Page 41 of Fake-Off with Fate
“Phillip Bane, my father’s assistant,” she hisses.
“He’s pretty intense.”
“He wants to be mayor after my dad’s term is up and he’s afraid I’m going to be competition. As if I would ever want to be the mayor of Maple Falls.” She clearly finds that prospect distasteful.
As we exit the building, I point to my car parked by the curb. “Should we have lunch in town?”
Ashlyn shakes her head. “The council members are probably spreading the word as we speak. I don’t want to have to answer a bunch of questions until people read the newspaper article.”
“I have frozen meals at my place,” I tell her. “How does that sound?”
“Disgusting. Why don’t we get takeout from the Glass Olive? Their eggplant parmesan is the best I’ve ever had.”
I open the passenger door for Ashlyn. Once we’re both inside, we look up the menu for the restaurant. After calling in our order, I ask her, “How are you feeling?”
“Terrified,” she confesses. “I so badly want to call my dad for advice, but I know he’ll come running.”
I reach out and give her forearm a brief squeeze of encouragement. “Your dad couldn’t do anything that you’re not already doing.” I itemize, “You located the boundaries of the disputed land, you’ve held an emergency meeting to let the town leaders know what’s going on, and you’ve put the ball in motion for a bachelor auction. You’ve done a lot, Ashlyn. You’ve got this.”
She looks over at me with gratitude. “I couldn’t have done it without your help. Thank you.”
I hate having her think I’m the good guy here, so I tell her, “Dale was already making me do the bachelor auction before you asked.”
Her eyebrows nearly hit her hairline in surprise. “So you’re not doing it so I’ll pretend to be your girlfriend?”
I shake my head slowly. “You don’t have to pretend to be my girlfriend anymore if you don’t want to.”
“Why did you confess this to me?”
“I … well …”Why does this woman make it so hard for me to think clearly?I finally manage to tell her, “You’re an impressive woman, Ashlyn. You’re trying to help your parents and your hometown, and you’re doing it all selflessly.” I add, “I’d like to be your friend, and I don’t think friends should lie to each other.”
“No one should lie,” she says. Then out of nowhere, she asks, “Are you still in love with your ex?”
I should tell her that I’m not. After all, how could I love someone who treated me so badly? But I can’t seem to utter those words. “We were together for three years. That’s a long time to care about someone.”
“But she left you,” Ashlyn says, like I need reminding.
“She did. But the truth is that I probably didn’t make as much time for us as I should have. It takes two to have a successful relationship.”
“So, you do love her?”
Shrugging, I tell her, “Part of me will always love her. But that doesn’t mean I want her back.”
“Love is complicated, isn’t it?” Ashlyn asks. “I’m sorry you’re going through such a tough time.” She actually sounds sincere.
“Thank you. Now let’s go get our lunch so we can get back to my place and write this article.”
Once we have our food, and are on the way to my temporary home, Ashlyn asks, “How are you doing with the bears?”
“The mama and the baby are fine, but the papa hates my guts.”
She giggles. “You’re going to need to let him know you’re not a threat. The way you scream when you see him probably has him on edge.”
Turning into the driveway, I tell her, “I don’t scream.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I made a loud noise like I was told to.” Her smile is so endearing, I can’t help but relent. “Fine, I screamed. But you’ll have to agree, thatisa loud noise.”
