The Best in the West by Kathleen Walker

Author:Kathleen Walker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Heron Press
Published: 2018-05-05T04:00:00+00:00

24

“Why bother?” Richard Ferguson asked when Jason told him what he planned to do.

“It’s only fair,” Jason said.

It was only fair to tell Debbie he saw Ashley in New York, that he had called her and asked her to take a commuter flight up from Washington. When she walked into the hotel bar, every head turned.

Richard stayed only long enough to say, “Looking good, Ashley.” That made Jason smile. When did she not look good?

“I think you should start applying in DC again,” she said that night while his hands made an inventory of all the places they knew of her body. They stopped to cup the large full breasts.

“And what would that mean for us?” he asked.

“I think we might want to spend some time together,” she said softly. “I think about you a lot.”

He told her he had been seeing a woman but, he added quickly, “It’s nothing serious.” He felt her body stiffen before relaxing again with a sigh of acceptance.

“That’s all right,” she said. “Be warned, though, things will change once we start working together again.”

He laughed. He did like this woman and he wouldn’t mind being with her again. No, he wouldn’t mind at all.

On Sunday, Debbie cleaned the apartment for him, changed the sheets. She made a casserole. They would eat a late dinner and sit on the couch and laugh. They would go into the bedroom and make love and he would stay the night.

He came at ten and stayed only long enough to tell her what he thought she had a right to know.

She grew pale with his words.

“But what about me?” she wondered aloud, still confused by his confession.

“Nothing has changed,” he assured her. “I may be here for another five years. I thought you should know that I saw her. I thought it was only fair.”

“I don’t understand why you came here.” she cried, glancing around the room.

“Because I like you, Debbie. Because we’re friends.” He reached for her. She pulled back.

“No,” she said. “Friends don’t hurt each other and I thought we were more than friends.”

“Hey, Debbie, don’t get so serious about this. I care about you. You know that. There’s no reason for us to stop seeing each other. It was only one night. Come on.” He opened his arms. “Come on, big ‘un, give us a hug.”

“One night? You spent the night with her? Is that what you mean?” She was stunned.

He shrugged.

“Get out of here,” she ordered, jumping to her feet. “I don’t want you here.”

“Debbie, don’t be ridiculous,” he argued. “It wasn’t anything. It just happened. We can talk about it.”

“No. You get out of here now.”

“Debbie, this is silly. I don’t want to leave you like this.”

“You go now, right now,” she demanded. “Now.”

“Okay, then.” He shrugged. “If that’s what you want, but it doesn’t have to be this way. It doesn’t.”

So much for telling the truth. He’d talk to her later, when she calmed down. Everything would be fine.

She told Ellen on Monday morning.

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