“I—I’m sorry.” The waiter turned and hurried off.
Ashley cringed with embarrassment. She had forgotten how savage her father’s temper was. He had once punched an intern during an operation for making an error in judgment. Ashley remembered the screaming arguments between her mother and father when she was a little girl. They had terrified her. Her parents had always fought about the same thing, but try as she might, Ashley could not remember what it was. She had blocked it from her mind.
Her father went on, as though there had been no interruption. “Where were we? Oh, yes. Going out with Shane Miller is a mistake. A big mistake.”
And his words brought back another terrible memory.
She could hear her father’s voice saying, “Going out with Jim Cleary is a mistake. A big mistake…”
Ashley had just turned eighteen and was living in Bedford, Pennsylvania, where she was born. Jim Cleary was the most popular boy in Bedford Area High School. He was on the football team, was handsome and amusing and had a killer smile. It seemed to Ashley that every girl in school wanted to sleep with him. And most of them probably have, she had thought, wryly. When Jim Cleary started asking Ashley out, she was determined not to go to bed with him. She was sure he was interested in her only for sex, but as time went on, she changed her mind. She liked being with him, and he seemed to genuinely enjoy her company.
That winter, the senior class went for a weekend skiing trip in the mountains. Jim Cleary loved to ski.
“We’ll have a great time,” he assured Ashley.
“I’m not going.”
He looked at her in astonishment. “Why?”
“I hate cold weather. Even with gloves, my fingers get numb.”
“But it will be fun to—”
“I’m not going.”
And he had stayed in Bedford to be with her.
They shared the same interests and had the same ideals, and they always had a wonderful time together.
When Jim Cleary had said to Ashley, “Someone asked me this morning if you’re my girlfriend. What shall I tell him?” Ashley had smiled and said, “Tell him yes.”
Dr. Patterson was worried. “You’re seeing too much of that Cleary boy.”
“Father, he’s very decent, and I love him.”
“How can you love him? He’s a goddamned football player. I’m not going to let you marry a football player. He’s not good enough for you, Ashley.”
He had said that about every boy she had gone out with.
Her father kept making disparaging remarks about Jim Cleary, but the explosion occurred on the night of the high school graduation. Jim Cleary was taking Ashley to an evening graduation party. When he came to pick her up, she was sobbing.
“What’s the matter? What’s happened?”
“My—my father told me he’s taking me away to London. He’s registered me in—in a college there.”
Jim Cleary looked at her, stunned. “He’s doing this because of us, isn’t he?”
Ashley nodded, miserable.
“When do you leave?”
“Tomorrow.”
“No! Ashley, for God’s sake, don’t let him do this to us. Listen to me. I want to marry you. My uncle offered me a really good job in Chicago with his advertising agency. We’ll run away. Meet me tomorrow morning at the railroad station. There’s a train leaving for Chicago at seven A.M. Will you come with me?”
She looked at him a long moment and said softly, “Yes.”
Thinking about it later, Ashley could not remember what the graduation party was like. She and Jim had spent the entire evening excitedly discussing their plans.
“Why don’t we fly to Chicago?” Ashley asked.
“Because we would have to give our names to the airline. If we go by train, nobody will know where we’ve gone.”
As they were leaving the party, Jim Cleary asked softly, “Would you like to stop off at my place? My folks are out of town for the weekend.”
Ashley hesitated, torn. “Jim…we’ve waited this long. A few more days won’t matter.”
“You’re right.” He grinned. “I may be the only man on this continent marrying a virgin.”
When Jim Cleary brought Ashley home from the party, Dr. Patterson was waiting, in a rage. “Do you have any idea how late it is?”