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The same.
Everything would be exactly the same.
He’d made a decision the day of the fire and it had nothing to do with Ashlynn and everything to do with his sense of duty. And yet it was still being held against him. So where did that leave him?
Alone.
And miserable.
And possibly just stupid enough to have lost the girl he was falling in love with.
Chapter Twelve
Three days.
Reid had been gone for three days and Ashlynn finally hit her breaking point.
Arriving at Chloe’s apartment late in the afternoon, she was surprised when her twin looked a little put out by her arrival.
“Ash? What are you doing here?” Chloe asked before nervously looking over her shoulder and then back again. “Is everything okay?”
She was saying all the right things, even though she was blocking the door.
“Chlo, come on. Let me in,” she said firmly. “I’m freaking out and I’ve been pretty much hibernating in my apartment and I needed to get out.”
“Um…”
“Oh my God! Are you seriously not going to let me in right now?”
Her sister was known for crying at the drop of a hat and her eyes were already welling. “Just…just give me a minute…” Then she turned and walked back inside, but Ashlynn caught the door before it closed.
“What is going on with you?” Ashlynn demanded, but came to a complete stop when she reached her sister’s living room. “What the…?”
“Don’t look at any of this!” Chloe cried as she began gathering things up and stuffing them in a closet. “I asked for a damn minute and you couldn’t give it to me? You show up here unannounced and just…just…gah!”
Oddly enough, this little bit of weirdness from her sister gave her the first distraction in days and actually made her smile. “Was that what I think it was?”
“Just shut up, Ash. I don’t want to talk about it. It’s…it’s private and personal and…just forget you even saw it.”
“Um…that’s not likely…”
“Ashlynn!”
“Okay, okay, okay…it’s forgotten. Happy?”
The deep frown Chloe was sporting was enough of an answer.
“Look, clearly I should have called first, but…I’m freaking out and I’m tired of sitting home and crying and thought I could come here and hang out with you,” Ashlynn explained with a huff. “If this is really a bad time, I’ll go and…I don’t know…I guess I’ll go over to Billie’s.”
When she turned to leave, her sister was instantly in front of her.
“You’re right. You should always be able to just show up here unannounced. I was being a brat. Sorry.” Then she hugged her. “Why have you been sitting home crying?” She pulled back and then led them over to the sofa to sit. “What happened?”
“Reid’s gone.” Saying the words out loud in a trembly voice had the tears starting. “Dammit. I swear I shouldn’t be able to cry anymore.”
“Oh, Ash…I’m sorry!” Then she paused. “Wait…did something happen to Reid? When you say he’s gone…”
“He’s not dead, Chlo. That’s not what I’m saying.” Sighing, she leaned back against the cushions. “They put him on leave from the firehouse. I don’t know why—hell, I don’t know any of the specifics because he won’t talk to me! All I got was a text from him saying that he was at his parents’ place and didn’t want to be here in Sweetbriar right now.”
