Authors: Elaine Cantrell
Patrick looked as shocked as if she’d punched him one. Which really she should have done. He stared at the table and looked so distraught that Peyton was suddenly glad she hadn’t hit him.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ll see to it that everyone on the staff knows what really happened.”
Clearing her name should have been more important to her, but at the moment, she wanted to see Jake more than she wanted Patrick to clear her name. She shoved her chair away from the table. “I’m going to see Jake.”
She took a deep breath, said a quick prayer for courage, and knocked on the office door. Maybe she heard him call come in and maybe not, but she went in anyway. Jake sat on the denim loveseat staring out the window. “Hey,” she said. “I need to talk to you.”
Jake refused to answer her.
Peyton closed the door and sat down beside him on the loveseat. “Look at me,” she commanded, making her voice as authoritative as possible.
She gasped when he turned his head. She didn’t think she’d ever seen such pain on anyone’s face. “Jake! Don’t look so sad! Is it possible that you still don’t understand? I love you. I want you. If you’re worried about Patrick, I explained about Drew and the jewelry, and he apologized to me. He’ll tell the rest of the staff so nobody will be mad at me. We can be happy.” She cupped his ruined cheek in her palm. “I love you so much.”
“Don’t.”
Peyton winced as if he had slapped her. He sounded so cold! “Don’t what? Don’t love you? It’s too late for that.”
“That’s your problem, isn’t it?” He stood up and glared at her. “Leave me alone. I don’t want to marry you or be a part of your life in any way. Is it possible that
you
still don’t understand what I’ve said? We don’t have any kind of a future together. In fact, I’d appreciate it if you’d leave Rest Thy Head as soon as possible.”
He stalked out of the office and slammed the door behind him.
Stunned, she made no move to follow. He’d made himself very plain. Whether he loved her or not really didn’t matter. Whether she took the jewelry or not didn’t matter. Whether he was afraid he couldn’t offer her a good future because of his scars didn’t matter. All that mattered was he’d made up his mind to live his life without her, and she had no idea what more she could say to change his mind.
Somehow, she found the strength to leave the office. She met Sandra coming down the hallway the minute she opened the door. “I’m glad you’re okay,” Sandra said. She fidgeted for a minute. “I’m sorry for thinking…the jewelry…”
“Thanks,” Peyton interrupted. A part of her was glad for the staff to learn the truth, but she didn’t want to talk to anyone right now. Her feelings felt too lacerated and raw from Jake’s rejection to hold a conversation with anyone.
She turned around as Sandra walked on and saw Patrick, Ashley, and her mother staring at her. “I’m ready to go, Mother. I packed yesterday before Drew…”
Eleanor hurried to Peyton and hugged her. “We don’t have to leave right this minute. Wait until you’ve had a good night’s sleep first. It’s a long drive home after what you’ve been through.”
“No. I want to leave as soon as possible.” Or at least Jake wanted her to.
“It’s your call. Ashley, have you decided to stay?”
Peyton saw Ashley’s lip tremble and knew the answer before she even spoke. “No, I haven’t changed my mind. I’m coming with you.”
“Just checking.”
An hour later they left Rest Thy Head. Peyton stared at the grounds as her car moved down the drive. “I didn’t get to see it in the fall,” she said aloud. “I bet it’s real pretty when the leaves turn.”
Her eyes prickled as she caught sight of Reggie ambling across the pasture.
Goodbye, Reggie.
Goodbye, Jake.
Goodbye
.
Chapter Eighteen
Peyton turned into her mother’s driveway and cut off her engine. Thank goodness this long, dreadful day had finally ended. She sat there for a minute or so, trying to get up the energy to move, before she retrieved her briefcase from the back seat and limped to the house. Her high heels were killing her, which was her own fault because she ought to have known better than to wear them to work.
She kicked her shoes off at the door and went upstairs to change clothes. Since she got home first, she had to start dinner for everyone. Maybe some spaghetti would do. If she fried some hamburger, she could add it to a jar of spaghetti sauce. They had a bag of lettuce in the refrigerator that she could use for a salad.
She almost smiled when she thought of what Jake would say about her thrown together meal. Her mouth still watered for his peach stuffed crepes. Jake. Wonderful, strong, heroic, fabulous, sad, pitiful, scarred Jake.
She thought of him a thousand times a day, and it made her feel dreadful every single time she did. Until the very moment she walked out the door she had hoped and prayed he’d ask her to stay on at the inn, but he had let her go without a word.
She gave a big sigh and dumped the spaghetti sauce in the pan with the ground beef. It was no surprise she hated her job, a job she’d once longed for. Anything that separated her from Jake would torture her. Better get used to it, though. Jake didn’t want her, a fact he’d made abundantly clear. In retrospect, she saw her feelings had been much stronger than his. Maybe he was still in love with Carolyn, who had treated him so badly when he came home. At any rate, Jake Douglas would never be a part of her life.
She heard Ashley’s car pull into the driveway. For days after they came home she had expected Patrick to come after Ashley, but he hadn’t, and gradually she’d given up hope for Ashley too. Ashley had found a job cleaning rooms at a local motel, but as quickly as Peyton and Eleanor could save the money, they intended to send her to a local tech school to get a degree in hospitality. With a degree, she could be the manager of a nice place.
Ashley had brought the evening paper with her. “Look at this,” she said as she dropped the paper on the table and set Griffin’s diaper bag in the chair.
Peyton picked up the paper and read, ‘Local Man To Undergo Evaluation At State Hospital’. “Poor Drew. I hope they can help him.”
Ashley rolled her eyes. She had never pretended to like Drew, and since the kidnapping she had nothing to offer him, not even her sympathy. “As long as he leaves you alone I’m happy.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Peyton watched as Ashley busied herself with washing Griffin’s hands. Ashley hadn’t had a lot to say since they came back home. Of course it didn’t take a genius to know why; Ashley missed Patrick as much as she missed Jake.
Peyton bit her lip as sudden tears filled her eyes. Why did she ever have the misfortune to find Jake and Patrick Douglas?
Her thoughts turned to Annie, who most definitely was not a ghost. Jake must have been really stressed to imagine such nonsense. She wished she had a way to find Annie, but even though she’d looked in the phone book and on the internet no Annie had turned up.
However, if nothing else, one good thing had come from their time at Rest Thy Head. Eleanor had finally realized she had her priorities wrong. She still occasionally lapsed into her old habits, but when she did they’d clear their throats and roll their eyes, and she’d back off. Yes, everyone liked that change.
Her chin came up. She and Ashley would be fine too. It would just take a little time to forget the Douglas brothers. She and her sister were survivors. Weren’t they proving that every single day that they got up and led a normal life? She hoped she forgot about Jake soon, though, because at present her heart felt like Reggie had stomped on it all night long.
***
Ashley finished room 101 and pushed her cart next door. Why did people have to be so messy? Did they live like pigs at home too? She knocked on the door and heard someone call a muffled, “Come in.”
“What!” A tremendous helium balloon had smacked her in the face the moment she opened the door. The entire room seemed filled with balloons, each of which said ‘I love you.’ “Hello,” she called. “Is anyone here?”
Nobody answered. Her eyes fell on the small table in the window. A bottle of champagne sat there along with two glasses and a small package wrapped in silver and tied with a white bow.
She heard a sound in the bathroom and called again. “Hello. Is anyone here?”
The bathroom door slowly opened to reveal Patrick Douglas. Ashley gave a small cry of astonishment as her hand went to her throat.
His face flushed; he didn’t seem to know what to do with his hands. “Hello, Ashley. How’ve you been?”
“F-f-f…Fine.”
“Well, I haven’t been fine.”
Okay, this was probably a dream. It wasn’t the first time she’d dreamed of Patrick and Rest Thy Head. As long as the dreams were pleasant, why not play along? She stripped off a pair of rubber gloves and brushed her hair out of her eyes. “Why not?”
“Because I missed you too much.”
Better wake up now. She’d regret it if she didn’t.
“Ashley? Please say something even if you tell me to get out and never speak to you again.”
Ashley shook her head to clear it. He held out his arms, and she flew across the room. “Oh, I missed you too!”
She’d have stayed in his arms forever, but all too soon Patrick stepped away from her. “I brought you a present.”
Ashley’s eyes shifted toward the table. “Yes, that’s it.” He smiled at her. “Would you care to open it now?”
“I…why are all these balloons in the room? Why are you here?”
His face was shining with what she could only identify as hope. He gave her a gentle push toward the table. “Open the present, and you’ll find out why I’m here.”
Ashley took a chair and wished with all of her heart she had on something besides her tacky uniform. Gently, she opened her package, taking care not to even crease the paper. She took the lid off the box and saw a little, black case with the name of a jeweler on the cover. It must be earrings, but truthfully, that was a strange gift. She hadn’t seen him in months. Why would he give her earrings now? Was this his way of apologizing for the way he suspected Peyton?
“Open it,” Patrick urged.
Taking a deep breath, Ashley opened the box. Her eyes bugged when she saw the ring. “It’s a diamond!” Yes, it certainly was. The band was plain, simple, and narrow, but the diamond solitaire would blind you with its sparkle.
Patrick took her hand in his. “I love you, Ashley. Will you marry me?”
“But…” It was all happening so fast!
“Will you marry me?”
Ashley forced herself to think of some very good reasons why she shouldn’t. “Peyton…”
“I’m not asking her to marry me; I’m asking you. Will you marry me?”
She should say no. Neither he nor Jake had behaved very well, but her heart refused to let her throw his love away. Her eyes filled with tears of joy as she passed the beautiful ring to him and held out her hand.
Patrick slid the ring on and kissed it. “I love you, honey. Let’s have a short engagement. I can’t stand to be separated from you and Griffin another minute.”
The knot in Ashley’s chest almost prevented her from speaking. Her voice croaked, but she knew he understood her words. “Love you more.”
All at once they were laughing, crying, and hugging with a little kiss thrown in every now and again. “Sometimes,” Ashley cried, “dreams do come true.”
***
“Peyton O’Malley?”
Peyton looked up from her computer and saw a delivery boy carrying a huge bouquet of pretty fall flowers. “Yes. What can I do for you?”
The boy set the flowers down with a thump. “The flowers are for you.”
A head popped up from the cubicle beside Peyton. “Who sent you flowers?” demanded Patty Trimnal.
Peyton gave the boy a tip and looked for a card. “I don’t know, and I can’t find a card.”
Patty wagged her eyebrows. “Maybe you have a secret admirer.”
Peyton snorted. “Yeah, and maybe the sun’ll come up in the west tomorrow.”
“A girl can always hope.”
Yes, she could, but unlike Patty, Peyton knew firsthand how stupid that was. First Drew and then Jake had disappointed her; she’d had enough man trouble to last her a lifetime, and so had her mother and Ashley. The three of them could get along just fine without men to complicate things. In retrospect, she wished she had refused to accept the flowers. She shoved them into the corner and continued her work.
The morning dragged. Would she have hated her job so much if she’d never gone to Rest Thy Head? Stupid! Stupid! Don’t think about it. It seemed like forever before lunchtime. Patty stood up and stretched. “Want to go to lunch? There’s a new little bistro that opened around the corner. People say it’s good.”
“Yeah, I’ll go.”
The weather had turned chilly overnight, so they put on their jackets before taking the elevator downstairs. “Look at that guy standing near the guard’s desk,” Patty whispered as they stepped off the elevator. “Wonder what happened to him?”
Peyton looked, and her eyes locked with those of Jake Douglas! Her heart almost leaped out of her chest. Her knees started to shake. “I’m sorry, Patty. I can’t go to lunch today.”
“Why not? Wha…”
Peyton didn’t even feel the floor underneath her feet. She forgot how bad her shoes hurt. She floated across the floor as effortlessly as Annie had ever done, and Jake took her in his arms and kissed her.
“Did you get my flowers?” he asked, his voice sounding somewhat breathless to Peyton.
She nodded and resisted the urge to kiss him again. “Why didn’t you include a card?”
“I was afraid to.” He reached for her hand. “I thought you might not take them if you knew who sent them. In fact, I’ve been waiting down here for two hours now trying to get up the courage to face you.”
Peyton pulled her hand away. He owed her some answers. “Why are you here? You made it clear that you don’t want anything to do with me.”
Jake captured her hand again. “I came to apologize for any hurt I caused you. I love you more than life itself, and if you’ll forgive me I promise to spend forever making it up to you.”
She jerked her hand away for the second time. He had rejected her because of his face, and it still looked the same as ever. “What about your face? The scars haven’t gone away. They probably never will.”