Ashley had to hide her true feelings. After all, David had failed her miserably, and her own parents had turned against her when she had decided to continue her pregnancy alone. She had made a new life for herself and her baby in rural Nova Scotia and became accustomed to the disapproval she encountered. So she was completely taken aback by Michael Gault's reactions. . . Michael condemned Ashley, not for the decisions she had been left alone to make, but for running away from love now that someone was so obviously on her side.