on the hood of Eric’s Jeep. A lazy southwest wind blew in from Nantucket Sound while they devoured two mammoth burgers from a local fast-food place. The sun slowly worked its way below the elegant collection of homes at the mouth of the river.

They parked near the end of the seawall at West Dennis Public Beach. The perfect vantage point to watch the sun’s rapid descent, tardy boaters making a hasty retreat from the Sound before dark, and the modest waves breaking on the beach.

Ashley giggled, using a paper napkin to wipe her mouth as she turned to face him. “Well, I must say when you promise a girl a night out, you don’t fool around, Mr. Montgomery.”

“Shhh!” he whispered in mock secrecy. “Don’t let the word get out. I’ll have to beat the women off with a club.”

He joined her laughter.

Ashley’s expression turned soft and serious. She put her food on the large paper bag and found his hand, letting her slender fingers work into his. “It’ll be our secret,” she whispered so gently and with such emotion Eric wanted to grab her, take her in his arms, and kiss her till she was breathless.

He inhaled deeply and looked at her. “Miss Fitzhugh, I still have questions.” He paused, squeezing her hand. “But I hope this fantasy never ends.”

He could see her blush in the rapidly descending twilight. “Oh, Eric,” she said in a throaty whisper. “You know I feel the same way about you, about us, but…”

She never finished. Letting go of his hand, Ashley left her food on the hood. Taking off her sandals, she held out her hand.

He followed her lead as she walked along the seawall. Ashley took a seat. Eric joined her, still holding her hand loosely.

Ashley scanned the parking lot. Apparently satisfied they were completely alone, she took a deep breath, swallowed, and began. “I studied computers. I specialized in technology at college.”

That answers one question
, Eric thought, nodding.

“I got good at it. Better than good. Seemed to have a knack for it. I could do pretty much whatever I wanted with computers.” She took out a cigarette and offered him one. He lit Ashley’s then his own. She inhaled deeply and blew a plume of smoke into the light, pleasant breeze.

“Okay? I’m hoping that’s not the end of the story.” He turned toward her.

“It’s not.” She took another long drag. “Ralph worked at the Officers’ Club. It was the perfect job for him and for us. He kept regular hours and you know him, always smooth and friendly. Everyone loved him. A real charmer.” Ashley shook her head. “Then late last year something happened. He never talked about what he was doing. But he began keeping strange hours. Some nights he’d get home way past midnight. And then, after New Year’s he started acting really different.”

“Different how, Ashley?” Eric asked.

“Ralph was always funny, full of life. He’d play with Kylie and take us to ball games and movies and down to the shore.” Her words were slow, well-thought-out. Like something she’d been planning for a long time.

“You know it’s still hard for me to…”

She held up her hand and shook her head. “I know you didn’t like him, Eric. And he wasn’t perfect.” Her lips curled up in a half-smile. “But Ralph was like the class clown that everyone laughs at. He never hurt anyone till—”

Ashley stopped suddenly. She looked beyond him toward the long asphalt parking lot. Even in the twilight he could see her face grow ashen. She swallowed and licked her lips.

Eric twisted and saw what had caused her metamorphosis. Parked, side by side, stood two vehicles. They sat two hundred yards away on the asphalt. Their position blocked the way out. He looked back at Ashley. This was no act. She was terrified.

Eric took her by the arm, positioning himself between her and his Jeep. “Stay behind me.”

She nodded and stood, following his lead back to the Jeep. Ashley was shivering. And not from the soft, evening breeze.

They walked the twenty-five yards to the temporary safety of his vehicle. “Duck down here behind the Jeep,” he told her calmly, giving her a confident smile as he reached across her onto the console to retrieve his cell.

Just as he was about to make a call, the two vehicles honked loudly and took off down the asphalt strip bordering the beach at high speed. They sped by Eric’s Jeep yelling and laughing.

Eric smiled and threw the phone on the seat as they did a loud U-turn and headed back toward the main road at high speed laughing and tossing out empty beer bottles as they disappeared into the dark.

Ashley exhaled deeply as her shoulders slumped. She stared straight ahead.

“What’s the matter? Who did you think they were?”

The suspicion and mystery were making a comeback, a major-league comeback.

She shrugged.

“Are you going to tell me why you left and what made your face go pale when you thought someone was watching you?”

She fidgeted with the hem of her dress and made a sour face. “Guess after Momma and Beau I got spooked.”

“I know about your mother. Who’s Beau?” he asked in a neutral tone.

She sighed and moved away from the Jeep, heading along the seawall again. After twenty feet she looked at him and sat on it. “I…I wanted to tell you about him.”

“Okay. You’ve got my attention.” Tension crept over Eric. He worked hard to control his emotions. Was this going to be the infamous other shoe—the revelation that brought them both back to unpleasant reality? He was in love with Ashley. Thought she was in love with him. Was that about to go up in smoke?