Unrequited (15 page)

“How was your evening, Ash?” her dad called out from the living room. Before she could answer, she knew Frank had already returned his attention to the television.

“Oh, it was fine. Just a typical Belle Ridge night.” She walked to the hall and toward her room. She could hear Calvin in his room playing a video game. Briefly she wondered what her mother was up to, until she opened her own bedroom door.

Elaine Wallace was perched on the edge of the bed. Ashton could feel the anxiety her mother was carrying. Without a word, she knew the stress was due to Griffin's arrival in town. Even so, she tried to act breezy and unaware something was wrong.

“Hey, Mama, what are you doing?” She slipped her shoes off and kicked them toward the bedside.

“Where did you go?” Her mother cut straight to the point.

Ashton felt suddenly ashamed, though she hadn't done anything wrong. There was no point in stating anything but the truth, as much as she dreaded the thought.

“I was with Griffin.” She walked to her dresser and grabbed a hair tie. As she looked at her reflection in the mirror, her mother stepped into view.

“He's like you, isn't he?” Elaine's knew the answer already. Ashton could see it in her eyes. Unsure of what to say, she simply nodded.

“What have you gotten yourself into?” Elaine grabbed a brush off the dresser top and gently ran it through Ashton's hair.

“I'm not sure,” she finally whispered, unable to meet her mother's gaze in the reflective glass.

Elaine said no more. She just continued to brush Ashton's hair.

Chapter Nineteen

“Aimee, I just can't get over this shop. Congratulations.” Ashton was sitting in a stylist's chair and taking in the sparkling silver and pink environment of the beauty shop around her.

Aimee had graduated beauty school a couple of years earlier and had finally raised enough money to open her own salon. Everything about the shop was over-the-top, but then everything about Aimee was, too.

“My mother hates the décor, but I don't care. I call it 'Elvis meets Barbie at a disco.' It's more than a little fabulous.” Aimee twirled across the floor. Ashton laughed.

“Fabulous is an understatement, and I can't wait for the grand opening. This place is sure to be a hit.” Ashton hoped the citizens of Belle Ridge would embrace the place. She could foresee herself spending a lot of time here with her friend, but getting her hair done was another story. The one benefit of being a vampire was the great hair, and Ashton wasn't about to let anyone mess with hers.

“Enough about the shop. I wanna hear about Mr. Tall, Dark, and Brooding that you left the fair with the other night,” Aimee said.

“How did you know about that?” Ashton knew gossip traveled fast in small towns, but this time she was truly surprised.

“Laura Mabry was serving food in the VFW booth, and she saw you get into a car with a guy she called 'hotter than hot sauce.' So come on, spill.” Aimee, Ashton knew from experience, was not one to let a topic go.

“He's just a guy I met when I was away at school. He surprised me when he showed up, so we just went for a drive.” She looked at her friend, and she could tell Aimee didn’t believe her.

“That's all it was, a drive. You know me; I don't lose my head over a guy.” Ashton hoped she sounded convincing.

“You don't have to tell me how you are. I just
knew
you and that fine Will Leighton were going to be an item the moment you graduated. And then you run off to Alabama and leave him in the dust.” Aimee started arranging the combs and clips on her styling table. “And now you ditch him at the fair for some stranger. I know you aren't trying to be a tease, but at the least, you are the most fickle girl I have ever known.”

Ashton wasn't sure how to respond. More than once she'd felt like she was being a tease. There was no way to pretend she hadn't led Will on, at least on a few occasions. “Fickle” didn’t seem quite right either, but Aimee certainly made genuine points. Ashton had been so conflicted about her own feelings, she wasn't sure if Aimee was right or wrong.

“All I know, Ashton, is if I was you I wouldn’t be able to leave a guy like that behind. Even if this new guy is great, he's no Will. That man is one in a million.” Aimee walked to answer the ringing shop phone.

“Oh, Aimee, more like one in fifty million,” Ashton said to herself before picking up a magazine.

Almost on cue, Will walked past the shop window.

“Speak of the angel,” Aimee half shouted to Ashton and ran to knock on the window. Will answered the knock with a smile and entered the salon.

“Well, Miss Phillips, I'd heard you were opening a grand facility, and I believe 'grand' doesn't begin to do this place justice.” Will smiled cheerfully as he took a seat on a sparkling pink chair in the waiting area.

“High school was years ago. I think you can call me Aimee, and thank you, I think the place looks pretty great myself.” Aimee looked around with a very pleased expression on her face.

“Congratulations, I'm sure you'll have customers lining up by the block. I see Ashton has already reserved a spot at the front of the line.” Will focused all of his attention on Ashton. She tried to act casual and continue focusing on the gossip magazine in her hand. She also tried to think of a polite response that would save her hair from Aimee's clutches without hurting her dear friend's feelings.

“Oh yes. Aimee, please schedule me for a manicure on the opening day. I want to be able to say I was a client from the very beginning.” Ashton looked at her friend, who seemed quite happy with the response.

The shop phone rang again, and Aimee left the little group to answer it.

“Just go ahead and ask, I know you're dying to,” Ashton said while they had a moment alone.

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Will responded with his annoyingly knowing smile.

“You want to ask if I've seen Griffin again, or will be seeing him, or some variation of the two.” Ashton put the magazine down and glared at Will, daring him to deny anything.

“All right, yes, I want to know if you've had any further encounters, but more importantly, I want to know why you are spending time with him. What do you really know about him?” Will was no longer smiling, and leaned forward in his chair. “You’re out of your depth, Ashton.”

“Who I spend time with is none of your business. You're just jealous I haven't chosen to spend my free time with you. You aren't the only fish in the sea, or bird in the sky, or vampire in the cave, or whatever analogy works for you.” Ashton stood up with a rush of anger and began pacing.

“Calm down. I just want to make sure you're okay, and if you'll remember, I'm a vampire, too. Did you ever think I might be interested in the fact that there is another one among us?” He placed his hands on her shoulders, and she could no longer pace back and forth. Somehow it made Ashton calm down, take a few deep breathes, and relax.

“I'm sorry. You're right, I'm not the only one who has a vested interest in Griffin's presence. I shouldn't have said what I did, especially knowing how you feel about me. It was unkind.” Ashton felt close to tears. Lately she had begun to feel as though she had never been more exhausted or confused in her life, and the feeling was back.

“It's all right. I'm going to leave now. Just sit down and enjoy the day with your friend.” Will turned to leave.

Ashton took her vacated seat and tried to resume flipping through the pages of a magazine.

As he opened the door, he turned and gave Ashton half a smile.

“Vampire in the cave?”

She didn’t want to, but Ashton started to laugh and glanced toward Will just in time to see him give a quick wink.

Will left the salon just as Aimee hung up the telephone.

“Well, you will just never guess who was on the phone,” Aimee shouted.

Before Ashton could respond, Aimee rushed to her side.

“Jackson Truitt, and you will never guess what he wanted.” Aimee was still shouting and almost jumping in place.

“I'm guessing he doesn't want hair extensions,” Ashton replied, but could tell Aimee hadn't even heard her.

“He asked me to go with him to the Fourth of July dance tonight. Can you believe it?” Her jumping dance abruptly stopped.

“Unless, I mean, you don't want me to. Even though y'all only dated for a short time in high school, you still did date, so if it's weird, I'll just tell him no.” Aimee was putting on her best and most sincere face, but Ashton could tell she was praying for the date to happen.

“Of course you should go. Jackson and I never did suit, and both of you are good people who should be dating good people. Have a great time, Aims.” Ashton meant every word. She still felt badly about the way she treated Jackson all those years before. Maybe he and Aimee would end up being the perfect couple. Their kids would be the most handsome chatterboxes in the county.

She was still imagining Aimee as the future Mrs. Truitt when she realized her friend was talking.

“You have to come, too. Bring that Griffin guy, or bring Will, or better yet, bring them both! Ooh la la, a scandal is born.” Aimee ceased her jumping and looked mischievously at Ashton.

“I don't think so. My plans do not include the dance, and even if they did, I would go alone, so don't get any ideas in that freshly dyed head of yours.” Ashton tried to sound firm. “The last thing I need is for people in this town to think I'm involved in some sort of love triangle.”

Aimee stared solemnly at Ashton. “But, Ash, aren't you already?”

Chapter Twenty

He'd heard her discussing the dance with her friend. He knew she didn’t plan to go, and he also knew he would change her plans.

“A quaint country dance, oh, Ashton, what better setting to break the teacher's heart for good?” Griffin sat in his car behind tinted windows and watched his beloved leave the salon and walk toward her own car.

Ever since their previous encounter, Griffin had been deciding when and how he would claim Ashton for the rest of eternity. More importantly, he had been planning how to get the teacher permanently out of the picture. Though she tried to pretend indifference to Will, Griffin knew the teacher still tugged at Ashton's heartstrings.

Griffin had something Will could never have: an unbreakable connection to Ashton. It was a connection that guaranteed he would win her, no matter the setting or competitor. In fact, he would win her whether she wanted to be won or not.

Getting Ashton to the dance would be easy, and Griffin knew the teacher would pathetically show up any place Ashton was going to be. Now the only plot point to figure out was exactly which manner of downfall would bring the most pleasure to watch. He'd been coming up with ideas ever since he first learned of the teacher's existence.

He had considered everything from a public engagement to a provoked fight where Will would be the only one to throw a punch, naturally. Griffin was sure Ashton would never allow herself to be with anyone who would attack another. A few more sinister ideas had also come to Griffin's mind, but he was certain the teacher would be easy to foil with something simple.

Rising from his chair and his thoughts, Griffin climbed the stairs to his bedroom. He would ready himself and then travel to the Wallace house to persuade Ashton to the dance.

***

Ashton sat in her bedroom trying to decide what to do with the rest of the day. There were about five different books she'd bought but had yet to read. There was plenty of work to do for the upcoming school year. Instead she picked up the one item that had kept her company many a day and night: Will's journal. She went to the last entry in the book. It was one of the shortest passages, but it was the one she had read more times than she could say.

When a person finally accepts something as final, it is supposed to bring a certain peace and comfort. I find any such feelings have escaped me, yet I know my life is to always be one of solitude. At times I thought love was not meant for someone like me. At other times I lived in hope that I might meet another like myself and finally have the one thing I have always wanted. Here I am, more than one hundred years after my birth into this life, and I have finally accepted that I am alone in this world.

I give up my foolhardy dreams.

Every time Ashton read those words, her heart was stirred. She would remember a time when she believed loneliness was the only option for someone like herself. She would remember that night, all those years ago, when she thought she had given her heart to Will. Every time she thought of it, she would search her memory to try and figure out when it had all changed. Sometimes it was hard to remember why she had ever turned her love away from Will, and then she would remember, it had happened when she met Griffin.

There was something about Griffin that made her almost forget she had ever even met Will Leighton. Yet here, in her bedroom, she felt consumed with the feelings she had thought were lost.

“What is wrong with me?” Ashton whispered aloud.

Was she really going to lose the best man she had ever known? All she had ever said she wanted was a normal life, and Will was prepared to offer it to her. Time and time again Will had proven himself to her, even when she didn’t deserve it. He'd loved her unconditionally, and she had led him on and then cut him out of her life.

***

Across town, Will was thinking about Ashton…and Griffin. There was something about Griffin that bothered Will, and it was more than jealously. There was a strange sort of control Griffin could exercise, almost on command, and Will was determined to figure it out.

The feelings and moments he had shared with Ashton weren't imaginary, they were real, and for some reason Griffin's presence seemed to pull her away. Will called the one person who could help: Henry.