Page 170 of Knockin' Boats
I closed my eyes, smiling as I inhaled his scent.
That was the last thing I remembered until I woke the following morning. My phone rang on the bedside table.
I snatched it up, answering quickly to avoid waking Sawyer.
“Hello?”
“Ash, hey. It’s Mom.”
“Hey.” My stomach flipped. “Is everything okay?”
“Not really, no.”
My heart dropped. “What did he say?”
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “We can’t be a family if you two can’t get along.”
I went rigid. “Right. Got it.”
“No, Ash, you don’t. We need to work this out. Rick told me you got the wrong idea about what he said to you, and honey, I don’t know why you always think the worst of him.”
I let out an explosive breath. “Right, because I must be the one who’s wrong.”
“I didn’t say that, Ash. Don’t put words into my mouth. Please.”
I remained silent. Unsure what else to say.
“I called because I want us all to work this out. Face to face. Rick is being recognized for his philanthropic contributions to the community at a ceremony at the marina. I think it’d mean a lot to him if you came.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“We can all have a nice chat afterward. We’ll get on the same page, okay? I know that we can fix this, Ash.”
I bit back a groan of defeat. I already knew that my mess with Rick couldn’t be fixed. If I showed up there, it’d probably make everything worse.
“He told me that if I continued to upset you, I wouldn’t get to see you anymore,” I said.
“That would never happen, honey. That’s why you need to come today, okay? So we can put these fears to rest. So you can see that Rick isn’t the bad guy here.”
I chewed my lip, uncertain.
“Please, Ash? For me?”
The words broke down my last defenses. I was sure that Rick would put on a good act in front of Mom. But after his threat the other day, I needed to see her. Needed to reassure myself that Rick hadn’t poisoned her against me.
Sawyer put his hand on my arm, and I glanced down to see he was awake and watching me. He squeezed gently, a silent support.
Knowing he was there beside me gave me strength. I drew a breath.
“Can I bring Sawyer?”
“Yes! Bring Sawyer. Or any other friends you like! Rick will be so happy to see you there. He told me how tore up he is about all this. I just know you two can find a way to make peace.”
Rick, tore up over me? Not likely. Rick worried that my mom might see him for who he really was? Now that I could believe. Either way, Mom would never be convinced by my words alone.
If I didn’t show up, she’d believe this was all in my head. And if I did…well, she’d probably get pulled right into the middle of our mess andstilltake Rick’s side.
I was scared to death of losing my mom no matter what decision I made. But I had totry,right?
