The Sisters McFadden

Chapter 21 - Unforgettable

Dalton opened the front passenger door to his truck and Ash climbed in. Parked on the street in front of the library, he closed her door like a gentleman and walked around to the driver's side. Once in his seat behind the steering wheel, he noticed Ash starting to cry.

            "Hey, I'm sorry," said Dalton. "Did my grandfather upset you? Was that too much, too weird?"

            "No," said Ash. "I loved that. He's a gem."

            "We'll play chess for hours while he talks my ear off about World War II or some other period in history."

            "You are so lucky to have your grandfather around."

            "Then why are you crying?"

            "I don't want to go back to my house now. There are tons of workers there and the horses are arriving today. I don't want to be with my family right now and it's my last day without a cellphone, without a leash."

            "No worries. I don't have to take you home. We have all afternoon. The weather sucks but we can go back to my house and take a shower." Dalton instantly caught his wording and held his breath. Of course, he had meant they could take separate showers and get cleaned up but that was not how it came out of his mouth.

            Ash wiped her tears, turned to him and said: "I'd like that."

            "Cool," said Dalton as he started the engine. "Let's go get this salt off of us."

            Out of nowhere, a wild peacock cried out as it landed on the hood of Dalton's truck with a massive thump. Ash was startled but soon looked at the exotic bird in amazement. She'd never seen a live peacock. As it fanned out its huge feathered tail, the colors, mostly blues and greens, were simply beautiful. Despite the fact that most locals considered the birds to be a nuisance, Ash seemed to take the bird's abrupt introduction as a welcome as well as a sign of hope for a new life in Palos Verdes.

            Minutes later, Dalton pulled his truck into the foggy driveway of his house. He let Ash in the front door and followed her. Once inside, he started to pick up the smell of lavender. And once again, as when Chelsea had been in his room last night, there was nothing in his house to his knowledge that could have produced such a strong smell of lavender. No words were spoken. She walked into Dalton's bedroom and kicked off her flip flops. Never stopping on her way to Dalton's bathroom, she took off her sweatshirt and dropped it onto his bed. Dalton followed in silence with his heart racing through his chest. He thanked himself for making his bed and throwing all his dirty clothes into his closet that morning. The energy in the room as well as the smell of lavender were escalating in a good way. He made his way into the cramped bathroom behind her and started the shower. He promised himself that, if and when she told him she just wanted to take a shower alone, he would hand her a clean towel and exit the bathroom. As the running water started to heat up and steam, Ash simply removed her swimsuit top and dropped her tiny bottoms to the floor. Dalton felt alive.

            Ash stepped into the steamy shower and started to soak her salty skin. Dalton lost his shorts and T-shirt and joined her without hesitation. It was tight quarters as the standup shower hardly fit the two bodies, but it was perfectly warm and cozy. The scent of lavender intensified. He took a healthy dab of shampoo and worked it into her long hair. He started by massaging her scalp and then worked the shampoo into her smooth hair all the way down to her lower back. The word stop never came out of Ash's mouth. As his fingers gently dug into her scalp, he felt an electric current charging into and throughout his body. Shockwaves shot up and down is head, neck, arms and legs. He was paralyzed.