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“Which is basically saying he didn’t want to be with you.”
“Exactly.”
She both loved and hated how well her twin knew her.
“I have no idea if this means we’ve broken up or if I should be waiting to be arrested because the fire inspector found something or…or…” And that was it. She burst into tears.
“Oh, sweetie,” Chloe whispered as she moved in close and hugged her. “It’s all going to be okay. I promise. We’re going to get to the bottom of this.”
“How?” she cried. “I’ve been living in limbo ever since that damn fire and no one seems to believe that I’m not involved! I told Bob Banks and the fire inspector that I wasn’t involved and neither would confirm or deny that they believed me!” Now she was sobbing so hard her entire body hurt.
Again.
She’d been crying like this for days and pretty much avoiding everything and everyone.
“Have you talked to Billie? Or Mom? Or a lawyer?”
Sniffling, she sat up and wiped at her face a bit. “After my conversation with the chief and inspector, I told Mom I was going to need a lawyer, but I haven’t talked to one yet. I’ve just been holed up in my apartment for the last few days.” She accepted the box of tissues Chloe handed her. “Billie texted a few times that she was busy at the coffee shop and doing some extra baking for some catering thing they were doing and honestly, I was relieved to not have to talk with her.”
“Why?”
Her shoulders slumped. “She’s invested in the salon, Chlo—in me! And now…now it’s all going to go away and I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do!”
Wordlessly, Chloe got up and walked out of the room. Ashlynn figured she was going to get more tissues or something to comfort her with. Closing her eyes, she simply sat back and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
“Um…Chlo?”
When her sister finally walked back into the room, she looked ready to spit nails. “Okay, I just texted Avery, Billie, Levi, and Jade,” she said. “And they’re all on their way over. Levi mentioned that Patrick’s in town with that investor guy so he might be with them.”
“What? Why?” She got to her feet. “What exactly is happening right now?”
But Chloe wasn’t fully listening. She was looking around the room and frowning. “Do you think we should meet over at Billie’s or maybe at Books and Beans?”
“Wait…what are we meeting for? I’m seriously confused.”
“I’m done watching you suffer like this. You need answers to this situation! We all do! How much longer are you supposed to live like this? No one can possibly function normally with the threat of it all being taken away at any moment! Especially when you know you’re being falsely accused!”
Chloe rarely took charge and raised her voice even less so this was all a little shocking. “So…what do you think we’re going to accomplish here?”
“A strategy, Ash! You haven’t been particularly aggressive in finding out what’s going on and this laid-back approach is getting you nowhere. And if you need a lawyer, you need someone better than the locals here. I’m hoping that’s something Patrick or that investor guy can help with. Once we get this whole arson thing cleared up, everything else will fall into place.”
Walking around her apartment, Chloe straightened pillows and dusted surfaces before coming and standing in front of Ashlynn again.
“And by everything else, I mean you and Reid.”
She sat back down. “I don’t know if there should be a me and Reid after this. I mean…I get that he’s upset, but…why not talk to me?” She sighed again before telling her sister about her lunch with Avery. “He was already planning to bail and…is that the kind of guy I want? One who leaves when things get tough?”
“Well…to be fair…this wasn’t just about you. He’s taking a hit on the whole thing too.”
“I get that, but he could have called me instead of texting. That was a shitty thing to do. I’ve been really careful about not pressuring him on any of this and I’m the one that’s been in the most danger in this situation! I kept a lot of that to myself and one bad thing happens to him and he won’t talk to me?” She shook her head. “Screw that. I’ve been crying over him for days and now you’re helping me see that he is clearly in the wrong.”
“Um…that wasn’t what I was saying…like at all…”
“No, no, no…it’s true! If the roles were reversed, I never would have just run away!”
