Читать книгу The Newcomer - Робин Карр, Robyn Carr - Страница 8

Three

Cooper noticed Sarah had been preoccupied over the past couple of days. Quiet and maybe a bit sullen. She said the inspection was going to be hell and while she might not be worried about her team, a strong leader always worried about the inspectors. They had to be ready for anything.

All Cooper could do was be available, support her in any way he could. He found himself fighting the worry that Sarah had changed her mind, that something had caused her to reconsider those three little words. I love you. Yet when he possessed her, when she was joined to him, her passion for him drove worry from his mind. During those times she was one hundred percent his and he was completely hers.

In the meantime, he had a business to learn. This beach bar was unlike anything he had ever done before. Ben’s old helper, Rawley Goode, old being the operative word, might be a little on the strange side, but he had turned out to be a damned good assistant. Rawley was somewhere in his sixties and he’d been ridden hard. Rawley told Cooper that Ben used to only be open in the mornings and evenings. Ben had put in his longest days during summer, and he bumped up the schedule with the help of part-time teenage help. Rawley said, “I clean and get supplies. I can work in the kitchen or behind the bar, but I ain’t social. You give me a list and cash. I go to Costco and other stores. But in summer, you have to stay open late. The sunset over the bay is better ’n football on HD.”

During his first week of operation Cooper noticed that the bulk of his traffic was between seven and ten in the morning and four and seven in the afternoon. There were stragglers here and there at other times. Those patrons were almost exclusively Thunder Point residents. But on the weekends, particularly in good weather, there was heavy traffic all day and into the evening—bikers, cyclists, pleasure boaters, sport fishermen, folks traveling on Highway 101 in want of a meal. He did an impressive business on bottled water alone, not to mention the other things he was able to offer. When he inherited this place, it had been a run-down shack with a homemade sign on the road that said Cheap Drinks. Now it was upgraded and classy and he was damn proud of it. Cooper put a decent sign on his property at the turnoff from highway 101. Ben & Cooper’s. And beneath that, Food and Drink. He stocked liquor and non-alcoholic beverages and had a contract with Carrie James, owner of the town’s deli, for prepared and wrapped food items. The reopening of the bar benefited both of them.

A lot of his first patrons from out of town wanted to know what had happened to Ben. Well, it was a sad story and he didn’t like to dwell on it, but the fact was that Ben had been found at the bottom of the cellar stairs and at first it was thought to be an accident. But, since then, there had been evidence to suggest he’d been killed by a blow to the head that caused the fall. The suspect—a seventeen-year-old kid from town—was out on bail awaiting trial. That still blew Cooper’s mind—a seventeen-year-old kid. The kid, Jag Morrison, had been trying to convince Ben to sell the beach and adjacent property to his father, a local developer.

Cooper had been just going through the motions—renovating and opening for business. He didn’t think he was a shopkeeper or bar-owner kind of guy. He had been a pilot for fifteen years—helicopters. But the more he got to know the town, the people and the many moods of the Pacific Ocean, the more the place grew on him. After just a short period of time instead of moving on, he was considering making even more improvements to the property. After watching Sarah on the water, he thought renting kayaks and paddleboards would be an excellent idea.

None of it came naturally, however. Cooper bought himself a new laptop with a decent accounting spreadsheet program and was still figuring it out. Rawley wasn’t able to help him out with this part of the business. It was during his weekday midmorning downtime that he sat at his own bar and was plugging numbers from bills and receipts into his spreadsheet that the door opened and Mac McCain walked in. With relief, he closed the laptop. “Hey,” he said. “Aren’t you usually at the diner about now?”

“Usually,” Mac said. “Gina’s daughter stayed home from school. She went home to check on her and I didn’t feel like having coffee with the cook. Stu just isn’t as pretty no matter which way you cut it.”

“I noticed that. How’s everything else?”

“Same,” he said. Mac went right behind the bar and helped himself to a cup of coffee. “You? Business shaping up?”

“Aw, I don’t know. I mean, business is good. There are people in here all the time. But I’m not real clear on the accounting and that sort of thing. Kind of makes me wonder how Ben managed. He was a genius with a wrench but he didn’t seem to take to paperwork and numbers.”

“Everyone wondered that same thing,” Mac said, sipping his coffee.

“It’s tedious, that’s for sure. Say, something’s been weighing on my mind a little bit. Been a long time since I had a girlfriend, you know? You ever wonder what the hell’s going on in Gina’s head?”

Mac broke into a huge grin. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“So that’s a no? Because Sarah—she’s got a lot on her mind, I know that. But man, she’s on another planet sometimes. Makes me wonder if anything is wrong. But then she’s back and I wonder why I wondered....”

“Coop, you remember how many women I live with, right? There’s Lou, Eve and Dee Dee at home, but then there’s Gina and all her women—her mother and her daughter, who at the moment is a mess over some boyfriend issue. Half the time I don’t have any idea what’s going on in any of their heads!”

“Oh,” he said. “That’s a no?”

“That’s a no.”

“How do you handle that?”

“Do you see me handling anything? I pretty much just duck.”

“Oh, you’re a big help....”

“Sorry, man. I just do as I’m told most of the time,” Mac said.

Cooper just stared at him. “Why aren’t you completely bald?”

“It’s a wonder, isn’t it? Lou says there’s something in the male hormone that prevents me from getting it. She’s probably right.”

* * *

Gina went home during the midmorning slow time at the diner to check on Ashley, as she’d done the two previous days. This was her third day of grieving and Ashley just lay in her bed, clutching her phone. Gina had tried prying it out of her fingers once but her daughter tearfully whimpered, “But what if he calls me?”

“It would probably be best if you just turned the phone off,” Gina said. “If he calls you, let him find you’re over him!”

“I’m so not over him,” she said.

“This can’t go on, Ash,” she said. “You have to get a grip. You have to get up, get cleaned up, go to school.”

“You have no idea what you’re saying,” she cried.

“Don’t I? Ashley, my boyfriend left me pregnant at fifteen. When I told him, he ran far and fast and never looked back! Ashley, I know how this hurts, believe me.”

She rolled over, her red hair everywhere, and tearfully said, “I wouldn’t mind that, you know. At least you still had a part of him to live for. What do I have?”

Gina wanted to shake her. “Your dignity! He cheated on you—you should kick him to the curb, not suffer in rejection. Get mad! I hope the sorry bastard gets a disease!”

“Mama,” she cried, fresh tears spilling all over her face. “Don’t say that, Mama. You love Downy. And my heart hurts....”

She didn’t love Downy anymore. How could he take her little girl’s innocence and then dismiss her so cruelly? Describe her as “the girl I dated back home” like she was history? He should be brutally punished. How could he?

Because he’s an eighteen-year-old boy, her wiser self said. He did what most eighteen-year-old boys do. And Ash is just a sixteen-year-old girl, doing what comes naturally—grieving her loss. It could just as easily have gone the other way—Ashley could have become bored with her absent boyfriend and found someone new at school, some current popular jock who had time to date, to take her to the dances and games. This could be Downy wallowing in depression because his girlfriend had dumped him.

Why couldn’t it be that way, huh? she asked herself. She didn’t want her daughter to be mean and insensitive, but she also didn’t want this—this sobbing, broken mess who wouldn’t get out of bed.

“I’m going back to work,” she said. “When I get home later I want you up. I want you showered, doing your best to get on with life because you can’t fix this, Ashley. I’m not going to let you shrivel up and waste away just because Downy was an unfaithful ass. Do you hear me? Tomorrow you go to school, no excuses.”

She rolled over and looked at her through wet eyes. “I loved him,” she whispered. “I loved him so much.”

“But you can’t make a person love you back,” Gina whispered.

“Are you sure? Because somehow I made him love me once.”

Gina smoothed her crazy red hair back off her brow. “I know, baby. Someday you’re going to understand that you dodged a bullet here. You don’t want a boyfriend who can’t be faithful, who can’t keep his promises. Believe me.”

Ashley just shook her head. She rolled over and, gripping her phone, as she had been for days, she gently wept.

Gina got away from the house. She walked down the hill to the diner before pulling out her own phone. She stared at it for a moment. She sat down on one of the benches outside the diner’s front door and clicked on Marjorie Downy’s number. When the woman answered she said, “Marjorie, hi. It’s Gina James.”

“Hi there, Gina.”

“I wonder if you know—Downy and Ashley broke up.”

There was a heavy sigh from Marjorie. “I did hear that. I can’t say I’m surprised. I thought that when they were apart for a while, at different schools, it might end up like this. That’s too bad for Ashley, Gina.”

“She’s devastated. She said Downy has a new girlfriend.”

Marjorie sighed again. “Well, look, Crawford is in a new place now, a different place. Their worlds...you know what I mean. Their worlds are now orbiting different suns. There’s college and there’s high school.”

“He promised to take her to her prom,” Gina said because she just couldn’t help it, though she didn’t have any intention of Marjorie helping with that problem.

“I know. I have to be honest with you, Gina—I never approved of that idea. Crawford should be spending what little money he has for dating on college events, fraternity events, not on high school dances.”

Gina stiffened. “Well, then, perhaps he shouldn’t have promised,” she said. “Poor Ashley.”

“Oh, Gina, I do feel sorry for Ashley, I do. I’m sure she’ll be all right.”

“She’s not all right at the moment. She’s shattered. Heartbroken. Downy wasn’t very nice to her.”

“Poor thing. But I worried about this from the start. Crawford is quite the catch at State—handsome, athletic, fun, smart. I knew it was only a matter of time before some pretty college girl caused him to forget the girl back home. Ashley really shouldn’t have pinned her hopes on him.”

Gina felt her heart squeeze. “Maybe not,” she said weakly. For a moment she felt as though she should have found a way to prevent this romance, a way to keep Ashley from being hurt.

“Despite what Crawford and Ashley might’ve thought, I knew this wasn’t a lasting thing. The age difference...”

“But Downy told me you knew they were sexually active. Involved. Committed.”

“I found packages of condoms. It broke my heart. I was extremely disappointed by that. In my day young ladies were much more cautious with their bodies, with their virtue.”

Gina’s eyes grew round and her neck nearly snapped from straightening so fast. She was instantly on her feet. “And in your day, were young men also cautious?”

Marjorie actually laughed. “I wish I could say they were. You’d understand if you were the mother of sons. Boys—a different animal entirely. Which is why it’s important to raise young ladies with strict standards. You know what I mean, Gina.”

She hoped she wouldn’t break a molar, clenching her teeth so hard. “I’m sure I have no idea what you mean.”

“I mean that invariably it’s up to the girl.”

Gina was speechless. “You’re not serious,” she finally said.

“I couldn’t be more serious!” Marjorie insisted. “Men are men—they’re single-minded and a little crazy. But my boys were raised proper—if the girl says no, the answer is no. They’re not villains, they’re just men.”

“You really can’t believe this,” Gina said.

“Gina, perhaps Ashley thought there wouldn’t be any consequences for having sexual relations at the tender age of sixteen. And as you can see from your poor darling’s broken heart, having a baby out of wedlock isn’t the only consequence.”

Gina felt her face burn. “You didn’t just say that to me,” she said. “You didn’t.”

“Oh, Gina, please! I meant no offense, it’s just that—”

“Is that what you teach your sons, Marjorie? That if they can pressure a girl into giving it up, all’s fair? It’s not the boy’s fault or responsibility?”

“No! Oh, God, no!” Then she was quiet for a second before she muttered, “I wouldn’t teach them such a thing. I’m not surprised that they think that way, however. I live in a house full of males. For all I know, my husband could have conveyed the message.”

“If he did, he should be hung up by his balls!” Gina snapped, disconnecting the call. She sank to the bench once more. She leaned over, elbows on her knees, her head resting in her hands. She couldn’t believe comments like that could still be so painful. And she knew that wasn’t how she was commonly regarded in this town—the unwed mother. She knew she and her mother were both respected citizens here. Ashley, a lovely girl and good student, was thought of highly.

But there were still a few, like Marjorie, who put it all on the woman. As if a girl gets pregnant all alone.

For a moment, she felt hot and damp at the same time. Mortified. Humiliated, as if it had been yesterday that she’d said to Carrie, Oh, Mama, I’m pregnant! And I don’t know what to do!

“Hey,” a familiar deep male voice said.

She looked up to see Mac standing in front of her. Looking down at her.

“You okay?”

She let out a breath and stood. “I called Marjorie Downy. Stupid thing to do.”

“What happened?”

“From her perspective, Ashley held him down and forced herself on him and he is completely blameless in this situation. Kind of a boys-will-be-boys attitude. And she couldn’t convey that without a dig or two at me for bearing a child out of wedlock.”

“Did she actually say that?”

“Pretty much. In her day girls were held to a higher standard and her boys were raised to understand that if a girl says no, it’s no. And having a child out of wedlock isn’t the only consequence of being sexually involved. In other words—”

“Jesus,” he said. “She’s as stupid as she is ugly.”

That almost made Gina smile. “I should never have called her. I knew Marjorie and I weren’t on the same wavelength. I always liked Downy, even before he started dating Ash. I think he’s basically a good kid. I want to think this just went the predictable course—he grew away from her when he went to college and they broke up. And yes, it hurts her terribly, but she’ll have more than one boyfriend before all is said and done.”

“Downy’s not a bad kid. But his mother is as dumb as a box full of hammers.”

“Yeah, Downy’s all right, even if he did upset my girl. And I bet in a few weeks I’ll stop hoping he gets a disease and his dick falls off.”

Mac smiled at her. “I need to take you somewhere. Dinner, maybe. Or just out of town for a few hours. Or maybe to some sleazy motel with mirrors on the ceiling—but if you say no, hey, nothing will ever happen....”

She put a grateful hand on his arm. “I gotta get my girl out of bed first, Mac. She’s a mess. Then I’ll be ready for a dinner out of town and some time alone with you.”

“You know all you have to do is snap your fingers.”

* * *

Lou McCain had raised her nephew since his parents—her brother and sister-in-law—were killed in an accident. He had been only ten years old at the time and lived with her until he married. And for about the past ten years she had lived with him to help him raise his three children. They had moved to Thunder Point from Coquille four years ago when Mac had been given the Thunder Point substation to manage for the Sheriff’s Department. When they first discussed the possible move, Lou hadn’t been very keen on it—she’d lived in Coquille her whole life. She had a good teaching job and friends there. She suggested he commute to Thunder Point instead of moving there, which is what other deputies tended to do.

But the move had turned out to be a good idea on many levels. Lou was able to get a teaching job at the middle school right away—eighth grade English. She liked the town and the people. Eve’s instant friendship with Ashley had resulted in Lou’s friendship with Carrie and Gina, two women she’d grown very close to. And of course, there was the simple fact that in a little town like Thunder Point, a place with only a small fishing industry, she and Mac could pool their resources and afford a home large enough for himself, three kids, two dogs and an aunt.

Lou knew a lot about kids. She was working on raising a second generation of them, for one thing. She was a very intuitive teacher, for another. Mac’s kids, her nieces and nephew, hadn’t presented too many challenges yet. But they were definitely getting there. Eve was pretty serious about Landon Dupre. There hadn’t been too much drama yet, but as Lou knew only too well, that was probably coming—teenage love could be complicated. In fact, Eve’s best friend was going through it right now; Ashley was devastated by her breakup and was acting out in bizarre and frightening ways. Ashley needed an intervention.

To that end, Lou grabbed ten-year-old Dee Dee and twelve-year-old Ryan after school and took them with her to the diner. This wasn’t exactly rare for Lou—she enjoyed stopping off there for a cup of coffee on the way home from school at least once a week on days the kids didn’t have lessons or practices of some sort.

Ryan and Dee Dee ran straight to their favorite booth. “Can you get those hellions a couple of colas and an order of fries?” she asked Gina.

“Coming right up,” she said with a smile.

Gina went to the kitchen herself to serve up a plate of fries. She made two trips with the sodas and fries and then, back behind the counter, poured coffee for herself and Lou.

“How’s school?” Gina asked.

“Some days you’re the bug and some days you’re the windshield,” Lou said. “Gina, do you know where Ashley is?”

Gina instantly got a frightened look in her eyes. “School?”

Lou shook her head. “Eve, Landon and Ashley cut out of school. Just the last class. Landon drove them to Corvallis to watch a baseball game. Ashley promised to tell you, but I knew she wouldn’t. Listen, the girl could use some help.”

“Oh, God,” Gina said weakly, looking down. “You knew they were going? Doing that?”

Lou nodded. “Ashley wanted Landon to take her because she promised you she wouldn’t take your Jeep again, like she did before. Eve insisted on going along, I suspect to keep Ashley from throwing herself at Downy. I think it’s good that Eve went. Landon, God love him, would be like a deer caught in the headlights if Ashley had a meltdown.”

Gina took a breath. “What did Mac say about this excursion?”

“I’m going to tell him at dinner. I made a management decision. It’s not as if we haven’t gone to Oregon State for a ball game or two—it wasn’t a ridiculous request. Kids from Thunder Point go to State all the time to watch their old classmates play college ball. But I don’t want either of our girls wandering around alone up there. Landon might not be much good in a romantic crisis, but I trust he’d never let anyone give our girls trouble.”

“True,” Gina said.

“After not seeing her for a couple of weeks, she finally came to dinner at our house last night. I suspect she came because she had a special request—a trip to Corvallis. She doesn’t look good, Gina.”

“I know,” Gina said in a whisper.

“She’s lost weight, I can tell she’s not eating or sleeping,” Lou said. “I’m used to the girls never shutting their mouths at the dinner table, and now... She’s really despondent.”

“How do you make a person eat and sleep? Or stop crying every night, for that matter? I can hear her and if I go to her room, she doesn’t want to talk to me.”

Lou opened her purse and took out a slip of paper. “This is the name of a counselor. Her practice is in Bandon, so it’s a ride. I’m told she has a sliding scale if your income isn’t high. Or maybe your benefits cover counseling—you’re the one to know. A friend of mine—a teacher—recommended her.”

“There’s a counselor at the high school....”

“Garvey,” Lou said sourly. “He’s a horse’s ass. Based on some of his comments, he thinks girls are stupid ninnies—a running bone of contention between us. One of my girls from eighth grade English had him as a guidance counselor her junior year and he told her and her parents that she wasn’t college material. She’s one of the smartest girls I’ve taught. I’ve seen him at school board and PTA meetings. I think he has seaweed between his ears. I think Cliff gives better advice at the Cliffhanger’s bar than Garvey does.”

Gina just kept staring at the slip of paper. “You think she needs counseling?”

“I think it would be a mistake to take a chance. Gina, I know we all want to say it’s just a teen romance, but teenagers feel things so deeply, so intensely. They’re years away from realizing how minor this is in the grand scheme of things, how much more manageable life will be when they’re just a little more mature. They can get very sick, make some very stupid mistakes, do crazy things that can’t be undone. They sometimes have suicidal thoughts.”

Gina gasped.

“Yes, they do. Sometimes it’s self-image problems, sometimes their home life is totally horrible or they’re relentlessly picked on at school, sometimes it’s depression, which can present in adolescence. And sometimes it’s love gone sour. Sometimes, sweetheart, it’s a desperate, emotional act that can’t be reversed. Take her to this woman,” Lou said, pointing at the paper. “This Simone Ross.”

“What if she doesn’t want to go?” Gina said softly.

“Don’t ask,” Lou said. “Take her.”

And then Gina’s eyes misted over. “I think this has been as hard on me as it’s been on her. My heart aches for her. I think it’s harder when your kids hurt than when you do.”

“I agree, it’s harder when it’s your kids. When Cee Jay walked out on Mac and the kids, he really took a dive. And being a man, expressing his feelings was like torture, so he sulked and got angry a lot. But I know him, I knew he was in terrible pain. I’ve been dumped a time or two, I’ve done the dumping a time or two, but watching my family go through it was worse than anything I’ve ever experienced. He was too old to take to a counselor but he took my advice and got Eve in counseling when Cee Jay left and he did go with her. Thank God we got through it.”

“I wonder if her office is still open,” Gina said. “Three weeks ago, when she realized Downy was with another girl, she said she didn’t want to live.”

Lou leaned forward, nearly glaring at Gina. “Tell them this could be urgent. Tell the counselor’s office that your daughter has made suicidal statements.”

“Couldn’t that be an exaggeration? I’m not sure she really—”

“Gina James, would you rather be guilty of overdramatizing or lack of action? Jesus. Do as I say.”

“Yes, you’re right,” Gina said. “Why do we do that? Fear being an inconvenience? I’m stronger than that!” She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and punched in the numbers.

* * *

It was the only thing Ashley could think of to do—go to one of Downy’s games. When they were in high school together, that was the most important thing to him. He believed he couldn’t play well if she wasn’t there. Even though Eve thought it was a terrible idea when Ashley said she’d take her mother’s car again, she finally relented and said they could all go together. And Ashley hoped, hoped so much, that Downy would know she was there, know how much she loved him, and this whole nightmare would be turned around.

Landon, Eve and Ashley got to the game in the fourth inning. Downy was playing first base, a change from his usual position as pitcher but just as natural for him. He played four more innings and was up to bat four times—two base hits, a double and a home run just while the Thunder Point contingent was there. He was magnificent; he had the stadium on their feet. Then the game ended and Oregon State had shut out Arizona. Ashley was on her feet, screaming herself hoarse for Downy and the team at every play. The stands were full and the sun was setting, the stadium lights coming on before all was said and done.

People were streaming out of the stadium when Ashley said, “I want to see him.”

Eve stopped short. “What for? Ashley, what for?”

“I just want to tell him, good game. That’s all.”

“No, Ash. I don’t think you should,” Eve said.

“What can it hurt? Landon? What can it hurt?”

Eve shook her head. “He hasn’t called you,” she said. “It’s going to hurt.”

“Maybe. Maybe not,” Ashley said, stalking off toward the exit. But rather than heading for Landon’s car in the parking lot, she walked around the stadium. She looked over her shoulder at Landon and Eve. “I know where the locker room and exit is—back here,” she said. She put a little skip in her step as she headed down the walk toward the back.

She had good instincts—she found what she was looking for. It wasn’t exactly an original idea. There were quite a few students waiting back there. Also, a player’s bus was parked off to the side—probably for the Arizona team, taking them either to a hotel or the airport, or perhaps even home.

People were loitering, standing around and leaning against cars, waiting for the players to come out. The first couple of guys came out and were greeted by friends and girlfriends with whoops, cheers, high fives and kisses. A few more emerged and got into the Arizona bus. Ashley stood back, waiting. She couldn’t help it, she twisted her hands a little bit. All she wanted in life was for Downy to see her and be as thrilled as he had been in the old days.

More players came out—a big rush of them, duffels in hand, shoes dangling by the laces—all of them still pumped from the game.

“Dupre?” Downy shouted, noticing Landon and rushing over to him, hand outstretched. “What are you doing here, buddy?”

Landon took the hand. “We came up to see you play. Great game.” Then he inclined his head toward Ashley.

And Downy frowned. “Oh, man. This isn’t good.”

“She wanted to see you play,” Landon said.

“Hey, Ash.”

She stepped forward, smiling, still holding her hands together, trying to keep them still, praying. A few weeks ago she would have thrown herself into his arms and he would have lifted her and kissed her silly. “Downy,” she said smiling tremulously. “Good game.”

“Thanks,” he said. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Why? You used to love it when I came to your games.”

He dropped his duffel and looked at her harshly and she felt her lips quiver. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out. You have to stop now. Stop calling and texting all the time. Don’t come to the games.”

“Can’t we be friends?” she asked, her eyes tearing. “We’ve known each other since we were about five.”

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, clicked a little and held it toward her so she could see the million texts and pictures she’d sent him. “This is not friendly. This is just about harassment.”

“Well, forgive me for living,” she snapped. “I thought you might appreciate some friends coming to your—”

“Downy!” a female yelled. “Baby!” And the tall, slim, dark-haired girl from the frat house threw herself on him, wrapping her legs around his waist and hugging his neck. “You are such a stud!” she yelled against his shoulder.

Her, Ashley thought. It’s still her.

“Selena,” he said, gently putting her on her feet. She looked a little confused when he put her down. “Some of my friends from home,” he said. “Landon, Eve and Ashley.”

At first Selena smiled, but then she glowered. She turned her attention toward Downy. “Is this the little psycho who keeps calling you and sexting you, day and night?”

Ashley felt the growl come out of her before she realized what was happening. Little psycho? She put up her hands in the shape of claws, nails bared, and took two giant steps toward the girl named Selena. She was going to claw her face and rip her hair out. But as fast as a lightning bolt, Downy put Selena behind him and Landon jumped between them. He grabbed Ashley’s wrists.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Landon said.

And Downy yelled, “What the hell, Ashley! Are you crazy?”

“Okay, we’re outta here,” Landon said. “Good seeing you, Downy.” He looped his hand through Ashley’s arm and gripped her tightly. She pulled against him and snarled, but he held on. “Don’t even think about it or I’ll throw you over my shoulder,” he muttered. “Come on, Eve. Come on.”

Landon made pretty fast tracks around the building to the parking lot. Eve was scrambling to keep up behind them while he was dragging Ashley.

“Let go,” Ashley said.

“Not a chance. I don’t want to have to tackle you.” Then he laughed without humor. “Seriously? A cat fight? Have you totally lost it?”

“He hurt me,” she said fiercely.

“And so you were going to scratch her eyes out?” he asked, marching her along.

“She called me a little psycho!”

“So you were going to prove it?”

She groaned and kept up with him somehow. But by the time they got to the SUV, Ashley was softly crying. “You just don’t get it,” she said softly, pitifully. “He said he loved me, that he’d love me forever....”

“I get it,” Landon said. He turned her toward him and gripped her upper arms. Eve caught up to them. “I get it. You were serious. You were a couple. And you broke up. I’m sorry, Ash. You think you’re going to get him back by acting like a psycho and beating up his new girlfriend?”

She stared at him, knowing the truth and wisdom in what he was saying, but it somehow didn’t help her at all. She could feel her face contort, then crumble as a fresh flood of tears ran down her cheeks. “It can’t be over,” she whispered, sobbing and gasping softly. “It can’t. It can’t. It can’t.”

* * *

Gina made the appointment for Ashley. No discussion. She tried to channel Aunt Lou and merely announced to Ashley that she was going, then drove her to Bandon. “I’m not crazy!” Ashley railed at Gina.

“Of course you’re not—you’re upset, that’s what you are. And you have good reason to be upset and brokenhearted and angry. Counselors have helped people get through all kinds of emotional situations and crises. Just talk with her. It certainly can’t hurt.”

“I’m not telling her my personal business!”

“And I’m sure she’s been through plenty of that before, too,” Gina muttered.

The ride to Bandon to the counselor’s office was quiet and sulky. Every now and then Ashley muttered, “I don’t want to go” and “I’m not telling her anything.”

The office of Simone Ross was small, nondescriptly furnished in what resembled cheap, old apartment furniture, maybe dating back to the I Love Lucy show. There was no one in the waiting room, however there was a desk with a clipboard, piece of paper, pen and at the top of the page it said, Please Sign In. There was a door, presumably to an interior office. After sitting in the waiting room for ten minutes, the interior door opened and a grandmotherly woman with an ample bosom, pink cheeks, short silver hair and wide hips smiled. “Ashley?”

Ashley nodded nervously and stood.

“Hello. I’m Simone. Why don’t you go inside.” Then she turned to Gina. “Ms. James? We’ll be about forty minutes. You can wait here or step out for a while.”

“I’ll...ah...wait.”

Simone gave a nod and immediately closed herself in with Ashley.

Gina sat on one of the uncomfortable chairs, alone in the reception area, listening. She didn’t hear a murmur from that inner office and she was aching to know what was happening in there.

Support like this was relatively new and many people relied on the right insurance coverage. When Ashley was born, Gina’s mom had been working at the diner for Stu. It was that event, the cost of the birth, that caused Stu to amp up his coverage for his full-time employees, of which there were two besides himself and his wife. It had been enormously expensive. It hadn’t gotten any less so, but Stu had gotten used to it. The coverage included some counseling.

This was what Gina would like to do one day, once she completed her master’s degree in counseling—help people through crises just like this. She had two reasons for this pursuit—she knew that things like this didn’t kill you and with the right kind of support, you grew stronger and wiser. Truthfully, since the moment Ashley and Downy started dating, Gina had feared the extremes—that they would marry young before ever experiencing life or finishing their educations, or that it might end disastrously, leaving her beautiful girl brokenhearted.

Ashley so needed this objective assistance. Gina would remember to thank Lou for insisting on something Gina should have thought of herself.

She leaned back and closed her eyes. Wasn’t this just the rule rather than the exception...? Just when you thought things had fallen so sweetly into place—Carrie’s business was good, Ashley had been happy, Gina had finally come together with Mac—some life event shook everything up. Right now all Carrie and Gina could think about was Ashley, suffering in sadness and depression, losing weight just as efficiently as any divorce diet, weeping into her pillow at night.

It was a long forty minutes before Simone opened the door to the reception room and Gina shot to her feet, betraying her anxiety.

“Will you join us for a few minutes, Ms. James?”

“Gina,” she said. “Please, just call me Gina.” And then she followed the older woman into the office.

Ashley held a wadded-up tissue in her grip and it was obvious—she’d done a little crying for the counselor. This suggested she had shared her personal business. Gina tried not to smile. The counselor indicated a chair and Gina took it expectantly.

“Ashley and I have talked about things and I’ve asked her to come back in two weeks for another talk. But in the meantime I’d like her to try a teen group that meets here, in this office. Their issues run the gamut—a little of everything—but they seem to be very helpful to each other. That group meets Tuesdays and Thursdays here—my associate moderates the group and he’s terrific. Ashley is willing to give that a try.”

“Okay,” Gina said. Why did she think this one counseling session would provide a cure? She knew better. And why did she fear group therapy? Ashley had a broken heart—almost a rite of passage. She feared hooking her up with a bunch of troubled teens, some possibly there by court order. “You’re good with that idea, Ash?” she asked.

“My first choice is to go home and just sit in the closet for a year,” Ashley said.

“Thus the counseling, group and individual,” Simone said. “The closet is not a good idea. Not designed for recovery. You move at your own speed in group,” she went on. “They’re not going to hold you down and make you talk—that’s entirely up to you. And if it’s not right for you, well, we’ll just try something else. In the meantime, please call me if you’re having a hard time.” She looked at Gina. “Ashley has my cell number and I’ll take her call if I’m not in session. If I’m in session, I’ll return the call as soon as I can.”