Chapter 80 Part 80
Asher
“Come on, Rick! Those horses need to move to the other pen! You haven’t even brought out the hay!” Asher yelled as he stood near the railings of the enclosure they had brought the horses to a few days earlier.
“Damn, Asher, you’re like a bear with a sore tooth. Give the guy a break,” Dylan said, as he stood next to him.
“I said I’d help to move the horses, but I’ve got somewhere to be.”
Dylan grinned as he looked at him. “Hot date?”
“Mind your own damn business, Dylan,” Asher said, climbing over the top post of the fence. “Go get the damn hay, Rick!”
Dylan barked out a laugh, but Asher didn’t turn around. He wanted to get on the road. The previous night, he’d called an old friend who had access to military records. Major Paul Wright had given him Josh Conroy’s last known address.
“Asher! Leave the damn horses to me! Just go already!” Dylan yelled.
Asher shook his head as Rick gave him the reins of his horse, and started toward the barn. Asher mounted the horse, and with a few quick steps, the other horses congregated near the adjoining gate. When he nodded his head, Terry unhooked the rope. The horses bumped into each other as they trotted through the opening, while Asher drove them further inside. Rick came back with the wheelbarrow loaded with hay to start distributing it.
“Sorry,” Rick said, trying to catch his breath, as Asher handed the reins back to him.
Immediately, Asher climbed back over the top post and stalked toward the barn, where Dylan stood in the shade. He took his hat off to wipe the sweat away. “I’ll be gone for a few days; not sure how long I’ll be gone.”
“You wanna talk about it?”
Asher looked at his younger brother, the concern in his eyes, and sighed. “Not really. I’m fine, Dylan, I really am.”
“You broke up with Lorelei; the whole damn town’s speculating about what happened,” he said.
Asher smiled. “And what do they think happened?”
“That you lost your damn mind over there in the desert,” Dylan said, grinning.
“Maybe I did, Dylan.”
“Drive safe, and check in. You know Dad worries, and we just got you back home. He felt relieved as hell when he found out you had completed your time with the Army. He likes having all his children on the ranch.”
“I know,” Asher said, turning to walk away from him. “Get some better hands, Dylan. Rick is dumber than dirt.”
“He doesn’t steal! In my book, that’s a win!”
Asher chuckled as he walked the two miles back to his house. He showered, changed into clean clothes, and packed a bag. Twenty minutes later, he drove away from his house, heading to New Haywood, some six hours away.
The radio belted out song-after-song of country classics as he drove. Doubt had started to form. What was he going to say to her when he got there? She would think he was crazy if he told her about his hallucinations.
He shook his head. It was a terrible idea to drive to her house. She didn’t know him, and she was probably an entirely different person than the one he’d conjured up in his mind.
Despite this, he couldn’t turn his truck around. He had to keep going. He had to see her, even if she wasn’t the same person. Realistically, he knew she wouldn’t be, but he felt compelled to go anyway. The driving force outweighed his own free will.
Asher arrived in New Haywood at 1 p.m. As he parked his truck across the street from the house, his stomach was in tight knots. It looked well-kept, the garden in full bloom.
He was about to get out of his truck when he saw the front door open, and Maggie appeared with a stroller. His heart rate quickened, but then it felt like he couldn’t breathe when Josh appeared behind her.
She looked exactly like he remembered, her blonde hair up in a ponytail. Josh had one arm around her shoulder as she pushed the stroller down the pathway, and they headed down the street.
He got out of his truck and followed behind them. It was a physical pain that went through him, but the reality was that she was married. She had a husband and a baby, but the worst part of it all was that she looked happy. The walk to the park was a short one, and Josh spread a blanket on the grass when they got there. Maggie took the baby out of the stroller and placed her on the blanket between them. She looked up once, right into his eyes, but there was no recognition there.
He watched them for half an hour. Josh was attentive to his family, his eyes holding love for the woman and the child that were supposed to be Asher’s. He couldn’t look at them anymore, his heart shattering on the inside, but now he knew.
He started the drive back to Two Bear Meadow with a heavy heart. The radio was silent, and he only stopped for gas. Three hours later, it started raining heavily, the weather reflecting his mood.
Asher had to slow down considerably as he neared Two Bear Meadow. The rain was pelting down, making visibility almost non-existent. The bar was open, but Asher wasn’t a drinker; he had never been. Although the diner’s lights and those of Meadow Manor were bright, the knot in his stomach had gotten worse. The rest of the town was cast in darkness, except for the streetlights.
He headed out of town and slowed to a crawl on the dirt road. It was muddy, slippery, and an accident waiting to happen. His mind was betraying him again—the darkness was within reach, and this time, Asher thought it might be safer.
He stood next to his truck, looking up at his dark house. His tears mingled with the rain as he screamed out his pain, his rage, and his frustration. She had never been his, and he knew he had to find a way to live without her.