Ashlee's Rival Love Read online

  “Tanner’s coming over in a few minutes. I thought we’d take a walk to the park. He hasn’t seen much of the town.”

  “That’s nice Dear,” Mom said. “I’m sure you have a lot to discuss about school.”

  “I’m anxious to meet that young man,” Dad said.

  I breathed a sigh of relief. No inquisition. They could be cool parents sometimes.

  I took one bite of the muffin and tasted the eggs, deciding I had an appetite after all. It was delicious. I was sipping my second cup of hot chocolate when the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it.”

  Jumping to my feet, I ran to open the door. Tanner looked great in his jeans and brown tee shirt. “Hi. Come on in.”

  His face was relaxed. “Thanks for seeing me on such short notice.”

  I nodded and led him into the kitchen. “I thought we could take a walk to the park if you’d like.” I quickly introduced him to Mom and Dad.

  “We were just having coffee,” Mom said, “would you like something to drink?”

  “No, thanks Mrs. Stone, I’ve already had breakfast,” Tanner said. He talked to Mom and Dad for a few minutes, then we said good-bye and left.

  Tanner walked for a while in silence, the leaves rustling under his feet. “Your parents are nice.”

  I breathed deeply of the crisp fall air. “Thanks, I could tell that they liked you.”

  He grinned. “I’m glad there’s two Stone’s that do. Too bad their daughter doesn’t.”

  I quickened my pace, keeping my gaze on the leaves that littered the sidewalk. I didn’t know how to respond. He was right. I didn’t like him at first, although my impression of him had changed. We hadn’t argued for over a week. I also had to admit that he was one of the cutest guys in school.

  “Hey, it’s okay. Don’t look so serious.” Tanner said, “I was just teasing you.”

  We stopped at the corner and I gave him a quick glance. I hoped I hadn’t hurt his feelings. His mouth turned up at the corners in a good-natured grin. I wondered what he wanted to talk about. I suspected it might have to do with the consolidation. “We have to meet with Mrs. DeGraff next week, don’t we?”

  Tanner sighed. “I think she’s going to want to hear something positive. The dance helped, but there isn’t that much progress to report.”

  I shuffled through a pile of golden leaves. “I know. Maybe things will change before our meeting and we can tell her something she wants to hear.” We reached the park’s playground and I headed for the gazebo, pointing to the bench inside. “We can sit in there.”

  “I love it here.” Tanner said. “We don’t have anything like this in Westview.”

  “It’s almost one hundred years old.” I remembered my parents talking about it. I fingered the white lattice work siding. “This is supposed to be cut from a pine tree on Ezra Carlton’s ranch. He was the founder of the town and he donated the land for the park, and built the gazebo himself.” I was rattling on and I knew it. He was going to think I was a king sized geek, but I was getting nervous waiting for the mysterious talk.

  “I didn’t know you were interested in history,” Tanner said. “I’m impressed.”

  I stepped inside and sat on the bench. “Don’t be. I like history, but my parents told me about this park. They’re the history buffs.”

  “I’m still impressed,” Tanner said. He hesitated outside the arched entryway. A flicker of apprehension crossed his face before he entered. “Ashlee, I have an apology to make,” he cleared his throat. “This is harder than I thought it’d be.” He peered down at me. “I’ve been angry with you for not getting in touch with me over the summer, and I just found out that you did.”

  “Of course I did. I called you practically every weekend.”

  “I know, Amy told me last night.”

  “Amy? What does she have to do with it?”

  “Everything.” He sat across from me and leaned forward. A lock of his dark hair fell across his forehead. “You see. Every summer, the day after school lets out, I go with my family to visit my uncle in Iowa. He lives on a farm outside of Rolfe. I stay for the whole summer and help with the harvest, but my family comes back in July.”

  I shook my head and smiled. “I can’t picture you on a farm.”

  “It’s a lot of fun. My cousin Dan and I are the same age. He’s the closest thing I have to a brother.” He grinned. “Besides, I drive a mean tractor.”

  I couldn’t imagine him driving a tractor. “I still don’t understand. If you weren’t home to get my messages, your family was.”

  “That’s the problem. They didn’t get them.”

  “Why not?”

  “Amy erased them. She didn’t know what she was doing. To her, the phone is a toy. Do you remember yesterday when she kept pointing to you, and saying your name?”

  I nodded.

  “After you left, she told me she recognized your voice. You were the Ashlee that called all summer, and she liked listening to you.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Yesterday I had her show me what she did with the voice mail. When you left your messages she wanted to hear them again. But each time she pressed the wrong button and erased them. We probably lost a lot of messages because of her.”

  “Why didn’t your parents answer the phone? I called several Saturdays around dinnertime. It was the only time I could call since I worked all summer at Camp Denning. I was just home on weekends.”

  He shrugged. “My parents go out on Saturday nights and they leave Amy with a baby-sitter. She must have played with the phone when the sitter wasn’t looking.”

  “That explains why you didn’t get my voice mail but why didn’t you answer my text messages I sent on your cell?”

  “I didn’t know you sent any. In the county where the farm is they don’t have cell phone service. I didn’t know that until I got there. And the regular phone service was out most of the summer because of the tornado that swept through there before I came. They finally got their phone connected a few days before I left. It was a real bummer not being able to call anyone. Like living in the dark ages. I had to write letters to my parents all summer.”

  I stared down at the wooden floor of the gazebo. I had been angry with Tanner for not returning my calls, and he had never gotten them. The whole situation suddenly seemed funny. I glanced at Tanner and giggled.

  His shoulders relaxed and his mouth spread into a smile. “I’m glad you’re laughing. I thought you’d be upset.”

  “Why would I be? You didn’t get my texts or my messages. Anyway, I have a confession to make. For months I’ve been angry with you for not returning my calls.”

  I don’t blame you.” He crossed his arms and stared at me. “You have such a pretty smile.”

  I caught my breath. My cheeks felt warm. I stared back down at the wooden floor. I had been wrong about Tanner. He wasn’t irresponsible and he could be fun to be with.

  “Do you remember when we first met?”

  I nodded. Was he kidding? How could I forget that? I’d thought he was my dream guy and the rudest boy I’d ever met all within a few minutes.

  “I thought you were a nice girl, until you told me your name. When I heard that I got angry. I thought you were irresponsible for not getting in touch with me all summer. I thought you would at least call my parents phone but they said there weren’t any calls from you.”

  “I’ve been thinking the same thing about you.”

  He grinned and sat beside me. “I should have given you a chance, and asked you why you hadn’t called. It would have saved us a lot of arguments later. I’m sorry I couldn’t call you all summer. I didn’t know about the phone situation until I got there.”

  “It’s not all your fault, Tanner and I’m sorry too. I should have just asked you why you didn’t return my calls.”

  “His green eyes became serious. “Your first impression of Westies must have been awful after arguing with me.”

  I couldn’t answer. He was sitting close to me, his long legs stretc
hed out in front of him. A breeze came up and blew my hair into my eyes. I tossed my head and at the same time brushed his cheek with my hair. He reached up and lifted a strand of hair from his shoulder. His face was so near. I held my breath. My heart pounded in my chest. His lips looked soft, and totally kissable. Instinctively, I tilted my head closer to him.

  He jerked back, and took a deep breath. Then he jumped up and strode to the other side of the gazebo, a confused expression on his face.

  I took a deep breath. What was wrong with me? I’d almost kissed Tanner. My hands were cold and damp. We sat in an awkward silence for a moment, then I rose from the bench. “I need to go home. I promised to call Sarah.”

  Tanner seemed relieved. “I have to leave too. I’ll walk you home.“

  We strolled to the edge of the park without saying a word. The sun warmed our backs as we crossed the street to my house.

  Tanner paused by the curb. “There’s one thing I still don’t understand. Why didn’t you answer my letter?”

  I stopped mid step and turned around. “What letter?”

  “The letter Tiffany gave you.”

  “Tiffany didn’t give me a letter.”

  He frowned. “Sure she did. When I didn’t hear from you, I wrote down my thoughts on the consolidation and sent it to Tiffany since I didn’t have your address. I thought it would help you when we met with Principal DeGraff. Tiffany said she hand delivered it to you.”

  My whole body tensed. I’d been careful not to criticize Tiffany in front of Tanner. I didn’t want to tell him the truth, but there was nothing else I could do. “Tiffany didn’t deliver anything to me. I didn’t meet her until the first day of school.”

  A frown crossed his face. His eyes darkened. “What are you trying to say?”

  “I’m telling you the truth. There has to be an explanation for it. Maybe Tiffany gave it to the wrong girl, but I didn’t get it.”

  “That can’t be. When you didn’t answer, I asked Tiffany to check your address. She did, and said it was correct. I don’t understand why you would lie about Tiffany.”

  “Me, lie?” I took a deep breath. “How can you say that? Tiffany has been rude to me since we met. I wouldn’t put it past her to...”

  “To what, Ashlee?”

  I caught myself from saying more. There was something about his tone that told me it was useless to explain. He would never believe all of the things she had done. It was my word against Tiffany’s. “Nothing.”

  He opened his car door. “I don’t think there’s anything more to say.” He started the engine and drove off.

  I glared at Tanner’s car, my hands clenched at my sides. It hurt that he thought I was capable of lying about Tiffany. But what bothered me the most was that ten minutes before I had not only come close to kissing Tanner, I had wanted to.

  Chapter Six

  The cafeteria was vacating fast. Kids stacked their empty lunch trays by the door and headed outside to the courtyard. It had become my favorite spot in the school and I wanted to join them for a few minutes before my meeting with Mrs. DeGraff. I munched on my chocolate cake and stared down at Sarah’s full plate of food. Her chicken teriyaki had hardly been touched. “Aren’t you going to eat your lunch?”

  Sarah gave me a silly grin. “I’m not hungry. Anyway, who cares about food?”

  “Not everyone can live on love like you. Since your date you haven’t stopped smiling.”

  She stared into space, a dazed look in her eyes. “Jake is wonderful and he kisses like a dream.”

  I laughed. “You’ve told me that at least a hundred times since Saturday night. I don’t know how you can stand to eat without him.”

  “I can’t. But he has to practice for the debate team during lunch. They’re having a big meet soon. Poor guy. He barely has time to eat.”

  “He makes up for it after school at Chancy’s.” I set my empty milk carton on the tray and pushed it aside. “If you don’t want to eat, let’s go outside.”

  She pulled a stack of books out of her bag and sorted through them. “I’ll have to skip the courtyard today. I need to turn in my overdue library book, if I can find it.”

  I glanced down at a red book with a library label on the side. “Earth to Sarah,” I said, handing it to her. “Is this it?”

  “Yeah. How did you find it?”

  I shook my head, and grinned. “You’re a hopeless case.”

  A smile played across her face. “Maybe, but being in love is awesome. I wish you could find someone you cared about.”

  I secretly wished I had someone special too. “That would be great, but it’s not something you can order, like a pizza.”

  “Why not? Just decide what type of guy you want.” She took out a notepad and started writing. “Instead of pepperoni or sausage, you choose between blondes or brunettes. Instead of choosing mushrooms, peppers, and onions, you decide the color of his eyes, the shape of his mouth, and his height. The cheese is his personality, whether you want him to have a sense of humor, be a class leader and have good grades, or be an athlete. It’s whatever is important to you.” She listed everything in two columns. “Once you get your order ready, you search the halls until you find him.”

  I giggled. “You are too much. But I’ll pass on your guy-ordering.” I stood and gathered my tray. “ Come on, I’ll walk with you to the library.”

  “You’ve already got your order in.” Sarah grabbed her bag and emptied her tray in the trash. “You know the kind of guy you want, but you haven’t found him yet. At least you think you haven’t.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean there is a perfect boy for you right under your nose. But you’ve been ignoring him.”

  “Who are you talking about?”

  “Tanner.” She raised her eyebrows a few times. “He’s what you would call the perfect pizza.”

  I stopped walking and turned to her. “Tanner? For me? You’re not thinking clearly.” I patted her on the head. “You’ve got Jake on the brain. Tanner and I are enemies, remember? He’s not interested in me.”

  “He may not be interested in you but he has a great respect for you. Everyone can see that.”

  “Have you forgotten about Tiffany?”

  “No, and I don’t understand what he sees in her but he’ll come to his senses soon. It makes him even more fascinating because he’s unavailable.”

  We started walking again. “We are unavailable to each other as far as I’m concerned. Besides, Tanner and Tiffany deserve each other.”

  “No one deserves Tiffany. Tanner is a nice guy. Give him a chance.”

  “How can you say that after he called me a liar?”

  “He was wrong, but he didn’t mean it. I’ll bet he regrets it.”

  “That isn’t the way he acts. Since that walk in the park, every time I’ve seen him in the halls he gets this funny look on his face, like it’s killing him to say, ‘Hello,’ to me.” It made me angry to think of our last conversation. I was disappointed that he didn’t believe me.

  “I don’t blame you for being upset. But I’ve gotten to know him, and I like him. He might be the right guy for you. He’s smart and a good leader, like you. He also cares about the school as much as you do. But the main thing is that he challenges you. No guy has ever done that.”

  I took a deep breath. “He challenges my patience. That’s all.”

  A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “I think the reason you don’t have a boyfriend is because you’re bored.”

  We turned the corner and headed towards Mrs. DeGraff’s office. “That doesn’t make sense.”

  “Doesn’t it? You were one of the most popular girls at Carlton High, and you dated a lot. But this year, you’ve lost your enthusiasm. I think the only reason you go out is because you don’t want to hurt the guys feelings.”

  “That’s not true. I couldn’t wait to date Tim.”

  “Yeah, but you came home disappointed.”

  “I couldn’t help it
if the sparks weren’t there.”

  “I know, but I wonder if the sparks weren’t there because you’ve changed. You’ve grown more since you had to fight about the consolidation. It’s been a big responsibility. Most guys don’t understand that. Except Tanner. He does, because he’s been through the same thing.”

  A lot of what she said made sense. I had changed so much that sometimes I wondered who I was. Fighting against the consolidation last semester had shown me I had strengths I didn’t know I had. Yet, I hoped she was wrong. I hoped I didn’t act superior to anyone. “I like the Westie guys. Most of them are nice and fun to be with.” I slowed my pace. “I didn’t know I was acting so weird. I mean, it sounds like I’m a snob.”

  “You’re not a snob. You’ve had a lot of pressures that most guys don’t have, or understand. You don’t connect with them when you go out because of that. But Tanner understands. You have a lot more in common with him than you think.”

  “Maybe you’re right. Until you said it, I didn’t realize those were my same thoughts. But that’s the only thing you’re right about. Tanner is not the guy for me. Just because we share some of the same responsibilities, doesn’t mean we’re meant for each other”

  “No, but you have to admit, he doesn’t bore you, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s gorgeous.”

  She was right and it bugged me. He wasn’t boring, and he was the best looking guy in school. Sometimes I liked him, but half the time I didn’t. “There’s just one big problem. I don’t like Tanner, and he doesn’t like me.”

  “He does like you. That’s why Tiffany has fits when he talks to you. I think you like him too, but you don’t want to admit it because you’re angry with him.” Sarah bit her lower lip and stared at me. “You haven’t been the same since Tanner went to your house last week. You’re more upset than usual. What’s going on?”

  I turned my gaze away from her. All week I had been upset that I had almost kissed him. I had wanted to, and I was afraid he knew it. Everything had happened so fast. One minute we were talking, and the next minute I was ready to kiss him. I couldn’t explain it to her when I didn’t understand it myself. “Nothing’s going on. I’m just worried about our meeting with Mrs. DeGraff.”