Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
HARLEY
I hummed to myself as we walked through the front door, holding the treasure haul Ryker had snagged at the bookstore. It had been exactly what he’d described, a hidden gem with floor-to-ceiling shelves and that intoxicating old book smell that made bibliophiles swoon like starry-eyed lovers.
“You weren’t kidding about that place,” I said, setting the bag down on the entryway table. “I thought I’d never get you out of there.”
Ryker’s boyish grin was all boyish charm, crinkling the corner of his eyes. “I warned you. Once I’m there, time becomes a suggestion.”
“You’re back!” Jacinta’s voice rang out from somewhere in the house before she appeared, wiping her hands on a colorful apron over her sundress. “Perfect timing. I could use an extra set of hands.”
Danson appeared behind her, toolbox in hand. “And I could use yours, son. The garage door is acting as cooperative as a cat at bath time.”
Ryker shot me an apologetic smile. “Duty calls. You okay with my mom?”
“I promise I’ll take good care of your boy,” Jacinta declared, linking her arm through mine. “We’ll have a blast, won’t we, Harley?”
“Absolutely,” I agreed, giving Ryker a flirty smile that made his cheeks flush. Flustering him was becoming my new favorite hobby.
Jacinta shooed him toward his father. “Go help your dad before he decides to fix it himself and we end up with a nonfunctional garage door that doubles as modern art.”
Danson chuckled. “She knows me too well.”
“After this many years of marriage, I should hope so,” she replied with a snicker.
As Ryker and his father made their way out to the garage, Jacinta guided me toward the kitchen. The spicy scent of what could only be her famous apple-cinnamon crumble wafted through the air.
“I’m redecorating the breakfast nook,” she announced, gesturing to a half-assembled collection of framed photos sprawled across the kitchen table. “I’ve been meaning to update the wall for ages, and now that you’re officially part of the family as Ryker’s boyfriend, we need to make room for you.”
Pressure bloomed in my chest, making it hard to find my voice. “That’s sweet of you.”
“Of course.” She waved it off, but her warm smile twinkled in her eyes. “I’ve always considered you family, even before you and Ryker figured things out.”
She handed me a hammer and gestured at a collection of nails. “Would you mind helping me hang these while we chat? Sawyer and Gia are off on a date night, leaving me short on my usual helpers.”
“I’d be delighted to.” It felt good to be useful and part of something as personal as the family photo wall. My own parents had never been the type to display photos or show much interest in my life at all.
As we worked, Jacinta supplied frame after frame, each one a time capsule of their lives.
In one, a gap-toothed seven-year-old Ryker held his first guitar.
Another captured his teenage self, all gangly limbs and a reluctant smile as Sawyer pulled him in for a hug.
There was a group shot of the four of them smiling on vacation.
“Oh, this is a classic,” Jacinta said, handing me a photo of Ryker at about five, stark naked except for a superhero cape and a pair of his father’s work boots.
A strategically placed stuffed animal bravely preserved his modesty.
“He went through a phase where he refused to wear clothes because they restricted his superpowers.”
I burst out laughing. “Please tell me there are more of these.”
“An entire album. I’ll show you later. Oh! And there’s the time he gave himself a haircut the night before third-grade picture day. He looked like angry squirrels had attacked him.”
I carefully hung the frame, still chuckling. “I’m filing all of this away for future blackmail.”
“Oh, I’m counting on it,” she replied with a giggle. “Someone has to keep that boy humble.”
We worked in comfortable silence for a moment before she handed me a more recent photo.
It showed Ryker and me at last year’s family Christmas celebration, both of us sporting outrageous holiday sweaters.
Looking at it now, I could sense something in the way we leaned toward each other with cozy familiarity.
Jacinta observed me studying the image. “I knew it even then.”
“Knew what?”
“That you two were perfect for each other.” She took the photo from my hands and traced a finger over our grinning faces. “A mother knows these things. I could see how you looked at him when you thought no one was watching. And how he practically glowed every time you entered the room.”
A heavy knot of dread twisted in my stomach. It wasn’t about fooling Ryker’s mom anymore. There were genuine feelings involved, at least on my side.
“That’s why I kept inviting you for holidays and family gatherings. I figured if he spent enough time with you, he’d finally realize what was right in front of him.”
I concentrated on hammering the nail, terrified my expression might betray me. “Not all parents would be so open to the idea.”
She shrugged. “Love is love, Harley. All I’ve ever wanted is for my children to be happy. And I’ve never seen Ryker happier than when he’s with you.”
I grinned at Jacinta, a cheeky thought bubbling up. “Wait, is that why you sent Ryker on so many disastrous blind dates? Were you secretly playing matchmaker all along?”
She gasped, clutching her chest in mock horror. “Harley! I would never stoop to manipulation!” But the mischief in her eyes and the smirk tugging at her lips told a different story.
“Wow, you totally were,” I laughed, setting down the hammer. “All those women who were spectacularly wrong for him were part of your grand design, weren’t they?”
Jacinta busied herself with straightening a frame that was already level. “I simply introduced my son to some lovely young women who would give him a little perspective about you.”
“Lovely young women who discussed writing erotic fan fiction about breakfast cereal mascots, shared their headless doll collection, or hosted a conspiracy theory podcast about how the government is pumping mind-control chemicals into the air inside potato chip bags,” I countered, raising an eyebrow.
She pursed her lips, fighting a smile. “In my defense, I didn’t learn about Tina’s podcast until Ryker told me about it after the fact.” Jacinta’s composure cracked, and she burst into giggles.
“You’re diabolical,” I said with admiration. “He would have the tantrum to end all tantrums if he found out about your scheme.”
She passed me another photo to hang, showcasing Sawyer and Gia in a beach embrace. “Good thing you can keep a secret.”
Had she seen through our charade? Did she know our romance was fake? I studied her face, searching for any signs that she’d caught on to our deception.
“After all,” she continued, oblivious to my internal panic, “you’ve kept it a secret for three years that you’re in love with my son.”
I exhaled, the tension draining from my shoulders because the truth was finally out in the open. I picked up the hammer again. “Was I that obvious?”
“Only to someone who was paying attention. And I was definitely on the lookout.”
I hung the high school graduation photo, taking a moment to regain my composure. “Damn, and here I thought I was being subtle.”
“About as subtle as a booby-trapped glitter bomb going off,” she teased. “It reminded me of how Danson used to look at me in college.”
I felt my cheeks flush. “It’s amazing Ryker never caught on.”
“My son is many things, but Sherlock isn’t one of them,” Jacinta said with a fond shake of her head. “That boy wouldn’t notice someone was interested in him if they tattooed ‘I love you’ on their forehead and danced naked in front of him.”
“That’s actually a spot-on assessment,” I admitted, recalling all the times I’d flirted shamelessly with Ryker, only for him to completely miss the point.
Jacinta held up another nail for me to take. “I remember the first time you came home with him for Thanksgiving break freshman year. You were so sweet helping me in the kitchen and laughing at all of Danson’s dreadful jokes.”
“They weren’t that bad.”
“They were atrocious, and you know it. But you laughed anyway. That’s when I knew you were exactly what my son needed.” She placed a gentle hand on my arm. “Someone who sees the best in people, who brings joy to every moment. Someone who could match his stubbornness with patience.”
Her words were like a direct hit. The lie felt heavy on my tongue, and I had to swallow hard before I could respond. Yes, I’d been in love with Ryker for years, but until recently, he’d never shown any interest in me beyond friendship.
“I just want him to be happy,” I said.
“That’s all I want, too.” She squeezed my arm. “He’s happier now than he’s ever been. At least when he’s not shitting kittens over all our teasing.”
I snorted at her choice of words, even as guilt gnawed at me.
The happiness she saw was genuine, at least on my part, but the relationship was built on a shaky foundation of deception.
Yet, something had shifted between us since we arrived.
The way Ryker looked at me now and responded to my touch suggested he wasn’t acting anymore.
Jacinta pulled me from my thoughts. “He needed time. Some people take longer to understand their feelings.”
“Well, he is pretty stubborn.”
She giggled. “He gets that from his father. Though I’m no saint either. It took me two years of friendship with Danson to finally admit I was in love with him.”
“You were college sweethearts, right?”
“Yep, we started as study partners. I believed we were only friends, even though butterflies staged a coup in my stomach every time we were together.”
That sounded all too familiar. “What changed?”
“He kissed me right in the middle of cramming for finals. He claimed he couldn’t focus on calculus when all he could think about was me.”
“Oooh, smooth.”
“Twenty-eight years and two kids later, here we are.”