“Your mom was my best friend,” she enthused. “She taught me how to French braid my hair and how to put on mascara and roller skate.”
“I’m gonna teach Mason how to roller skate and braid my hair!” Luna declared excitedly, then proceeded to name dozens of other things she planned on schooling her baby brother on, including how to paint glitter nails.
She was still talking a mile a minute when we pulled up to Ashley’s house, and all piled out of the SUV. On the way up the porch steps, I heard Ashley’s stomach growl loudly.
“I’ll make dinner,” I stated as she opened the front door, and Luna scooped up Mr. Purrfect and headed into the front room, where she immediately turned the television on.
“That’s sweet.” Ashley yawned. “But I haven’t been shopping this week, so there is nothing to make.”
“How does pizza sound?”
Her brow furrowed. “Pizza?”
“Luna mentioned she wanted pizza for dinner.”
“Stella said you didn’t eat fast food.”
I didn’t. I also didn’t have sex with strangers and not wear condoms. I also didn’t marry people as a business arrangement and then blur the lines with them by having a honeymoon night. I also didn’t spend an entire day in a germ-ridden hospital. There were things I didn’t do that I found myself doing when it came to Ashley.
“My grandmother doesn’t know everything about me.”
Her crystal blue eyes were locked with mine, and I had the strongest urge to lean down and kiss her. She was my wife.Technically. But that wasn’t our relationship. I knew that I didn’t have that right. But the way she was looking at me…
“Why did you stay?” There was confusion and vulnerability behind her gaze.
“What?”
“Today at the hospital?”
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “I just… I didn’t want to leave you.”
She took in a shaky breath. Unable to stop myself, I began to lean forward. Her lips were like a beacon calling out to me in the middle of a stormy night. She closed her eyes, and just as I felt her breath fan my face…
“Lee Lee!” Luna called out as she rushed into the room. “Can I have a soda?”
The spell that I’d fallen under broke, and I straightened back up.
“Um.” Ashley blinked. “Bath first. Then you can have a soda with dinner.”
Luna’s shoulders dropped in disappointment.
“Speaking of dinner. Do you want pepperoni pizza?” I asked.
“Pizza?” Luna’s face lit up.
“I don’t know…” Ashley looked down at Luna. “Do we want pepperoni pizza?”
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Luna cheered.
Ashley smiled up at me.
“Pizza it is.” I pulled out my phone and ordered as the girls went upstairs.
As I waited, I walked around the house. The last time I’d come to Ashley’s house, I’d never made it past the entryway. It was an older home, but I could see that some updates had been made to it. The floors were new. Fresh paint was on the walls. The appliances were upgraded, and so were the light fixtures.
In the background report, I’d discovered that the Thompson sisters inherited the house from their grandfather. It had sat empty for over a decade before Skylar moved into it almost two years ago. When she married Hank, she and Luna moved in with him, and Ashley stayed here, living on her own.
I could see that she’d made the space her own. It felt like her. The paintings on the walls and the eclectic furniture screamed Ashley. I seriously doubted their grandfather owned a velvet copper-colored couch with a mustard armchair and electric blue cushions. The color combo shouldn’t work, but somehow, they did. The Persian rug that covered the entire floor had all the colors in it and tied them all together. The paintings ranged from landscapes to portraits. Some were abstract, and others were realistic. There was also a gallery wall of mismatched frames with photos of Ashley, her sister, and her niece through the years.