At the end of the fourth song, Jeremy can no longer resist. He softly kisses Ashley’s perfect cupid bow lips. She looks at him in surprise and rests her head on his shoulder.
After one more song, Jeremy looks down at Ashley and whispers, “kiss me, Ashley.”
She looks up at him. Expecting her to kiss him, Jeremy is stunned when Ashley says, “I can’t.”
“You can’t, or you won’t?”
“I can’t, Jeremy,” Ashley answers.
Jeremy suddenly releases her and takes a step back. “We’re leaving,” he tells her harshly and walks away. He makes it to the SUV first and gets inside. Ashley finally gets in, carrying her heels in one hand. Jeremy starts the SUV and drives off. He says nothing to Ashley on the forty-five-minute drive home.
When he pulls into the driveway and turns the ignition off, Ashley says, “Jeremy, please let me explain.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he states and limbs out of the SUV, leaving Ashley to exit the vehicle and walk to the line shack alone. …
“Ashley, I want to talk about last night,” Jeremy says harshly.
“Well, I don’t. You had your chance last night,” she replies in a strained voice.
“I’ve had time to calm down a little. I want to discuss why you said you couldn’t kiss me.”
Ashley takes a deep breath, stands upright, and turns to face Jeremy. She removes her gloves slowly, one at a time, glaring at Jeremy. Next, she removes her cap, placing the gloves inside the hat. “Fine. You want to talk? We’ll talk,” she yells. “Do you want to have this conversation out here or in the cabin?”
“I don’t care,” Jeremy yells back. “I want to know why you wouldn’t kiss me when I asked you to?”
Even though Ashley glares at Jeremy in anger, her eyes fill with shame. “I wanted to kiss you, Jeremy. I wanted to so much, but I couldn’t because I don’t know how,” Ashley whispers. “I’m twenty-six years old, and I’ve never kissed a man. You are the first man ever to kiss me. I’m sorry I disappointed you.” Ashley throws her cap and gloves at Jeremy and walks off, hanging her head. She walks around the cabin and down into the valley, sits on a large boulder with her elbows on her knees, and sobs.
