The Vincent Boys 01 - The Vincent Boys

them. Even if I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
    “Sorry, huh. Well, you don’t appear sorry. I will say I’m glad you made it to school on time and even found time to make it to your Grana’s grave. Don’t look surprised. I visit it daily and I noticed the fresh rose on her headstone. Only you would bring her a single rose from her own rose garden. No one else would think of it. You’re a good girl, Ashton. You always have been, but this summer something has gotten into you and we need to straighten it out.”
    He’d blame it all on Beau if he knew. He wanted it to be someone else’s fault. The fact his daughter was one big fake didn’t even register with him.
    “Beau Vincent’s missing too. Everyone thought you two’d run off together. But then you texted you were at Leann’s and her dorm counselor verified the information when I called and checked. So you weren’t with Beau but it is awfully suspicious he is missing too, and Sawyer has a black eye. What happened at church, Ashton?”
    He was asking but he didn’t really want to know the truth. No father wanted to hear this kind of truth. I shook my head. “I got into an argument with Sawyer and we broke up. I ran off to see Leann and get away. That’s all I know.” I was getting so good at lying. Not something to be proud of. Dad nodded his head and closed the Bible in his lap.
    “Good. I’d hate to hear you were messed up with the likes of Beau. Breaking up with Sawyer is probably a good thing. You two were too serious and you have college coming next year. You need to be free of a boy so you can focus on your future.”
    He stood up and sat his Bible on the coffee table. His green eyes met mine and he pointed to the book he’d just laid down. “Bad company corrupts good manner. If you read your Bible more often you’d know this.”
    I watched him turn and head for his bedroom. I really wished he didn’t make me hate to read the Bible. Having it shoved down my throat all my life had made me bitter towards reading it. I believed it. But my dad had used it to his benefit too many times and ignored the parts in there that would point out his wrongs. Like judging Beau without even knowing him. That was in the Bible too.

Chapter 22
    Beau
    Beau,
    I’m so sorry. For not calling you. For running off. For Sawyer. I’ve ruined everything for you. I was so selfish. I can’t tell you how sorry I am. Just please forgive me. I can handle anything else if I know you can forgive me. Maybe what we did was wrong. Maybe we should have handled it another way but I can’t make myself regret any moment I spent with you. You gave me memories I’ll always cherish. I won’t make this hard on you. I’ll let you go your own way. Just let me know you don’t hate me.
    I love you,
    Ashton
    I ran my thumb over the words ‘I love you’ as I stared at Ashton’s letter. She loves me. Ashton Gray loves me. I’d left her thinking this was her fault. The panic in her wording was clear. She thought I could hate her? Did she not listen to anything I said? Had my actions not told her enough? I’d sacrificed everything for her. How could she think I hated her? It wasn’t even possible. The permanent ache where my mother had ripped my heart from my chest and basically thrown it at me eased some as I reread the words ‘I love you’.
    Right now I needed her arms around me so I could cry. Cry for the man who’d been the only dad I’d ever known and lost at such a young age. Cry for the brother who I’d never realized I had yet loved him anyway. Cry for the only girl I’d ever loved, the only person other than Sawyer I’d ever have died for, and the impossible situation we were in. I loved her so much. I’d chosen her over Sawyer and I’d do it again. But things had changed now. Sawyer was facing the same pain I was. Maybe more so because it was his father, or our father, who’d cheated on his wife, ignored me my entire life, and lied to him. A tear rolled off my chin and I quickly moved the letter away so my tears didn’t smudge the words on the page. I needed to know someone cared. Someone loved me. Folding the note so I could see the words ‘I love you’ and her name, I pressed it against my heart and laid back against the bale of hay. Tonight I wouldn’t get much sleep but I’d have Ash’s words to keep me warm.

    Ashton
    High school had always been easy for me. Having Sawyer as a boyfriend had protected me from harassment. As I stood in front of my