Return To Rose Cottage: The Laws of Attraction

“I’m not alone. Well, I am now, but Josh was here until about a half hour ago. I sent him home.”

“Josh?” Jo repeated, immediately intrigued. “Spill, big sister. Who is Josh?”

Ashley was surprised. “You mean the family grapevine has failed you? I thought surely you would have had detailed reports by now. Maggie and Melanie are certainly making a lot out of the fact that I met a man a few hours after my arrival.”

“An interesting man?”

“That’s one description,” she conceded.

“What’s a better one?”

Ashley thought about that before answering. “He’s soothing,” she said eventually.

“Soothing? As in boring?”

She laughed. “No, he’s definitely not boring.”

“Not the least bit sexy?”

“Oh, he’s sexy, all right.”

“Really?” Jo said with more enthusiasm. “Now it’s getting interesting. Tell me more, Ashley. Are you going to follow the family tradition and fall madly in love while you’re at Rose Cottage?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I have way too much on my mind to even think about a man right now.”

Jo laughed. “I’m pretty sure love and passion don’t require a lot of thinking. You’re supposed to go with the flow. Not that I would know, of course, my own love life being what it is.”

“Which is?” Ashley asked, eager to steer the subject away from her own problems.

“Not something I care to discuss,” Jo said emphatically, in a way that only stirred worry that there was something she was hiding.

Even through her concern, Ashley had to admire her baby sister. No matter how complicated her life got, Jo simply dealt with it. They usually didn’t know until much, much later that Jo’s emotional life was in turmoil. She was quiet and steady as a rock.

“If you change your mind, I’m here,” Ashley said, fully aware that she was wasting her breath.

“I know that. I know I can depend on all of you.”

“You just choose not to,” Ashley said.

“It’s not that I wouldn’t value your advice or your support,” Jo said. “It just makes it more difficult to know my own mind if there’s all this sisterly clamor going on around me.”

“Fair enough. I suppose we could listen without offering advice,” Ashley offered.

“That’ll be the day,” Jo said with a laugh. “Maybe one leopard could change its spots, but three? Not a chance.”

“Okay, then,” Ashley said briskly. “Thanks for filling me in. I’ll be in touch.”

“If you aren’t, I’m coming down there and bringing Mom and Dad with me. We’ll circle the wagons.”

“Heaven forbid!” Ashley said, truly aghast at the notion.

Jo chuckled. “Thought that would provide sufficient motivation for you to call home more often. Love you.”

“You, too, brat.”

She hung up the phone slowly and realized she was smiling, despite everything. She might not want her family hovering, but it meant the world to know that they were there if she needed them.

7

Josh arrived at Rose Cottage by 7:00 a.m., but Melanie and Maggie had beaten him there. He spotted their cars as he crossed the backyard from the dock. Something told him that word of Ashley’s latest crisis had spread despite his own attempts to keep it under wraps during Mike’s visit. He was beginning to realize that the D’Angelo grapevine was an efficient means of communication. He hadn’t decided yet if that was good or bad.

He tapped on the back door and walked in to find all three sisters at the kitchen table. Ashley looked as if she were under siege. She turned to him so eagerly, it made his heart skip a beat or two. He wished he could believe that welcome was specifically for him, and wouldn’t have been given to anyone who’d walked in the door just then.

“Time to go?” she asked, leaping to her feet. “I’m ready.”

“Not so fast, big sister,” Maggie said. “Josh, perhaps you would like a cup of coffee before you go?” It wasn’t really a question. She was already pouring the coffee, and the determined glint in her eyes was more command than inquiry.

Josh glanced at Ashley and caught the pleading expression in her eyes. Even though he understood and shared her sisters’ well-meaning concern, he opted to side with her for now. “Sorry. No time. We have an appointment.”

“With some fish,” Melanie noted dryly. “I didn’t know they kept date books. I imagine they won’t be all that disappointed if you’re a little late.”

“These are very busy fish,” Josh retorted, undaunted by her undisguised skepticism. “And you know what they say about early birds.”

“They get the worm,” Maggie responded. “Which I don’t think applies in this instance.” She frowned at Ashley, then relented. “Okay, go, but we’re not finished with you.”

“I think I got that,” Ashley said, sounding resigned.

“What time will you be back?” Maggie asked Josh.

“Hard to say,” he responded evasively, suspecting they would be waiting on the doorstep if he gave them a specific hour. “With this whole relaxation thing, we try not to think in terms of timetables.”

Maggie rolled her eyes. “Oh, please,” she scoffed. “I don’t know about you, but my sister’s brain is equipped with an automatic day planner. I’m relatively certain she has no idea how to turn it off.”

“I’ve noticed,” Josh admitted. “We’re working on that. She’s already made impressive strides. You’d be surprised.” He beamed at both of them. “See you.”

He stepped aside to let Ashley bolt past him. She was halfway to the dock before he caught up with her. To his shock, she threw her arms around his neck.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she enthused. “Your timing was impeccable. I told them you were coming, but they didn’t believe me. They thought I was just trying to get rid of them.”

He grinned. “Which you were.”

“Well, of course.”

“I gather someone filled them in about the whole Slocum situation.”

“My folks,” she admitted. “Had to be, since Jo hadn’t been able to reach them. She reluctantly agreed not to call again, but Mom and Dad refused to commit to silence.”

“Then you have spoken to your folks since last night?”