Chapter 13
Chapter 13
On Friday evening, I arrived home to Ryan in his usual spot, sprawled out on my lovely sofa, remote control in one hand, a beer in the other.
“Hey, Ryan,” I said, keeping my tone light.
He glanced up at me and almost smiled. Either that or it was wind. “Hey, sis.” He returned his attention to the screen.
I dropped my purse on the kitchen table and plunked myself down on the sofa next to him, ignoring the mild beer stench coming from his general direction. “How was your day?” I asked, scrunching up my face.
He let out a heavy sigh. “The usual.”
I noticed he hadn’t changed out of his work clothes, and his shirt was now a crinkled mess. Ryan worked as an architect at a small firm in the city. Up until Amelia walked out on him, he had been a happy, driven, career-oriented man with a bright future, designing houses and small buildings around the city. And now? Now it was like he had reverted to that morose teenager I remembered when I was twelve. This was not a good thing. Something needed to be done to pull him out of his reverie—and for me to get my home back.
“Work problems?”
Another sigh. “No, just . . . you know.”
“Amelia?”
Yet another sigh. “Yeah. She’s still with some guy; I’m still alone.”
I bit my lip. He needed a change of subject to something less depressing. “Hey, so what are you up to tonight?”
“This.” He indicated the TV.
Without a second’s thought, I took the remote from his hand and flicked the TV off.
“Hey!” he protested. “You can’t do that.”
“Why not? It’s my TV, and you’re coming out with me.”
“What? No, I don’t want to.”
“I don’t care whether you want to or not, Ryan. Staying here is not an option.”
He huffed and puffed about being a man and being responsible for his own destiny, or some such garbage.
I ignored him as I stood up and offered him my outstretched hand. “Come on, you. Get up, have a shower, throw on some clothes. We’ve got a gig to go to.”
As Ryan begrudgingly showered and changed, I pulled on a tunic dress and retouched my makeup. Following the rained-off concert with Nash, I had let my hair go curlier than usual. Not it’s full-on bird’s nest look, but more natural than I usually wore it. And it felt good. Different, but good.
After some more cajoling and a drive in my car later, Ryan and I pulled into a park.
He peered out of the passenger window. “I’m not going to enjoy it.”
I rolled my eyes for the umpteenth time since I got home. “You don’t even know what we’re doing.”
“Well, it can’t be any better than watching the game on TV,” he harrumphed.
“You. Out,” I instructed as I swung my door open and stepped onto the footpath.
Ryan did as commanded, letting out one of those heavy sighs he seemed to be perfecting. He stepped onto the sidewalk, and I straightened the shirt I had made him wear. “There. Now you look like an actual human being.”
“Very funny, sis. Can you please tell me where we’re headed?”
“Come with me.”
We walked a block up the street together and rounded a corner onto a familiar road. A couple of hundred yards later, we arrived at the Cozy Cottage Café front door.
“We’re going for coffee?” Ryan asked, looking confused.
“You can have coffee if you want, but we’re here for the Cozy Cottage Jam session. Savannah Smith is playing, you know, we saw her at that bar last year?”
Ryan nodded at the memory, and I could have sworn I detected a hint of a smile. “Yeah, I remember. You brought that guy, what was his name? Henry or something.”
“Harry.” I pulled a face.
“What was wrong with him again?”
“I don’t remember.” Which was a total lie.
“Yeah, you do.” Ryan was clearly not accepting my response.
I caved. “Okay. He had a weird pimple on the end of his nose.”
He shook his head. “That’s right. A pimple.”
Wow, I had been so easily put off by the smallest thing. I had come a long, long way, baby. Not only was I on my fifth date with a guy tonight, but he was my boyfriend .
We pushed through the double doors into the busy café. There was a small stage with a microphone and chair where some tables sat during the day, and the place was already eighty percent full.
“Hi, Marissa!” Sophie said, grinning at me.
“Hey, Sophie.” I returned her friendly smile. “Look, I’m meeting friends here but I need to see if you’ve got room for one extra.”
Sophie glanced at Ryan and then back at me. “Cassie, Will, and Josh are already here.” She nodded at a table at the back of the café, and I spotted my friends, chatting and laughing together. “We’re pretty full tonight.”
“Just one more? It’s for my brother.”
“You’re Marissa’s brother?” Sophie asked Ryan.
“Oh, I’m sorry. This is Ryan.”
“Hey,” Sophie replied, smiling at him. “It’s great to meet you. You really look like your sister.”
“You think?”
“Totally, only you’re more manly and everything, of course.” She smiled at him from under her lashes.
I widened my eyes. Was Sophie flirting with my brother?
“Thanks,” Ryan replied with a laugh. “It’s often good to be manly when you’re, you know, a man.”
I watched the interchange, wide-eyed. What was that on Ryan’s face, a smile? My brother was smiling ?
Sophie threw her head back and laughed at his comment.
I nudged Ryan in the arm. He shot me a look before returning his attention to Sophie. As I stood there like a third wheel while she continued to flirt with Ryan, I hoped it might spark something in him—because anything was better than watching him mooning over Amelia all day long.
“Yeah, and that’s why I like to wear this shirt.”
“Fascinating,” Ryan replied.
I reached into my purse. “Here you go,” I said to Sophie, handing over two tickets.
She took them in one hand and placed her other over her chest. “Oh, sorry! I totally forgot. Thanks. Take a seat. The extra ticket’s on the house.” She looked up through her lashes once more at Ryan. “Nice to meet you, Ryan.”
“You too.”
We made our way through the tables toward my friends at the back of the café. I began to rib Ryan.
“You are such a flirt.”
“Me? It was all her. I was just the victim.”
“Sure. A willing victim. Still, it was nice to see you happy for a change.”
“I’ve been a bit of a drag, haven’t I?”
I scrunched up my face. “Kinda?”
He shook his head and let out a puff of air. “It hit me hard.”
I rubbed his arm. “I know. But we’re here to listen to some music and have fun, so there will be no talking about She Who Shall Not Be Named, okay?”
“That sounds like a great plan.” He smiled at me. “Do they serve beer here?”
“How about we stick to the Cokes tonight?” I suggested, remembering him as a recent maudlin drunk.
“Sure.” He grinned at me, and it felt like I had my big brother back, the one I could hang out with, rely on, the one who hadn’t had his heart ripped out of his chest and flambéed before his eyes.
“I’m interested to meet this boyfriend of yours. You haven’t dated anyone seriously since—” He paused, looking up to the left as he thought.
“Eddie,” I said for him. “Seven years ago.”
“Seven years? Wow, that’s a long time between drinks.”
I spotted Bailey on the other side of the counter, handing some change over to a customer. I caught her eye and waved at her. We reached the table where Cassie greeted us enthusiastically. I introduced Ryan to Will and Josh, and they immediately began to bond in that male way guys do: talking about sports and how they were missing the big game tonight because they’d been dragged here instead.
“I think McConnell will smash it in the forwards tonight,” Will said as the others nodded their heads.
Not having any idea who McConnell was and what he was going to smash, I took a seat next to Cassie, shrugging my jacket off and hanging it over the back of the chair.
“I am so excited to meet Nash,” she said, her eyes shining.
“Not just spy on him from afar,” I joked. “I’m a little nervous about it.”
“Why?”
“What if you don’t like him?”
“Honey, you do, and that’s what matters.”
“How about I go order us some Cokes?” Ryan offered, standing up.
“Sure. Get three. Nash will be here soon,” I replied. “You guys want anything?” I asked the others.
“My girlfriend’s getting ours,” Josh replied with a smile. Josh and Paige had only been dating for a short time and were one hundred percent still in that “new flush of love” stage.
With Ryan at the counter, ordering our drinks, I took the time to look around the café. In a few short weeks, that would be my stool up there, my microphone. I tapped my foot on the hardwood floor. I had already begun to work out what I wanted to sing. I had learned how to play the guitar when I was a kid and still played from time to time. Now, it was time to get serious.
I looked over at the counter and spotted Ryan talking with Bailey. He looked even more animated than when he and Sophie were flirting. I shook my head. Perhaps all he needed was the chance to flirt with some good-looking women?
What was that saying? To get over someone you had to get under someone else? Euw ! That was my brother! I didn’t need to go thinking about that, even if it made me happy to see him happy for a change.
“Is this seat taken, miss?”
I dragged my eyes from Bailey and Ryan to see Nash’s gorgeous face, grinning down at me. I stood up and wrapped my hands around his neck, planting a kiss on his lips.
“Now, if only I could get all the girls to greet me like that.”
“Only me, thank you.” I turned to face my friends’ inquisitive faces. “Everyone, this is Nash.”
Nash proceeded to shake hands with Cassie, Will, and Josh before taking a seat next to me. “So, I take it you’re over the ‘girlfriend’ freak-out from before?” he asked in my ear.
“Well and truly.”
We grinned at one another, and those hamsters started up their routine in my tummy once more.
“Oh, hey, man. You must be Nash,” Ryan said as he stood before us, balancing three Cokes in his hands.
I plucked one out and placed it on the table. “Thank you, brother. Yes, this is Nash. Nash, Ryan.”
The Cokes safely delivered to the table, the men shook hands. My best friends and my brother were meeting my boyfriend. There was something about it that made my heart swell.
Ryan took his seat next to Nash. “This place is full of beautiful women.”
“Is it? I hadn’t noticed,” Nash replied, taking my hand in his under the table.
I shot him a smile. Looking back at Ryan, I said, “I saw you talking with Bailey.”
“Is that her name? She’s hot.”
“Bailey is a fine-looking woman,” Will said, and Cassie slapped him playfully on the arm. “What? She is objectively beautiful.”
“She is,” Josh chimed in.
“It’s true,” Cassie confirmed. “I don’t get why she’s still single.”
“She’s single, huh?” Ryan said, his interest piqued. He looked over at Bailey once more.
I shook my head at him. Although I didn’t want to think about Ryan’s love life, especially if it involved lusting after my close friends, it was nice to see him having a great time.
“Anyway, Bailey recommended we order dinner before the gig starts, so I got us a selection of those little tasting plate things.”
“Tapas?” I offered.
“That’s the one.” Turning to Nash, Ryan said, “What do you do for a living?”
“I work in construction. I’m a site manager.”
I listened as they chatted about their respective careers. With Ryan an architect, they found some common ground almost immediately.
Paige materialized at our table with a tray full of tapas. “Hi, Marissa. I didn’t know you were here.” She shot me a grin. “Right, I have bruschetta, meatballs—”
“Just throw them all on the table. We’re going to share,” Ryan interrupted.
“No problem.”
Once Paige placed the tapas on the table, I introduced her to Nash. I loved the way he stood up to shake her hand in greeting. If this were the Old West, he’d be tipping his hat at her and calling her “ma’am.”
“He is cute,” Paige said quietly in my ear, shooting me a meaningful look.
I grinned back at her, my belly warm. “I know.”
The audience began to clap as Savannah Smith walked onto the stage, dressed in a long, flowing dress, her brown hair curling around her shoulders. She greeted everyone, introducing herself, and launched into her first song. Although I didn’t know it—she wasn’t big enough to be on the radio yet—it was a soft, pretty ballad, the type of song I planned on singing myself.
We ate and chatted and listened to the music, having a wonderful time. Nash got on so well with everyone, which made my heart sing. Even Ryan seemed to be having a good time, and I was glad I’d dragged him off the sofa to come out with us.
With the music over, the food all gone, we decided to call it a night. As we prepared to leave, there were still a few tables of stragglers left in the café. We congratulated a tired looking Bailey and Paige on another successful Cozy Cottage Jam on our way out the door. I half expected Ryan to ask for Bailey’s number, but he didn’t, which was for the best; he still had a load more post-Amelia stuff to work through.
Out on the street, I rubbed my bare arms in the cool evening air. “My jacket! I must have left it on the chair.”
“I’ll get it for you,” Nash said, making for the door.
“No, it’s okay. I’ll do it.”
I pulled the door open and made my way through the café to our table. When I reached the table, my jacket was nowhere to be seen. I glanced around the other chairs, but no sign. I bent down to check under the table, nothing.
I straightened up, puzzled. I was certain I had hung it over the back of my chair when I arrived.
“Is this what you’re looking for?” a voice behind me said.
I turned to look at the person behind me, saying, “Thank y—” I stopped. I couldn’t say another word. My throat went dry, and my belly did a massive flip-flop.
It was my ex. The man who broke my heart into a thousand pieces.
Eddie.