Chapter Five
Ryder
“Girls, are you ready for breakfast? We need to meet Avery at the diner.”
Chrissy and Tabby walked down the hall, both dressed in tutus and leggings. I shook my head at the two of them.
“You have your backpacks?”
“Yup,” Chrissy answered. Tabby nodded.
My little girl still wasn’t talking. She had been working up a good vocabulary before Tammi left almost two years ago. Then she just stopped. I knew I should get her some help, but I had so much on my plate that I couldn’t close the store twice a week to drive the four hours to Denver and back, not to mention the hour-long appointment to see the child therapist.
That was the dad guilt I mentioned to Sam. I knew my daughter would benefit from it, but I firmly believed she would talk when she was ready. So instead, we had learned to communicate in our own way. That had to be enough for now.
Herding the girls out of the apartment, we met up with Avery at the diner for breakfast. This was our routine on the days she didn’t have classes. We had breakfast at the diner, and then Avery took them out on the town before dropping Chrissy off for afternoon kindergarten.
On the days Avery had class, the girls came to the store with me after having breakfast at home, where my mom would pick Chrissy up after lunch and take her to school. Then, Avery would pick her up after school and come get Tabby from the store, taking them both upstairs. She would make them dinner and stay with them until I closed up the store.
On Saturdays, the busiest day of the week, my parents would pick up the girls early and keep them the whole day, sometimes overnight, giving me a break and a chance to go out.
Not that I really had anywhere to go. Occasionally, I went to the clubhouse, but given the state of things recently, that option was on hold.
“Wow, look at these beautiful girls here. You must tell me where those outfits came from. Paris, Milan?” Avery asked.
For a nineteen-year-old, she was great with my girls. She never treated them like babies but always kept things from being too grown-up for them. There was a delicate balance when dealing with females.
One I wasn’t always great at. As a dad, these girls would always be my babies, even when they were forty.
Tabby smiled, and Chrissy giggled.
“No, silly, we got them at Miss Esee’s store,” Chrissy said, twirling around, showing off her outfit. Tabby copied her sister, almost losing her balance when she spun around.
“I didn’t know Miss Esmée had such a sophisticated inventory,” Avery said.
Avery was studying early childhood development at the local community college. She told me she liked to use big words to help build their vocabulary. The girls might not understand them right now, but they would still learn how to use them correctly and eventually would learn what they meant.
“Let’s get a booth before the place fills up,” I said, guiding everyone across the room. I looked around before I sat down and noticed a woman sitting in the corner booth at the back.
She had long blonde hair, a thick black hoodie, and a laptop sat on the table in front of her. She looked familiar but I couldn’t quite place where I had seen her.
Returning my attention to my girls, I slid into the booth. Avery sat on one side with Chrissy, and I sat on the opposite side with Tabby. To anyone who didn’t know us, we might look like a family.
It was something I had to be mindful of.
I knew Avery had a crush on me.
It wasn’t easy walking the line between letting her know I would never go there and not hurting her feelings or embarrassing her.
The truth was, Avery was pretty. But she was too young for me. At nineteen years old, she was still technically a teenager, despite being in her second year of college. At almost twenty-six, and a dad of two girls who would one day be her age, I had an example to set.
Later that morning, I stood at the counter in my bookstore, arguing with Rachel, Beck, and Grace, when I spotted Sam walking in with Mimic.
“Tell us,” Beck demanded.
“What do you want me to say? She walked in and asked about doing the signing. She’s an author, that’s all I know. I didn’t get her dating profile or her measurements.” I huffed.
“Ryder, you have to know something,” Rachel whined.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Sam asked, walking over.
Happy to throw Sam under the bus, I pointed. “Ask her! She’s in charge of everything. I just own the store.”
“Sam, what can you tell us about Rayne Perry?” Grace rushed over to her. “Tell me everything!”
Sam laughed at the women.
“She was incredible. So sweet. And soooo pretty. Right, Ryder?” Sam the instigator smiled, putting me on the spot.
Rachel and Beck swung around to look at me.
I rolled my eyes at her and groaned. “Please don’t get them started.”
“Wait, just how pretty is she?” Rachel asked.
“Blonde hair, sapphire blue eyes. She’s gorgeous. Like some socialite in Manhattan.”
“Really? So she’s snooty, huh?” Grace asked.
“Not at all. She was so sweet, almost shy. She does everything herself. Came in alone, no PR team, no publicist. She only does signings at small-town bookstores. She said she had never done one in New York and never will. She doesn’t even live there anymore,” Sam explained.
“Will she fit in with us?” Beck asked, her eyes firmly on me.
“Beck.” I growled and warned, “Let it go.”
“Nope,” my best friend challenged with a smirk.
“Did she meet the girls?” Rachel asked, jumping into the fray.
Sam shook her head. “No, they were in the children’s section with Mimic”
“Fuck,” I barked, my eyes fixed on the front window. Moving around the counter toward the door, I called over my shoulder as I rushed out the front door. “Beck, call your dad.”
Carrie was out on the sidewalk, arguing with someone I didn’t recognize.
“Marsha, what the fuck are you doing here?” I heard the man ask.
“Derek, you can’t be here,” Carrie cried. “Why are you here?”
I should have known that Beck wouldn’t do what I said, because the next thing I heard was Sam from behind me as she asked, “Derek? How do you know Carrie?”
Turning around, there was Sam and the rest of the girls who had all followed me out of the store. Shaking my head, I looked at the fucker standing next to Carrie. So, that was the husband. Rachel had told me everything that was going on. After Carrie had called my baby stupid because she didn’t talk, Beck and Rachel had filled me in on everything they knew about Sam and Carrie.
“Who the fuck is Carrie?” Derek hissed.
Sam pointed to the woman we all knew as Carrie, and the woman’s face paled.
“Sam,” she gasped, before turning away and hurrying down the street.
“Mimic, follow her!” Sam shouted.
“I can’t leave you, Sam,” he argued.
“Mimic, go. I’ve got Sam,” I urged.
“Go, Mimic,” Rachel shouted.
“My dad’s on his way,” Beck added.
Everyone was shouting at once when Mimic took off after Carrie, and Sam turned to Derek and asked, “How do you know her?”
“Marsha and I were together years ago,” he admitted.
“When?”
“Years before I met you. I’m not the one who cheated,” he hissed.
“No, you’re just the one who beat her,” Grace snarled, stepping between Derek and Sam.
Leaning around Grace, Sam asked, “Did you know she was in prison?”
“Yea,” he admitted.
This was getting us nowhere.
“Sam, come on. We need to get back to the store before the guys get here,” I said as I placed my hand on her elbow just as we heard the rumble of pipes.
“Here comes the cavalry,” Derek scoffed.
“Sammy!”
Sam turned at Jack’s call. He stalked over, followed by Blade, Cash, and Zero, and gathered her in his arms and asked, “Where the fuck is Mimic?”
“I told him to go after Carrie,” she admitted.
“And he left you here? This time, I will kick his ass,” Jack growled.
“No you won’t. Ryder was here. And the girls. Derek wouldn’t do anything with witnesses.”
Jack turned his attention to Derek.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he hissed at Derek.
“Jack,” Sam said, placing her hand on his chest.
“This is a public sidewalk,” Derek challenged.
Just then, the sheriff pulled up. He climbed out of his car and walked over to where Jack and Derek were having a standoff.
“What seems to be the problem here?”
“Arrest this motherfucker,” Jack demanded.
“What the fuck for? Standing on a public street?” Derek snarked.
“Jack, please calm down,” Sam whispered.
Beck jumped in and explained, “Dad, I called you because Carrie was out here. She took off when she saw us. Mimic followed her, so be aware, he will drag her back.”
“And he will bring her to me, right?” he asked with a raised eyebrow at Jack.
“Yes, Sheriff, he will bring her to you,” Cash assured him.
Derek just stood there watching us.
“Why is he bringing her to the sheriff?” the man asked, looking at Sam. “What did she do? Did she do something to you? Did she hurt Charlotte?”
When he tried to reach out his hand and touch Sam’s arm, Grace again stepped between them. “Why do you care? You think you’re the only one allowed to hurt her?”
“Grace, come on,” Zero said, grabbing her elbow and pulling her away from Derek. “Something happens to you, King will kick all our asses.”
“Fuck you, Zero,” Grace hissed.
“Alright, everyone. Show’s over,” Sheriff O’Rourke groaned. “Mr. Reynolds, I suggest you get on with whatever has brought you here. Do it quickly and quietly.”
“Sign the fucking papers, asshole,” Jack snarled.
“Jack!” Sam said, exasperated. “Come on, let’s go back to the bookstore.”
She grabbed Jack’s hand and pulled him along. Everyone else followed, leaving Derek standing alone on the street.
“What was that fucker doing there?” Jack snarled.
“The better question is, what was he talking to Carrie about?” I muttered absentmindedly.
Jack snapped his head around to look at Sammy. “What?”
“He was talking to Carrie. That was what initially drew us out there,” Sammy confirmed. “But it was more than that. He called her Marsha, Jack. He knows her as Marsha.”
“What the fuck is going on?” Blade barked.
Jack’s phone rang, and he pulled it from his back pocket.
“What’s up, brother?” he asked into the phone. “Fuck, ok. We’re on our way.” Cutting the call, Jack looked around the room, his eyes landing on Sammy.
“We have to get back. Patch has the tests results.”
She nodded, grabbing her purse and the giant bag she brought, containing everything she needed to work on the book signing, and asked, “What about Mimic?”
“He knows his way home,” Jack said with a smile.
Sammy smacked the back of her hand on his chest as she walked by, rolling her eyes.
Everyone followed except me.
“Hey, man, you coming?” Jack asked, turning toward me.
I hadn’t counted on being invited.
“Nah, it’s club business. I have a lot of stuff to do here, and Avery will be here with the girls before long.”
“Would you stop with the club business shit?” Blade whined. “I explained why I said what I did. If I had known you knew, I wouldn’t have said anything.”
“But you did say something, asshole,” I countered. “Just go. Like I said, Avery will be here in a while.”
“Ryder, please come with us,” Beck pleaded.
“No.” That was all I said before I kissed her forehead.
Sammy walked over and hugged me. I leaned down and kissed her on the head. When Rachel hugged me, I kissed her cheek. Cash growled, and I laughed.
“Go on. Sam, we can meet again later in the week.”
“Bye, Ryder.” Sammy waved as she walked out the door.
“How long are you gonna hold on to this shit?” Blade asked.
I glared at my childhood best friend. “You better follow your friends. You wouldn’t wanna miss anything important.”
I walked to the back of the store, ignoring him.
“Ry, come on, man,” Blade pleaded.
I held my hand above my head, showcasing my middle finger, letting him know what he could do with his pleas. I was holding a grudge, more than one. And I wasn’t ready to let go of them.
Not yet.
Maybe Mom was right and I needed to talk it out with him. But what could he say? There wasn’t a reason I could think of that would explain what he did.
Maybe I was being petty. Beck forgave him. Then again, women forgave the biggest grievances when you supplied them with orgasms. For me, he would have to come up with a damn good excuse.
The bell jingled again. After everything that transpired today, that bell was getting on my nerves, and I wanted to rip it down. When I heard Avery talking to my girls, my smile was unavoidable.
“My girls!”
“Daddy!” Chrissy yelled as they both rushed over to me. Some days more than others, I longed to hear Tabby call out to me the way her sister did.
Today was one of those days. Today was a day I could have used a pick me up.