Page 40 of The Love Fix (The Sunrise Cove #8)

Ashley sniffed and read out loud:

Darling Ashley,

I’m so sorry, because if you’re reading this, then I’m already gone. But Lexi’s there with you, which means you’re surrounded

by love. How do I know? Because I know my Lexi, and she feels love more than anyone I’ve ever met, even though she can’t always

express it.

Oh, Ash. I miss you already. Having you in my life has made every single day more joyful. Even my shitty days. And I’m a big

enough person to admit, there were far more shitty days than there should’ve been. I’m sorry about that too. But know that

I’ve always fought to give you the best, and I’ll never stop watching over you.

By now, you’ve delivered the first four envelopes. I know it looks bad how I got all this money, but I knew I was sick. I

knew there wouldn’t be a good ending. And I needed, more than anything, to make some things right. I needed to know you’d

be okay, that you’d have a roof over your head no matter what. So when I beat the odds and actually won, the first thing I

did was pay off the house. It’s in your name. Sell it if you need, or live in it forever.

One more thing. Don’t make the same mistakes I made.

Family fights for one another, no matter what .

You know I think of you as my own flesh and blood, that I always fought for you.

But I’m gone now, and your family’s down to one.

You and Lexi against the world. I hope you’ll fight for her the way I should have.

She deserves that, and whether she knows it or not, she needs you every bit as much as you need her.

Please stick together, always and forever, in whatever capacity that turns out to be.

I love you to the moon and back.

Love,

Mom

Ashley carefully set the letter down next to her ice cream. Tears streamed down her face, and she reached for the napkin dispenser

on the table. It was empty.

“I’ve got it,” Lexi said softly, glad for the moment to school her expression after the hit of hearing her mom say she’d fought

for Ashley, something she’d never done for Lexi.

When she set down a full napkin dispenser in front of her sister, Ashley both cried and laughed. “Good call. Once you read

yours, I’ll probably start crying all over again.”

Lexi didn’t sit. She just shook her head as she shoved her envelope into her back pocket.

“Wait.” Ashley blew her nose. “You... you’re not opening yours?”

She couldn’t, not when Ashley’s letter had triggered all her deep-seated insecurities, the ones she held close to the vest.

She wouldn’t blame her mom if her own letter was filled with recriminations. She deserved it. She just couldn’t bring herself

to share it. “I’m not ready.”

Ashley’s shoulders fell. “Oh, Lex. I shouldn’t have read mine out loud. I’m so sorry.”

“Why? Because she fought for you, always?” Lexi could hear the ugly coming out of her mouth and couldn’t stop it. “Why would

you be sorry? It was her truth. It was her dying truth.”

“I think...” Ashley swallowed hard. “I think you’re missing the whole spirit of her letter. She had clear regrets—”

“She shouldn’t.” Lexi shook her head, nearly choking on her own vitriol. “I was horrible to her. I pushed her away, and I’ll

have to live with that for the rest of my life.”

Ashley stood up and reached for Lexi’s hand. “You were just a kid, not old enough to understand the ramifications. She didn’t

fight your dad for custody. She... she hung you out to dry, Lexi. Whatever’s in your letter, I promise you it’s going to

make you feel better.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do.”

Something in Ashley’s gaze—guilt?—made Lexi freeze. “How, Ash? How do you know?”

Her sister bit her bottom lip and looked away.

Lexi’s stomach jangled uncomfortably. “ Ash .”

Her sister stuffed a massive bite of ice cream into her mouth and then gestured to it with a sorry-I-have-a-mouthful grimace.

Lexi crossed her arms and waited her out, because in three, two, one—

“ Ow! ” Ashley howled around the huge bite, clenching her head. “Oh my God.”

“Brain freeze?” Lexi asked with false sympathy. “That’s what you get. Now, spit it out—”

“That’s sacrilege,” Ashley mumbled, eyes watering, holding her head onto her shoulders.

“Not the ice cream,” Lexi said. “Your secret. Spit out your secret.”

Ashley swallowed the ice cream and continued to grimace, holding her head.

“Press your tongue to the roof of your mouth.”

Ashley did, then after about ten seconds sighed. “Better,” she said softly.

Lexi couldn’t say the same. “So you read the letters ahead of time. When? Right after she died? Have you known everything

for the entire past year, then?”

Ashley slowly set her forehead onto the table. “And to think, I used to want to be an actress.”

A horrible thought sank Lexi’s stomach to her toes. “Let me guess. Daisy didn’t stipulate that it had to be both of us delivering

the envelopes, or that they needed to be spaced out. You did that so I’d come. And then stay.” She crossed her arms. “How

am I doing?”

Ashley lifted her face. “Please don’t use this as an excuse to leave and take your old job back.”

Lexi nearly staggered back. “So I’m right, then, about all of it.” She couldn’t believe her voice sounded so calm, so blasé.

“You read all the letters ahead of time. Even mine. You made up the stipulation about me having to deliver them with you,

then easily discarded that rule when it suited your purposes.”

“You’re right, but also wrong.” Ashley’s eyes swam with tears. “You don’t understand—”

“Actually, I understand perfectly. You needed to ensure I’d come, so you lied.” She held up her hand when Ashley started to

say something. “Don’t. Just don’t. I need...” To be far, far away from here, somewhere I can think . “I need to go.” She eyed her perfect ice cream. She deserved it, so she snatched it up and headed for the door.

“Lexi, wait,” Ashley called. “Please, wait.” She ran in front of Lexi, hands out.

“Yes, I read the letters. And no, I wasn’t supposed to.

But I needed to make sure that nothing in them would hurt you before I asked you to come out here and do this with me.

But the time frame? That wasn’t me. Mom wanted that, I swear.

The six weeks thing... That was what drove me to read the letters.

I couldn’t ask you to come here for so long, put your life on hold, face the past you hate, if you were only going to get hurt. ”

Lexi was a lot of things, but unreasonable wasn’t one of them. She heard the words, she understood the sentiment behind them,

but the sense of betrayal still buzzed through her. “All you had to do was tell me the truth.”

Ashley winced. “I made a mistake. I did. We all make mistakes.”

Something Lexi knew all too well.

“Please just don’t hold my mistake against Mom. She loved you. She loved you so much, Lex. She’d worked on herself, she’d

become a better person.”

“You sure about that? Because at the end of the day, she did fall off the wagon. So in some aspects at least, she was exactly

the same person she’d always been, breaking promises.” Feeling her own eyes burn, she handed the truck keys over to Ashley

and walked out, still holding her ice cream.

It was a good five miles back to the house. She stopped once to inhale her ice cream and got a gut ache for the pleasure.

The trek took forever, mostly because she was in no hurry to face her sister.

Only when she walked in the front door, it wasn’t Ashley waiting on her.

Just Heath.