AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh yeah?” The other youth chuckled obscenely and Ashley started to walk away. She was concerned about Trevor, and wasn’t interested in any gossip about him.
“Sure, why not? The way I hear it, he was involved with a daughter of some hotshot timber guy—a rival or something—and she was married to someone else.”
“Hey, I’ve got new respect for this guy . . . tell me about it. . . . ”
A protest leaped to Ashley’s tongue when she realized the hecklers were discussing her. She had to physically restrain herself from causing a scene and telling the two men that her love affair, that beautiful and fleeting part of her life, had been long over before she married Richard. An unwanted blush flooded her neck and her steps faltered slightly, but she clamped her teeth together, lowered her head against the wind and walked resolutely toward the object of her quest: Trevor’s campaign manager.
Everett noticed her approach and a flicker of recognition registered on his placid face. The corners of his mouth twitched downward.
When she was close enough to be heard, Ashley didn’t mince words. “I want to talk to Trevor.”
Everett smiled coldly. “You and the rest of the voters in this state.”
“It’s important. I telephoned the campaign headquarters yesterday and a receptionist promised to have Trevor return the call.”
“Which he didn’t?”
“Right.”
Everett was about to make a hasty retort, but changed his mind.
“I don’t think he got the message,” Ashley informed the round campaign manager.
“Or maybe you didn’t. Did it ever cross your mind that maybe Trevor didn’t want to talk to you?”
The muscles in Ashley’s back stiffened and for a moment she considered letting the subject drop. But too much was at stake. In the past few weeks she had learned that her love for Trevor would never die and that at least some of the pain in the past was her fault for not trusting him. It was imperative that she see Trevor again. With newfound strength she swallowed her pride.
“Which is it?” she demanded, her muscles rigid. She braced herself for the rejection she was sure would follow. “You’re his campaign manager, and from what I understand, very good at what you do. Certainly Trevor would confide in you, let you know if he didn’t want to see me again.”
Everett considered the woman standing before him. The pride and determination in the lift of her chin were compelling. Ashley Stephens Jennings was a far cry from the spoiled timber brat she had once been.
He fingered the handle of his umbrella and his gaze left her to study the architecture of the buildings surrounding the square. “I think it would be best if you forgot about Trevor Daniels,” he ventured. “It would be political dynamite if the press found out that you were seeing him again.”
“That’s ducking the issue, Everett. Has Trevor told you that he doesn’t want to see me?”
Everett gazed into the quiet fury of her blue-green eyes. There was a new dignity and spirit in her stare. He found it impossible to lie to her. “Right now, Trevor isn’t really sure what he wants,” the campaign manager admitted.
“Including his ambitions for the Senate?”
The portly man’s eyes glittered dangerously. He knew he’d given too much away to the becoming daughter of Lazarus Stephens. “Leave him alone, Ashley,” he warned. “Before Trevor saw you again, he knew what he wanted. And now . . . oh, hell!” A fleshy fist balled in frustration.
“And now what?” Ashley whispered, her throat constricting.
Everett laughed feebly. “I guess you and your father got what you wanted all along,” he said in disgust. “Single-handedly you seem to have convinced the best goddamn man in Oregon to back down from his one shot at making it. Do you know what you’ve done? Have you any idea what you alone have cost this state?” His face reddened with conviction and his hands gestured helplessly in the air. “He would have been good, Ashley, damned good.”
With his angry remark, he turned toward his car, and then cast another warning over his shoulder. “Give up, Ashley, you’ve gotten what you wanted. It’s over for him. Now, for God’s sake, leave the poor bastard alone!”
After grinding out his final, gut-wrenching advice, Everett slipped into the dark interior of a waiting cab. The battered car roared to life, melding into the traffic heading east toward the Willamette River.
Ashley was left standing alone in the wintry air. She felt more naked and raw than she had since the last time she had seen Trevor walk out the door of the mountain cabin. Shivering from the frigid wind, she wrapped her arms under her breasts.
An ache, deep and throbbing, cut through her heart and pounded in her pulse. “Dear Lord, Trevor,” she whispered, “what happened to us?” She looked up at the cold gray sky and tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. How had she been so blind for so long? Why had she let other people, other things, unnecessary obstacles separate her from him? Was it pride, or was it fear of the truth that had kept her from facing the fact that she loved him more desperately than any sane woman should love a man?
Her fingers were clenched tightly around her abdomen when she heard her name.
“Ms Jennings?”
Unaware that anyone had been watching her, Ashley whirled and faced a young man, no more than twenty-five, who was staring intently at her. His clean features gave no hint of what he wanted.
