Whew. There went that burning at the back of his eyes again.
“Exactly. Your heart’s in the right place, Derek. Everything you’ve done, you’ve done for love. You just didn’t want to call it that because you were afraid of what it meant. But there’s no shame in love. Love is the only thing worth living for.” A pause. “What happened with Ashley, son?”
Derek fiddled with the cookie Dad had shoved his way, his father’s words stinging something deep inside. “She doesn’t love me. I was a fool to think she might.”
Then Dad laughed.
Seriously?
Derek narrowed his eyes. “What’s so funny?”
“If you believe that she doesn’t love you, you really are a fool.” A squeeze to his shoulder. “That girl has had eyes for you since she was a teenager.”
Shaking his head, Derek recounted their last conversation. “She had the gall to ask me what I felt for her. As if it weren’t completely obvious.” The way he’d looked at her, the emotion in that kiss, not to mention ending his wedding … all of it pointed to one clear conclusion.
“You have a lot to learn about women.”
That was sure the truth.
Dad tapped a cookie against the counter. “Even if you think your actions were obvious, as you say, women sometimes need those words of reassurance anyway. Have you ever actually told her you love her?”
And he was an idiot. “No.”
“That’s probably a good place to start.”
Hope had the nerve to break through the wall he’d built around his heart. “Do you think that will work?” Whirling toward the table, he snatched his keys. “I’ll go right now.”
“Sit down, son. It’s late. Besides, you need to really think about what you’re going to say and how you’re going to say it.” Biting into a cookie, Dad chewed and swallowed. “Sounds to me like you need to go big or go home. Make a splash.”
A splash. Right.
Derek strode toward the fridge, pulled out a gallon of milk, poured himself a drink, and came back to the counter with it. For a moment, he stared at the cup.
Then, he grabbed an Oreo and tossed it all the way into his milk. A bit of the liquid sloshed over the side before Derek fished out the cookie and took a bite.
“Milk makes Oreos taste so much better.”
Yeah. Actually, it really did.
Chapter 18
Days like today were normally Ashley’s favorite.
But even being surrounded by family and the town she loved, something was missing.
Not something. Someone.
The smell of grilling hamburgers and hot dogs filled the air of the community park tucked away in a residential area on the wooded side of town. Across the grassy expanse, townspeople huddled together, eating and drinking on blankets and in folding chairs they’d brought for the annual Memorial Day weekend picnic put on by the Sons of the American Legion and the Legion Auxiliary.
Some kids tossed a ball around on the baseball field in the distance, and members of Walker Beach High’s band—directed by Ashley’s uncle Mark West—played a rousing rendition of “God Bless America” from the small stage assembled near the ramadas.
Yet despite all the people, the Campbell family was nowhere to be seen. Maybe that was not surprising, since today should have been Derek’s wedding. Could be they were avoiding the gossips.
Ashley shook free of the melancholy that inevitably came when she thought about him. No. Not today. Not when the sun was shining and her friends and family were all gathered, not when summer and all the good things were just on the horizon, not when she was free to follow her dreams because of this great nation and all the men and women who had died defending it. That’s what today was really about.
Her time spent cleaning up the veterans’ cemetery with her family this morning had been a sober reminder of all the good in her life thanks to the sacrifice of those they honored this Memorial Day. And Ashley was going to enjoy every moment, even when she felt like doing otherwise.
She thanked the volunteer who placed a burger on her plate, then made her way down the food line toward the assortment of potato salads, pasta salads, fruit salads, green salads, and baked beans. After taking a small sampling of each, Ashley took a bag of chips and a chocolate chip cookie before making her way toward one of the many Baker family blankets spread near the front of the crowd.
“Ashley Baker! Just the woman I was hoping to see.”
Turning toward the jovial voice, she found Bud Travis waving her down as he huffed toward her.
“How are you, Bud?” Ashley offered her warmest smile as she shifted the plate in her hands.
Bud’s nearly bald head glistened under the noon-time sun. “I’m good. Real good, actually. Decided to run for mayor this fall.”
“Wow, that’s great.” The town could certainly use a mayor who actually cared about its people—not just his power. And thus far, Mayor Walsh was running uncontested. “What made you decide to do that?”
“Velma.” The whiskers from Bud’s long white beard and mustache couldn’t disguise the man’s grin. “She made little comments here and there in that quiet way of hers about things we could do to improve the town. It finally got through my thick skull that maybe I should do something other than stew about them.”
“I’m happy for you.” She leaned in. “And you’ve already got my vote.”
“Wonderful! But I’m hoping you can do more for me than that.”
“Oh?” As it usually did, word had spread quickly about her taking over Kyle’s business. “I’m happy to throw you a victory party when the time comes.” She winked.
The skin around his tan face wrinkled even more with his laugh. “That would be good too, but I was more thinking along the lines of you being my campaign manager. Don’t know anyone more organized and better with people than you.”
“Me?”
