Trusting You: The Switched Series book two (4 page)

“Do you really think we should leave her all night with Ash? I mean I love him like a brother too, but seriously,” Collin says, speaking for the first time since we have been in this room. Why would he bring Ash up now?

“Oh great, so she already has Ash tied around her little finger too. I honestly don’t know why y’all would even want me to come back home with you. You have the perfect daughter now,” Molly says, turning over so she’s not facing anyone.

“You are our daughter, Molly. You always have been and always will be. This piece of paper doesn’t change anything. We will always love you and we want you to come home with us so we can take care of you. We have not seen you near enough in the past few years, and I really want to change that,” my mom says, going over to kiss her on the forehead. “Get some rest. I will be here when you wake up.”

“I need to make another call,” I say, getting up and walking back out the door. I get my phone out and dial Ash, who of course doesn’t answer. I scroll through my numbers and find Callie’s. Thankfully, she answers on the first ring.

“Hello,” she answers.

“Hey Callie, how’s the weather there?”

“It’s really dark and raining. I had just turned the weather on when you called,” she says.

“I think we are all going to stay here tonight since the storms are so bad here right now.” There is no way I’m telling her we are staying here to baby Molly. “If you are uncomfortable staying there with Ash, tell me and I will get back tonight somehow, or I can make him go somewhere else,” I say.

“You are not coming home in this weather and you are not kicking him out of his own house. It will fine. I’m not big on storms, so I would rather somebody be here with me anyway,” she says reminding me that she doesn’t like to be alone. I really don’t think I should leave her there tonight. Maybe I can leave once Molly goes to sleep and they can tell her I stayed all night.

“Is Ash there? I tried to call his phone, but he didn’t answer,” I ask hoping I can warn him that she doesn’t like to be alone at night.

“He is in the shower. He was outside doing something and just got in. Do you want him to call you when he gets out?” she asks.

“No, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Is he treating you okay?”

“Of course he is, he even took me horseback riding and it was so much fun. How is Molly?” she suddenly asks, like she is trying to change the subject. I have a feeling there is definitely something going on with these two now.

“She’s good. They think she may get to go home tomorrow.”

“Have y’all told her about me yet?” she asks.

“We did. She took it pretty good,” I say, knowing that is so far from the truth. I really don’t want Callie to know how much Molly already hates her. “I think she was glad you weren’t here with us today. I think it’s going to be a lot harder than we thought. She was pretty upset her biological parents are dead and she will never get to meet them. I think mom has convinced her to come home with them for now so she will have someone to take care of her. She seemed a little surprised they still wanted her there. This is just a really awkward situation. I’m sorry we all left you alone today,” I say suddenly realizing we all should not have left her today. She may not be the one in the hospital, but that doesn’t mean this hasn’t been just as hard on her.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me. My car should be here in the morning and I think it would be best if I stayed in a hotel for the rest of the time. I really hate putting people out,” she says. Maybe there’s not anything going on with her and Ash after all. I really need to get back tonight because there is no way I am going to let her leave.

“Absolutely not, we will figure something out, but I don’t want you staying by yourself. Are you sure Ash is being nice?” I ask one more time.

“Of course he is. Why would you even think that?” she asks. Maybe it’s time to tell her a little about Ash.

“Ash has been through a lot. He doesn’t let a lot of people in and sometimes he comes across as being rude. He hates to talk about himself and his family. So I guess, just don’t ask him any questions and you should be fine,” I say hoping she can avoid making him in a bad mood by mentioning family.

“I will try to remember that,” she says sounding distracted.

“Try to stay safe tonight and I will be back tomorrow. Tell Ash to remember what I said. Bye Callie,” I say trying to hold back my laugh. I’m sure she has no idea that I have threatened to kill him if he touches her. I put my phone back up before I give in and call Leighton again. I’m not sure why I have an urge to call that girl, but I guess I need to wait until I have an actual reason to call her. I start walking down the hallway back to Molly’s room when I notice my mom is waiting for me outside her door. I go over and give her a hug.

“How are you holding up?” I ask, already knowing the answer.

“I have definitely been better,” she says with a small smile. “I need you to go back home tonight. I hate leaving Callie there by herself. I know she has Ash and I am sure he would never let anything happen to her, but I would just feel better if some of us went home. I don’t think Molly is going to let me, so that leaves you. You can go ahead and give her the results and tell her I will come by tomorrow to talk,” she says, like she actually believes that is a good idea.

“I really think we should wait until you are there to give her the results. You are her mother. I think she is going to want both of y’all there when she finds out,” I say.

“She has only met us once and honestly I am not convinced she even likes us. I really think it is going to be a while before she doesn’t hate me, but I know she has you and she trusts you. Believe me, this is the best way,” she says with tears in her eyes.

“Why would you think she hates you? That’s ridiculous,” I say trying to figure out if I have missed something.

“I had the wrong daughter for twenty six years and never realized it. I’m pretty sure that isn’t easily forgiven. I’m just really glad she has you. Jaxon said he would go back with you. Be very careful and call me no matter how late and let me know how she is. I need to know,” she says, before turning around and heading into the room before Jaxon comes out.

“You ready to go?” he asks.

“Yeah, maybe the storm will hold off a little while longer. It’s going to be a long night either way,” I say, heading back out to my truck. I should probably call and tell Callie or Ash that we are headed back home. I think I would rather surprise them and see what is really going on thought.

Finally, two hours later we are pulling into the driveway. It looks like all of the lights are off except maybe the TV. I am hoping they are still awake. Jaxon and I head up the porch and I unlock the door. As soon as we walk in, Ash jumps straight up from the couch. I look at him and then down to Callie, who is still sitting on the couch.

“What’s going on?” I ask. Ash just stands there like he is trying to come up with something really good. Great, there is something going on. All of the girls in the world that literally throw themselves at him daily and he wants this one. I should have known.

“We were keeping an eye on the weather. It’s storming out there,” Callie says, looking from me to Ash. She is quick, I’ll give her that. At least they still have clothes on.

“I know it’s storming, I just drove two hours in this awful mess to get here,” I say.

“Why? I thought you were going to stay there.” Does she really think I would leave her here all night after her telling me a little over twenty four hours ago that she doesn’t sleep well? I wonder if she has told Ash about this.

“I knew you didn’t sleep well at night sometimes. I got to thinking about what you said last night and I didn’t want to leave you here alone. I didn’t know Ash would stay up all night babysitting you,” I say, giving Ash a warning glance to let him know I now have right to shoot him.

“That’s really sweet, but you didn’t have to do that. I’ve made it twenty six years without you. I think I could have made it one night. Besides, he wasn’t babysitting me. He was keeping a watch on the weather. I’m the one who fell asleep,” she says. My mom was so wrong. This is not going to go well when I tell her my mom didn’t come back with me to give her these results. “Thank you for coming back though,” she adds. Ash sits back down beside her then and they start having a whispered conversation. How did I not see this coming? I walk over to the couch to see if I can listen when they go completely quiet.

“Are you sure I’m not missing something here? What have you two been doing all night?” I ask, sitting in a chair across from them. I think they are finally going to answer me when a huge streak of lightning strikes something right outside. I jump up at the same time Ash does to go look out the window.

“Do you think it got the barn?” I ask Ash. I’m pretty sure it didn’t, I just really need to have a quick conversation with my best friend.

“It could have. I’m going to check on the horses. I’ll be right back,” he says, grabbing a raincoat.

“You can’t go out in this. Did you not just hear that?” Callie asks, grabbing Ash by the arm. This one is already in deep. I really wish my best friend listened to me on this one. I will kill him if he hurts her. Ash looks straight at me before turning around to Callie and grabbing her hand.

“I’ll be fine. I just need to make sure the horses can’t get out. I’ll be right back,” he says to her.

“I’ll go with him. Jaxon stay here with her. Don’t let her come outside. We’ll be right back,” I say, before heading out of the door behind Ash.

We barely made it out the door before Ash stops and turns around to me.

“You can shoot me if you want, but I cannot stay away from her. I promise I will never hurt her, but I can’t promise to stay away from her,” he says before I even have a chance to say anything.

“You know you can have any girl you want, why this one?”

“I don’t know what to tell you. For the first time in a long time, she makes me want to tell her things. She makes me realize maybe life isn’t so bad after all,” he says. “I don’t know how to explain it, but I know there is no way I can stay away from her. I am so sorry.”

“Don’t hurt her. I will kill you if you do. She may need you later. I have the DNA test. My mom sent me to give her the results while she stayed with Molly,” I say, watching him shake his head.

“Why would she not want to be here when her daughter finds out that her mother is alive and she gets a second chance with her? I may have just met this girl, but I can assure you that is not going to go well,” he says, before heading back inside.

Telling Callie that my mom chose to stay with Molly over coming here to be with her, was probably the hardest thing I have ever had to do. And I have done a lot of crazy horrible mess in my life. How could my mom even think that was a good idea?

It’s three in the morning now and I still haven’t called my mom to tell her how the conversation with Callie went. Maybe I should just wait until morning. She is probably asleep now anyway. I finally get laid down and almost asleep when my phone starts ringing. I grab it off of the table and look down. My mom, of course, I guess she couldn’t wait until morning after all.

“Hey mom,” I answer.

“I couldn’t wait any longer. How is Callie?”

“Not too good to be honest. I told you we should have waited until you and dad were here too. She was not too happy about you staying with Molly and not being here when she opened those results. That had to be one of the hardest things I had to witness,” I say.

“I really didn’t think she would want me there. I took the wrong baby home and for twenty six years I raised the wrong child. She will never forgive me for that.”

“She is actually a great person. She has had a rough few years, but she has us now. We just need to make sure she doesn’t run. I’ll try to keep her here, but I think you need to talk to her as soon as possible. Just be honest with her about everything. I know Molly wants nothing to do with her, but if this is going to work, they are going to have to get along.”

“I know, but right now Molly is refusing to meet her. I will spend as much time as I can with Callie, but I’m not going to force Molly to meet her before she is ready,” she says. “I will stop by as soon as I can in tomorrow. I think we are going to get to come home pretty early. I’ll talk to you later. Get some rest.”

“You try to get some rest too. Be careful coming home,” I say, before hanging up. I am exhausted and unfortunately I don’t see getting any sleep before all of this mess is over. I also know if it’s up to Molly, this mess will never be over.

I have successfully kept Callie here a month. It hasn’t been as hard as I had originally thought, of course Molly has still been refusing to meet Callie, but my parents have talked her into doing it tonight at their annual Fourth of July party. I don’t think that’s the best time and place, but my parents wanted it that way. I have probably seen my family more in the past month than I have in years thanks to Callie. My family can’t seem to stay away from her any more than I can. Ash has definitely got it bad too. I don’t remember ever seeing him so happy. I thought they were a bad idea in the beginning, but now I am thankful they hit it off. I am hoping he’s enough to keep her here.