The back door creaked open, and in came Ashton,arms loaded with bags, a box, and what looked like takeout, and he had flowers. Daisies.
"Need a hand?" I rushed over before he could answer, taking the box from his loaded arms. I glanced outside and noticed a gray SUV where his motorcycle had sat before.
"Hey." Ashton set the takeout on the table with ease. "I brought Chinese to thank you for breakfast."
"Chinese?" I couldn't hide my surprise or relief. Hot damn, no dinner to cook.
"Yeah, I didn't know what you liked, so I got a mix of everything," he said with a shrug, nodding toward the takeout containers. "Figured you could share with Laurie, too."
"Wow, thanks," I said, genuinely grateful as I peeked inside one container, garlic and soy wafting up to greet me. "Mmm, it smells amazing."
As Ashton turned toward the stairs, his boots thumping softly against the old wood floor, I caught his arm. "Aren't you going to eat with us?"
He paused mid-stride, ducking his head in a way that made his shaggy dark hair fall over his forehead. "I didn't want to be presumptuous," he said, and then with a crooked smile said, "but sure, I'd love to."
"Great." My voice may have been a touch too enthusiastic,but I didn't care. "Laurie," I said down toward the basement. "Dinner's ready."
From below, a muffled response sounded, something like an acknowledgment.
"Help yourself to some plates." I gestured to the cabinet as I started unpacking the containers, spreading them across the table in an impromptu buffet. The variety was impressive: dumplings, noodles, stir-fried vegetables, and something with a tangy, sweet sauce that made my mouth water.
"Will do." Ashton hoisted his bags onto his shoulder again. "Be right back."
"Take your time." I watched him ascend the steps. Alone, I grabbed a plate and dished out a generous helping of each dish. The spicy aroma of Szechuan chicken filled the kitchen, mingling with the subtler scent of steamed rice.
This domestic scene with a man I barely knew was strange, but it felt oddly right.
As Ashton descended the stairs, a lighter step in his gait, I noticed how effortlessly he blended into the fabric of my home. It was as if he had always been there, moving with an ease that belied the short time we'd known each other.
"Your sister." I hoped to bridge the silence. "How is she?"
His face lit up. "She's well. She says hello." He set down a bag he'd brought with him and leaned against the counter, a playful glint in his eyes. "Oh, and don't be surprised if she and her best friend Skye drop by sometime. Just a heads-up, they can be... a lot."
"Good to know," I chuckled. I was a bit nervous about meeting new people since few in this town paid me much attention.
Apart from Laurie and Nathan, most people here barely registered me beyond a polite nod, and I’d grown accustomed to the solitude. But now, with the prospect of Skye and Aurelia, the thought of a genuine friendship, the kind where you truly knew and were known, felt like a distant, almost forgotten memory. A warmth I hadn’t truly felt since I’d left everything behind.
I thought of Maria, my best friend from Chicago, whose easy laughter and unwavering loyalty had been my rock through college and those first shaky years after I lost my parents. We’d shared everything, dreams, fears, late-night pizza. But then Vito came, and Maria, like every other piece of my old life, had to be erased. No goodbyes, no explanations, just a sudden, brutal cut. I craved that easy camaraderie again, that shared understanding that went beyond polite pleasantries.
The sound of footsteps alerted us to Laurie's arrival. She appeared at the top of the basement stairs, her eyes scanning the takeout spread on the table.
"Hey, do you guys mind if I just make a plate and head back downstairs?" Laurie's voice was casual, her gaze never quite meeting Ashton's. "I'm buried under a mountain of textbooks for this next round of exams. My brain feels like it's trying to run a marathon while juggling flaming chainsaws. I just need to get back to my cave of despair, or rather, my study nook, before I forget everything I just crammed."
"Of course not," Ashton said, and I nodded in agreement.
"Thanks," Laurie said, stacking her plate with an impressive mountain of food before vanishing as quickly as she had come.
Alone together now, Ashton and I shared a glance, an unspoken acknowledgment of the shift in the atmosphere. The kitchen felt quieter, and the space was somehow more intimate without Laurie's presence. I took a deep breath, the moment settling around us. Ashton pulled out a chair for me, then settled into the one directly beside it. The small kitchen table suddenly seemed to shrink between us, our knees almost close enough to brush, I could feel the warmth radiating from him.
We settled into a rhythm, chopsticks clicking against plates as we picked at the assortment of Chinese dishes. "So, do you have a favorite food?" I asked, hoping to keep the conversation light and easy.
"Hard to say." Ashton paused with a loaded chopstick halfway to his mouth. "I'm a fan of anything with bacon, honestly. If I had to pick one dish? It'd be my mom's lasagna. She never quite cooked the lasagna noodles properly, they always had some… chew, but the cheese sauce on top was always charred."
"Lasagna, huh?" I smiled, picturing a family kitchen filled with the rich scent of tomato sauce and melting cheese. "That sounds amazing."
"What about you?" he asked.
I hesitated, my mind racing through a catalog of flavors. "I'm pretty simple. A perfect roast chicken does it for me every time."
