Chapter 33
“Right. Everyone get your heads in the game,” Red said calmly. He was giving them his Skip speech before they started. It was the only time Tripp wasn’t the lead on something, and he said he was happy to let someone else do the heavy lifting for a change. “We’ve got this. If we focus and work together, we’ll win. I know there is some stuff going on, and last night was a big one for a few of us.” His eyes focused on Phoebe and Ryder. “But to win, we need to be on the same page.”
“Yes, Skip,” they said solemnly.
Ryder watched Sawyer arrive. He then leaned on the temporary fencing beside the rest of their family, who had all turned out to watch the Lyntacky A team compete in their first match.
Where is Libby? She could even now be leaving him.
“So go take a drink or do whatever you need to do. We’re starting in ten minutes,” Red finished.
He wore the hat Ally had made for him, as did Tripp, which showed the caliber of both men because they were a terrible color and there were so many dropped stitches, they looked like cobwebs. The B team had escaped, as his niece hadn’t had the time to make theirs, which meant he wouldn’t have to beat the crap out of Beau Keller if he refused to wear one.
Ryder and Phoebe made their way to the family.
“You got this, Phoebe, Uncle Ry,” Ally said. She carried a banner that said, “A team for the win.”
“We’ve got on our lucky hats, so I can’t imagine why we wouldn’t,” Ryder said, kissing her cheek.
Sawyer gave him a hard look, which Ryder interpreted to mean he had something to say to him. Moving slightly to the left, he leaned in.
“Have you seen Libby?” Ryder asked.
“Yeah. That ex is here with his mother. Libby is talking with them and her bro.”
“And you left her?” Ryder whispered loudly.
“She said she had it and I didn’t need to go with her,” Sawyer said.
“Since when has someone telling you not to do something ever stopped you?”
“I’m trying to be a better person. But,” he raised a hand as Ryder opened his mouth. “I told Zoe and JD to watch her and make sure no one hurts or yells at her. JD said he’d be happy to punch anyone—male only—if they stepped out of line and disrespected Libby.
“Like hell is anyone doing that,” Ryder snarled.
“So, you’re ready to talk to her and work through your shit? Because that girl is yours, bro, we both know it.”
“Yes,” Ryder said. He saw her then, walking between Zoe and JD. She looked small and tired. Mine, he thought.
“Five minutes!” Red called out.
Ryder vaulted the fencing and ran to her. JD tugged Zoe away, and then he was alone with Libby.
“You okay?”
“I need to apologize to you, Ryder,” she said quickly. “I should have told you who I was, and it was wrong of me not too. I liked no one knowing my name here and?—”
“Take a breath, Libby,” he said as her words came out one on top of the other. “Yes, you should have told me, but I shouldn’t have said what I did yesterday either. I was hurt and lashed out, so I owe you an apology too. The problem is I’ve never felt about anyone like I do you, and that made me a little crazy.”
“You make me a little crazy too,” she whispered. “And I really am sorry about evading the truth.”
“We call it lying here,” he said, smiling for the first time that day. He ran a finger down her cold cheek, needing to touch her. “How did it go with your ex and his mother?”
“Ryder!”
“Shit. I need to go, Libby, Red is calling me.” He had a sudden thought. “You’re not leaving, are you? You didn’t come here to say goodbye to me?”
“No. Go and win your curling, Ryder, but first, who won the relay?”
“Zoe tripped me, which means your team won,” Ryder said. “And I’ll make her pay for that when she’s not expecting it.”
“Yes!” She punched the air. “Do I get a medal?”
“It’s more about competing, but I think there may be certificates,” Ryder said, smiling at her enthusiasm. His girl had changed so much from the first day he’d met her.
His girl.
“I’ll be here when you’re done, Ryder.” She stood on her toes and kissed him. “Nice hat,” she added, tugging it down over his ears. “Now go and win and we’ll talk about everything later ok.”
He pulled her in briefly, kissing her thoroughly, which had several people wolf whistling around them. Ryder then vaulted back over the fence and went to his team.
Libby would be here when he was done. His smile grew.
“A smile, hallelujah,” Red said when Ryder reached him. “Now let’s win this!”
The play was intense, with the Lyntacky Legends playing the Brownlee Badgers.
Ryder was lead, with Phoebe second, and then Tripp and lastly Red.
“Give me an L !” Ally shrieked from behind them. She then chanted her way through Legends while everyone around her who was supporting the Lyntacky team joined in.
Libby was still there because he’d checked as each end was completed. He’d tried to block her out and was doing okay so far—mainly because Red kept hissing in his ear the word “focus.” Coming into the final end, the score was four to three in favor of the Legends. They needed to win this end to secure the match.
He placed his stone well, shouting orders to Phoebe and Red to sweep where he wanted them to. It took Red blasting two stones out of the way for them to be declared the winners. After the excitement had died down, he looked around for Libby. She wasn’t anywhere he could see.
Moving to where Brody, Dan, and Sawyer stood talking, he asked, “Where is Libby?”
His brothers looked at him and then around them.
“She was here,” Dan said, spinning on his heel. “About five minutes ago. Mom and Ally went with Birdie to grab coffees, so maybe she went with them?”
Something felt off suddenly.
Ryder’s phone signaled a text. Pulling it out of his pocket, he read the message from SJ.
Libby is arguing with that woman who is her ex-shithead’s mom and the big bodyguard outside the old Hammer store. No sign of Samuel or her ex.
Ryder started running and knew the sound of feet thudding behind him was his brothers following.
“What’s going on?” Dan demanded.
“SJ texted me to say that Libby is arguing with her ex’s mom and some other guy outside the old Hammer store.”
He cut down an alley between two shops and stopped before the end, holding up his hand to halt his brothers too. He could see Libby, but she hadn’t seen him.
“That’s the ex-prick’s mom,” Sawyer whispered.
“Where the fuck is that brother of hers?” Brody demanded.
“And the ex,” Sawyer added.
“Who is the beefcake?” Dan asked.
“Bodyguard,” Sawyer said.
Ryder saw SJ standing a few feet away.
“SJ apparently owes Libby since she stepped in to take care of that asshole in her kitchen. This is her way of paying her back,” Dan added.
“I mean, the woman is a piranha, but you have to admire that kind of loyalty,” Brody whispered.
“Will you three shut up?” Ryder hissed. “I want to listen.”
“Go out there.” Sawyer nudged him in the back.
“No. Libby needs to deal with this. I’ll step in if necessary,” Ryder said. He wanted to go to her, but he also knew this was something she needed to do for herself. These people had controlled her for years, but no more. His girl was taking charge of her life.
“You texted me that Samuel was hurt, Dianne, and I had to come quickly. Where is he?” Libby asked looking around her.
“He and that fool I call son are drinking coffee in some ridiculously named cafe while I tidy up his mess yet again.”
“You lied about him being hurt? How could you?” Libby demanded.
“Your father and I have planned to unite our families for years. You’re wedding to my son was going to do that. I’m not letting you ruin this, Elizabeth,” the woman said. She jabbed Libby in the chest with a long talon as she talked, and Ryder’s anger climbed. “You’re walking onto that plane, or Simone will carry you on.”
“Only a guy that buff could pull off a name like Simone,” he heard Dan whisper.
“I wondered why that she devil brought her bodyguard with her, and now I know. He’s here to carry Libby to the plane if she didn’t come willingly,” Sawyer said.
“My name is Libby, and I told you I’m not coming back, Dianne. You can’t make me.”
“Oh, I can and will make you. We are building an empire, and your union to my son is part of that. Your father and I have discussed this for years.”
“In bed?” Ryder heard Libby say.
It was a direct hit because color flooded the woman’s cheeks.
“Did you think I didn’t know?” Libby asked, and he was proud of her because he could see how nervous she was. Her hands were clenched in fists, and she was pale. But his girl was standing strong. “I saw you together while we were vacationing in Hawaii. You were coming out of your hotel room, and there was no doubting what you and my father had been up to. I convinced myself it couldn’t be true,” Libby added. “But it was, wasn’t it, Dianne?”
“How dare you!” He saw the moment the woman raised her hand. Stepping out of the shadows, Ryder moved fast and grabbed it before she could touch Libby.
“You touch her, and you’ll be sorry.”
“Who are you?” Dianne Lucas demanded when he’d released her.
“Who are you?” Ryder countered, moving closer to Libby. “You okay, baby?”
She nodded.
“Get away from her at once! You’ve had your fun with him, Elizabeth, but now we’re leaving. Simone,” she said in a high-pitched, agitated voice, which was nothing like the one she’d used before.
“I wouldn’t, Simone,” Sawyer said, coming out of the alley with Brody and Dan. “Nice name, by the way,” he added. “Soft and feminine, just like you.”
“Now you need to listen to me, Dianne,” Libby said, moving closer to Ryder until her boots brushed his. “I’m not leaving here, and Andrew and I are not pawns for you to move around the chessboard of your life.”
“Nice,” Ryder said. Libby had more strength in her voice now.
“You need to leave, and maybe I won’t tell my mother that her supposed best friend has been sleeping with her husband for years… or Andrew, for that matter.”
Simone, Ryder noted, had backed up a few steps, so maybe he wasn’t the hard-ass he portrayed, and in fact it was all about the look and smart suit he wore.
“You go on and leave my town now, Dianne, and if you set foot in it again, we won’t be as hospitable. And just so we’re clear, what you did to Libby, or made your weak-kneed son do, was a shitty thing, but I’m glad you did it, or she wouldn’t now be mine to love,” Ryder said.
“You love me?” Libby looked up at him.
“Love,” Dianne scoffed.
“Okay, so we’re done with you now. Time to go, Di, and take your beefcake of a pretty boy with you. Collect your son on the way out of town,” Sawyer said. “No one mocks my brother and gets away with it… especially that one.” He pointed to Ryder.
“Why especially him?” Dan demanded.
“He’s more sensitive than the rest of you.”
“True,” Brody said.
“Right, let’s go,” Sawyer said.
Ryder grabbed Libby’s hand and led her back into the alley as his brothers escorted Dianne Lucas and Simone away. He turned her to face him when they were halfway down.
“Okay, I hadn’t planned on saying that then, but it came out. But yes, I love you, and I know it’s only early days, and there’s a lot we don’t know about each other, but?—”
“I love you too,” she blurted. “I’ve never felt like this, and I knew it was different… you were different from the start, Ryder. You make me feel alive and hopeful. I haven’t felt that way in a long time. I don’t know where this is going, but?—”
“We’ll work it out.”
She nodded.
He cupped her face. “We need to talk about so much, and I want to find a way through all of it, Libby. I want to be with you.”
“I want to be with you too, and I really am sorry I lied, Ryder. After everything you did for me, you deserved more.”
He kissed her softly. “It’s okay, but right now I have to get back for the next game.”
“Oh my gosh! You need to go!”
He smiled at her excitement.
“Lyntacks are counting on you, Ryder.” She tried to push him away, but he wasn’t going anywhere.
“You want to be a Lyntack, baby?”
She stilled, looking up at him. “I think maybe I might,” she said when he leaned in to kiss her again, “but I need to find myself first, and that means doing the job I’ve always dreamed of and planning for a future that I want.”
“I’m hoping that future includes me?” Ryder said.
Her smile was so sweet, he had to swallow the lump in his throat. “I think it does.”
The awards ceremony took place in the Rollaway. Everyone was pink cheeked from the cold. Food and drink flowed as they discussed how much better they would do next year, because this was now going to be an annual event.
Libby got her certificate and looked happy about that as she stood with her team for a photo that would soon be on the Lynpicks Facebook page.
Lyntacky A got theirs, and Jed Knox won the archery simply because he managed to hit the target, so everyone thought it was fair.
“And now we have one more certificate to hand out,” Tripp said from on top of the bar, where Red had told him he could stand.
Ryder stood behind Libby and enjoyed the feel of her back pressed to his front as she leaned on him. His girl . It felt good and right.
“Everyone has left town.”
Ryder turned to face Samuel Caldwell, who still wore Red’s clothes behind him.
“Why are you still here?” Libby demanded.
Ryder put a hand on her shoulder as she moved to stand before her brother. “Easy, sweetheart.”
“I know I was hard on you, Libby, and I wasn’t there when you needed me, but I want to try harder. This town,” Samuel said, blowing out a loud breath. “It makes you think about other things like family and friends.” He looked confused about that, which was a normal reaction for anyone who spent more than a day in Lyntacky.
It really was a crazy little microclimate of weird. Ryder had lived here all his life, and he still didn’t understand it.
“It does,” Libby said.
“So I want to stay for a few days, just to talk, Libby,” he added.
She looked at her brother for long seconds and then nodded. “All right, I’d like that too.”
“The winner of the twirling is Larry Limpet, because he’s the only one who didn’t throw up his breakfast afterward!” Tripp said to a round of cheers.
“Not sure what to add to that other than you can stay in my spare room,” Ryder said to Samuel. “Because your sister is staying with me in mine.”