Chapter Fifteen
Ryder
Ever since Grace confirmed what Ellie told me in the hospital, I had been racking my brain, trying to remember that night at the bar. The problem was, I couldn’t remember shit.
Not one damn thing. The woman was beautiful and sweet. My girls thought she hung the moon and everyone in town loved her.
And I had her, then fucked it all up. Now there was no chance of having her again while she was living with Jesse.
Fucking guy. Forcing her to make dinner she didn’t want to make. I would never do that. Hell, Tammi never cooked. I did.
Maybe I should cook for Ellie? I could have her over for dinner. I could get my girls to ask her. She did say she wanted us to be friends, and friends had dinner together.
Grinning to myself, the bell over the door jingled, and Blade walked in.
Shit.
“Hey, man.”
“Hey, brother. How’s it goin?” he said.
“Uncle Blade!” Chrissy cried.
“Hey, Chrysanthemum. Where’s TabbyCat?”
“Upstairs, taking a nap.”
The bell jingled again, and Avery walked in.
“Hi, Ryder; Hi, Blade.”
“Hey, Avery, how’s school going?” Blade asked.
“It’s good. Hard, but I’m getting by. You ready, Chrissy?”
“Yes!” Chrissy grabbed her backpack and her coat.
“Tabby is upstairs napping. She’ll be fine until you get back.”
“Ok. Chrissy, say goodbye to Daddy.” Avery instructed, and I winced when I saw Blade’s grin.
“Bye, Daddy.”
“Bye, Chrissy.” I kissed my daughter and gave her a big hug. “Have fun at school.”
As soon as the door closed, he pounced.
“Daddy?”
“She was talking to Chrissy, not me, asshole,” I clipped, my eyes staying on my paperwork. If I looked up, he would see the concern in my eyes. I knew what he was getting at.
“I mean, when I talk to Chrissy about you, I say your dad. Beck says your dad; Sam says your dad. She only says daddy when she is talking about Jack, so I mean…”
“Fuck you,” I said with a laugh.
“You need a woman, brother.” He paused before saying, “Ellie’s pretty.”
I looked up at him.
“Beck or Rachel?”
“Sam,” he admitted with a smirk.
“Jesus.” I shook my head. “I guess she forgave me.”
“She mentioned you apologized to Ellie.”
“So, what are you doing here?” I asked, leaning on the counter.
“Dinner.”
“What?”
“Beck wants you and the girls to come over for dinner.”
“When? Who else is gonna be there?”
This smelled like a setup.
“Tonight. Me, Beck, you, and the girls,” he said.
“That’s it?”
“Yup,” he replied, emphasizing the P at the end.
I looked at my childhood best friend. That meant he was lying. The question was, why?
“Who else is going?” I asked again.
“Jack, Sam, and Charlie,” he said with a sigh.
“And?”
“Cash and Rach,” he admitted.
BINGO!
“And there it is. What is this, an intervention? Is this about the club?”
“No it isn’t. Beck wants the four of us to have dinner. Cash comes with Rach, and we added Sam and Jack because the girls would be there.”
At least he was being honest about that.
“No,” I said, walking away with a stack of books that needed to be returned to their place.
“Come on, man. Either say yes, or I am sending my pregnant hormonal woman after you.”
I turned to look at Blade, my mouth hanging open. “You wouldn’t.”
“Fuck yea, I would.”
“Asshole.”
“So, I’ll tell her you’ll be there?”
Cocky bastard.
I dropped my head back and looked at the ceiling. I was fighting a losing battle here. I knew it. He knew it.
“Yea, we’ll be there.”
“Thanks, brother, for making my woman happy,” he said, slapping me on the back.
“At least one of us can.”
“Fuck you, oh, and be there at six,” he said, walking out the door backwards, only to stop at the last minute and say, “Oh, Ryder. Stop by Mom’s on your way. She made us a cake.”
Fuck my life.
“How did you get roped into making a cake for a dinner you aren’t going to?” I asked Mom when I stopped on the way to dinner.
“Beck called and asked.”
“So you just made a cake?”
“You may still be holding onto a grudge, but your father and I are happy to have all our kids back home.”
Mom handed me the cake.
Smiling, I kissed her cheek. “Love you, Mom.”
“Love you, too, Ry.”
The girls and I got back in my truck and drove to Beck’s house. When we pulled into the driveway, I spotted Cash and Rach walking across the road.
“Hi, Auntie Rachel,” Chrissy called out.
“Hi, sweetheart.”
“Nana made a cake.”
“Chocolate or vanilla?” Rachel asked.
“Chocolate with white frosting,” Chrissy replied with a big smile.
“Yum, my favorite,” Rachel said, taking Chrissy and Tabby by the hand. “Let’s go see if we can talk Auntie Beck into letting us have dessert first.”
The three of them ran inside, leaving me to carry the cake.
“Hey, man. Glad you’re here.”
I turned and looked over at Cash.
“Yea, I’m sure you’re loving this.” I laughed.
“Nothing I love more than seeing my woman happy, and having her three best friends together for dinner makes her happy.” He shrugged.
“As long as I don’t touch her, right?”
Cash grinned, slapping me on the back. “As long as you don’t fucking touch her.”
Dinner was more fun than I expected. We talked about old times. Sharing stories of our childhood with Cash, Jack, and Sam. Rachel and I had some stories from when Blade and Beck were gone. Cash and Jack shared stories from when Blade prospected.
When dinner was over, we settled out back on the deck. The girls were watching a movie in the living room, and we gathered around the firepit.
I was relaxing in an Adirondack chair, drinking a beer, when the interrogation started. I knew before I agreed to this dinner that something like this was possible and decided to attend anyway.
“So, Ryder, how are things going with Ellie?” Sam asked.
I closed my eyes and stalled by taking a long sip of my beer.
“Things are just fine, Sam. She stopped in today and accepted my apology. We agreed to be friends.”
“Friends? She has enough friends,” Beck complained.
“Yea, fucking Jesse,” I mumbled.
“Who?” Beck asked.
“Ellie’s friend,” Rachel answered with a smile.
“I liked Jessie. What’s not to like?” Beck asked.
“Ryder doesn’t like that he lives with Ellie,” Sam added and winked at Beck.
“Oh, ooooh,” Beck responded, understanding dawning on her. “You’re jealous.”
“I’m not fucking jealous.”
“Sounds like you’re jealous,” Cash murmured.
“You would fucking know, wouldn’t you?” I challenged.
“I ain’t too proud to say I won’t share my woman,” Cash countered.
Grumbling, I muttered, “Ellie’s not my woman.”
“But you want her to be,” Rachel sang.
“Been there, done that. Wasn’t even left with a T-shirt.” I held up my bottle and tipped it toward an invisible glass.
“Avery calls him daddy,” Blade blurted.
I glared over at him. “Really?”
“Wait a minute.” Beck sat up. “Why is she calling you daddy?”
I released a heavy breath. I knew what he was doing.
“She didn’t call me daddy. She was talking to Chrissy and said, ‘say goodbye to Daddy.’ It was perfectly innocent.”
Cash and Jack busted out laughing. Rachel’s eyes widened, and Sam covered her mouth with her hand. Beck glared at me.
“Why are you glaring at me? I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“That girl has a crush on you, and you need to put a stop to it,” she demanded.
“I can’t tell her how to feel. I have never encouraged her in any way.”
“Have you told her that you and her will never happen?”
“That would show her I know her intentions, which I try to ignore. I don’t want to embarrass her.”
“I could watch the girls more. You don’t need a nanny,” Beck said.
“I’m available too, now that I’m not working at the diner. Charlie would love seeing the girls more,” Sam offered.
“I have offered since Tammi left. He won’t budge.”
“The girls need a routine,” I stated, knowing they only wanted to help, but I wasn’t relying on my friends for free babysitting.
“They could still have a routine. Rachel, Sam, and I could work out a schedule to each have them certain days,” Beck pressed.
“I appreciate the offer, but I can’t accept. Avery counts on the money she is making to help with school, and her classes in early childhood are benefitting the girls,” I explained.
“Hey, Ry,” Cash interrupted, changing the subject, and asked, “You given any more thought to putting on a cut?”
“And that is my cue to say goodnight.”
I stood from my chair and walked inside, among the calls from my friends asking me to stay. Blade following behind me.
“Hey, man. I didn’t ask him to bring that up.”
“Yea.”
“Really, man. This wasn’t meant to be an ambush.”
“Come on, Chrissy, time to go.”
“Let them stay. They’re all asleep. Charlie will stay too. They can spend the morning with us, and Tabby can hang with Beck until Chrissy gets out of school.”
I looked down at my sleeping girls. I may still be mad at my friend, but I trusted their uncle completely.
“Yea, ok. Tell everyone I said goodnight.”
I didn’t wait for a response. I hightailed it out the front door, climbed in my truck, and drove home.
Morning came early, as it did every day. The girls were at Blade’s, so I’d texted Avery last night, letting her know I wouldn’t need her today.
When I walked into the diner, she was already sitting in a booth. She waved to me, and I panicked. I glanced around the room and found my escape.
I waved to Avery and walked to the booth in the corner. The one occupied by the beautiful blonde I couldn’t stop thinking about.
I could feel Avery’s eyes on me as I moved away from her in the opposite direction. When I reached Ellie, I leaned down and whispered, “Please go with this,” before kissing her cheek.
Sliding into the booth opposite her, I had to give her credit; she didn’t look surprised. She just smiled, almost as if she were expecting me.
“Good morning.”
“Morning,” I said.
“What’s going on?” she asked, her smile never wavering.
“The girls are with Blade and Beck, and I texted Avery, saying I wouldn’t need her today. But I am a creature of habit, so I came to get breakfast, and she was here waiting.” I let out a sigh. “I think she was expecting to still have breakfast with me.”
Ellie laughed at my predicament, and it was the sweetest sound I had ever heard.
I smiled back at her.
“Glad you are enjoying my torment.”
“I’m sorry, I just…” she giggled again. “I watched you come in and the look of fear on your face, and then what you just told me.”
She laughed again and then snorted. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth as she continued to laugh.
“Yea, well, thanks for the save. I figured since you said you wanted to be friends, this is what friends do.”
“Pretend… to be… together?” she said between chuckles.
“Bail each other out of a jam. I know she has a crush, and I don’t want to hurt her feelings. So if she thinks I’m with someone, maybe she will get the hint and I won’t have to embarrass her by talking to her about it.”
“That is very kind of you. Though, I do feel bad for her. You didn’t see how her face fell when you walked by her.”
I dropped my chin to my chest, closing my eyes.
“Don’t feel bad.” Ellie reached across the table, placing her hand on mine. I turned my hand, so our palms were touching, and linked my fingers with hers. She bit her lip, and a memory flashed.
I closed my eyes, and that was when I saw her. Ellie at the bar; me pulling her into my arms.
“Are you ok?” she asked, pulling her hand away from mine.
“Yea.”
The waitress came to take my order before I could say more.
“How long will the girls be gone today?” she asked, moving to a safe topic.
“Beck will drop Chrissy off at school and keep Tabby until she gets out. Then bring them both home in time for dinner.”
“How often does Beck keep them?”
“Any chance she gets. Between my mom, Beck, Rach, and Sam, I probably don’t need a nanny. But I want the girls to have a routine.”
“You could work out a schedule, and they would still have a routine.”
“I could, but Avery is studying early childhood education. I’m hoping that maybe with what she’s learning she can help Tabby with her silence.”
“If you don’t mind my asking, is there a reason Tabby doesn’t talk?”
I blew out a breath. That was a conversation I didn’t have with just anyone. But Ellie cared about my girls. I felt safe to share this with her.