The Preacher's Daughter

Ashley's POV

After catching Grace, she looks up at me with wide eyes, and I can't help but smile and breathlessly murmur, "Told ya, I'd get you."

Grace returns my smile with one of her own, giggling lightly, before sitting up and removing my vest. She passes it back to me, but the vest wasn't what I was after. She wanted to play, so I played with her, so taking hold of it, I rest it along her shoulders and whisper, "Keep it."

Her beautiful green and brown eyes widen and her smile fades momentarily, before she tackles me in a strong hug, causing me to fall back so she was now laying on top of me. I laugh with her, wrapping my arms around her waist and gently kiss her temple.

Grace, you're something else entirely. If only you weren't CC's sister...

I sigh deeply, coming back to reality, before sitting us upright again. I'd give anything to be with Grace. She's perfect in every way to me, but with my reputation, there's no way in hell CC would go for us dating. Can't say I blame him really, but a guy can hope, right?

Standing, I help her to her feet, then pull her back towards the others. She takes her seat next to CC, who's watching us intently. Damn it. I bet he knows how I feel about her now and wants to kick my ass. With another sigh, I motion for him to follow me into the bus and he does so without question.

Once inside, I sit on the black, leather sofa and say, "I'm sorry, man-"

"You love her, don't you?" he interrupts me, his eyes fixated on mine.

I bite my lip, before answering, "Yeah. Yeah, I love her, but I don't plan to-"

"Pursue it?" he finishes for me, then asks, "Why not? You know how she feels about you and if you feel the same, why not?"

My eyes meet his in shock, as I state, "Are you serious? She's your sister. I don't want to piss you off by chasing after your sister."

"Oh, so you're afraid I was going to be mad over that," he says, rather than asks.

"Wouldn't you be? I mean, you know my reputation and-"

"As long as you don't hurt her, I'm fine with it. Besides what kind of brother would I be if I kept my sister from finding her true happiness?" he states, cutting me off again, "Grace is an adult now. She can make up her own mind and you can too, so go for it."

I take a moment to process his words. He's...He's actually okay with...And here I was thinking...

I smile up at him and nod, whispering, "Thanks, man. I won't hurt her."

"I know you won't," he replies, returning my smile, "You'll have me to face if you do."

We laugh at his comment, despite knowing it's true, then he tells me, "Go get her, man. Your Princess awaits."

Suddenly, I can't move. What do I do? Women have never been difficult for me, but this is different. Grace is different. How could I convince her to give me a chance? How should I approach her with my feelings?

"Ash," CC calls out to me, smirking, "Here's a hint. Don't overthink it. Go with what you know about her. Talk it through to me if you have to."

"What I know about her?" I inquire, frowning for a moment.

I know she loves music, and despite her dark exterior, she's very bubbly and fun-loving on the inside. She plays guitar, enjoys puzzles and loves to learn new things. Like me, the ocean is one of her favorite places, but she also just loves to be outside. There's so many options available that it's hard to choose.

"Ash, think about what you have at your disposal here on tour," CC hints, and it clicks.

I smile, looking up at him and state, "I think I know just the thing. When's sound check again?"

He looks at the schedule on the wall and says, "In about an hour and a half."

"Perfect. Gives me just enough time to set this up," I state, grabbing a shirt, then run out of the bus. I grab Andy's hand and drag him with me to the arena.

"Yo, Ash! What the fuck, man?" Andy shouts at me, as I open the backstage door.

"Just trust me," I tell him, as I enter the building and pull him to the stage. When we stop, I turn to him and explain, "CC just gave me the go-ahead to ask Grace out, thing is, I had no idea how to do it. I know she's super shy, so pulling her on stage wouldn't win me any brownie points, but I can do it right before sound check. I'll need your help though."

"Okay," he slowly replies, "What do you need?"

"First, I need you to get the others to distract her while I run to the store and you go around asking our tour mates if it's cool that I use the outside of their buses," I explain, "I'm going to need everyone's cooperation to pull this one off."

"What the hell are you going to do?" he demands, looking at me as if I'd lost my mind.

"Grace loves a good puzzle, so I'm going to send her on a wild goose chase that leads to sound check. When she gets here, I'll be the only one on stage and I'm going to ask her out," I tell him, with pleading eyes.

He looks at me like I've lost my mind for a long moment, before smiling and saying, "Yeah. I guess I can do that."

"Thank you!" I shout, before running out of the arena, heading for my car. I sit there for a moment, waiting for Andy to do what he needs to do, then head out, once CC's taken her inside the bus for whatever made up reason he came up with.

Once at the store, I race through grabbing everything I need for this, then check out and call CC on my way back to the arena. He answers on the second ring with, "Hello?"

"CC, do me a favor. I'm 3 minutes out and need another distraction, so I can sneak back in. Don't take her in the bus though, because I need to go in there for one of the clues," I say through the phone, "Then it'll take me about 20 or so minutes to set everything up."

"No worries. I can do that," he states, before hanging up.

I sigh in relief as I call Andy, who answers right away, "What's up, man?"

"Are we good to go?" I ask, as I drive out of the parking lot.

"Yeah. More than good, actually. They all want to help you pull this off," he tells me.

"Thank God," I breathe, "I'll be there in a couple minutes."

"I'll be waiting by Asking's bus," he replies.

"Alright. See you then," I tell him, before hanging up.

Pulling into the back parking lot of the venue, I spot Andy and Ben talking by Asking's bus, just like he said, and pull up beside them. As I get out, Ben smirks at me, but waits until I grab the chalk and a bouquet of star and moon balloons from the back, before saying anything.

"So, found yourself a girl you fancy?" Ben inquires, as I pass Andy the balloons.

"Yeah, she's amazing," I tell him as I kneel down and pull a blue stick of chalk from the small container. On the ground before their bus, I write out, "Dreams can come true. Mine certainly have with you."

"The bunks," Andy answers, reading the short riddle.

"Exactly," I reply, drawing a night's sky around the words, then taking hold of the balloons and set them down behind the clue.

Returning to the car, I write on a piece of card-stock, "Life is full of rhythm and sound. It lifts us up when we're feeling down. The beat of a drum matches my heart. You'll find me where music is art."

"The arena, sound check," Andy states, looking over my shoulder, "That's a short hunt."

"That's the last clue. I haven't placed the others yet," I tell him, as I pass him another bouquet of balloons, this time shaped like music notes and the letters "FIR". I walk over to our bus with the chalk and card in hand, as well as the bouquet of orange lilies. Kneeling in front of the bus, I write out, "'Falling in' Love is both beautiful and scary. I know this now, but I am ready."

"I like that play on words," Andy says, smirking down at the first clue, as he places the balloons near the clue.

"Thanks," I reply, before heading inside the bus, to place the last clue in Grace's bunk along with the flowers. When I walk out, I see Andy standing there with the chalk in hand, waiting for me. We return to my car, where I pull out bouquet three bouquets. One of peach roses, another of blue daisies and the last one is pink tulips.

"Think you got enough flowers for her?" Andy teases with a smirk.

"These are the last of the flowers, except the ones I'll be holding when she finds me," I retort, returning his smirk, as I grab a few more sheets of card-stock and two huge bags of stuffed animals.

"You're clearly going all out for this," Ronnie says, coming up behind us, "She must be something special."

"She's certainly that," I reply, walking towards their bus.

He takes the stuffed animals from me, before asking, "Who is she?"

"CC's little sister," Andy answers for me as I kneel in front of their bus and write, "This is where the magic starts. Lights, camera, action, hearts."

"That's tricky, but my guess would be the control booth," Ronnie answers this time, "So, CC's sister? That's a tricky one. How's he feel about that?"

"That would be it, and he helped me come up with this idea," I state, drawing a few stage lights and a panel of buttons, before laying the daisies on top of the clue and pulling out my pen for the card-stock. I then write on there, "A question, an answer, a photo or two. Ink is the answer to this next clue."

"The side of the building, where we had our interview, earlier," Andy answers.

I nod as I pull out my phone to call CC, who answers on the first ring, as if he'd been waiting for my call. In response to his 'Hello', I ask, "Are you guys in the arena?"

"Yeah," he states, while I write another clue on another sheet of card-stock, that reads, "You forgot to ask Alice, so why not Ask Alex?"

"Alright, get her out of there, but I need you to avoid the buses for now," I tell him, "See if she wants to take a walk down to the music shop just across the street. That would be a pretty safe bet."

"That I can do," he replies, and I thank him before we hang up.

While he get's Grace out of the venue, I take Andy and Ronnie to the spot of our interview and write out, "'Romeo, oh Romeo, where for art thou Romeo?'" then pull a large black teddy bear out of one of the bags Ronnie's holding, placing it against the wall above the clue.

My phone pings, and when I check it, it's CC saying we're in the clear. I take a deep breath, before running inside the arena and placing the 'Ask Alex' card on the first row, center seat with the bouquet of tulips. Next, I place the clue about the interview in the control booth with a white teddy bear in the chair. I pause to write out yet another clue on one of the last two pieces of card-stock, that reads, "Let's play dress-up! ;)"

"Dressing room?" Andy asks.

"Dressing room," I answers, as I write out the last clue, that reads, "You're the only person 'front and center' in my mind and my heart."

"Ready?" Ronnie asks, as I straighten up. I nod, then walk off to the balcony seating area, laying the card and last bear on the seat that looks out over the banister. We then head to the dressing room and I set the last bouquet and clue in my chair.

"Is that it?" Andy inquires with a smirk.

"I think so," I reply, as we step out of the arena to return to my car one more time. I get in, pulling it back into the spot I'd originally parked in, and grab another piece of card-stock. I write, "You've found me, but now there's only one question left. Will you be my girlfriend, Grace?" then grab the balloons and red roses out of the backseat, before locking up. I head into the arena again, texting CC and thanking Andy and Ronnie as I go. They call out to me that they wish me luck, and I wave my thanks with a smile. Let's hope this works.

Notes

I'm so sorry to all my readers. I've been crazy busy lately because I'm getting ready to move out of state, and trying to get my health in order. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I'll be making a point of trying to update as much as possible.