Page 25 of The Love Fix (The Sunrise Cove #8)

“All I’m saying is that he’s like...” She waved a hand in the air, looking for a word. “An antique. Priceless and worthy.”

“An antique,” Lexi repeated, brow raised.

“Well, he turned thirty this year, so...” Ashley laughed when Lexi choked. “All I’m trying to say is don’t make the same

mistake that others have by taking him at face value. Yes, the package is pretty, but he’s also a hard worker and has the

biggest heart of anyone I know. He gives free legal consulting to those who can’t afford it. He repurposes old furniture,

making it new again for the people who lost everything in the wildfires last year. Right now he’s renovating old Mrs. Cromwell’s

house, making it accessible for the wheelchair she’s now confined to. He’d hate me telling you this, like, hate it , hate it, because he thinks his worth hinges on people being able to depend on him, all while he never needs to depend on anyone else. Never allows himself to be cared for.”

“Look, I know he’s a good guy.” More than. “That’s not the issue.”

“Right, because the issue is that neither of you think you can be enough for someone.”

Lexi sighed. “Are you sure you’re not the older, wiser sister?”

“Wiser, for sure.” Ashley’s lips twitched. “But you’re also nearly thirty. Ancient.” Her smile vanished. “How about this.

I’ll stop meddling, if—”

“Aha! So you admit that you are a world-class meddler!”

“Of course, I’m a world-class meddler. And I’ll stop, if you stop trying to be an island of one.”

“I could say the same thing to you.”

“What does that mean?”

“You were in a relationship, and you got hurt.”

Ashley’s eyes shuttered. “Grandpa Gus gossips like a teenage boy.” She turned away. “And I didn’t get hurt, not really. We’d

only dated a few times. I was stupid enough to catch early feelings that I thought were reciprocated. I made a bad call to

have her stay here at the house one night. When I woke up, she was gone. And so was my laptop, phone, tablet, and other stuff.

Thousands of dollars—poof—gone, because I was too stupid to understand you can’t find a relationship through a hookup app.”

She shrugged. “I filed a police report, changed the locks, dumped all the dating apps, and learned a painful lesson about

taking things slower and smarter. Period. End of story.”

Lexi wanted that to be true, but she knew from experience what betrayal felt like, how it felt like maybe you’d never be okay

ever again. “I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t need pity.”

“It’s not pity. It’s understanding.” She paused. “I wish you didn’t have to pretend to be okay, not with me.”

Ashley met her gaze with a small smile. “I’m not pretending, I am okay. I mean, did I make a stupid mistake? Yes. Will I let it change my outlook on life? No. Live and learn, right?”

“Yeah.” Lexi returned the smile. “See? Definitely the wiser sister.”

“That’s right, I am. So you should listen to me when I beg you to consider staying. Here, with me. And you already even have

friends. Heath and his grandpa, and trust me, you’re going to love Cole and Misty too...”

The yearning in Ashley’s eyes made Lexi swallow hard as she realized that she wasn’t the only lonely one. Driven by an emotion

she hadn’t experienced in a long time, she stepped close and took Ashley’s hand. “Let me make you a promise.”

“But you never make promises.”

“I know.” Lexi squeezed tight. “Which is how you know you can believe me. I promise I’ll do better at this sister thing. I

won’t let us fall by the wayside again.”

Her sister, eyes shiny, nodded. “And Heath?”

She let out a breath. “I don’t want to disappoint you, but I don’t think we’re going there.”

“Because you don’t want to?”

“Because neither of us are ready for it.”

Ashley stared at her for a long beat. “Dammit.”

“What?”

“That wasn’t a lie.”

Lexi gave her a grim smile. “It wasn’t.” No matter how much she secretly wished it was.

“I just don’t get it. When you guys are near each other, I swear I hear the air crackling. It started that day when we delivered Judy’s envelope. I know something happened.”

Lexi couldn’t help it, she felt her face heat.

Ashley’s mouth fell open, then she squealed and jumped up and down. “Oh my God, I was right!”

Lexi looked around for alcohol, but they’d split the last bottle of wine the night before. Just in case, she stalked to the

kitchen and opened the freezer, hoping against hope that Ashley stocked it like Heath did at his grandpa’s. But nope, no vodka.

Ashley was right there when Lexi turned from the freezer. Like, right there. Grinning. “So you two—”

“ No! ” Lexi lowered her voice with effort. “We didn’t... We just kissed.”

“Again, you mean. You kissed again. Just like I saw five years ago. That one felt different than last night. Last night’s

kiss looked hot enough to melt the polar caps, if they weren’t already melting.”

Lexi shook her head. “We need to get you a new hobby. Spying on me is getting old.”

Ashley waved this off. “Just so I understand. You’re not in the market for a guy, but if you were... what would you be

looking for?”

“I’m not.”

“But if you were.”

Lexi sighed and tried to be flip. “Smelling good is a must.”

Ashley didn’t look impressed. “Dig deeper. What would you feel when you see him?”

She racked her brain. “Um... happier than I felt before I saw him, I guess?”

“You’ve just described a cookie.”

“Okay, yes, but think about it. Cookies are everything.”

Ashley sighed. “I think it’s time to break into my top-secret emergency stash of wine in the attic.”

“Why the attic?”

“So that I’d only go after it if I was desperate. There’re spiders up there. I volunteer you as tribute.”

Thirty minutes later, they were halfway to hammered and still working in Daisy’s bedroom. Lexi was deep in a small dresser

inside the closet, which had been painted white with a bunch of flowers all over it, lending it a sweet charm. “This is cute.

Doesn’t fit with the rest of the furniture, but I like it.”

“Yeah?” Ashley beamed. “I found it at a garage sale with Mom when I was a teen. The wood stain was long gone, and it was all

scratched up, but I got it for ten bucks. One of my favorite memories of Mom is from that day. She bought me some paint. The

flowers were my idea. They’re not very good, but she claimed to love it.” Ashley looked at her almost shyly. “Do you have

a favorite memory of her?”

“Uh...” Lexi actively thought about it—something she’d purposefully not allowed herself to do. “I guess I was somewhere

around five. We made our own pizza, and she let me use whatever toppings I wanted. I picked M&M’s. They melted in the oven,

of course. And the pizza was...” She shook her head with a laugh. “Disgusting. But one thing she could always do was make

me laugh.”

Ashley looked so happy at the story that Lexi felt bad for not sharing more. She tried to think of something else. “She used

to take me bowling. The place we went to played only seventies rock. She would dance her way to the aisle before releasing

her bowling ball. It was pretty cute.”

Ash grinned. “She could always make me laugh too. Even at the end. Which is my worst memory, by the way. Being with her at the end. She hadn’t told anyone she was sick, not a soul. So to me it all happened quickly, so quickly. It was...” She shook her head. “A shock.”

Lexi swallowed. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.”

Ashley shook her head again. “It’s not on you. Like I said, she didn’t want anyone to know, including us. She’d have hated

a big fuss. She went out as she lived, hard and fast.” Her eyes were suspiciously shiny again. “Can I hear your worst memory

of her?”

Lexi felt the air leave her lungs. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said gently.

“Please? I want to understand more about you. I’ve always wanted to know, but never wanted to push.”

“All right.” She had to draw a deep breath because she’d buried most of her worst memories. “I think I was... eight? Nine?

One day after school, she didn’t show up in the pickup line. I stood there in the pouring rain waiting. And waiting.”

“Wasn’t there an aide to make sure everyone got picked up?”

Lexi shrugged. “I must’ve slipped through the cracks somehow.” One thing about trying to be invisible was that it often worked.

“Turned out, she was at one of the casinos at Stateline and lost track of time.”

Ashley let out a pained sound that had the potential to completely undo Lexi, so she swallowed the lump in her throat and

busied herself with pulling a stack of shoeboxes down from the shelves above the dresser.

“How did you get home?” Ashley asked.

“I walked. Well, actually, I started out walking, but some older boys came along and...” The memory made her heart pump

way too hard. “I ended up running through the woods. Fell and ruined my clothes. So yeah. Definitely one of my worst memories.”

“I’m so sorry.”

Lexi waved a hand. “It was a long time ago.”

“I’m starting to get it.”

“Get what?”

Ashley’s eyes were sad. “Why you didn’t keep in touch. I wouldn’t have wanted to either.”

Lexi shook her head. “I was wrong not to.” She turned to face Ashley. “I want you to know how much it always meant to me,

you making the effort to call and text and keep in touch... You were the one who kept us together, and I’m not proud of

that.” The words felt like glass scraping over her raw throat. She hadn’t had to fight tears for a very long time. But here

in Sunrise Cove, it seemed like every day she felt far too much. “When I first left here, things weren’t exactly easy for

me, living with my dad. My stepsisters took one look at a sullen, introverted kid, and it was instant dislike. My dad worked,

a lot, and they were stuck with me. They weren’t kind.”

“I’m sorry,” her sister whispered.

Lexi waved that off, knowing she had to admit the truth, her bitter truth, even if it meant possibly alienating Ashley. “I

was angry and hurt. And...” She grimaced. “Jealous. Jealous as hell that Mom got clean for you and not me.”

Regret crossed Ash’s face.

“No, please don’t feel bad. You were a kid too. It had nothing to do with you, and I shouldn’t have let it affect our relationship.

And I hope you don’t mind, but I need to talk about something else now. Anything else.” She pulled a pair of go-go boots from

the closet that were so used, the heels were gone. She tossed them into the trash pile, then laughed a little when Ashley

snatched them and put them into her pile. “You do realize you’re doing the opposite of downsizing.”

“I know.” Ash swallowed hard. “It’s just that she really loved these.”

And Ashley had loved Daisy. She’d loved her as if she’d been her birth mom. To her shame, Lexi wasn’t sure she’d really understood

until that very moment. “I meant what I said, I am going to try harder. To be sisters. Real sisters.”

Ashley sniffled. “Yes, please.”

Lexi went into the adjoining bathroom and came out with a roll of toilet paper, which she tossed to Ashley, who was now sitting

on the bed. Taking the spot next to her, she nudged her knee into her sister’s. “I didn’t know it when I decided to come here,

but I needed this. I needed you.” She gave a small smile. “But you have to stop crying. We’re out of tissues, and at this

rate, we’ll be out of toilet paper too.”

“No, we won’t,” Ashley said soggily. “You just bought us a year’s supply when you went to Costco.”

“Hey, it was on sale.”

Ashley laughed soggily. “I’d like to propose a pact. It’s just us now, we’re all we’ve got. And we’re all right. So we each

let go of our guilt. Period. End of story.”

The second Lexi nodded, Ashley wrapped her arms around her. “Let’s hold on to that.”

“Okay,” Lexi managed to squeak out, her air supply cut off by how tight Ashley held her. “But you mean emotionally, right?

Not physically.”

With a snort, Ashley just tightened her grip and... kissed her face all over.

“Ew! Gross! Foul!”

With a laugh, Ashley kissed her some more.