“Titanic,” Ash replied. “Have you seen it?” He stared up at his brother with eyes that stung.
“Of course I’ve seen it,” his brother told him. “Who hasn’t seenTitanic?”
“Uh…me. At least when I named the dapples.” Ash let out a mirthless laugh. “You could have told me it was bad luck or something. But don’t worry. I know Jack and Rose’s fate now, and it’s sad as fucking hell.”
Boone turned around after attempting to usher in more fresh air and then crossed his arms. “Um…Ashton Elias? How many times have you watched the movienow?”
Ash shrugged. “Today or since she left?” God, he couldn’t even bring himself to say her name. “Because I bought it so I could stream it on repeat.”
“Holy shit,” Boone uttered, incredulous.
Ash pointed at his brother. “Watch that language. You don’t want my niece picking up any bad habits.” But his attempt at teasing fell flat. Probably due to the monotone timbre of his voice. Or maybe it was because he wasn’t sure his face even remembered how to smile.
Eli ran the tips of his fingers over the bottom corner of the screen, and it went completely dark.
Ash flew up from his lived-in corner of the couch. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“What the hell do you thinkyou’redoing, Ash? We’ve been calling and texting for four days!”
Ash shrugged. “My phone died. Didn’t see any point in charging it after that.” Especially when allof his calls to Willow went right to voicemail and all of his texts went undelivered. Blocked again.
“And what are youwearing?” Boone added.
Ash glanced down at the white terry cloth that had been his sole garment for the last four days. “Arobe. You’ve heard of them, right?”
Eli sighed. “Is it Willow’s robe, Ash? We know what happened, okay? Hell, the wholetownknows what happened. We just wanted to know—”
“How I could be such an asshole?” Ash interrupted. “Does it even matter that I didn’t do what everyone thinks I did?” It wasn’t like he could prove it, and his voicemail to Sloane asking for an explanation earned him nothing other than a text in response assuring him that his back catalog was getting more streams than ever and to enjoy somegoodpublicity for a change. Regardless of whatever the truth was, everyone was going to believe what they believed. And the town that took care of its own wouldn’t see him as one of theirs anymore.
Eli took a step forward and shook his head. “We just wanted to know if you were okay.”
“Becauseclearlyyou are not,” Boone added. “Have you tried to contact her?”
Ash threw up his arms. “Of course I tried to contact her. She blocked my number. I even tried her brother, but he only answered the phone long enough to tell me what I should do to myself and then hung up. Hell, I even stole Eli’s truck after hewent to bed the other night and drove out to the fairgrounds to try and find her bus, but the only thing I found were people on the festival crew building stages.Notour buses. It’s like she disappeared, so…you know…what the hell else is there for me to do?”
Boone actually took a step back. “How about you hop in the shower, buddy? Then we can figure this all out.”
Ash sighed, his shoulders sagging. “You’re not going to leave until I do, are you?”
Both older Murphys shook their heads.
“So if I clean up, you’ll leave me, Jack, and Rose alone?”
Boone huffed out a laugh. “No, I’m unplugging your router and taking it home with me.”
Ash gave his brother a half-hearted shrug. “Fine. But I’m really not in the mood for visitors.” He trudged toward the bedroom and into the master bath, turning on the water and letting the room fill with steam. He stared at himself in the quickly fogging mirror, shocked to see the wild-eyed, wild-haired, practicallybeardedman staring back at him.
How had he gotten here? How did his life feel more out of control now than it had when he was a couch-surfing busker in his teens? Ash was more successful than he’d ever imagined he could be. This was supposed to be the easy part, wasn’t it?
When he emerged again, cleaned but not shaven,he found Eli standing in the doorway, talking to someone on the porch.
“Willow?” he called, practically jogging for the door in nothing but his boxers. But when he pushed Eli out of the way, he found a man in a purple Mobile One polo shirt holding a package and tablet Eli was about to sign.
“Oh,” Ash said, deflated.
“Ash Murphy?” the guy asked, then laughed. “I mean, of course you’re Ash Murphy. Recognize you even with the beard. Sorry. I’m new. First week on the job. Never made a delivery to a celebrity before.” Mr. Mobile One’s cheeks darkened. “Um, especially a half-naked one? Anyway, I was delivering your replacement phone and would be happy to come in and set it up but was telling your brother that I was confused about the directions on the account.”
Ash’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean confused?”
