Ava said that she wanted to take him to The Castaway, which he’d looked up and saw that it was located up in the mountains, about a fifteen-minute drive from Hope Falls. He was happy that she hadn’t suggested going to Sue Ann’s, which was the only restaurant in town. If they’d done that he wouldn’t be surprised if it made the front page of the local paper the following day with the headline reading: Asher Ford and Ava Wells Date Night at Local Hotspot Sue Ann’s Café.
This isn’t a date, he said to himself as pulled a shirt from the closet.
He checked the time, he had fifteen minutes before he was supposed to pick up Ava and five hours before he needed to pick Blake up at the community center. His daughter had volunteered to assist at a dance class that the chief’s wife Lily, who was a professional choreographer, taught for seniors.
When Blake told him about the class, he had to admit he’d been surprised at her eagerness to volunteer. But he was happy she was giving back and getting involved in the town she’d cursed him for moving her to. It was better than her sneaking out, getting drunk, and stealing his car.
His phone rang and he picked it up off the counter and saw it was his ex-wife calling. “Hey.”
“Hey, is Peanut around?”
“No. She’s at the community center volunteering to assist in a senior’s dance class.”
“Oh, right, she mentioned Noah telling her about that. He refs youth basketball there a couple of nights a week.”
Asher’s shoulders tensed. He should have known the tall kid was involved.
After a beat, Jenna said, “I can hear you seething through the phone.”
“I’m not seething.”
“He’s a good kid, Ash.”
How would Jenna know if he was a good kid or not? She’d never even met the kid before. She was clearly drinking the Kool-Aid the rest of the town was when it came to Noah Barnes.
“Soooo,” Jenna sing-songed. “What are you up to tonight since you’ve got the night off from parenting duty?”
Asher paused as he contemplated how he was going to answer this. He hadn’t wanted Blake to know because of her issues with the shooting incident, but it felt strange to keep it from Jenna because, for better or worse, she was his best friend. She was his oldest friend, and even though they weren’t married anymore he still considered her one of his best friends. On the other hand, it felt strange to tell her about it.
But he didn’t have anyone else to talk to about it and he’d been going crazy for the past eight days.
Asher cleared his throat. “Do you remember when I got shot?”
The line went silent for several moments before Jenna responded flatly, “Is that a serious question?”
“Right, of course you do.”
Asher wiped his hands on his pants and realized that his palms were sweating. He was nervous talking about this, and he wasn’t sure why. It probably had to do with the feelings he’d been trying to deny that he had for ponytail a.k.a. bodega girl a.k.a. Ava Wells.
“Ash?” Jenna’s tone shifted from sarcastic to worried. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I just ran into the girl, er...the woman from that day.”
“From the shooting?”
“Yeah.”
“Where? Where did you run into her?”
“Here. In Hope Falls.”
“Hold on...did you know she lived there? Is that why you moved there?” Jenna’s voice was getting louder with every question she asked.
“No. How could I do that? I didn’t even know her name.”
“Did she know your name? Did she go there looking for you?”
Conversations like this reminded Asher of talks he and Jenna had had when they were together. She’d always had a very active imagination and her mind went a million miles a minute. She’d ask questions and before he could answer or explain anything her brain was already fixated on it so he felt more like he was having to defend himself. She made assumptions without having any facts.
