"Taylor…" she said, struggling to get the words out past the lump in her throat. "Hi."
Chloe looked confusedly back and forth between Taylor and the waitress, wondering what was going on. She studied the lines on Ashley's face, trying to remember where she'd seen the woman before. Taylor was stammering and tripping over his words. He finally gave up, and began to laugh at his own tongue-tied state.
"When did you come home?" he finally asked. "I haven't seen you in years…"
"Just a couple of weeks ago," Ashley said, finding it hard to breathe. My God, was he always this beautiful? He'd not changed a bit in the past years. While she looked all of her 33 years, Taylor still looked as he did when he was 18.
"Why didn't you tell me you were in?" Taylor blurted.
Ashley just kind of smiled and shrugged. "I'm a busy woman. I guess I just kind of forgot," she lied. She hadn't forgotten. Oh, God, would she ever forget him after this? She suddenly realized that there were others waiting on her to bring them their food. "Speaking of busy…"
"Oh," he said, blushing. "Of course. You're working."
"Yeah," she said. "It was nice talking to you."
"Yeah," Taylor replied. "Ditto…"
She tucked the notepad back into her apron pocket and turned on her heel; headed hurriedly back to the kitchen. She placed the orders and picked up 2 trays of food. She hoped that she wouldn't have to speak to Taylor again. That maybe he would just go away and blend into the background like so many other things.
"Who was that?" Chloe asked Taylor after the waitress had walked away.
Taylor said in a half-daze, "That's Ashley. You remember her. She was in our wedding…"
Chloe paused suddenly. She eyed her children quickly, and then looked back at Taylor. "Ashley? The girl who lived with my parents?"
"Yeah," Taylor replied. "That's her."
Chloe's mouth turned down in a frown. She'd heard enough stories about how Ashley and Taylor had grown up so close and how everyone thought that the two of them would have gotten married (if it hadn't been for Chloe - although they never said it, she knew that's what they meant). She hated to admit it, but she'd been happy once Ashley had run away from the States as she had. To be completely honest, she'd been very jealous of Ashley. Once that girl had come home, Taylor suddenly seemed to want her involved in everything. The world no longer revolved around Chloe.
It had been an adjustment, but she'd only had to put up with it for a couple of months. Then, she left, and it had been Chloe and Taylor again. That was the way it had been for 15 years, and she liked it that way. The prospect of her suddenly coming back into their lives (and she was positive she would) was enough to put Chloe on edge. And looking at Taylor's stricken face - a face full of confusion, hurt, and love all at once - Chloe was sure things were about to change.
The kids continued to chatter, barely noticing their parent's silence. Marie might have noticed on any other occasion, but now she was so excited about making the cheerleading squad she could barely keep her head on straight. Chloe chewed on her bottom lip, and brushed a piece of blond hair from Andy's eyes. She was prepared. No matter what happened, Chloe would keep her wits about her. She'd have to.
