Echo of a Bird's Cry

THE SURVIVOR EMILY NOVEMBER 7

Ashely mixes butter and sugar together as I sift flour. We're making cupcakes. She came over David's house to spend time with me. We decided to bake and catch up with each other.

"How do like living in Ravenwood?" I ask. "Are you adjusting well?"

"I like how quiet it is out here," Ashely says. "At night John and I sit on the porch and listen to crickets and stargaze. It's so peaceful. The country is the perfect place to raise a family."

"You're going to tell me when you're pregnant, right?"

"You will be the first to know." She cracks two eggs and adds them to the mixer along with buttermilk. "You look happy."

I add the vanilla extract to the mixture before adding the flour. "I am. For the most part." I watch her mix the batter. Ashely moved her entire life to Ravenwood for John. She was known in California for her amazing humanitarian work. She's now working at a shelter for the youth. "How's work?"

"So far so good. The kids here have had a difficult life but they all have potential. I'm hoping to win them over with cupcakes."

"They're going to love you."

We fill two dozen cupcake liners with batter and pop them in the oven. We start on the chocolate cupcakes next. She measures the cocoa powder as I measure the sugar. She's been a little too quiet. Something's bothering her.

"What's on your mind, Ashely?"

She sighs. "I didn't want to bring it up, but your sister said I tripped her when she clearly fell."

"Are you talking about what happened Halloween night?"

She nods, sifting flour. "She doesn't like me, but I don't want her making my life complicated. You should've seen John's face. I've never seen him so annoyed."

I add the sugar, cocoa powder, and flour together. "I don't know how to help."

Ashely mixes in the salt and baking powder. "I don't mean to worry you. You have enough going on. I mean, you've survived a scary stalker that tried to murder you, and you're falling in love with a good man."

"You and I are best friends. What's the point of having a best friend if you can't tell them your problems?"

"I know you have a lot going on and I hate putting you in a weird position when it comes to Eden and me. She's your sister."

I add the eggs, buttermilk, and vegetable oil in a separate bowl. "I wish we could leave high school drama in the past."

Ashely nods, combining and mixing the wet ingredients into the dry ones. "What happened between us happened years ago. I don't know why she's holding a grudge against me. She absolutely hates me. John told me that Eden doesn't like me because I'm engaged to him. He said she has never coped well with him being with anyone else."

There are things Eden never told me. I never knew she couldn't cope well with John being with someone else. "I never knew that."

We fill two dozen more cupcake liners with chocolate batter. "You should talk to her," Ashely says. "I want us all to get along. We live in the same town and word travels fast."

"I will."

Ashely stares at me and smiles. "You're looking good. You're wounds are healing fast. But how are you really feeling? You don't even seem traumatized about what happened. You literally had a man hunting you."

"Two men actually," I correct. "I find myself waiting for the moment where I have a meltdown, but it hasn't come yet." I shrug. "I don't think it will. I blame years of therapy. I know how to regulate my emotions now. It's an even better feeling because Eden and Abel are in my life. Life is so much better when you have people that love you to share it with."