Page 90 of You and Me, For Real
“How about we kick this joint and go out for a celebratory treat?”
“I’m game,” Wren pipes in. “My calves are killing me in these shoes. It’s not easy keeping heels from sinking into the grass all night.”
“Sounds good to me,” Ashton chimes as she pats Teddy’s head.
They stand from their chairs just as a hand clasps my shoulder from behind.
“Not leaving so soon, are you?” Wesley grins. His daughter trails behind him, talking to someone.
“Oh, hey, actually I think we might.” I awkwardly stumble through my words. “If that’s okay?”
He guffaws. “Oh, I’m just giving you a hard time. But first, there’s someone here I want you to meet.”
“Okay, sure.” I feel like a fish caught in a net.
Wesley steps aside to reveal a woman in a hot-pink tailored pantsuit. She’s in her fifties or sixties, I would guess. Her short-cropped hair is dyed with a mix of blonde highlights and lowlights. If her straight posture and nose tipped in the air weren’t enough indication of her wealth, her Louboutin heels and Louis Vuitton purse are.
She gasps. “Griffin Ford? Oh my goodness.TheGriffin Ford?”
She strides toward me, pulling me into a hug. Her potent perfume overloads my senses, making me gag. She releases me just as quickly as she grasped me and tosses me to the side. The interaction makes me dizzy.
“Ashton? What are you doing here?” Her tone surprised, yet condescending.
Ashton immediately shrinks in on herself, her previous joy extinguishing as quickly as a flame. “Hi, Mom.”
My jaw nearly falls to the ground. Her mom? Here?
While Ashton hasn’t fully divulged all the details of her relationship with her mom, her body language tells me everything I need to know. Her mom is the last person she wants to see.
I step forward, blocking Ashton from view. “She’s here with me.” Though unnecessary, I stand a little straighter, my chest puffing out.
The woman’s eyes dart from behind me to my face. She lets out a nervous chuckle, trying to recover from the harsh tone she used to greet her daughter. “Oh, don’t be silly. I mean her no harm. We’re on good terms, she and I.” She leans slightly to the side, speaking around me. “Aren’t we, darling?”
When Ashton doesn’t reply, her mom turns her focus back to me. “Silly me, I didn’t properly introduce myself. I’m Edith Blake, Ashton’s mother.” Her voice pitches higher. “Though you wouldn’t know it since she cut herself off from me.” She chucklesagain, as if she can laugh off her not-so-subtle dig. Her attempt to make light of this awkward encounter is abysmal. The tension thickens the air.
Wesley steps up, wrapping an arm around Edith’s shoulder. “When Edith shared some of her life’s story with me last week in our meeting and recounted having two daughters”—he says, gesturing to Ashton—“one of them named Ashton, I thought it seemed too coincidental for the two of them not to meet. And look, I was right. A long-lost family member. Quite the family reunion, huh?” He opens his other arm to welcome Scarlet into his embrace.
Wesley looks to Ashton. “We can give you two a moment to get reacquainted if you’d like.”
Ashton has yet to remove herself from behind me, nor has she said a word.
“That would be lovely,” Edith replies.
At the same time, I say, “No.”
Scarlet steps forward. “Babe, let these ladies chat. I’ve still got plenty of people to introduce you to.”
A small voice chirps behind me, “Excuse me. I’ve got to?—”
Ashton takes off across the yard, hobbling toward the house as quickly as her injury will allow.
I take a step in her direction.
Scarlet’s hand clasps on my forearm. “Let her go. She needs a minute.”
I study her face. It’s surprisingly full of sympathy, but there’s also a hint of pleading in her gaze. Her father’s watching this whole exchange—as well as half the surrounding party. He arches an eyebrow.
Is this a test? Is he trying to get me to break the terms of our contract? Is that what this is all about? He doesn’t actually want me to be in his next film? He’d rather have Jaxon? We restoredScarlet’s reputation in the public eye, so as far as he’s concerned, my work is done.
