Reconnecting the Dots

Returning the hug, Kara said, "Well, you are my big sister."

Jake grinned, thinking back to last night.

Kara pulled back from the hug and shot Ashley a shrewd expression. "So, about that money..."

Ashley snorted.

"All right, let's sit back down," Jake said, but not before giving Ashley a kiss on top of her head.

Once seated, Jake asked, "You OK?"

Ashley picked up a napkin, wiped her eyes, and shrugged. Her bottom lip trembled a little. "I guess. I...I don't know what to say."

Claire picked up where they left off, "What your dad was going to say is there's a stipulation. You can only access the money at eighteen if you decide to use it for college. If not, you have to wait until your twenty-fifth birthday. The plan was to track you down right before you turned twenty-five and give you the money, regardless of whether we knew you or not." She said the last with a knowing look.

Ashley was speechless once again. It looked as if she couldn't believe what was going on. Jake couldn't read her mind, but he could guess what she was thinking.

"Well, do you want to go to college?" he asked.

But instead of answering, Ashley shot Claire and Kara the same look as before.

Not in the dark anymore, Jake looked at Claire. "Let me guess. What you talked about while shopping, right?"

Claire grinned.

"Tell him, Ash," Kara said excitedly.

Jake looked around the table. "Tell me what?" He was confused.

"Well..." Ashley said, but then paused. She looked nervous.

"There's no reason to be nervous," said Claire. "Tell him."

Ashley sighed. "Well, I...I always wanted to be a teacher, but never thought going to college was possible."

That made Jake's eyebrows raise. He looked at Kara to see a grin on her face. Kara was starting her freshman year at the local University in two months, and for as long as he could remember, she had wanted to be an elementary school teacher. Most students waited until after their sophomore year to declare his/her major, but Kara was so sure of her future, she'd already declared.

"But tell him the rest," Kara said. She was trembling with excitement.

Now Jake was even more confused. "Tell me what?"

Ashley glanced nervously at Kara and then Claire, who gave her a reassuring smile. She turned to Jake. "Well, I...I always wanted to be a music teacher."

Jake's eyes bulged.

A music teacher? But that must mean...

"She's a musician like you, Dad!" Kara blurted out.

"What?" He didn't know what to think. Had he heard correctly?

Kara laughed. "Tell him, Ash."

Ashley smiled sheepishly. "Well, I...I play piano and guitar."

"And she sings, too," added Kara. "She sang in her high school choir and also played piano in the orchestra."

Jake was speechless. He had tried teaching Kara and Carter an instrument growing up. However, neither of his step kids had much musical talent. Carter had picked the bass, and while he could hold a basic tune, he was never serious about it. Kara, on the other hand, had terrible hand-eye coordination. After a few months of guitar lessons, which usually ended in tears of frustration, she eventually gave up. She had a decent voice, though. But now...

"Earth to Dad," Kara said, interrupting his train of thought.

He turned his attention to Ashley and broke out in a huge smile. "You play and sing?"

She nodded.

He glanced at Claire and Kara to see them both with massive grins on their faces.

They sure did talk about a lot at the mall.

"Tell him how you learned, Ash," said Kara.

"Um...well, I...I learned piano first and then the guitar."

"But how'd you learn?" He still couldn't believe it.

"This nice old couple—Mr. and Mrs. Ogilvy taught me. They lived on our street and would watch us after school while Mom worked. Mrs. Ogilvy played piano and Mr. Ogilvy played guitar."

"How old were you?"

Ashley's brow furrowed for a moment. "Um...eight for piano and ten for guitar."

"Wow," was all Jake could say, which caused Claire and Kara to laugh.

Ashley grinned slightly. "They were really nice. I would watch Mrs. Ogilvy play and she liked that I showed interest, so she decided to teach me. I picked it up pretty quickly, but I didn't have a piano at home, so Mr. Ogilvy decided to teach me guitar. H...he actually bought me a guitar at the pawn shop for $50 so I would have my own. We made a deal that I would work off what I owed him. It took me like four months of doing small jobs around their apartment to pay him back." She said the last bit with a bit of pride. But then her face dropped.

"You see, Ashley," said Claire. "I told you not to worry at the mall."

Ashley just nodded.

Claire smiled. "So, it's settled, then. We'll start looking for colleges..."

But as Claire carried on, Jake's thoughts started wandering. His mind was still reeling from what he'd just learned. His daughter was a musician? She sang and played piano and guitar? He always wanted to learn how to play piano, but never did. He never learned to read music either, which was one of his biggest regrets. He learned to play guitar by ear...

"Wait," Jake said, coming back to himself. He looked at Ashley. "You can read music?"

She nodded.

"Wow."

Claire laughed again at his reaction. "Oh, don't be jealous, baby." She knew he regretted never learning to read music.

"J...jealous?" asked Ashley.

"Oh, ignore him," said Claire. "He's just being a big baby?" She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "He'll get over it."

Jake chuckled. God, he loved her.

"Yeah," said Kara. "He'll get over it. But shouldn't we get back to business." She was getting impatient.

Claire nodded. "Yes we should. So, give Rob a call and see what he can do."

Jake's brow furrowed. "Rob?"

"Weren't you listening to what I just said?"

"Um..."

Kara rolled her eyes. "You know, the keyboardist in your band."

"Yes, thank you, sweetheart. I know Rob is the keyboardist in my band. But what for?" He was still confused.

Claire shook her head and chuckled. "You should call Rob and see if he can get Ashley into the music program."

"Oh", he said, smiling at his stupidity. Rob was the Dean of the music school at the local University Kara was to attend.

"Oh, now he gets it," said Kara.

Ashley giggled.

"OK, OK. Give me break here," Jake said, which caused the whole table to break out into laughter.

His heart warmed at the sight of Ashley once again coming out of her shell. But her tendency to retreat inside herself when things got uncomfortable was disconcerting. Claire was right. They all needed to come together and do whatever it took, but he was starting to realize Kara was the key. She had the innate ability to guide people.

She's going to make a great teacher.

"Well, then it's settled," said Claire. "Talk to Rob and see what he can do."

Jake nodded. "I'll take care of it."

"Wait," Kara said. She cleared her throat and gave her mom a knowing look.

Jake was a little confused, again, so thinking it was something else they talked about at the mall, he looked at Ashley, only to see she was as confused as he was.

Claire nodded to Kara, then said, "OK, we're settled here. Why don't you girls go upstairs and get Ashley situated."

Kara jumped to her feet. "OK." She grabbed a handful of bags. "Let's go, Ash. We have lots to do. See you later parental units."

Ashley stood, smiled sheepishly at Jake and Claire, grabbed the remaining bags, and followed Kara out of the kitchen.

"What was that about?" asked Jake.

Claire stood, plopped herself in Jake's lap, leaned in, and planted a kiss on his lips. Pulling back, she said, "Kara was hinting at something Ashley let slip while we were shopping?" Then her expression became serious. "Did you see her face drop when she was talking about the guitar that nice old man bought her?"

Jake nodded.

"Well, she let slip that it was stolen along with a keyboard she bought for herself, along with the rest of her stuff."

"Oh shit."

"Yeah. So—"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it."

Claire leaned in a planted another kiss on his lips.

"So," Jake said. "Is there anything else you talked about while shopping that I should know about?"

"Oh this and that."

His brow furrowed. "Huh?"

"Oh, you know—girls stuff."

He chuckled. "Oh."

Claire smiled. "Well, that went better than expected."

Jake sighed. She was right. It did go better than expected. "All thanks to Kara."

"I know. I'm so proud of her. She's growing into a fine young woman."

Jake nodded his head in agreement.

"But, you were right about her," said Claire.

His brow furrowed. "Huh?"

"About Ashley blaming herself."

Jake grimaced.

Claire placed her hands on his cheeks. "Don't worry, baby. Everything will be all right."

"I know. I just wish there was something we could do about it."

"We'll think of something."

And then he realized there was something he could do about it. He just wasn't looking forward to it. Thinking back to the conclusions he came to while working in the yard, he said, "I have an idea."

Claire eyebrows raised. "Oh."

"Yeah." He paused, then took a deep breath. Looking straight into her eyes, he asked, "What do you think about me contacting my ex?"

-----

Jake listened for the sounds of chatter as he ascended the stairs. All he heard was silence.That's strange. He was expecting to hear the non-stop chattering that had been going on all day.

After the girls had gone upstairs to get Ashley situated, Jake and Claire had continued to talk in the kitchen. When he brought up the idea of contacting his ex, he was surprised she wasn't against it. She agreed that it could help Ashley, but advised holding off until it was absolutely necessary. Other than that, she didn't say much on the matter, which he thought was a bit odd. She also agreed with his stance on Kevin—he just wasn't worth the time and energy. And throughout the whole conversation, the constant sound of two eighteen year old girls, chatting and laughing, carried throughout the house. More than once, they were interrupted by Ashley's laughter, bringing smiles to their faces.

Once Ashley was situated, the girls decided it was time to make use of the new bikinis they'd bought. So, the four of them spent the rest afternoon swimming and chatting away. When Ashley saw the tattoo over his heart, they experienced yet another emotional moment, but once again, Kara came to the rescue. Mini crisis averted, they decided to keep the conversation light, not wanting to distress Ashley any further. But Jake couldn't hold off questioning Ashley about her musical tastes, which both surprised and pleased him to no end. Both Kara and Carter tolerated his type of music, but they were into a lot of the new styles; stuff Jake just didn't get. Ashley however, was into singer-songwriters from the sixties and seventies; artists whom Jake loved. When she started talking about Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Tracy Chapman, Simon and Garfunkel—the list went on and on—Jake almost broke out into tears. Kara found immense humor in this and teased him mercilessly, which he knew was for Ashley's benefit.

When Carter got home, Jake threw some steaks, corn, and asparagus on the grill, and they introduced Ashley to what a real family dinner was like. She was a bit uncomfortable at first, but once again, Kara came to the rescue. All in all, it was a success.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Jake turned right towards the kids' rooms. Stopping first at Carter's door, he knocked.

"Come in," came Carter's muffled voice.

He opened the door to see Carter sitting at his desk, typing away at his laptop.

"Hey, buddy," Jake said.

"What's up, Dad."

"Nothing. Just seeing what you're doing."

Carter pointed to the screen. "Facebook."

Jake stepped in and sat on Carter's bed. "So, what do you think about this whole thing with Ashley?"

Carter turned his chair towards Jake. "I think it's pretty awesome."

"Yeah, me too."

"And it's pretty rad that she's a musician, too."

"It is, isn't it?"

A ding sounded on Carter's laptop, causing him to turn back towards the screen. He read the new message, then grumbled.

"What's up?" asked Jake.

Carter started typing away. "Huh," he said a bit distractedly. When he finished, he turned back around.

"Everything OK?" Jake asked.

"Sabrina's being annoying again," Carter replied, referring to his girlfriend.

"I told you to watch yourself, but you didn't want to listen to me."

Carter grinned. "All right, old man. So you were right. You want a medal or something?"

Jake laughed. "Smartass." He stood up and made towards the door. "I'm going to go check on your sisters. Good luck."

"Whoa!" exclaimed Carter.

Jake stopped, and turned towards Carter. "What?"

"It just hit me when you said that. I have two sisters now." He thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. "Oh well. I guess it's you and me then, huh."

"Yeah. We need to stick together, buddy," Jake said with a wink.

Carter's computer dinged again, so Jake left him to his girl trouble.

Back in the hallway, Jake chuckled. Carter was such a good kid, and as predicted, he was going with the flow.

I love that kid.

His next stop was Kara's room. Her door was cracked open, so he knocked, and when he didn't hear a response, he peeked his head in. The room was empty, but he could hear the sound of the shower running through the bathroom door. The lack of chatter made sense now.

Continuing on to Ashley's room, he knocked. A few seconds later, a freshly showered Ashley, dressed in a fresh white tee-shirt and blue cotton shorts, opened the door.

"Hi, sweetheart. I'm just coming to see how you're doing?"

Ashley smiled sheepishly. "Oh...um...I'm good."

"Can I come in for a few minutes?"

She nodded.

Stepping in, he looked around the room. The difference from yesterday was night and day. The room already had a lived in feel about it. The dresser top was filled with all new make-up and feminine beauty products; there were clothes heaped on the bed and the chair in the corner; a few posters were hanging on the wall. All in all, it didn't look like an unused spare bedroom anymore.

"I hope you don't mind that we hung the posters up," Ashley said. "We bought them and Claire said it was OK. So Kara and I hung them up."

While she was talking, Jake had walked over to look at a poster of Joni Mitchell. When she finished, he turned. She looked a little embarrassed.

He smiled. "I don't mind at all. This is your room now. You do whatever you want to it?"

She nodded.

He looked around at the clothes again. "You get everything you need?"

She must've misinterpreted his intention behind the question, because she immediately said, "I'm sorry everything's such a mess. It's just so much and it's going to take time to put it all away. Kara's in the shower now and we were going to fin—"

Jake put his hand up. "Hold on, sweetheart. I'm not mad." Then he smiled. "Believe me. I'm the worst with putting my clothes away. If it wasn't for Claire, I'd probably never have any clean clothes."

Ashley blushed. "Oh."

"So, you get everything you need?" he asked again.

She looked around the room, then nodded. "I think we got way too much. I kept telling Claire and Kara, but they insisted."

Jake chuckled. "One thing you'll learn about the ladies in my life is that they love to shop. Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

Ashley grinned, but then her face clouded. "I've never really been close with my brother. He's so much younger and such a brat." Then her face brightened. "So it's nice to have someone like Kara on your side. She's really funny and Carter's so sweet. But Claire is..." She paused, struggling to find the right word.

"Amazing," Jake offered. He knew how lucky he was to have her in his life. Claire was the most amazing person he'd ever known.

Ashley nodded. "Yeah, amazing."

Jake smiled. "Well, I'm glad. We're really happy to have you here."

She grinned, but then her face took on a serious expression. She looked like she had something on her mind. "Um...do you mind if I ask you something?"

"Of course. You can ask me anything?"

She looked a little uncomfortable. "Well...um...it's about the trust fund."

He sat down on the bed. "Oh."

"Well, I uh..." She looked down at her feet for a moment, then into his eyes. "Why?" It was a simple question, but it had a lot of meaning behind it.

"Come here," he said, patting the bed next to him.

Ashley walked over, moved a dress out of the way, and sat.

Turning towards her, he said, "It's because we wanted for you to have the brightest future possible."

"But you didn't know me," she said desperately.

He sighed. Once again, he'd have to repeat himself to make her understand. "Doesn't matter. No matter what, you're my daughter, and when the bar started taking off, we decided to make sure all your futures were taken care of."

Her bottom lip trembled. "Bu...but I don't get it?"

He sighed again. It was obvious she was still having trouble accepting he was thinking about her all these years.

Damn that bitch.

"You don't feel that you deserve it. Am I right?" he asked.

She nodded tentatively as tears filled her eyes.

He needed to nip this in the bud once and for all. He grabbed her hand. "You do deserve it. I know how difficult it is to understand, but it's the truth. The money is for your future. Even though we didn't know you, the plan was to track you down when you turned twenty-five, and make sure you got the money. And even if you didn't want anything to do with me"—her eyes bulged as he said this—"you would still have received it."

He wasn't lying. When he and Claire sat down years ago to set up the trust funds, they informed their lawyer to track Ashley down on her twenty-fifth birthday, regardless of the situation. He remembered thinking: even though he didn't have a hand in raising her, he could at least give her something. It made him feel better knowing she might have a better future. They had debated giving her the money when she turned eighteen, but they didn't want to take the chance of his ex and Kevin getting their hands on it. So, in the end, they agreed on twenty-five—the age Kara and Carter would have received the money had they chose not to attend college.

Ashley was speechless. She had a look he couldn't place, so he said, "What's on your mind?"

"Wh...why twenty-five?"

"Well, we believe that an eighteen year old isn't responsible enough to handle that type of money. But by twenty-five, a person has a much better head on their shoulders. So, if it wasn't going to be used for college, then twenty-five it is."

Ashley sighed, then nodded slightly. "Well, I just want to thank you. It's more than I ever dreamed of. I still can't believe any of this happening." She paused, and looked around the room. "I never in a million years would have ever believed that I'd live in such a beautiful house. I...it..." She paused again, and looked down at her hands in her lap. "I...I always wanted to go to college, but Mom never encouraged me. She told me it would be a waste of time, so I never thought it would happen." Then she looked up and her face took on a serious expression. "I promise I won't let you down. I...I'll make you proud of me."

"Oh, sweetheart," he cried out, when those words left her lips. He engulfed her in a huge bear hug. "I'm already proud of you."

"You are?" Her face was pressed against his chest, so the question came out muffled.

"Of course I am," he said, then planted a kiss on top of her head.

She pulled back and looked up with a skeptical expression. He could tell she was having trouble believing him.

Damn that bitch. It was probably wishful thinking, but he had hoped they had uncovered all the baggage his ex had piled on Ashley.Guess I was wrong. Right now, he'd have to agree with Claire's assessment. It looked like therapy was in Ashley's future. But the question was: Would she agree?