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His deputy has stepped out his vehicle, clearly worried about the scene playing out but Grant shook his head, letting Scott know to keep his distance. Whatever was going on here, Ashley wouldn’t want an audience, although they were on the side of the road and any passerby could see. Luckily, this road was a less traveled one, and so far there had only been a few cars.
“Ashley,” Grant tried again when her sobbing slowed down. “You need to tell me what’s going on here. Let me help you.”
It took a hell of a lot more time, but he was finally able to piece it all together.
There had never been another driver. She hadn’t been followed. No one had terrorized her. She’d had no idea about the cameras - to be fair, few people did - and that her ruse would easily be found out. She’d chosen this road because it wasn’t busy, and she didn’t think anyone would see in this rural area.
“I just wanted to talk to you, but you wouldn’t return my calls.”
“Making a false police report is a very serious offense,” Grant said. He needed to be stern because he couldn’t allow her to make a fucking habit of this. It had to stop right now. “I could arrest you, and you’d probably get prison time. This is not like pulling the fire alarm in high school.”
That was serious, too, but this was next level.
“You wouldn’t return my calls,” Ashley wailed, twisting the hankie into a knot. “What was I supposed to do?”
“I don’t know. Stop by the station? Write me a note? Something that wouldn’t endanger others? Do you realize that while Deputy Scott is answering your call that means that he can’t be answering any others? What if someone has a real, honest-to-god emergency? What if someone dies or is seriously injured because you’re throwing a tantrum because you didn’t get your way? Jesus, Ashley. This was not a good idea in any way, shape, or form.”
Grant wasn’t going to hide the fact that he was pissed. This was one of the most harebrained things he’d seen in a long time, and that was saying something considering his profession.
Ashley was still crying, but Grant was still deciding whether he was going to arrest her for this little stunt.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m really sorry. I just needed to talk to you so badly, and you’ve been ignoring me.”
Grant wasn’t sure whether she was sorry for what she’d done or sorry she hadn’t gotten away with it. Either way, an apology wasn’t going to make this all better like a kiss on a skinned knee.
“You’ve got me here now, so what’s so important that you needed to break the law to get my attention? This is your one chance to tell me, and then try to convince me not to arrest you.”
Ashley stepped away, her lips and hands visibly trembling. She took a couple of shuddering breaths before finally answering his question.
“I think we’re meant to be together. I think we were too hasty breaking up.” She held up her hand when he would have spoken. “I know you’re seeing someone, but the two of you don’t have the history that we do. We grew up in the same town, Grant. We know and understand each other’s jobs.”
“If you understood my job, you’d know that making a false police report is a bad idea,” Grant replied between gritted teeth.
“I didn’t make an official report,” Ashley protested. “I just called the station asking for you. I didn’t call 911 or anything.”
Christ on a cracker, did she think that made this okay? That this was justified?
“Nothing has changed,” Grant said. “We are not meant to be together. Hell, we barely dated. You need to move on because this isn’t going to work.”
“I haven’t changed. We could be amazing together if you’d just give us a chance. I love you. Don’t you feel anything for me?”
Ashley tried to launch herself back into his arms and kiss him, but he quickly moved away and extricated himself.
“Don’t make me be an asshole,” he said. “I don’t want to be mean or hurt you, but this is not happening.”
“This isn’t over. I love you, and I know that we’re meant to be together. She can never make you happy.”
Grant had never had a woman fixate on him. He’d seen a few with his brothers, but he’d always thought that this sort of thing happened to other people. He truly didn’t want to hurt Ashley, but he also didn’t want to give her any false hope.
“Ashley,” he said sternly. “Have you been harassing Mia? Sending her texts? You need to tell me the truth now.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t even remember your girlfriend’s name. I don’t care about her; I only care about you. My psychic told me that we’re destined to be together. You’re just wasting time with her.”
A psychic? All of this happened because some psychic had told Ashley that they were some kind of soulmates? Shit, when Grant would tell his brothers this story later, they weren’t going to believe this part. They would think he’d made it up just to mess with them.
“You’re doing all of this because some person has told you that we were meant to be together? I’m stumped because when we broke up you were a bit mad but that was it. You were adamant that you were going to move on. And you sure as hell didn’t say you loved me. Did you only decide that when your psychic said we should be together?”
“My psychic has never been wrong. If we’re supposed to be together, then it will happen.”
