They looked around to see how to begin. AJ’s expert eye scanned the surroundings. Asher already had a complete plan that he intended to follow. While he itemized all the things he needed to do, AJ actually knew how to do them. Forty years of experience made AJ an expert on the best and most expeditious methods to accomplish the necessary work. AJ knew how to fix or finagle most things and Asher planned to learn from the ground up.
Kate did her part too. She helped Asher recheck the contracts and paperwork on what he was buying. She also discovered the water rights were grandfathered in, and he could access the water from the creek below the house. She determined if the ranch were accessible during winter, it was as the county snowploughed the road. But he’d have to keep his own driveway clear. Asher’s parents were indispensable in knowing all the questions he didn’t even consider or imagine.
It illustrated how important parental guidance and support is to a child. How much closer to his dream was his life plan now, thanks to his parents?
He worked at the Rydells by day and went to his place in the evenings and weekends. It made time pass by like a bullet train.
Daisy and Asher spoke every night. It soon became a required event before he could fall asleep. Her face appeared on his phone and he was mesmerized by her. She was usually doing homework or lying on her dorm bed. He learned all about her life as she finished her summer quarter. She took some time off, visiting her sister and Mateo, for a few weeks before fall semester started.
Asher stopped by to see Violet every Monday after work. That was part of his routine. Sometimes she spoke to him for a few minutes. But she had little to say and asked him even less.
He also spent several evenings after work with Wallace, running him through the performance routine and making sure the horse didn’t lose the unique skills he had. He planned to bring him out to the ranch as soon as he had a proper spot built for him.
Daisy often asked his opinion on Violet’s slow recovery.
“She listens to information but has no emotional response to it,” he told Daisy one rainy night in October.
“No. Depression keeps her angry and her heart stony. It’s very difficult to reach her.”
Daisy responded to Asher, however, and she reacted to every single thing he told her. From letting out squeals of excitement when he officially became the owner of the ranch to cheering him on when he got overwhelmed at the magnitude of his to-do list. She was his greatest fan and supporter, which was ironic since that ranch would be the biggest hindrance if they ever decided to become more than just friends. He couldn’t describe what they might be. So, he tried not to define them. Ever. They took one day at a time. Daisy applauded whatever he did, one more accomplishment to strike off the giant master list, and he was more than eager to tell Daisy his latest achievements. Since they never dated on a regular basis, talking on the phone was his newest habit. Asher wasn’t missing her as much because he integrated her into his life.
He liked hearing about the subjects she was studying. The things that she found particularly hard or interesting. She complained about the professor that pissed her off by never posting the students’ grades; and another one she thought she could cite as a reference if she ever needed one.
“Another huge publishing house just bought out a smaller one.”
“What does that mean?”
“My dream of becoming the literary junkie editor, with a pencil in my hair at some posh New York office, and discovering the next great American novelist is growing slimmer by the year. There used to be all kinds of big publishers until they started merging. Now there are less than a handful. I fear they might become fully extinct.”
He found it odd when he tried to see what motivated her ambitions. Going to college to earn her bachelor’s degree was not easy, and he understood that. He realized that many people in their early twenties chose that path. Hunter did. So did Rose and Lillian. Now Daisy.
It was Daisy’s choice to work and live in New York. There would never be a way to…
See? That’s what Asher’s brain did. He always thought ahead. Way too far ahead. Why pursue this attraction and fun with her, or allow it to grow if their destinies and dreams were plainly at opposite ends of the earth? Sure, AJ and Kate’s lifestyles were also at odds, but he thought his and Daisy’s were even further apart. Asher rarely brought the subject up to Daisy because she got so mad when he worried over such things. It seemed reasonable whenever she made her points. But at other times, he couldn’t sleep when he thought about it. Hammering together the new fencing, he wondered, what if? What if their friendly flirtation, and mutual desire to kiss, became exclusive dating? Where could that go but toward monogamy? The time they spent together was so limited. Sure, the distance was an obstacle for now. They had to make time for each other. But what about after that? After she announced she wanted to live in New York City permanently and he insisted on living here?
He often found it hard to ignore the strange, far away possibilities, or banish them from his head. He reminded himself to focus on the here and now. That’s all that mattered. The misty horizon that enveloped the future could wait. So, he felt happy she loved her English major and he respected her lofty, unfamiliar ambition, at least for now.
He never even thought about trying to date another girl, and as far as he knew, Daisy didn’t date anyone else either.
Not that it meant anything.
“When you come home, what will it be? Our fourth date or…”
How could it only be date number four after three months of daily conversations that lasted a minimum of an hour? He could recite almost every fact about her, from her underwear size to how frequently she bought shampoo.
“I don’t know. It’ll probably be weird and awkward again. So, try to keep your meanness in check.”
He gave her a digital evil-eye. “Cute.”
“You’re right, I am.” She grinned. “But I know exactly what you mean. We’ve talked so much. But gone on only a few dates. I don’t know what to expect. I guess like all of this, we’ll just have to see.”
Her parents picked Daisy up from the airport in Spokane. Asher was on edge, dying to pick her up himself, but why? She wasn’t his girlfriend, so it would have been weird.
He paced and tried to keep busy. Doing anything to keep the hours passing rapidly. The Rydells planned a welcome-home dinner with most of her family.
Great. He glanced at his phone. Crap. They were still eating.
Snow had been falling over the last few weeks and accumulated four inches on the Rydell River Valley floor. It melted before freezing back over, creating brittle ice, that went crunch-crunch-crunch! every time anyone took a step. The trees and bushes were bare, but the icy snow covered all the pines and bare trees, along with the shrubs and branches. The heavy layer piled onto the roofs.
Asher’s ranch got eight inches of snow. The road was plowed but a layer of ice still clung to it. His old truck needed chains despite having four-wheel drive before he could easily make the commute. Daisy would soon realize just exactly how far “out there” his future home was, especially in middle of winter—
No. He tried to interrupt that thought. They weren’t even dating.
But goddamn. She was back in the state. In the freaking town again finally. Not a mile separated them, and he wanted to see her badly. But he respected her family too much. Violet especially needed to see her, and Daisy wanted time with her sister. They all missed her. Their youngest sister. The baby of the family.