Jessie Belle: The Women of Merryton - Book One (33 page)

-Preview-

Taylor Lynne

The Women of Merryton –
Book Two

Chapter One

With
every heavy box I lifted and carried into the quaint two-story rental home, I
asked myself, why in the world did I move back here? Twice I had sworn I never
would, and twice, because of him, I found myself back in my hometown of
Merryton, Colorado. It sounded like such a happy, wonderful, merry place. And I
suppose for many it was just that. Sure, the scenery was second to none. Most
people would be envious to live nestled among the beautiful Rocky Mountains,
but for me the beautiful landscape just masked the pain of all that was lost
there.

I
set down the small, but heavy, box of books near the built-in bookcase in the
living room. I stretched my back and lamented at the late arrival of the
movers. I probably should have just waited for them to arrive, but if I didn’t
move I would only think, and I didn’t want to think. If I thought too much I would
run back to what I considered my real home in Birmingham, Alabama. I would run
back to Harry and Grace, the most wonderful grandparents and people on the
planet.  But I knew I couldn’t, because the most important person came with me.
And she? She wanted to stay.

I
guess after all these years it was only right for Ashley to get to know her dad
in ways other than phone calls and brief sporadic visits over the last fourteen
years. Now, at sixteen, she was practically a woman and very close to leaving
home herself. That thought pierced my heart and made my eyes well up with
tears. I didn’t know what I was going to do in two years when she graduated
from high school. I’ve teased that I’ll go with her and get that master’s
degree I’ve always talked about, but for some reason she always rolled her eyes
at the thought. I guess living in a dorm room with your mom would be very
uncool. I compromised that I would just buy a house near the campus of her
choosing, but it was still a no-go with her.

I
guess this summer I would get a little taste of what I had in store for me as I
agreed to let Ashley spend most of her time at her dad’s home watching her
nine-year-old half-sister, Emmy, while he ran his family medicine practice. I
still don’t know why I agreed to it. Easton, in my estimation, could have made
a greater effort to get to know our daughter over the last several years, but
he was too busy with his newest ex-wife, Kathryn, and their daughter. I would
like to say I wasn’t still bitter about it, but that would be a lie. It’s not
that I dwelt on it often, but when the man you love leaves you for another
woman, it’s a hard pill to swallow. And once you do swallow it, it’s hard to
keep down. Especially when the new woman makes it difficult for your daughter
to be part of his life. That’s what killed me the most. Ashley deserved to be
part of her dad’s life. I guess I just thought he would have fought harder to
make sure that happened.

Even
though I tried not to think of it, at least not his part in it, I still remember
the day she was born and how undeniably happy he was. I still remember him,
through his tears, kissing my forehead and thanking me for making him a daddy
and telling me how much he loved me and how much he loved our Ashley Lauren. I
had no idea it would all be over two years later, after being married for seven
years.

I
shook my head to clear my thoughts and walked back out to the large
semi-trailer parked in front of the house that held all of Ashley’s and my
belongings. I reminded myself to keep moving and to quit thinking about the
past. But then my past showed up, at least part of it. Easton wasn’t the only
ghost this town held for me.

Easton
rolled down the passenger window where his daughter Emmy (at least I assumed it
was his daughter, she looked like her mother) sat in his large, black Ford
truck. “Taylor, you made it.”

I
looked past his young, wary daughter to see him smiling tentatively at me. I
hadn’t seen him in a few years, but from what I could tell, time had been good
to Dr. Easton Cole. He was still handsome at forty-four. He still had some
golden blonde hair left, but his hair was darkening and graying slightly above
his ears and on the sides. And maybe his hairline was a tad off from where it
used to be, but he still looked like Easton.

“We
drove in late last night,” I called back. We had stayed in a hotel.

“Oh,
I thought you would have called.”

I
don’t know why he would think that, so I shrugged my shoulders and turned my
attention back to the myriad of boxes that waited for me. I grabbed the nearest
one that I thought I could carry and turned to walk it back down the ramp to
the house. It was there I found that my ex-husband had parked across the street
and he and his daughter were walking my way. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
I knew moving back here meant I would have to face him and deal with him again,
but I wasn’t sure I was really ready for it. Honestly, I was great at not facing
my problems. I was great at running away from him; but there he was, and with
him came his little girl that he apparently loved more than my little girl. Or
maybe he had just loved her mother more than he loved me. You know what? It
didn’t matter. I needed to quit thinking about it.

“Here,
let me carry that for you,” he said as he hurried over to me.

“I
got it.” I kept on walking toward the house.

He
followed alongside me, looking frustrated. I remembered that look. He often
gave it to me during our last year of marriage.
This was a bad idea
. I
didn’t want to remember all of these things, or deal with them.

I
at least let him hold the door open for me. He smiled at me as I walked in. He
and his daughter followed. I set the box marked “dining room” down accordingly
in the dining room. I had no choice then but to look at the father and
daughter. I had to admit she was darling. She was pretty like her mother, right
down to the long, lanky legs. She had long brown hair that needed to be combed
and she had brown eyes like Ashley and Easton that were looking at me with
interest.

Easton
looked between the two of us. “Emmy,” he said as he looked adoringly at his
daughter. “This is Ms.—” He caught his faux pas.

We
all shared the same last name. I kept Cole so Ashley and I would have the same
last name, and for some other reasons. Yes, I had issues.

I
held out my hand to her to cover up Easton’s mishap. “You can call me Taylor.”

She
slowly reached out her hand to me. I took it and squeezed it gently and smiled
at her. After all, it wasn’t her fault her daddy chose her mommy over me, and
her over Ashley. She smiled briefly and then turned into her daddy. She seemed
awfully shy. Easton put a reassuring arm around her and smiled at me.

“I
suppose you’re here to see Ashley. She just ran to the grocery store for me.”

“I
can’t believe she drives already,” he responded.

“Yep,”
was all I could think of to say. I mean, it was weird for me that my baby girl
was that old, but she’d had her permit and license for well over a year now, so
I was used to it. And as he hadn’t seen her since she was thirteen … I was a
little touchy about it.

“Well,”
he said nervously, “we can help you bring in boxes.”

“No.
I hired movers, they should be here soon.”

“Oh.”
He looked around the old house that was newly renovated. “So, you still like
older homes?” he asked.

“Yep.”
I guess that was going to be my word for the day. Not the most intelligent of
words, but definitely Southern and definitely ex-husband worthy.

I
decided ignoring him was probably the best way to go at this juncture. “So
Emmy, what grade are you going into after this summer?”

She
looked up from her daddy’s side. “Fourth,” she said ever so quietly.

“That’s
a fun grade. Do you like school?”

She
looked uncomfortable. “It’s okay.”

Her
answered surprised me. Ashley loved everything about school, from the academics
to the sports to the social. She embraced it all. It was one of the reasons I
was so surprised when she said she wanted to move here. I thought for sure she
wouldn’t want to leave her friends and school behind. She was quite the popular
girl.

“Well,
tell me your favorite thing about school.”

“I
love to read.”

I
smiled kindly at her. “Me, too. What’s your favorite book?”

She
thought for a moment. “
Bridge to Terabithia
.”

I
was surprised by that answer. It was an awfully heavy book to be a favorite for
such a young girl. I looked up at Easton to confirm her choice. I was expecting
Harry Potter
, or maybe even
The Chronicles of Narnia
.

Easton
nodded his head yes, but he looked concerned. I wondered why, and then
remembered it wasn’t my problem.

“Well,
Ashley has lots of books and she likes to read, too. I’m sure she would be
happy to bring some over with her when she watches you.”

She
didn’t respond other than to turn back into her daddy. I got the feeling
something wasn’t quite right, other than the fact that her parents were
recently divorced and her mom ran off with her personal trainer. I felt great
sympathy for her. At least Ashley never remembered us being married. It had
just been her and me since she was two, and even before that it was a whole lot
of me and her. That’s what you get when you marry a doctor and have a baby
while he’s doing his residency and then starting up his own practice. You get a
whole lot of lonely days and nights. Again, I’m not thinking about it.

Thankfully
the connecting piece in our lives was back and, even better, she was back with
food. I was starving. From the window I watched my beauty walking up the
sidewalk burdened with grocery bags, looking as lovely as ever. She was
naturally beautiful, with her olive skin and dark brown hair and big, innocent,
brown eyes (that looked a lot like Emmy’s). To me she was perfection.

“Momma,”
she called out, Southern accent and all, as she came through the front door.

Both
her dad I and walked toward her.

Ashley
looked surprised by our company. “Dad …”

He
stood a few feet away from her still holding onto Emmy as he looked her over.

I
went to her and took the bags from her hand.

“Ashley,”
he muttered. “How are you?”

It
was kind of a lame thing to say to your daughter that you hadn’t seen in
forever, but who was I to judge?

I
stayed to watch the interaction between the two.

She
smiled. “Fabulous.”

Oh,
how I loved that kid. She was always happy.

Easton
looked relieved and smiled in return. I guess he didn’t know what to expect
from her. She could have easily hated him, but that wasn’t her. Not that she
considered him the best dad ever, far from it, in fact, but Ashley never hated
anyone and this was her decision to be here. She wanted to know her father and
her sister. And I wouldn’t deny her that opportunity even though it meant I was
going to have to finally deal with my past and issues.

“So
Ashley, this is Emmy—your sister.”

It
was so weird for me that Ashley had a sibling that wasn’t mine. I knew it was
weird for Ashley too, and it was sad they hadn’t met before now, but Kathryn,
Easton’s ex-wife number two, didn’t want Ashley around.

Emmy
cautiously looked up and Ashley grinned at her. Realizing her hesitation,
Ashley approached her and knelt in front of her, hugging her. Emmy didn’t
naturally or quickly reciprocate, but after a moment she briefly put her little
arms around Ashley.

Easton’s
brown eyes beamed at the sight. Then his eyes caught mine and he looked
concerned again. I took that as my cue to turn and take the groceries back to
the kitchen. It was the perfect cottage kitchen with antique white cabinets,
wooden butcher-block countertops, and a farmhouse-style sink. I adored it—at
least I would for the next two years. After that I was hightailing it back to
the South to my own home that I was currently renting out. This was a temporary
situation in which I probably would go temporarily insane.

As
I began to put the groceries away I was joined by Easton, and he was alone.

“Do
you need help?” he offered.

“No
thanks, I’ve got it covered,” I said with my back turned to him as I loaded up
the stainless steel refrigerator.

“I
cleared my whole day so I could help you and Ashley settle in.”

I
shut the refrigerator and turned back to him, surprised by his statement.
“Well, like I said, I hired movers, and we’re pretty self-sufficient.” I didn’t
want to be out-right rude and tell him to leave, but I didn’t want him there
all day. We, unfortunately, weren’t the kind of exes that claim to be the best
of friends and still love each other. Besides, I never believed anyone when
they said that, anyway. I mean seriously, if you’re still the best of friends
and love each other, you would still be married. I knew
I
would be. I
used to be. But we were not friends, and there was a whole lot of love lost
between us, and it was more love than I cared to remember because it ached me
to my center. It left a hole in me that had never been filled. But again, I
wasn’t thinking about it.