Chapter Nine
Ryder
“Ryder, what do you think of this?” Sam asked, motioning for me to come watch a video she put together for the book signing on TikTok.
It was too early on a Monday morning for this shit.
“I told you, Sam, you can do whatever you want. I trust you completely.”
“You are so exasperating. This is your business, Ryder; you should be involved,” she insisted.
I laughed at her and walked away. She wanted to do this, not me. I was leaving it all in her hands.
The bell on the door jingled. I didn’t bother to look up from what I was doing, knowing it was likely Avery and the girls.
“Rayne! What are you doing here?” Sam asked.
My head snapped up.
There she was.
I didn’t expect to see her again until the book signing.
My eyes followed her as she walked to greet Sam.
“I just thought I would stop by and see how things were going? The book signing is getting close. I wanted to make sure you got the things I sent you.”
“I did. Thank you so much. Every business in town has signs in their windows,” Sam informed happily.
“Great, is Ryder here?” she questioned, biting her lip.
“He is. He just went in the back to get something. He should be out in a minute.”
I wasn’t as far away as she thought. I stood there for a minute, making them wait. Waiting for my heart to stop racing.
The first time she came in, she wore a tailored suit and expensive shoes. Today, she was wearing jeans and a sweater. And when I looked down at her feet, I saw that she was wearing… cowboy boots?
Fuck.
She was beautiful the first time I saw her. Definitely out of my league. And the league of every guy in Diamond Creek.
But this?
This made her look sexy. The jeans were snug as they molded to her cute little ass. I loved a small ass, small enough for my hands to cover completely.
Wait a second.
I looked at her again.
There was something different, but familiar.
Yea, asshole, you met her before. She’s just in different clothes. Get a grip!
Taking the bull by the horns, I walked around the counter and stood by the register. “Miss Perry. I am surprised to see you here. Is there something you need?”
She looked at me. Confusion marred her face.
“Please, call me Rayne. I just wanted to pop in and make sure you received the shipment of books I sent?”
“Um, yea,” I said, looking down.
“Was there something wrong?”
I finally looked up at her. Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly.
“It was a rather large shipment,” I informed.
“Do you not have room to store them?” she asked nervously.
“It’s not that.”
“Then what is it, Ryder? Spit it out,” Sam pressed.
I turned to Sam and glared.
Turning back to Miss Perry, I explained my concerns.
“I think you are overestimating how many people will come to this. You sent a thousand signed copies of your new book, and hundreds of copies of your other five books. This is a small town. I cannot afford to purchase these books from you, hoping they will sell.”
I was proud of my store. In a world filled with electronic books, my store was still in business. But that was because I made smart decisions. And purchasing a shit ton of books that likely wouldn’t sell for a while was not a smart decision.
“I am not asking you to purchase anything.” Rayne smiled sweetly. “Anything that doesn’t sell the day of the signing, I will take back with me. We will sell the books at your price, and you will keep a portion of each book sold. Plus, you will have the sales from anything else in the store people buy.”
“I believe you are overestimating what you will need, but as long as I am not out of any money, you can do as you wish,” I said, waving my hand in circles.
“Ryder.” Sam waited for me to look at her. “You are underestimating what this place will be like that day. You cannot have the girls here. I will not be bringing Charlie. I am sure Jack will stop in during the event with her, but she won’t be staying.”
“Avery can—”
“No, Ryder, Avery cannot bring the girls in that day. Either your parents, or Blade and Beck, need to take the girls,” Sam interrupted.
“I am quite capable of taking care of the girls,” Avery said angrily as she walked in with the girls, only hearing a portion of the conversation. Groaning, I knew Avery was about to go on a full tirade when she added, “How dare you sug…” only for her words to trail off when she spotted Rayne. I watched as Avery blinked a few times before gasping, “Oh my God. You’re…”
Sam looked at me, raising an eyebrow, silently saying, see what I mean?
Ok, maybe she was right.
Miss Perry didn’t miss a beat and walked forward, holding out her hand.
“Hello.”
Avery just stood there, frozen. Her eyes were wide as saucers. The girls each pulled on her hands, but nothing got her attention. Which meant Miss Perry stood there with her hand out. Eventually, she dropped it by her side, realizing Avery was too starstruck.
“AVERY!” I yelled.
Finally, she snapped out of her trance.
“Oh God, I’m so sorry. I just love your books,” Avery gushed.
At the sound of my yell, Charlie came running.
“Chrissy, Tabby, I’s here!” She rushed over to the girls, and she and Chrissy embraced. Tabby stood quietly, holding Avery’s hand, and stared at Miss Perry.
“Hello, beautiful,” Miss Perry greeted my daughter, crouching down to get to Tabby’s level.
Tabby released Avery’s hand and walked over to the beautiful woman, putting her arms around her neck. She stood with Tabby in her arms, and my daughter laid her head on Miss Perry’s shoulder.
She held my little girl like she’d known Tabby her entire life.
I stared at the two of them, not understanding what was happening.
“I’m sorry. She doesn’t usually do that,” I said, moving to take Tabby from Miss Perry, as my little one hugged her tighter when she felt my hands on her and wrapped her legs around Miss Perry’s waist as best she could.
It was at that moment, Beck walked in.
“Hello, what’s going on?” Beck whispered. “Who is that holding Tabbycat?”
“Rayne Perry,” Sam said with a satisfied smirk.
Beck just smiled and turned in my direction.
“Well, well, well. Isn’t this interesting?” Beck grinned.
“Don’t you start,” I said pointedly. “Come on, Tabby, Charlie is here to read with you and Chrissy. Let Miss Perry go so she can finish her work.”
I tried to pry my daughter off Miss Perry, but Tabby just held on tighter.
“I don’t mind, really. I love kids. If it’s ok with you, I could sit and read with her for a bit,” Miss Perry offered. “And please, call me Rayne.”
I hesitated.
Tabby never acted like this with a stranger. Even Beck, who she loved, had taken a few weeks for Tabby to warm up to her.
“I am sure Tabby would love it if you sat with her and read,” Beck confirmed. “Charlie, Chrissy, why don’t you each grab a book, and grab Tabby’s favorite, and you can all sit on the couch with Rayne?”
“Avery, can you show Rayne where the girls like to sit and read?” Sam asked.
I just stood there and watched Miss Perry follow Avery to the children’s section.
Something wasn’t right.
Who was this woman?
Sure, she was beautiful. But what kind of spell had she put on my children? Even Chrissy hadn’t batted an eye at Tabby’s behavior. She just grabbed Miss Perry’s hand and dragged her through the store.
Miss Perry looked over her shoulder at me, and something clicked in my mind, but I wasn’t sure what it was.
Beck and Sam worked for the next hour, while Miss Perry read to the girls, and I worked behind the counter, going through inventory on the computer, needing to log the books Miss Perry had sent. That alone would keep me busy until the day of the book signing.
I tried to focus on what I was doing, but my eyes kept drifting to Tabby and her new friend.
“Hey, Ryder, need any help over there? Doesn’t look like you are getting much done.”
Glaring at the two women, I held up my hand with only my middle finger extended and Beck threw back her head and laughed. Sam giggled along with her and started packing up her things.
“Charlie, it’s time to go,” she called.
“But, Mommy, Miss Rayne was gonna read another story,” Charlie whined.
“I’m sorry, baby, but we have plans.”
Charlie pushed her bottom lip out into a pout and crossed her arms, stomping her foot.
“Excuse me, young lady. Do I need to call Uncle Tank and tell him no ponies this weekend?”
Charlie immediately straightened herself up.
“No, I be good,” Charlie promised.
“Ponies?” I asked.
“Yup, it seems Uncle Tank has an affinity for watching My Little Pony . He and Charlie watch them every Saturday morning,” Beck said, trying to hold back her laughter.
“Oh my God, wait till I see him.” I chuckled.
“Ok, we’ll see you later. Rayne, would you like to have lunch with us?” Sam invited, herding Charlie toward the door.
Miss Perry looked at me while I pretended to ignore her, then at her watch.
“I wish I could. Maybe next time,” she replied.
As Beck, Sam and Charlie left the store, I heard Miss Perry ask, “Ryder, can we talk for a minute?”
I looked up at her. She looked hurt.
“Sure, Miss Perry. What can I do for you?”
“Well, for starters, you could call me Rayne, like I have asked you to do repeatedly.”
She sounded annoyed.
“I’m sorry, Miss Perry.”
She opened her mouth to say something, and I held my hand up. “I’d prefer to keep things between us professional. You are only here for the book signing, and I have a business to run.”
I watched her eyes darken. Her features took on a look of anger. Was there a problem with professionalism? She was young, but not much younger than me. I had looked her up. She was twenty-four.
“Keep things professional?” She scoffed.
She mumbled something about the other night. I didn’t catch everything she was saying. She was barely coherent. Before I could ask her what she said, I saw Charlie’s stuffed pony.
She had forgotten it.
“Excuse me,” I said, excusing myself to grab the pony before walking out the door.
I swear I heard her call me an asshole as I walked past, but I had to be mistaken.
Turning toward the diner, I couldn’t see Sam or Beck. Sam said Mimic had parked in the alley to watch over the street. When I turned the corner, I spotted Sam.
“Hey, Sam, Charlie forgot her— What the fuck?”
“I am taking my daughter. If I have to kill all of you, I will,” Carrie ranted.
“Carrie, what the fuck are you doing? Put that goddamn gun away. You’re scaring Charlie,” Beck hissed.
I looked from Carrie to Charlie, then to Sam. Charlie was against the wall of the store. Her eyes were wide with fear. I knew she didn’t understand what was going on, so I slowly made my way over to Beck, trying not to garner Carrie’s attention.
“Shut up, bitch. My daughter’s not afraid of me. You stole her from me. I’m just taking her back,” the crazy woman screeched, aiming her gun at Sam.
“She isn’t yours, you cunt!” Beck barked at her, causing her to swing around back to Beck.
“You’re first,” Carrie said, then squeezed the trigger.
I didn’t think. I didn’t hesitate. I dropped the toy and shoved Beck out of the way just as Carrie pulled the trigger and searing hot pain sliced through my shoulder.
“BECK!” Sam screamed.
“Ryder, oh my God,” Beck whispered.
“Are you ok?” I grunted, breathing through the pain.
“I’m fine. What the fuck did you do?”
I looked over at where Carrie was standing.
She was gone. So was Charlie.
“CHARLIE!” Sam wailed.
Immediately, we all heard sirens. Before long, deputies swarmed the alley as I laid on the ground and tried not to wince as Beck’s hands pressed firmly against my shoulder.
“Beck,” I rasped.
“Ryder, don’t talk. Help is coming,”
“Take care of my girls, Beck.”
“Shut up, asshole. You got hit in the shoulder. You will be fine.”
“Promise me, Beck,” I groaned.
“No, you are raising those girls,” she insisted.
“Fucking promise,” I growled as I looked at my oldest friend.
I knew I was probably fine, but things go wrong all the time. I couldn’t see Sam. Charlie was gone. All I could think about was Chrissy and Tabby.
Tears streamed down Beck’s face.
“I promise,” she whispered.
“Ma’am, let us help.”
That was the last thing I heard before my eyes closed and everything went black.