Page 12 of Ashes to Ashes

"Look, Denni, I'm sorry. It's just being with you—" I started and then reminded myself not to confess my true feelings or risk looking like a total love-struck fool. But that wasn't really why I was angry. I was definitely feeling hurt by the sudden realization that I was just part of Denni's adventure, but I wasn't angry . . . at least not at her. I was pissed at myself for being in a relationship where I didn't want to answer the phone, where just seeing the name on my screen made my stomach twist into a knot. I'd taken this trip to fulfill Dad's final wishes, but somehow, along the way, I'd figured out that I was doing everything wrong. I wasn't living the life I wanted. And Denni, with her bright smile and enthusiastic love for life, even when that life was handing her one shit deal after another, had helped me come to that conclusion.

I looked down at my plate for a second and then lifted my face. She was wearing a concerned smile as she waited for me to finish. "Thank you," I said. "You've helped me find my way, and I hadn't even realized I'd lost it. My dad, even when his books were barely making him enough to live on, never gave up on his stories. He insisted he had to tell them, that he was born to write and he never stopped. Even when my mom finally had had enough, he stuck to his dream, his plan to write a bestseller."

Denni licked maple syrup off her fingertip. "I'm glad I could help you find your way. I've never done that before, but now I can check it off my bucket list." She drew a check in the air. "Help a friend find his way." She drew another quick check. "Forgot to mark off the bat cave experience."

I added a check in the air for my bat cave experience. "You know what else you might want to add to yourlist?"

"What'sthat?"

"CallMom."

Her mouth pursed into a rose shape. She seemed to be considering my suggestion. Or she was holding back the words 'mind your own business'.

I picked up my fork. "Just a thought."

The server walked over and placed the check on the table. "You can pay at the register."

Denni lunged for it before I could get my hand over it. She held it up in victory. "I told you, my treat." She pulled money out of the front pocket of her backpack. "I'll be rightback."

I watched her slim hips sway back and forth as she walked to the counter. She was fun to watch from every damn angle.

My phone beeped letting me know I had a voicemail. I could only imagine Emma's tirade after hanging up on her abruptly and then ignoring her calls. Yep, we needed to have a talk once I got home. It would mean the end of my job with her dad, but that was just fine with me. I was going to follow my dad's advice and start living a true life, my own life. Not one prescribed by others.

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