This reminds me of the psychology lesson we had where we learned that In situations that activate your symptomatic system (fight to flight responses), when shown the face of someone who the individual finds attractive they may confuse it for feelings of love or like since the physical reactions are similar.
I love that Mildred is a good mother, but at some point she needs to address Ashley's mistakes. It doesn't really matter what the motivation was, anyone who lives with a real fireplace should know better than this. They are all too poor for Ashley to keep making mistakes that cost her sisters and family.