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CHAPTER TWO
Melody
“Come on,” I tugged Ash’s arm to get him to stand up. “It’s getting dark and they’re going to close the gate soon.”
He clutched the urn in his arm and stood. We looked out over the railing. It was a long way down there. I almost started to step back. My slight fear of heights had a tingle creeping up my spine, but I knew he needed me to stay close.
I leaned over and glanced inside the urn at the ashes.
“She’s really gone.” His soft words were almost lost on the ocean breeze.
I nodded. “She’d love what you are doing. You know that.”
“I do.”
“We should say something.”
“Yes.” He looked at me and straightened his shoulders as if he were going to make a big long speech. I smiled.
“Nora Becket, my mom, was the best mother anyone could ever have. She was always there for me, and she loved life and fought so hard up until the very end. I’ll miss you, Mom, so very much.” His last sentence came out on a raspy sob. “Rest in peace,” he finished.
“Goodbye, Nora. I’ll always love you. Thank you for being the best second mom anyone could ever have,” I said. “And thanks for never telling my mom about us ditching school in tenth grade.” Ash chuckled and swiped at his eyes. It had been during a one-day teacher strike, and substitutes had had to take over all of our classes. Ash had said screw it, they’d never miss us, so he and I had taken off to the beach right after first period. Everything would have been fine, even with the sunburned faces we’d gotten, except for the sand that Ash had forgotten to rinse out of his short’s pockets. Sunburns were easy to explain since our lunches were always taken outside. We’d told our moms that we’d both fallen asleep during our lunch hours. A May sunny day in San Francisco was rare, so they’d bought it, knowing how much we all loved soaking up the sun on those days. Until Nora did laundry and found the sand in Asher’s pocket. She’d questioned him about it, and he’d fessed up. She’d lectured me too, giving us both the “why we shouldn’t ditch school again, and what the consequences would be if we did” talk, but she never ratted me out to my mom. I did eventually tell my mom about it, but not until after graduation.
I placed my hands around the urn below his, and together, we tilted the porcelain jar and watched the ashes spill out as they floated their way down to the water. The wind blew several back up and they hit us in the face. We both spit the ashes away from our lips and wiped our mouths with the backs of our hands.
Ash smiled. “She’s still a fighter.”
“That’s for sure.”
“Thanks for following me, Mel. It was easier having you here.”
“You’re welcome.” It didn’t surprise me that he needed me, but it did surprise me that he’d admitted it.
He placed the empty urn in his backpack and slung the guitar case over his other shoulder. I took my case and did the same, then I took his hand as we walked toward the end of the bridge.
“I’ll let you buy me that Irish Coffee you promised me now. I think my fingers are about to fall off they’re so cold,” I said.
“If I remember correctly, and I think I do, it was you who offered to buymethe coffee.”
I shrugged. “Yeah, but you have more money than I do.”
The coffee house was jam-packed with wall-to-wall people. It was Friday night, and the city was already booming with weekend tourists. We made our way to the counter after standing in line for about ten minutes, and Ash ordered two Irish Coffees, one heavy on the whipped cream; that was his. The more whipped cream, the better as far as he was concerned.
“Mmmm…” I hummed as the smooth, sweet cream mixed with the coffee and whiskey goodness warmed my throat. Ash laughed, and I frowned when I looked up at him as his finger swiped across the tip of my nose. He held up his whipped-cream-covered fingertip before sticking it in his mouth, sucking it dry. My stomach jittered then knotted. Wow. He was so sexy. I’d always thought so, but now, in this light, his green eyes twinkled and his tanned face made him look just like one of the cover model guys I drooled over in my escape world of reading romance novels. My heart thumped and I had to look away, trying to focus on something less…Asher.
I needed to concentrate on something real. Not that Ash wasn’t real. But, I mean, a real, possible relationship. The only problem was, most guys I knew were friends with Ash and always treated me as if I were one of the guys, just like Ash did.
I once overheard Asher tell Brent that he’d pummel the life out of any guy who ever tried to get into my pants. Not that getting into my pants was ever going to happen with any of those runts, but he did manage to scare the crap out of all of them whenever the subject of me came up. It used to make me feel good and special that he cared about me and wanted to protect me, but now that we were both into our twenties, I just wished he’d let up a bit. How would I ever find a boyfriend with Asher’s daunting threats forever fresh on every male’s mind this side of the bay bridge? You’d almost think that Ash wanted me for himself, but I knew that would never happen. His feelings for me were strong, as strong as mine for him, but his were more of a sister/brother pull that kept us close, not the physical attraction mine were.
“Hi, Ash,” Lisa Stone sidled up against Ash’s arm. “So sorry about your mom. Let me know if I can do anything for you, okay?”
“Thanks,” Ash responded and eyed me over the edge of his cup as he took a sip.
“Hi, Mel. Heard you two playing in the courtyard earlier. You are so good,” she said, placing her hand upon Ash’s shoulder. “When are you performing again at the Tank?”
“Tomorrow night,” Ash supplied.
“I’ll be there. See you then.” She turned and headed toward a table in the back where a small group of men and women were gathered.
