I stood and dropped my napkin on the table as I muttered, “Fuck.”
How in the hell was this going to work? I couldn’t hurt Ashley’s feelings, but what would Abby think if I invited them to stay?
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Stay right here, Abby.”
I hurried to the front door, praying Abby wouldn’t look at the security cameras. When I got to the door, I flung it open.
“Bishop!” Ashley dove forward and hugged my legs. “I’m so excited to roast marshmallows!”
My stomach twisted. I leaned down to kiss her on the head, then looked up at Jax. My smile faded. “I forgot you were coming.”
She looked past me and into the house. Her eyes widened in surprise, and I turned to see Abby standing there staring at us.
“I see that,” Jax replied.
My mind spun trying to figure out a solution. “Let me grab my coat, and I can have Bryce start up a fire for you guys.”
Ashley tugged on my shirt. “Are you not roasting marshmallows with us, Bishop?”
The look of hurt in her eyes just about killed me, but I knew it would be nothing like the pain in Abby’s if I left.
“Hi!” Ashley said, looking behind me. “Who are you? You’re sure pretty!”
Abby softly chuckled as she stepped up next to me. “My name’s Abby.”
Ashely grinned up at her. “This is my mom, Jax.” Abby and Jax exchanged uncomfortable hellos. “Abby, are you making s’mores with us?” Ashley asked.
When I glanced at Jax, she was staring down at Ashley, clearly trying to come up with something to say.
“You know what, Ashley?” she said. “We’re not going to be able to do that after all. Let’s just say goodbye to Bishop and thank him for being so nice to us while we were here.”
Ashley let out a groan. “But you promised!”
“It’s fine,” Abby said as she smiled at Jax and Ashley. She forced herself to look at me. “I think we were done eating anyway. Go, enjoy yourself.”
I stared at her helplessly, seeing the hurt in her eyes. I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to speak, but nothing would come out. She probably thought I had done this on purpose to hurt her. Ah fuck, I’ve messed this up.
“It’s okay, Bishop. We can finish the conversation later.” Abby turned and gave Ashley and Jax a fake-as-hell smile. It didn’t reach her eyes one bit. “It was nice to meet you both. Have fun, Ashley.”
And before I could say a word, she spun on her heels and made her way back into the house.
Turning to look at Ashley, I sighed, grabbed a jacket from the hall closet, and headed outside. Once we got off the front porch, Jax turned to face me.
“Are you sure she won’t mind?”
I stared at her with a stunned expression. It wasn’t what I had expected her to say, but then again, I had invited them and then forgotten about it.
“Jax, I’m really sorry.” I looked down at Ashley and crouched down to look her in the eyes. “You know the lady you just met? Abby?”
Ashley nodded. “She’s pretty.”
“Yeah, she is. I used to be married to her, but we got in a really big fight and broke up.”
Ashely frowned. “Is that why you only like Mommy as a friend?”
I looked up at Jax. She smiled.
Focusing back on Ashley, I nodded. “Yes. I don’t want to go back on a promise, Ashley, especially to you. But if I go with you and your mommy right now, Abby’s feelings will be hurt, and I really don’t want to hurt her feelings.”
“Cause you love her?” Ashley asked.
Jax put her hands on Ashley’s shoulders and kissed her on top of the head.
A bubble of sadness filled my lungs, and I had a hard time breathing. “Yeah, sweetheart. I love her a whole lot.”
A wide smile grew over Ashley’s face. “Can we make s’mores when we come back to Boggy Creek in the spring?”
Relief washed through me, and I brought Ashley in for a quick hug. “Yeah, we for sure can.”
Standing, I gave Jax another apologetic look. “I’m sorry about this.”
“It’s okay, I understand. I think Ashley and I will head on out of town and get into Boston early to surprise my folks.”
Ashley jumped up and down, forgetting all about the marshmallows. “Yes, let’s do that!”
Jax held out her hand, and I shook it. “It was fun, Bishop. I hope everything works out for you and Abby.”
“Thanks, Jax. You guys have a safe trip back to Boston.”
I watched as they got into Jax’s car and then headed down the driveway.
Once the car was down the hill, I turned and headed back into the house.
One quick look around told me Abby had cleared off the table. The food was still out, but covered, and Abby was nowhere to be found.
“Abby?” I called out as I looked around. Rushing through the house, I yelled her name again before a thought hit me. Had she waited for me to come back inside before she left? I rushed back through the kitchen and into the mudroom. Her coat was gone. “Fuck!”
I opened the door to the garage and grabbed the keys to my newer truck; I couldn’t afford breaking down on the side of the road if I was going after Abby. I needed to bring her back.
As soon as the garage doors opened, I stopped and stared at Abby’s car, still parked there. I spun around. Where in the hell had she gone?
Hitting the button, I closed the garage again and went back into the house. “Okay, she’s gotta be outside somewhere.”
Then it hit me. The greenhouse. Abby would have gone to her greenhouse.
I walked out the back door. Sure enough, I saw her footprints trailing off in the distance, heading toward the greenhouse.
I hadn’t set foot in the greenhouse since Abby left, and had no idea if Ken or Bryce had been tending to the flowers in there or not. I’d gotten drunk once and told them both to stay out. Whether they’d heeded my drunken command, I wasn’t sure.
My heartbeat kicked up the closer I got. You couldn’t see the greenhouse from the house, and that was part of the reason I was able to forget about it. When I finally got close enough to see inside, I froze.
Abby was sitting on the floor of the greenhouse, her back to me.
“Oh, Abby,” I whispered, looking at all the dead plants through the glass. Stepping inside, I softly shut the door.
She didn’t move a muscle, though I was positive she’d heard me come in. It was fucking freezing inside. Ken or Bryce must have turned off the heater. I worked at the lump in my throat and tried like hell to say something, but nothing would come out.
After a minute or two, I finally managed to speak. “Why are you on the floor?”
She jumped and looked back at me. She clearly hadn’t heard me come in. “Where are Jax and Ashley?”
I frowned. “You didn’t really think I was going to leave you to go roast marshmallows with them, did you?”
The corner of her mouth rose slightly, and she chuckled softly. “I did, as a matter of fact.”
“Well, I didn’t.”
“Was Ashley upset?” Abby asked, worry etched on her face.
I shook my head and took a few steps closer. It was then I saw she was holding something. A pot with a flowering plant in it. I focused on the green stem plants with a white flower that seemed to be dangling off of it.