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He sounded so pleased with himself that Lily couldn’t bring herself to ask any more questions.
“Is everything all right at your end?” he asked.
“Sure. Just checking,” Lily said brightly. “I’ll be over to start preparations tomorrow.”
“Great. Well, I’ll be around. Just give me a call and I’ll come over,” Jesse said.
Lily ended the call and stared glumly out the window.
“I guess it really is at Ashton’s farm, then,” Bec said softly.
“It is. And there’s no way I can avoid it,” Lily said. “It’s too late to get another caterer in, even if I could find one. And I can’t pull out and disappoint Jesse. It would be the death of my business if word got out. I’m just going to have to do it.” She glanced at Bec. “What were you saying just minutes ago about having to face up to this sometime?”
Bec grinned. “It’ll be good for your personal growth,” she said. “No one likes to eat humble pie, but you might be surprised at what happens if you do. A good apology has never proven fatal in the past.”
“So you keep saying. It doesn’t mean that Ashton is ready to apologize or even that he’d hear me out if I did.”
“But how do you know if you never try?” Bec asked. “You might at least be able to stand being in the same room.”
“Possibly.” Lily wasn’t convinced.
How could they possibly get past the acrimonious end to their relationship? Granted, a little maturity might have helped both of them; they were adults, after all. But it didn’t mean that everything would suddenly be okay if she swallowed her pride and apologized. It was uncharted territory, and Lily hated the unpredictability of the outcome. She would just do her best to stay out of Ashton’s way and be thankful when the whole ordeal was over. Hopefully, he would feel the same way. Her heart thudded in her chest as she visualized the awful moment that she would be forced to get out of her van and announce that she was just going to take over his barn for a couple of days. She was sure it would be more fun to jump off a cliff.
Lily took a deep breath and turned into Ashton’s driveway. She knew she looked a wreck from the sleepless night she’d had, even the makeup she’d applied liberally had done little to disguise it. She’d called Jesse, who had promised to come over within half an hour. She wished he was there to greet her now, but he’d assured her that Ashton would be around to show her where to go. She’d never met Jesse while she’d been dating Ashton, so how was he to know that they had a previous history?
Bec put her hand on Lily’s arm. “I’m here, don’t forget,” she said softly. “Ashton won’t dare to be mean to you because I’ll call him out on it.”
“Thanks.”
Lily drew the van to a stop outside the barn and took a deep breath.
“Let’s get this over with,” she muttered.
A moment later, Ashton’s tall form appeared through the barn doors. His welcoming smile faded as she stepped out of the van and closed the door.
“Lily!” he said in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
Bec came up beside her, and Lily was grateful for her friend’s steady presence.
“I’m here to do the catering for Jesse’s party,” Lily said as evenly as her voice would allow.
Ashton gulped. “Uh … Jesse never said anything about who was catering,” he ventured. “This is a surprise.”
Lily faced him. “It was a surprise to me to find myself here, too. Don’t think I planned this.”
Ashton took a step back. “I’m … I’m sure you didn’t.” He paused. “Right. Let me show you where everything is, and then I’ll leave you to it.”
He led the way inside the barn, which was spotlessly clean. Lily was pleased.
“This looks good,” she said to Bec. “Do you think you can do something with this?”
Bec nodded. “Oh, yes. I have lots of ideas already.”
Ashton pointed to a stack of hay bales in one corner of the cavernous building. “You can arrange the hay bales any way you want for seating,” he said. “And there are spaces outside as well if you want to use those for seating away from the main area.”
“Thank you,” Bec replied. “I’ll be able to get most of my ideas in place today, so the decorating will be mostly finished by tomorrow.” She glanced at Ashton. “Do you need to use the barn between now and then?”
“Not unless I need something from the tack room or the feed room,” he said. “But that shouldn’t affect what you’re doing.”
