Wash (9 page)

He smiled and shrugged. “Just trying
to help.”

After checking our luggage, we were
told we had a three-hour delay before our flight to Arizona, so I
curled up in the airport chair and started tapping away on my
laptop, trying to catch up on work.

Jake came over and held a Pepsi out to
me. “Still your favorite, I presume.”

I nodded. “I’m surprised you remember.
Thank you.”

“
I remember more than you
know,” he said, sitting down next to me.

I gave him a fake smile and went back
to my laptop.

“
I see you’re taking your
work with us.”

“
I’ve got a business to
run.”

“
Yeah. Are those
reports?”

I looked up from my computer. “You’re
bored. You’ve always wanted to talk whenever you get
bored.”

He inched closer and whispered in my
ear, “Remember what we used to do to make time fly?”

I gazed up into his eyes. “You mean
when we used to tangle up the sheets?” I said without even
flinching and not caring who could hear us; I had no problem
embarrassing him in public after the way he’d humiliated me in
front of all of the most important people in my life.

“
No. It was more than sex.
We made beautiful love, and then I’d hold you all night
and—”

I stood. “I’m gonna go sit somewhere
else,” I said, then hurried to a different seat without even
looking back.

As I expected he would, Jake followed
me. “You forgot your Pepsi…and I’m sorry if I offended you in any
way, shape, or form.” He shifted his stance. “We’re not strangers
though, Ashly. We were best friends, and I loved you more than I’ve
ever loved anyone.”

My lips pressed into a flat line.
“Hmm. And you show it by being a no-show at our wedding?
Interesting.”

The intense pain in his face was
evident. “I know. I was such an idiot, and that dumb decision cost
me the best thing that ever happened to me. What hurt the most was
losing my best friend.”

When they called for our flight to
board, I felt relieved. I hurried onto the plane, settled down in
my seat, and began to flip through a magazine someone had left
behind.

“
We get to ride donkeys
down into the Grand Canyon,” Jake said, “just like the
Brady Bunch
on that one
episode.”

I chuckled softly.

“
What’s so
funny?”

“
It’s ironic that my mother
has us riding down on jackasses?” I said. “I’m sure it’s some kind
of symbolism from the grave.”

“
And what would that
be?”

“
Think really hard about
what a jackass is. It can be a Rocky Mountain canary, burro,
donkey, he-ass, jack, male ass, neddy, or, my personal favorite…a
Jake,” I muttered under my breath.

“
What? Did you just call me
a jackass?”

The flight attendant’s voice cut into
our conversation. “I have your drink, miss.”

I pointed to an empty seat at the
front of the first-class section. “Is there any way I can move up
there?” I asked. “I could use a little more privacy.”

“
Is everything
okay?”

I reached for the drink she handed me.
“I just can’t sit next to this gentleman for such a long flight…and
calling him a gentleman is putting it nicely.”

She smiled widely. “Okay. If you’d
like to move, it’s no problem.”

“
Thank you,” I
said.

“
Ashly…” Jake
started.

My gaze narrowed. “Listen, my mother’s
will doesn’t require me to ride next to you on the
plane.”

He flashed a smile. “Right, but it
does stipulate that we have to share a one-bedroom whenever that’s
a possibility.”

I shot sharp daggers at him with my
eyes. “The room, maybe, but not the bed. Wherever we have to stay,
I hope the floor is as cold and hard for you as you were to
me!”

With that, I turned and
headed for the front seat, not even bothering to look back to see
his expression. I was still too mad and bitter to be out on some
personal
Amazing Race
with him. I’d never considered myself an ice-cold bitch, and I
didn’t want to be, but around him, I just couldn’t help it. The
truth was, I would need years of therapy to get over what Jake had
done to me, if I could ever get over it at all. In some way, shape,
or form, I knew I’d always think about him and would forever wonder
where we’d be if he hadn’t left me high and dry.
Where would five years of love have taken us?
Would we have children? Would they have looked like me or
him?
He’d destroyed the future we were
supposed to have, and I’d gotten burned in the process. Jake, the
man I’d once loved and trusted, had thrown our love away and made a
joke out of it, and I was still furious at him for that. Whoever
said, “Time heals all wounds” was a liar—or at least that was what
my heart was screaming.

Chapter 6

We checked into
a historic hotel located at the Grand Canyon
National Park,
El Tovar Hotel, situated
directly on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. As we approached the
lodge, I noticed elk grazing on the grass in front of the lodge; I
couldn’t resist taking out my camera and snapping a few
pictures.

The lobby was behind a
broad entry veranda and extended up to four stories topped with a
turret, pyramidal roof. I loved the rustic ambience as I peered up
at the chandeliers and dark-stained wood. The ranch-style furniture
was done in wine-red fabric, and Indian rugs adorned the
floors.
The architecture and décor
re
minded me of a
fancy hunting lodge; there were even mounted deer, elk, moose,
and
one snarling wild boar. As I watched a
woman load piles of firewood into the lobby fireplace, a memory
flooded my mind of Jake holding me in front of a blazing inferno at
a ski lodge where we’d vacationed. His lips had crashed against
mine as we made mad, passionate love by the fire. My cheeks blushed
as I basked in the nostalgia of happier times.

“
Ashly,” he said,
interrupting my thoughts of a version of him I liked a lot better,
“our reservation isn’t ready yet. Didn’t you hear me calling your
name?”

My mouth dropped, and it took a minute
for my brain to function. “I was just thinking of how much this
place reminds me of that ski lodge we used to visit with the
gang.”

He grinned. “Yeah. Lots of good
memories there.”

I looked away and bit my lip hard,
wondering if he was thinking the same thing I was. From the wide
smile on his face, I was pretty sure he had the same sexy memory on
his mind.

“
The hotel clerk said we
can relax here, get some breakfast, or sit on the porch that
overlooks the canyon while they work all this out,” Jake
said.

My heart spiked. “I’d love to see the
canyon.” I’d dreamt about seeing the Grand Canyon for my entire
life, and now I was there, at a lodge that overlooked the scenic
landscape.

He touched my back and smiled even
more widely. “This way.”

The natural
splendor of the place was so amazing that I couldn’t possibly stop
snapping photographs. The hotel offered a perfect, panoramic,
mind-blowing view, just 100 yards from the rim. It was absolutely
exhilarating to be able to stare straight down into the
canyon.

“
It’s gorgeous,” Jake said, always one to state the
obvious.

“
I
knew it would be beautiful, but I never expected a view like this,”
I said in awe. It was so magnificent that my heart was pounding a
million miles a minute.

“
And to think, this is just the beginning of the wonders we’re
going to see together on this little field trip your mother planned
for us,” Jake said.

I met his gaze
and shot him a half-smile, then went back to taking pictures. A few
minutes passed, and I moved to sit down in a rocking chair on the
porch.

Jake walked
over and handed me a tall, frosty glass of lemonade.

“
Thanks,” I said.

He took a long
sip, then smiled.

“
What?” I asked curiously.

“
Remember that lemonade stand we made for the fair at school?”
he asked.

I couldn’t
help but laugh at the memory. “Tenth grade, right?”

“
Yeah. I’ll never forget it. It was our first project
together.”

I cringed. “We
didn’t sell much. Of course, I guess it didn’t help that I used
salt instead of sugar.”

“
Don’t forget about those seeds I got in there by
accident.”

“
I’ll never forget the look on Mrs. Smith’s face,” I said.
“That had to be pure torture.”

“
I
know. I can’t believe she pretended to like it.”

“
The principal wasn’t so nice. She shut us down,
remember?”

I sipped my
cold drink, then laughed some more. “Yeah, we definitely made the
worst lemonade ever.”

He gazed into
my eyes. “See?”

“
What?”

“
We
can
have fun and laugh as
friends.”

The pain still
cut deep, in spite of my momentary forgetfulness. “I’m trying
because we have to travel together for the time being, but I don’t
know if I can promise you friendship.”

“
That’s okay. We’ll work on it.”

“
I
do want to apologize for being so cold to you on the
plane.”

“
It’s completely understandable.”

“
I’ll be cordial, but just don’t expect me to be your chum on
this vacation, okay?”

His eyes
softened. “Are you ever gonna find it in your heart to forgive
me?”

“
I-I just don’t know. Maybe if we give it more
time.”

“
I’ve got all the time in the world.” He glanced around. “This
place is nice—a little history, luxury, and scenic nature, all
rolled into one.”

“
It’s spectacular,” I said.

“
I
love to enjoy the outdoors. Maybe we could walk the rim trail
together.”

I yawned. “I
don’t know. I’m really tired.”

“
Perhaps tomorrow.”

“
Please don’t get your hopes up. Maybe it’d be better if we
wait till we can hitch a ride on the donkeys.”

“
Yeah,” he said, almost sadly. “I think I’ll go check to see if
our room is ready,” he said, then walked off.

Our
room was more beautiful than I’d imagined a hotel room could be.
T
he Mary Coulter suite was one of a few
rooms in the El Tovar with its own large balcony, almost like a
deck, directly overlooking the canyon. While Jake explored, I opted
to take a long nap, as I was still exhausted from the plane ride
and a bit of jetlag.

When I woke up a while later, Jake
asked me to accompany him to dinner. Dining with him wasn’t
really on my to-do list, so I declined, leaving him to settle for
room service or a dinner alone. I ate a nice dinner alone in the
hotel restaurant.

Jake was out on the balcony, and I
opened my laptop to see if any new orders had come in. In spite of
her warning that all work and no play would make me a dull girl,
there were certain things Nadia had trouble handling on her own;
she had emailed me to let me know we hadn’t received our fabric for
a stunning summer dress. If the fabric didn’t show up by the
following week, we wouldn’t be able to add the dress to the Summer
Sunlight Collection. It was too late to call the company, so I’d
have to wait until morning.

“
Ashly?” Jake called from
the balcony. “You’ve just gotta see it out here. It’s
gorgeous.”

“
Um…I’m kind of in the
middle of something right now.”

“
Just one quick peek?” he
begged.

I set my purse down and headed
outside. Immediately, the moonlit canyon and glittering stars took
my breath away.

“
Here, have a seat,” Jake
said, motioning to a chair beside him.

“
I’d rather stand. It’s
amazing,” I said, “absolutely breathtaking.”

He turned to meet my gaze, and I
quickly looked away. “You’re mad at me.”

“
Yes, but it’s not just
that. On top of the fact that it’s a little hard to be around you
so much, we’re having problems with a shipment back at the
boutique.”

“
I’m sorry,” he said. “Like
I’ve told you time and time again, walking out on you was the worst
mistake I ever made. I lost the only good thing in my life, and
I’ve regretted it every single day since. I swear, not a day has
gone by when I haven’t thought about you.”

“
It was the most painful
and difficult thing I’ve ever been through.”

“
I
know. I also carry the scars.”

“
Really? You poor thing,” I said, scowling at him. “Any scars
you have from that day are self-inflicted in case you’ve
forgotten.”