Page 3 of All For You
I began loading the back of the truck with the empty crates, stacking them in the way my mom preferred. Dean had to answer another call, so I hauled the last crate into the back and shut the tailgate.
Off in the distance, I vaguely heard the sound of a name being called, but I ignored it and continued to tear down thebooth setup. Without Dean’s help, I struggled with the canopy and unlatching the legs.
“Dammit!” I hissed as the metal button pinched my thumb.
The shouting continued across the lot, and I quickly realized the name they were calling was mine.
“Aspen!”
Turning around, I was nearly tackled by my best friend Jenna as she dashed over to me.
“Aspen, oh my gosh,” she said as she leaned forward, hands on her knees, as she worked to catch her breath.
“Jenna, what’s wrong? Is everything okay?”
At that moment, Dean must have ended his call, because he stepped up beside me with a puzzled look on his face.
“She having a heart attack?” he asked as she reached out for my arm while she huffed. Jenna had a naturally athletic-looking build but had never worked out a day in her life. I would’ve hated her if she hadn’t been my closest friend since we were in preschool.
I didn’t acknowledge his question but slapped him across the stomach, then took a step closer to Jenna.
“You okay?” I asked as I rested my hand on her back, gently sliding it up and down to comfort her.
“Yes,” she finally responded, straightening, and that’s when I noticed her hand tightly gripping her phone. “Aspen, have you seen the gossip channels this morning?”
“You know that’s more your cup of tea. I stay away from all that stuff.” Ever since my older sisters married people who were in the public eye, I steered clear of the tabloids. I didn’t know how they dealt with it. Seeing nasty, fake headlines posted about someone I love would’ve been too much for me.
Out the corner of my eye, I watched as Dean slipped his phone out of his pocket and began scrolling. What he was looking for, I wasn’t sure.
“Well, you need to read this.” Jenna shoved her phone into my hand, ignoring the fact that I held my aching thumb in my opposite fist.
“What am I looking for?” I asked as I typed in her passcode.
“You’ll know when you see it.”
On her screen, I scrolled through the articles until one caught my attention, and my entire body lit up like grand-finale fireworks on the Fourth of July.
“No way. Is this real?” I asked, my giddiness bubbling up to the surface as I suppress a laugh.
“It is.”
“Oh my gosh. This is the best thing I’ve read in weeks.”
Beside me, Dean asked, “What is it?”
I read the headline aloud. “Baseball Star, Owen Ramsey, Left at the Altar During Tropical Destination Wedding.”
“Oh damn.” Dean winced.
“Don’t you dare feel sorry for him. Believe me when I say he deservesallthe worst kind of karma.” Turning my attention back to the screen, I skimmed through the article, noting how the surprise nuptials had very few attendants, mostlyherfriends and family. I knew for a fact that his mother hadn’t been there, since I saw her yesterday. “Oh, shit,” I mumbled as I read the last line.
“What?” Jenna questioned as she ripped the phone out of my hand and read over the words on the screen. “Oh, shit.”
“Will someone please fill me in?” Dean inquired as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Jenna replied immediately, her eyes darting over to me, “Owen’s coming home.”
Chewing my bottom lip, I let the words sink in. Owen never visited Ashfield. It was a fluke when he showed up for the wedding with his mom. Rumor was they were settling his father’s estate that weekend and she convinced him to be her plus-one. He’d been invited to every festival, every town parade, every graduation… but he never accepted the requests. I didn’t keep up with his life, unlike everyone else in town, but from what I knew, Owen was more than content to view Ashfield as nothing more than a memory. It was something I couldn’t fathom. The man had the world at his fingertips but couldn’t so much as take the time to call his old friends nor his family.
