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  “Uh, not bad. It rained all the way across Kansas,” she replied mechanically, and rather tonelessly, as her mind struggled to figure out what was going on. “What are you doing here?” she finally managed to ask.

  “I’m going to get your mom’s tree today.”

  Ashley looked at her mom, confused.

  Her mom said, “Well, I need a tree and nobody else could go get me one. I like to buy one from Brother McDaniel, but you have to go to his field and cut your own. With your dad’s bad back and your brothers always at work, I was afraid I wouldn’t get one this year. Thankfully, Mark volunteered.”

  “I see,” she replied, but she didn’t see at all. She was more confused than before.

  “Of course, he might have been persuaded by my offer to feed him dinner tonight,” her mom continued.

  “You’re shameless and you know it, Nora,” Mark said. “A home cooked meal is awfully tempting for a single guy who lives on take out.”

  “You drove all the way from Idaho to get us a Christmas tree?” Ashley cut in, feeling stupid, but determined to get things straight.

  Mark looked at her for a moment as though she was speaking gibberish, and then he burst into laughter. She looked at her mom for an explanation, but she was concentrating on scraping an invisible spot off the counter.

  As soon as he was able to stop laughing, Mark said, “Sorry, I didn’t know that no one had told you. I moved down here a few weeks ago - right after Thanksgiving in fact. I got that job as city planner for Forest View. I’m living next door.”

  Ashley was sure the earth was spinning faster on its axis. It was too good to be true. And too horrifying. “Which house next door? The Sherrons’ place?”

  “Yep. They happened to be moving out at the same time I needed a place to stay. It worked out pretty good. There aren’t too many apartments in this town yet. I’m renting it with an option to buy later if I want to. I guess you haven’t had time to catch up on things around here yet, have you?”

  “There was plenty of time for someone to mention that we had a new neighbor.” Ashley cast a suspicious glance at her mother’s entirely too serene face.

  Mark too was looking at her mom strangely. “Well, anyway, that’s why I’m here. Your family has been great with helping me get settled in, and I wanted to do something for them.”

  Just then, the doorbell began ringing wildly and Nora hurried to open the front door. Left alone with Mark, Ashley turned back to the sink to finish washing her dishes. She hated that she looked so terrible, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave.

  “It’s great to see you again, Ashley.”

  The humor of the situation struck her. “Well, thanks,” she said looking back at him over her shoulder, “but I can’t imagine a worse sight than I must be right now.”

  “What's the problem? It’s not like I’ve never seen what a girl looks like when she’s just rolled out of bed.”

  Ashley looked at him as though he had grown a third eyeball.

  “I’ve got two sisters,” he hurried to explain, apparently realizing how his comment could be interpreted.

  “Yeah, of course. Sorry. I just,” Ashley shook her head to clear it. “I’m still sleepy I guess. I didn’t mean…um, yeah.” On that brilliant conclusion, she made herself shut up.

  “You look better than they do,” he assured her, sounding and looking uncharacteristically awkward.

  She was struggling to find something to say, feeling absurdly like she needed to reassure him, when she was mobbed by two kids who threw themselves at her almost hard enough to knock her over.

  “Ashley! You’re back,” squealed her five year old niece Rebecca, who was managing to bounce up and down while hugging her tightly around the hips.

  Rebecca’s seven year old brother Daniel was quick to curb her enthusiasm. “Settle down,” he told his sister. Then to Ashley he said, “We were so mad last night when mom and dad wouldn’t let us come see you, but they said it was too late. So, we came as soon as they would let us today.” His tone clearly expressed his opinion of their decision.

  Knowing that her brother Justin and his wife Kayla were hardly unreasonable parents, she replied soothingly, “Well, that wasn’t very nice of them to make you wait, but it was pretty late when I got home last night. You know what? Now we can spend the whole day together.”

  Becca bounced around with glee and yelled, “Yay!” at the top of her lungs. Daniel looked excited too and asked hopefully, “Are you coming with us?”

  Ashley wasn’t sure what to say to this without hurting the kids’ feelings, but she was saved from answering by the arrival of their parents and the baby of the family, Andrew. They’d been walking too slowly for Becca and Daniel, who’d quickly left them behind on the short walk from their house down the street.

  Ashley hugged Kayla and Justin and then held out her hands to Andrew. He went right to her, making her hope that he remembered her. As she settled him on her hip, she was surprised at how much bigger he was than when she’d seen him a few weeks earlier.

  As the adults stood around talking, Becca reached a very definite conclusion. She pointed an accusing finger and said, “Aunt Ashley is still wearing jammies and her hair is all messy. She can’t go like that.”

  “Aunt Ashley isn’t going,” her father said firmly. “There isn’t room for her in Grandpa’s truck - unless one of you wants to stay behind to make room for her?” He raised his eyebrows questioningly.

  Rebecca and Daniel immediately volunteered each other to stay home, but both insisted that they were going. It was therefore sadly determined that Aunt Ashley couldn’t come.

  “We’ll be back soon,” Becca told Ashley to make her feel better. Ashley tried to look appropriately disappointed.

  They all made their way to the foyer and Ashley’s mom asked, “Now Mark, are you sure you know where Brother McDaniel’s field is?”

  “I have a pretty good idea. I’ve got his number in my phone, so I’ll call him if I need to. He said that the gate was unlocked and that he had tied orange construction tape with price tags around the trees that we could choose from. Oh, and he said not to worry about stopping by to pay him for it, because you’d already sent him a check.”

  Ashley couldn’t figure out why, but there was a note of severity in Mark’s tone, and his eyebrows were raised expectantly as if he was waiting for her mom to explain herself.

  Surprisingly, Ashley saw that her mom was looking a little embarrassed. “Oh, Mark, I knew you would try to pay for it yourself, but it’s our tree. You’re already doing so much by going all the way out there to get it.”

  Mark’s dimples flashed briefly. “Never mind. I’ll think of something else to get you for Christmas, Nora.”

  Justin kissed Kayla goodbye and told her he’d see her after work. Then he took the kids out to the truck. Mark left right behind him, saying, “I’ll be back soon,” and giving a brief wave before closing the front door behind him. Ashley stood staring at the closed door for a second then turned to confront her mother. Seeing the storm brewing on Ashley's face, Kayla took Andrew from her, but stayed to watch the fireworks.

  “So, Mom – how did you forget to tell me that Mark Ellison had moved in next door? I suppose it slipped your mind.”

  “It never came up,” she replied defensively.

  “You didn’t think I would be interested, I suppose?” she asked sarcastically.

  “Well, you never asked about him.”

  Ashley clenched her teeth in an effort not to let frustration get the best of her. “I didn’t think that there was a chance in the world that he would take a job in such a podunk place as this. I never asked about him because I was doing my best not to think about him. I thought I’d never see him again. You knew all along that he was going to show up here this morning and you let me sit around the kitchen looking like this until he showed up. Aagh! I’m so embarrassed.”

  “Well, that was quite an explosion. I was trying to get you to go and ge
t dressed.”

  “You could have said, ‘Hey, by the way, Mark Ellison is coming over in a few minutes. You might want to look half-way decent.’”

  “I wanted to surprise you. Don’t worry, you look fine,” her mother assured her.

  Ashley stared at her as if she was crazy.

  “Anyway,” Kayla said, joining in, “Mark sure seemed to think so. He hardly took his eyes off you the whole time.”

  Part of her was pleased by this, but she was mostly furious. “And this is what he was looking at,” Ashley exclaimed, motioning to her unkempt appearance. “Sorry, Kayla. I know you just got here, but I have to go shower.”

  As she clumped up the stairs to her room, fuming, Ashley thought to herself, “Impossible. I just absolutely can’t believe this.” And yet it was true. She’d thought she’d never see him again, but Mark Ellison, hunk of all hunks, had moved in next door.

  Chapter 2

  If Only in My Dreams

  Ashley had been looking forward to showering in her own bathroom for weeks, but now that she was finally able to, she didn’t even enjoy it. Her thoughts were too focused on Mark to pay much attention to anything else. She turned off the water, wrapped up in a towel, and left the bathroom in record time.

  As she walked to her closet, she glanced at the full length mirror hanging next to it. Something about her reflection caught her eye and she came to a sudden stop. Seeing the long wet strands of hair clinging to her face, she realized that she couldn’t remember washing it. Rolling her eyes at her preoccupation, she sniffed her hair and was relieved that it smelled like shampoo. This turn of events was having a disturbing effect on her frame of mind.

  Ashley turned away from the mirror to get dressed, hurling her towel across the room in the general direction of the clothes hamper. She hadn’t done much unpacking last night. She’d only hung up a few of her dresses and left everything else in her suitcase. There hadn’t seemed to be much point since she’d had no plans to wear anything but sweats and pj’s for as long as she could get away with it. But now that Mark lived next door and was apparently right at home in her parents’ house, he could come over at any time. “So much for loafing around in comfy clothes all day,” she grumbled as she dug around in her suitcase.

  She was so confused by the conflicting emotions that had arisen in her since seeing Mark that morning, that she was uncharacteristically indecisive as she thought about what to wear. If she dressed up, it would be like acknowledging that she was interested in him and cared what he thought. That was a dangerous path to go down. Rejection was powerful and humiliating, and she was terrified of it. But despite that, she couldn’t resist making an effort to look her best.

  So, taking a firm grip on her courage, she dug out her best pair of jeans. They were dark and slimming and she knew that she looked great in them. In fact, she remembered that she’d been wearing them when she’d first met Mark. How lucky had that been? It wasn’t like she’d been expecting to meet anybody gorgeous and life-shattering that day.

  As she searched in her suitcase for a shirt that was relatively free of wrinkles, she couldn’t help but marvel at the odd set of circumstances that had brought him to her parents’ house for Thanksgiving. It wasn’t every day that a single guy from Idaho came to eat with a family of strangers in the backwoods of Missouri when their single daughter was home for a brief visit.

  His father and hers were old college buddies, so when her parents had heard that Mark was going to be in town for an interview they’d invited him over for dinner. As it turned out, his interview had been scheduled for the day before Thanksgiving, and because he hadn’t been able to get a flight home until after the holiday, they’d asked him to come over to celebrate with them. Ashley had flown home for Thanksgiving, unaware of the invitation until the doorbell rang.

  Her mom had said, “Oh gracious, he’s here. Ashley, I forgot to tell you, but we’ve invited someone to eat with us. It’s the son of one of your dad’s friends. Would you mind letting him in? Be sure to make him feel at home. He sounded a little uncomfortable about barging in on us, but I insisted.”

  It wasn’t unusual for her parents to invite someone outside of the family over to eat Thanksgiving dinner, and she’d figured it could be fun if he turned out to be a nice guy.

  Curious, but not knowing what to expect, she opened the door and was stunned by the perfect specimen of human male standing on the porch. He stood framed in the doorway, tall and broad shouldered, with a polite smile half formed on his face. It never fully developed however since his mouth fell open slightly. His eyes grew big as he’d looked at her, and Ashley was mesmerized by them. They were the most golden shade of brown she’d ever seen, just the color of warm honey. After a few shocked moments, she became aware that she was staring. She smiled at him and said, “Hi, I’m Ashley.”

  After a moment’s hesitation, he asked, “Ashley Wright?”

  “Yes. And you are…?”

  “Mark Ellison. I think your parents are expecting me.”

  “They are. Come on in.”

  He came inside, and as she shut the door, she said, “You looked like you were afraid you were at the wrong house.”

  “I was. I didn’t know your parents had a daughter. Oh wait, are you their daughter-in-law?”

  “No, I’m their daughter.”

  “Oh, that’s…cool.”

  Ashley looked curiously at him, hearing an odd inflection in his voice. She didn’t question him however, but led him to the living room and introduced him to everyone there. Her dad stood up to greet his friend’s son with a hearty handshake, and Justin and Shawn were equally welcoming. Seeing that he was in good hands, she excused herself to go help her mom and Kayla in the kitchen.

  It was a relief to get away from him for a moment. She was caught off guard by how good looking he was, and she needed a moment to collect herself. She wasn’t been surprised when her mom asked what he was like, and she coolly replied that he seemed nice. Her mom nodded absently as she put a pan of rolls in the oven. Ashley went back to arranging the relish tray she’d been working on before Mark had arrived, hoping to have a chance to sort out her thoughts.

  Something about Mark reminded her painfully of Derek. They didn’t look much alike, but both had an aura of sophistication and popularity. It intimidated her and made her extremely wary of Mark. The last thing she needed was for the ego bruising experiences of college to follow her home. She began to wish that he hadn’t been invited to dinner and to hope that he wouldn’t stay long. Strangely though, she also longed to go to the living room every time she heard the unfamiliar tones of his deep voice.

  So, when her mom told her a few minutes later to go “help keep the young man company,” she went willingly. She didn’t said anything as she sat down across from him in the living room a minute later. She quietly observed him, trying to do so without being too obvious about it. It didn’t take long before it became clear that she had been wrong in her first impression of him.

  Any similarity that she’d seen between him and Derek dissipated when she realized how polite and quiet he was. She wondered if he was shy or just reserved, but either way, it was clear that Mark had no conceit about himself.

  After a few minutes, she was startled that Mark’s eyes glanced in her direction fairly often, no matter who was talking to him at the time. She felt a delicious warmth every time their eyes met.

  Her dad asked Mark how his interview had gone the day before and Mark replied, “I think that it went pretty well. I don’t expect anything to come of it though.”

  “Why is that?” her dad asked.

  “Well, I don’t have much experience yet. I’ve also interviewed for a position as an assistant to the city planner in Idaho Falls that I have a better chance of getting. It’s not very likely that I would be hired as a city planner at this point in my career, but my dad encouraged me to apply for it anyway. He said it would be good experience for me.” Mark smiled before adding, “Plus, I think he tho
ught it was cool that the job was here where you lived.”

  The conversation moved on but Ashley was too dazed to follow it. It was the first time she’d seen Mark’s full smile and the gorgeous set of dimples that accompanied it. They weren’t round, deep dimples in his cheeks like Ashley had seen on other people, but rather, thin vertical dimples on either side of his mouth. From then on, she was grateful every time someone made him smile.

  About thirty minutes later, her mom came in and stopped abruptly when she saw Mark. “Hello. Mark, right?” she asked. She glanced curiously at Ashley before turning back to Mark. She told him, “It’s so nice to have you here. Ashley didn’t tell me how good looking you are. Too bad you two won’t have more time to get to know each other. Well, everyone, it’s time for dinner.”

  Ashley was surprised to see Mark staring down at the carpet with his ears turning red. In the commotion of everyone moving to the table, however, he recovered his composure. Ashley felt sorry for him though, especially since he remained the focus of conversation at the dinner table. Everybody had been so curious about him that they continued to pelt him with questions. He answered them all with such good humor, however, that Ashley was impressed.

  He was completely opposite from her loud and wise-cracking family, but his dry sense of humor appealed to all of them. Her brothers liked him immediately, and it was obvious that her parents did as well. So when Mark had eaten his second piece of pie and stood to leave, it didn’t surprise her when the whole family joined together in convincing him to stay longer.

  He looked directly at her and agreed. The men settled in front of the TV to watch a football game and rest after the big meal. When the women finished cleaning the kitchen, they joined them in the living room. Ashley was surprised when Mark moved over to make room for her next to him on the couch, but she didn’t hesitate before sitting down. Despite his quiet demeanor, he seemed eager to talk to her and Ashleywas flattered by his interest.

  Mark made it clear that chances were slim that he would get the job he’d applied for here, and Ashley couldn’t imagine that he had any ambition to move to Missouri anyway, so she wasn’t worried about getting her heart broken. Caught up in the building chemistry between her and Mark, and knowing that her time with him would be brief, she let go of all her inhibitions. Her friendly attitude verged on flirtation. It wasso unusual for her to act that way that she wasn’t been surprised to catch her family watching her with amazement.