“I wish I had your problem. My mother pretty much wrote me off after I turned 18 and I haven’t seen her since. She and I weren’t the closest as you can tell but I always wished that we could have had a better relationship.” Ashley’s eyes clouded with a bit of sadness for a second but she shrugged off the feeling squeezing Spencer’s hand.

“I’m sorry you had such a hard time. That must have been really difficult. Luckily for me, my dad is such a good friend to me that he helps me calm down after my ‘talks’ with my mother. I guess he is used to giving advice since he’s a social worker for the city. My brothers aren’t bad to have around either. Clay, he’s the smart one, is so sweet and understanding about pretty much everything. Glen, on the other hand, is pretty much an ass 24/7 but he has his moments. Do you have any siblings?” Spencer asked while tracing her thumb over the back of Ashley’s hand.

“I do have a half-sister, Kyla. She and I were shoved together when my father died and though we may not be as close as most sisters we have developed a good relationship over the years. She was really all I had after I turned 18 so she and I decided to move in together and that worked for a few years before I left to travel. She still lives here in L.A. She’s married now with 2 kids, Samuel and Dylan. It’s so weird being referred to as ‘Auntie Ashley’ but they are great kids.” Ashley smiled at the thought of her two nephews.

“Aw that is so cute. Hey, where are we going? Are we headed to the beach?” Spencer was looking around and noticed that they had entered a private driveway that looked like it led to a private beach.

Ashley just remained quiet and drove down to where the road ended and the sand began. She got out of the car and went to open the door for Spencer.

Spencer held onto Ashley’s hand as they made their way down a small incline to the sandy area below. When they turned a small corner there was a table set up with a bottle of wine and two place settings. There was a candle burning in the middle of the table and on one of the plates there was another white rose. Spencer looked at Ashley in amazement and picked up the rose to smell it.