Starting Over (New Beginnings #1) Read online

  Starting Over

  by

  Gillian Joy

  ebook Edition

  Copyright 2015 Gillian Joy

  ****

  License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  ****

  Chapter 1

  Hayden cornered Ashleigh in the book aisle, right between the young adult and the adult sections. Seriously, why do they have The Hunger Games and Fifty Shades of Grey on opposite sides of the same aisle? That's wrong on so many different levels.

  "You have to come with me this weekend. Please Ash; say you'll come with me? No pressure, I promise. As friends only, I swear." Hayden pleaded, attempting to place his long fingered hands in his pants pockets but, as usual, his hands seem too large to fit anyplace other than simply hanging down by his sides.

  "Hayden, I already told you I can't. Even if I wanted to, and that's a really big if, I can't get anyone to look after the kids this weekend. Mark's parents are away and there's no one else I trust to look after them for an entire weekend. If you'd given me more notice..."

  "You can bring them with you Ash. It's a family weekend, there'll be heaps of kids there, and some of them are even about the same age as the girls. Come on, please? I need you to come with me." Hayden knew Connor had invited Ariane and that she'd be on his case all weekend if he didn't take someone with him.

  Ashleigh was in no way convinced it would be a good idea. Hayden had asked her out no fewer than thirty times in the six months they had been working together. That averaged out to more than once a week, and as much as she enjoyed spending time with him, she just wasn't interested in dating at all, and there was no way she would consider dating someone she worked with. She struggled to believe his intentions were honourable in asking her away with his family for the weekend.

  Ashleigh shook her head in reply as she continued to rearrange the books on the shelves. After two years of working at her local Target store, Ashleigh still struggled with the mentality of people who couldn't put a book back where they picked it up from, not that she was complaining exactly, it gave her a job that paid the rent and the bills, but still, she found it frustrating at times, even though she did really need the job.

  When her ex-husband walked out on her, leaving her alone with twin five-year old girls after cutting off all access to all the bank accounts, Ashleigh was destitute. She knew in theory that all the money was his. He was the only one who had earned any for the last six years of their marriage; he'd made that abundantly clear every chance he got. Initially she had tried to chase him down, tried to reason with him about her need for child support, tried to argue with him about his need to be there for their girls. He, however, made it perfectly clear he wanted nothing further to do with her or the girls. All he wanted was to walk away from everything with his bank account intact; and if the truth be told, after the previous seven years, Ashleigh was glad to be rid of him. If she was totally honest with herself, she didn't really try that hard to reason with him. The less he had to do with them, the better off they were. She pretended, to everyone who asked that she had tried, but the truth was very different.

  "Please Ash, I really need someone to come with me. My cousin is this big wig muso and I can't not go for the weekend; he bought this place up at the lake, but I don't want to be alone all weekend and I don't have anyone else I would want to take. So I know I'll be alone if you don't come with me, just as a friend I promise. I won't even ask you out, you'll have the entire weekend to yourself." Ashleigh started to interrupt but Hayden held up his hand to stop her protests.

  "And before you embarrass yourself with lies, I already know you've got the long weekend off; I checked the roster sheets yesterday. We can go up on Friday night, it's only a few hours away, spend all day Saturday and Sunday swimming, playing tennis and whatever other sports the girls are into. There's a huge pool and spa there, close to the lake, and you won't have to spend a cent. Come on Ash, when was the last time the girls had any sort of a holiday?"

  Hayden knew that comment would get her. It was only last week that Ashleigh had been complaining that she couldn't remember the last time she had taken the girls away for so much as even a weekend, let alone some sort of holiday.

  "That's a low blow Hayden."

  "That's how desperate I am Ash." he replied quietly.

  Ashleigh ignored him for a few seconds and continued to quietly repack the shelves, making him squirm for as long as she could. Eventually she replied.

  "I'll tell you what, I'll ask the girls. If they want to go, then we'll come. "

  "Yesssss!" Hayden hissed as he pulled back a fist.

  "It's not guaranteed yet Mate." Ashleigh laughed at him.

  "As good as Babe." he replied as he walked away, he was one hundred percent confident the girls would want to go.

  "And don't call me Babe!" she called after him with a chuckle. As much as she wasn't interested in any sort of romantic relationship with him, he definitely made her laugh and she enjoyed spending time with him. If the girls were interested, and Hayden kept his promise, it could be an enjoyable weekend.

  ****

  Ashleigh waited until she was tucking the girls into bed that night to mention the long weekend away with Hayden. Even though she hated the fact that they looked so much like their father meant she knew she would never be fully rid of him, she still loved them unconditionally. They were identical twins, and even she struggled to tell them apart at times. So much so, that she made sure they always had different hair styles. If they were together she could generally tell which one was Beth and which was Sarah, but if they were apart, well it made her life so much easier if she could quickly identify who was who, and with twin seven-year old girls, anything that made life easier was a bonus. Especially since she was raising them on her own.

  They both had the most beautiful dark brown eyes, but while Beth had long hair that was almost halfway down her back, Sarah's was much shorter, only past her shoulders and cut into a bob style. They both had silky smooth almost black hair, which was totally the opposite of Ashleigh's golden waves; it was the main trait they had inherited from their father, along with the smooth sleek nose and the full streamlined lips. Mark was an incredibly beautiful man and they inherited his beauty in abundance.

  Ashleigh kissed Beth goodnight before crossing to the other bed and kissing Sarah, she then sat on the edge of Sarah's bed before speaking.

  "So are you girls interested in going away this weekend?

  "What, like a holiday Mum?" Sarah asked.

  "Yeah sort of like a holiday, but for the weekend," Ashleigh answered. "Hayden invited us out to his cousin’s place by the lake for the weekend. So if you two are interested, I told him we'd think about going."

  "Really... A real lake... This weekend... Just us...?" the girls hammered questions at her, talking incessantly, one over the other.

  "Whoa, whoa, whoa; slow down." Ashleigh said, emulating the girl’s excitement. "Yes for real, yes a real lake, yes this weekend and no, not only us." Ashleigh replied in answer to the only questions she had actually heard in the onslaught.

  She noticed Sarah's face drop at the mention of others going as well; Beth was the wild outgoing twin while Sarah was far more reserved, almost shy at times.

  "I don't know who else is going, but there will be a few other people t
here at least. If you don't want to go though Sarah, we don't have to." Sarah looked slightly relieved but not entirely convinced, and Beth looked totally devastated at that comment. Ashleigh could see she was getting ready to vent and decided to intervene before she exploded.

  "I do know that apart from the lake, there is tennis and other games and a big swimming pool." Heated, Ashleigh hoped, otherwise she'd be freezing her butt off all weekend with the number of times she knew the girls would have her swimming. She knew how to get Sarah's interest though, and sure enough, at the mention of the pool her eyes widened and her lips twitched with the prospect of a smile.

  "Really? A big pool?" she asked.

  "A really big pool." Ashleigh clarified.

  Sarah moved to pull the covers back so she could get out of bed.

  "Where do you think you're going Miss?" Ashleigh asked pushing Sarah's shoulders back down onto the bed.

  "To pack my stuff." Sarah answered excitedly.

  Beth started to make the same movement.

  "Don't you dare either!" Ashleigh admonished her with a pointed finger. "Neither of you are packing tonight. We don't leave until after school on Friday so you have all week to pack, and right now its sleep time."

  The girls grumbled quietly but settled back into bed.

  Ashleigh bent over and kissed Sarah on the forehead, pulling her blankets up under her chin before standing up and crossing back over to Beth and doing the same thing. She stood at their bedroom door and clicked off the light switch, plunging the room into shadowy darkness.

  "Night Girls; Love you."

  "Night Mummy," she heard them call back as she walked out of the room, leaving the door slightly ajar. Neither of them liked the pitch dark so she always left their bedroom door open for them a fraction. Mark had always insisted their bedroom door be closed, which caused numerous upsets at bedtime, but since he'd left, Ashleigh couldn't see the need for fighting about it. What did it hurt if their door was open? They were happier and slept more soundly, which made Ashleigh happier as well; as far as she was concerned it was a win-win situation.

  Well, it looks like we're off to the lake, Ashleigh thought to herself as she made her way to the kitchen to make a cup of tea to drink before she sat in the lounge and had a quiet read for an hour or so. She loved being able to read again. Mark had kept such a tight rein on the finances while they were together, and she wasn't allowed to waste money on such frivolity as a book. Shoes, clothes, visits to the hair salon, even makeup, not a problem. He liked her to look good, it was all about appearances with Mark, but books? No way, they were a waste in his mind. So now, she really did waste far too much money on books, but she had gone so long without and she loved reading; there was nothing better than getting lost in a good story. It was somewhat ironic though, that she no longer had the time for the things she was never allowed to do, even though there was no one to stop her from doing them now.

  She held down a full time job with overtime when she could get it, as well as attempting to keep on top of the cleaning and the washing and trying to keep dinners and lunches healthy and nutritious. All while ferrying the girls back and forth between swimming lessons and dance classes and play dates with friends. Before Mark left, she had a cleaner come in a few times a week to clean the house, do most of the washing and some of the cooking. The girls hadn't been allowed to do dance classes or even play at friends’ places all that often either, so she wasn't always running them around. All they had was school, study and piano lessons and they had only been in preschool then. They had both been so excited when Ashleigh had initially told them they couldn't afford piano lessons anymore, as they didn’t enjoy it. With Mark, obsessed with appearances as he was, his girls simply had to take piano lessons. Ashleigh was constantly disappointed in herself that she had put up with him for as long as she had, even if she'd had her reasons for not leaving. She still wished she had been the one to walk away, and sooner, but she wasn’t able to at the time.

  Ashleigh curled up on the couch with her book and cup of tea and enjoyed the peace of having the girls out of her hair for the night, enjoying reflecting on her current circumstances rather than regretting her past.

  ****

  "And the answer is...?" Hayden asked hopefully, when he finally caught up with Ashleigh in the lunch room at midday.

  "I thought you already knew," She teased.

  "Well, I'm only about ninety percent sure. Sarah is a bit of an unknown factor, and I'm not sure if you mentioned the pool, but I think Beth's persuasive skills should be enough to tip her over if she was sitting on the fence."

  "Actually it was the pool," Ashleigh clarified. "So yes, we're in."

  "Well, thank God for the pool then," he chuckled, then he smiled brightly. "Come on Ash, let's go and get some lunch at the coffee shop."

  "I'm good thanks Hayden. I've got lunch. "Ashleigh replied, pulling a vegemite sandwich out of her lunch bag and making her way towards the table and chairs in the centre of the room.

  "We can do better than that!" Hayden exclaimed. "Come on, my treat," he added persuasively as he quickly grabbed the sandwich out of her hand and threw it in the rubbish bin. "And now you have no excuse because you have to eat something. I'll even shout you a latte, one of those wussy girlie one's you love so much."

  "Argh!" Grumbling under her breath while grabbing her bag, Ashleigh said, "Come on then, let's go. All of a sudden I'm starving."

  Hayden looked across the small cafe table at Ashleigh, wondering for the umpteenth time how he could possibly get this beautiful woman to go out with him. Yes, she agreed to come away with him this weekend, but only because he had vehemently promised not to pressure her, or even so much as ask for a date. He was getting desperate, even considering quitting his job so he could get her to agree; if he thought the issue was only because they worked together he'd seriously consider it.

  "So Ash, would you actually consider dating me if I worked somewhere else?"

  Ashleigh laughed at him and gently shook her head.

  "So that is just an excuse then? You really don't like me."

  "Hayden, I'm not interested in dating at the moment, I'm not interested in men. Right now it's me and the girls and that's the way I like it. I'm not interested in changing the status quo."

  "It's been over two years since he left Ash, surely you're over him by now?"

  "I was over him before he left Hayden, well and truly, I've told you that before. I'm sorry, but I'm not interested in a man for anything other than friendship or sexual relief."

  Hayden spat a mouthful of his coffee across the table and watched the grin spread across Ashleigh's face.

  "Well, if you ever need help with that sexual relief babe you let me know, I'm your man." he replied, his breath laboured at the thought of climbing between the sheets with the blonde bombshell sitting opposite him.

  "Sorry babe, but you got relegated to the friend basket the first time you made me laugh."

  "No.... Can't I have both? I promise I'd make it worth your while. We could be friends with benefits." He wheedled.

  Ashleigh laughed "I'm sure you would, but it's one or the other. I don't believe in friends with benefits, both equals a relationship and I'm not going there. Are you willing to give up the friendship? "

  Hayden didn't really need to think about it, as tempted as he was. It was far too easy to imagine her blond tresses spread out on the pillow behind her head, her naked body writhing under his touch. The shadows of a late afternoon playing across the curve of her body as he longed to. But he couldn't imagine her as nothing more than a one-night stand, if he had her once then once would never be enough for him ever again.

  "No, I'm not willing to give that up." He smiled back at her. She knew she had him. As much as those thoughts thrilled him, it wouldn't be worth not being able to spend time with her anymore. He loved her company too much, so he would just have to bide his time and keep trying.

  This weekend could be fun and he was looking forward
to it. He wasn't going to push her, he'd promised, but surely they would still be able to have a good time together, and he could always live in hope that she might change her mind about her feelings towards him. He was sure he could slowly charm her into falling in love with him.

  ****

  Chapter 2

  Hayden was exhausted by the time they arrived at Connor’s lake house. He was excited to be catching up with his cousin at his new property, but he promised himself that next time he was bringing Ash alone. Three hours in the car with Beth and Sarah was about two and a half hours too long. The first half hour wasn't too bad while they were occupied playing on their iPods, but that didn't last anywhere near long enough before they started with the questions. Hayden had always assumed the old "Are we there yet?" joke was just that, a joke. Apparently not, it was a regular question asked by a seven year old on a three-hour car trip. The things we learn, he thought ruefully.

  "Well that was interesting," He remarked as they pulled up in front of the homestead. "Remind me next time to meet you up here."

  Ashleigh chuckled quietly and turned to the girls.

  "Okay you two. Remember, best behaviour while we're here. We're guests so say please and thank you and keep the noise to a minimum."

  "Wish there was a way to keep the questions to a minimum." Hayden said quietly under his breath.

  "Aren't we supposed to always say please and thank you Mummy?" Sarah asked.

  "And there's number one million three hundred and sixty-two." He whispered.

  Ashleigh chuckled again and gave him a playful elbow to his stomach across the centre console of the car.

  "Yes honey we do, but we have to make extra sure we don't forget while we're guests, okay."

  "Yes Mummy." The girls answered in unison.

  "Can we go in now?" Beth asked hopefully.