6. Izzy
IZZY
“Okay. What's up with you?” Caroline asks me later in the afternoon. I was able to dodge her when I got back from my lunch break, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it all day.
She’s my best friend, and of course I want to talk to her about this, but I also don’t know what to make of all of it.
I might as well tell her, though, because by tomorrow, everyone in town will know that I walked around the center of town with Ryker Kirby.
“I saw him today.”
I don't even have to say his name because she knows who “he" is.
“Oh my God. When? How? What happened?”
“On my walk at lunch. He came up and sat down next to me.” I think back and wonder if I hadn't been crying, would he have stopped?
Caroline sits down in the chair next to me. “Did he tell you why he quit? Why he's in town?”
I’m still shocked from that little bombshell he dropped on me.
He seemed adamant that he’s in town for me, but that’s crazy.
We haven’t seen each other in twenty years.
There has to be more to it. I’m looking at the computer screen in front of me.
“Uh yeah, uh, he said he was in town for me. He said he saw I changed my status to single on social.”
She gasps beside me, and I turn to look at her. She's shocked, but I get it. I was the same way. I blow out a breath. “He thinks I cheated on him. He thinks that's why I broke up with him.”
“You told him, right? He knows why you broke up with him now?”
I shake my head, and I can feel Caroline getting riled beside me. She was by my side back then, and she’d begged and pleaded with me to tell him what was going on, but I knew I couldn’t. I knew if he knew the truth, he would have stayed and then resented me for it later on. “I never told him.”
“Isabel,” Caroline admonishes.
I shrug, as if it’s not a big deal. “It's done. It was twenty years ago, and it's over.”
She laughs. “Yeah, uh, maybe you should tell him that.”
I throw my hands up. “I tried.”
Caroline swings my chair around so I’m forced to look at her. “Isabel, listen to me. You deserve to be happy. I know you don’t feel like it, but you do. Your husband cheating on you was not your fault.”
I sit up a little taller. “You don’t think so?
Because I sure do. We were more friends than anything.
He knew… I told Allen in the beginning that I loved him but was not in love with him.
He knew that I was with him because I couldn’t be with the man I really loved.
I can’t blame him for doing what he did. ”
She points at me. “You just said it, Isabel. You told him how you felt, but he thought it would change. He thought he could change you.”
“I know, but?—”
Caroline shakes her head. “No, don’t do this.
Don’t give him an out. You were up front with him, and he wanted to marry you.
You were a good wife to him, and you didn’t deserve to be cheated on, humiliated.
Hell, if you don’t want to think about yourself, think about your son.
Brock didn’t deserve what Allen did to your family either. ”
I think about the effect Allen cheating on me has had on our son, and it’s been pretty hard.
It’s a small town, and everyone knew what happened.
Of course, most people try to help, but there were some kids that thought it was okay to make jokes about it.
And even though Brock is fifteen, he’s still trying to process things, and he went through a rough period.
“I know,” I tell her.
She tilts her head to the side and looks at me. “Well, then all I’m asking is be open to whatever Ryker has to say. You should at least hear him out.” She pauses and softly says, “You owe him that, Isabel.”
I nod, and then the doctor comes out of a room. We get back to work, and not until later, when I’m pulling away from the doctor’s office do I think about what Caroline said. I know she’s right. I do owe Ryker. I didn’t handle things the right way when he was drafted.
I look at the clock on my dash and see that I have a little bit of time before I have to pick up Brock from practice. Before I can second-guess myself, I start driving toward Maple Lane. I tell myself I want to see the swing and that’s it.
But as I get closer and pull down Maple Lane, my heart starts to race. I turn the music down and then laugh to myself. As if turning down the music is going to stop Ryker from seeing me drive past his house.
I go slowly. I’m going to see the swing and drive right on by.
I slow down, and the first thing I see are the many people outside working. It looks as if they’ve been painting the house and are cleaning up for the day.
I slow down even more, and that’s when I see it. The swing looks just like the one that Ryker swung me on back in the day.
I slow down, barely crawling by, and my car starts to stutter. Oh no. Please, God, no.
The engine stops, and I put my head on the steering wheel.
No, no, no this can't be happening.
I look up at the house, and no one has noticed me yet. Thankfully, this road isn’t very busy. I push on the brake, put the gear into park, and turn the key to the off position. I say a quick prayer and then try the ignition again. It makes a few clicks, but it never turns on.
I bang my hands on the steering wheel and try to come up with a quick plan. Okay, I took an automotive course back in high school. I can check a few things.
As I move around the van, I get out and open the hood. There’s a little bit of steam. That’s not good , I think.
I look up at the house, and a few of the men are looking my way. Of course, they’re going to see me.
I look down at the engine. I try to think back on what I should do. Check the oil? Oooh, maybe I should check the battery terminal.
I’m trying to figure it out just as Ryker comes jogging down the driveway.
“Izzy, are you okay?”
I clench my eyes shut and then open them. Of course this would happen to me. I stutter. “Uh, yeah, I wanted to see the swing.”
He is standing next to me now. “Honey, you can come here anytime you want…” He smiles at me. “To see the swing, to see me.”
All I can do is stare at him. I can’t believe he’s here. We silently stare at each other.
He gestures to my van. “Can I take a look?”
He doesn't wait for answer. He leans over the open hood. “Did it just stop?”
“Uh, yeah. Sputtered and then turned off. It won’t restart.”
He nods as he fiddles with a few things. I should probably pay attention to what he’s doing, but my gaze is focused on his face. He stands up and slams the hood closed and announces, “Fuel pump.”
He waves at the painters. “Hey guys, can you help me push this into the driveway?”
“Oh no, you don’t have to?—”
I don’t even finish the sentence because the men are all lumbering toward me. I get a few ‘Hey Isabels’ from them, but they are focused on doing what Ryker asked them to do.
I stand to the side as they move my car into Ryker’s driveway. Once it’s parked, I walk over and grab my purse and phone out of the van.
“I’m going to call a tow truck.” I look at my phone. “Shoot, I’m going to be late picking up my son.”
Ryker puts his hand on my back and guides me up the driveway. He pushes a button on his phone, and the garage door opens. “I'll drive you.”
I stop. “What? No.” Panic sets in. “I can call Caroline.”
He opens the passenger door. “Come on. This will be the quickest.”
I look at my phone again. “Fine.”
I get into his SUV, and as I settle into the plush leather seat, he grabs the seatbelt, reaches around me, and clicks it into the harness. I’m trying to catch my breath as he closes my door, grabs a set of keys off the hook in the garage, and then walks around to the driver’s side.
He’s typing out a text as he opens his door. “Can I have the keys to your car?”
I point out the back window. “They’re in it.”
He gets into the car. “Okay. Tate Jennings is coming to pick it up.”
“I could have called them. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but I’m usually on top of things. I?—”
He is backing out of his driveway, and he glances over at me. “Oh, I know how you are, Ms. Independent. It’s okay to let someone help you sometimes. Plus, Tate’s a friend. He’s helped me a few times when I was on the road and Dad’s car was acting up.”
I nod and rest my head against the back of the seat. “Okay.”
“I'll call him in the morning to see when it will be ready. I told him I needed it by the end of the day tomorrow because I knew you wouldn’t want to go without a car.”
I sigh softly. How nice is it to just let someone take care of things. “Thanks, Ryker.”
He waves me off as if what he’s doing is no big deal. “We going to the high school?”
“Yes, please.”
He drives toward the school, and my mind is going crazy. “Thank you for this, Ryker.”
He just smiles. “It’s no problem. I’m happy to do it.”
I nod. “Uh, I just wanted to see the swing,” I murmur as if I’m trying to explain why I was lurking outside his house.
His smile gets bigger, and he looks over at me. “You can see it any time you want. I’ll push you on it if you want me to. Like we did in high school.”
I bark out a laugh. “That would be a sight. I haven’t been on a swing in probably… well, probably since I was on that swing twenty years ago.”
His voice deepens. “Well, anytime you’re ready.”
I pull my coat tighter around me. I’m glad I have the bulky coat on so he can’t see my heart about to beat out of my chest.
When we get to the school, Brock and three boys are sitting outside on the school steps.
I close my eyes and shake my head. Of course, I forgot that today is the day I pick up Brock’s friends, too.
Some moms and I have a carpool thing for basketball season, and I completely forgot that we have a Tuesday night ritual.
I turn to Ryker. “I'm so sorry. We have a few boys to take home. I forgot today was my day. They live close to my house. You can just take us there and they can walk.”
Ryker reaches his hand out, and I think he’s about to touch me, but then he lets it fall to the console between us. “Izzy, stop. It's fine. Anything you need. I got you.”
The boys are all looking at the car, and I realize I'm going to have to roll down my window and holler for them. Once I figure out how to roll it down, I lean out. “Brock!”
My son’s mouth drops open. I’m sure he didn’t expect to see me in a high-dollar, blacked-out SUV. He and his friends run toward us. “Mom, this is sweet.”
He looks through window and sees Ryker.
His hand goes to his mouth. “Mom… Mom, that’s Ryker Kirby.”
I hide a smile. Of course, he’s excited. “I know. Get in.”
The boys all climb into the back. It takes a bit for them to get settled and into seatbelts because they’re all losing their minds. They can’t get over the fact that they are in a car with Ryker Kirby.
I turn in my seat and explain, “My car broke down, and Ryker is taking us home.”
“Mom!” Brock shouts from the second row of seats. “How are you not more excited than this? This is Ryker Kirby. The one that plays for your favorite team.”
I keep looking straight ahead. There’s no way I’m going to look at Ryker.
Ryker’s voice booms in the car. “Favorite team, huh?”
Brock laughs. “Oh yeah, she never misses a game.”
I can feel Ryker’s gaze on me. “Is that so?”
Brock laughs. “Yeah, Dad hates watching baseball. He always turned the channel.”
Ryker tenses besides me, but Brock doesn’t notice the shift in the air. No, because my son is too worried about food. “So, Ryker, are you going to Pizza Haven with us?”