Page 40 of Echoes of Us
She couldn't correct him.Couldn't explain that she was trying to save his life, to understand the brothers' relationship before tragedy shattered it.So she let her blush deepen and looked away, focusing on the patterns sunlight made through her coffee cup.
"The work isn't easy," he said softly."But I admire the dedication, whatever the motivation."He paused, and when she dared to look up, his expression had turned thoughtful."Anyway, I realized I know nothing about you.What do you think about reprimanding that?"
Ashley smiled at him.“What would you like to know?”
“Actually… I’ve been curious.I heard you’re from Cambridge, so how come you’ve ended up going to Yale?”
Ashley wrapped her hands around her coffee cup, letting its warmth seep into her palms.How can she explain a choice she hadn't actually made?In her timeline, she'd gone to Harvard and stayed close to home.But here...
"Sometimes the best things in life happen when you take an unexpected turn," she said finally.She could tell him about Sarah, about the wager, that she lost instead of won, but that wasn't really true, and it was not in this timeline."I had this whole plan mapped out - Harvard, staying in Cambridge, marrying my high school boyfriend...That didn't work out.Being here opened a new possibility.A path I haven't tried before."
Dale's expression softened with understanding."And now?How's that path looking?"
Ashley watched the sunlight dance across her coffee cup, creating patterns that shifted and changed with each small movement."Terrifying.Beautiful."She looked up and caught his gaze."Sometimes both."
"Both," Dale repeated softly, something knowing in his tone."Yes, I suppose the best things usually are."
A comfortable silence settled between them.Outside the towering windows, early morning light painted the courtyard in gold, students hurrying past like leaves caught in a gentle wind.Ashley found herself studying Dale's hands as he absently organized his papers - the same elegant fingers as Cole, but these moved with careful precision rather than restless energy.
"You're good at that," she said suddenly.
"Hmm?"
"Making order out of chaos."She gestured to his neatly arranged notes."Everything in its perfect place."
Something flickered in his eyes - an old pain, quickly hidden."Not everything."He paused, seemed to debate with himself, then: "Cole used to be the organized one, believe it or not.Could solve complex equations in his head while I was still counting on my fingers."A faint smile touched his lips."He'd help me with homework, but he'd make such a mess of the papers - numbers and theories scattered everywhere like he could see some pattern in the chaos that I couldn't grasp."
"What changed?"
Dale's fingers stilled on his coffee cup."We did, I suppose.Or rather, we were changed.There was this opportunity in high school - a chance to skip a grade.Mother..."He shook his head."Mother saw it as validation of everything she believed about us.Her brilliant sons, destined for academic greatness."
"But Cole didn't see it that way?"
"Cole saw it for what it was - another hoop to jump through, another way to prove our worth."His voice held no bitterness, only a deep sadness."I agreed to it.He didn't.That was the beginning, really.Every choice after that seemed to push us further apart - me following the expected path, him..."Dale trailed off, then laughed softly."Well, you've met my brother.He doesn't exactly follow paths anymore."
"He blazes his own," Ashley murmured, thinking of the man she knew he'd become.
"At what cost, though?"Dale's question was so quiet she almost missed it.He looked up, and for a moment, his guard dropped completely."Do you know what it's like to watch someone you love deliberately set fire to everything around them?To know you helped light the match?"
The raw honesty in his voice made her chest ache.Without thinking, she reached across the table and covered his hand with hers.His fingers were warm from the coffee cup, and he stared at their joined hands like he'd forgotten such simple comfort existed.
Ashley's throat tightened.She knew exactly what he meant - missing someone who was right in front of you, yet somehow out of reach."When did it start?Really start, I mean."
"The skipped grade was just the catalyst, I think."Dale withdrew his hand gently, reaching for his coffee."Mother...she has this way of taking good things and spoiling them for us.Every time I achieved something, she'd use it against Cole.'Why can't you be more like your brother?''Dale's already applying to graduate programs.'As if we were in some sort of competition neither of us signed up for."
"And you couldn't stop it?"
"I tried.God, I tried."Frustration colored his voice."But the more I achieved, the more ammunition I gave her.And Cole..."A shadow passed over his face."Cole built his walls brick by brick, year by year.The more Mother pushed him toward academia, the more determinedly he threw himself into everything else - parties, women, that carefully crafted image of not giving a damn about anything."
"But he does," Ashley said softly."Give a damn."
Dale's eyes snapped to hers, sharp with surprise and something else - hope, maybe."You see it too?Most people don't look past the surface he shows them."
Heat crept up her neck.She'd said too much and revealed too much understanding of a man she wasn't supposed to know."I just...notice things sometimes."
"You do, don't you?"Dale studied her with renewed interest."That's why he agreed to tutor you, isn't it?Because you see past his act."
Before she could respond, the dining hall clock chimed nine, making them both jump.Dale glanced at his watch and sighed.
