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So she re-told the story—everything from the day she got fired, up to sitting there with them. She repeated everything the fire inspector and Bob Banks asked. “I know I can’t prove it, but every interaction I had with Becky, she initiated.”
“I threw her out of her because of one of them,” Jade said.
“Look, I take full responsibility for being a little unprofessional the day I was fired, but I would never do anything like she’s accusing me of. It would never even occur to me to do something like that! I’m genuinely baffled by the whole thing and I don’t get why no one’s committing to either blaming me or clearing me!”
With nothing but a curt nod, Ryder picked up the phone, stood and walked away. Ashlynn watched in complete dismay but her cousin put her at ease again.
“He does that a lot,” Patrick said with a small laugh. “And every time he does, things fall into place. Don’t take it as a bad sign. I think it’s safe to say he’s already got a plan in mind.”
“So where does that leave me?” she demanded, feeling like things were getting more and more out of her control. “What am I supposed to do?”
“First, you need to relax,” her brother told her. “I’ve been working with Ryder too, and he’s someone you can trust.”
“Sure, in business, Levi!” she argued. “This is completely different! It’s my life we’re talking about!”
“Ash, it’s going to be okay,” Billie said, reaching across the table and taking her hand. “Should we call Reid and get his input?”
“Um…” Ashlynn looked over at Chloe who looked over at Avery, who…
“Reid can fend for himself,” Avery announced. “He took off after they put him on paid leave.”
Conversation exploded around them and all Ashlynn could do was look at her twin and shake her head.
“I told you they wouldn’t hear it from me,” Chloe said with a small smile.
Everyone was talking at once but thankfully, Levi whistled loudly enough to make the whole place fall silent. “Okay, let’s put a pin in the whole Reid thing,” he said calmly. “Although, I’ll gladly have a conversation with him when he comes back to town.” He winked at Ashlynn before he continued. “With any luck, Ryder’s working on a plan to find out where this investigation is going so we can work on the rest.”
“I have a question,” Jade began hesitantly. “Has anyone seen or spoken to Becky in the last few weeks? I know I banned her from the shop, but I’m just curious what she’s been doing all this time since the fire.”
“She’s friends with Leo’s mom and told her about blaming Ash for the fire,” Avery replied. “But from what I can tell, that conversation was a few weeks ago. Personally, I haven’t seen her around.”
“I haven’t either,” Billie said, “but then again, I wasn’t specifically looking either. I used to run into her from time to time in the grocery store, but I haven’t lately.”
“Am I the only one who thinks that’s odd?” Patrick asked. “I mean, this is a small town and you’d think your paths would have crossed somewhere.”
“As long as there’s an investigation going on, she hasn’t gotten any insurance money for the salon,” Levi explained. “Especially if they suspect arson. No insurance company is going to pay out on that until they find out the cause of the fire.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Chloe asked.
“How is she surviving?” he asked. “She was running a thriving business and now has no income.”
“Was it thriving though?” Billie asked, looking specifically at Ashlynn.
“The day I went in there to get my last check, the place was empty. It was bizarre. Sandy tried to blame that on me, but I just thought it was odd.”
“They were closed a lot more than usual before that,” Paisley, one of Jade’s employees, said as she walked over to pour more coffee. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but my mom and nana always used to go to Lavish Locks and in the weeks before the fire, they couldn’t get an appointment because Becky kept saying they were closed. My mom was really annoyed and ended up going to some salon thirty miles away to get her hair cut.”
Everyone looked at Ashlynn. “Like I said, it was weird. And for all the business I thought we did, Becky never spent any of it on updating the salon. Maybe she was socking all the money away and that’s what she’s living on.”
Everyone grew quiet and were either eating or drinking when Ryder strode back in. “With any luck, Ashlynn, we’ll have an answer for you about the investigation by the end of business tomorrow,” he said with confidence before smiling at Paisley. “Can I get a refill on my coffee and one of those blueberry scones to go?”
“Wait, so…what am I supposed to do now?”
Ryder just continued to smile and shrugged. “Just relax and know it’s all under control. You know you’re innocent so…don’t worry.” He winked and finished his drink. “Has anyone checked out the progress on the ski resort? It’s kind of amazing!”
Four days away from Sweetbriar, his job, and Ashlynn had accomplished nothing.
Reid was miserable and poor company.
