Chapter 7
All joking aside, Ryder suspected something about the text had upset Elizabeth. He saw it in the way she fumbled with her phone. How she averted her gaze when she stepped out of the car. Plus, he was raised by competitive people. He understood the world of achievers.
“Ready for some fun?” he said, holding open Angelo’s door for her.
“It’s the reason I came.” But her smile lacked her usual brightness.
The hostess gave them a booth by the window and lit the candle in the middle of the table.
As they read the menu, he said, “Why’d the text bother you?”
“What?” Elizabeth glanced up, her eyes wide, reflecting the candlelight.
The server appeared for their order. “Sodas,” Ryder said, checking with Elizabeth. “Garlic rolls and—”
“Large pepperoni and mushroom.” Elizabeth handed her menu to the server. Then to Ryder. “I remember that was your favorite back in the day.”
“I believe it was yours too.”
She never answered his question, so he let it go and went with small talk—“How was your day?”—until the drinks and garlic rolls arrived.
After one roll, Elizabeth said, “I’m wait-listed at Wharton.” She peered at him. “No one knows. Well, except you.”
“I see. And your friend is headed to Kellogg.” Now he understood why the text bothered her.
“I know her success doesn’t make me a failure, but it feels like it.”
“Who knows what goes on in admissions offices, Elizabeth. There are so many variables. Did they give a reason for wait-listing you?”
“They don’t tell you. Even more puzzling, the notice arrived after I visited the campus and the admissions office.
I thought for sure I was in, you know? They like the personal touch, but—” She tore a small piece from the garlic roll and popped it in her mouth.
After a swig of soda, she sat back with a sigh.
“I contracted Epstein–Barr my sophomore year at MIT. But I kept plowing ahead. Barely. I was exhausted, in my bed every free moment, sleeping. I had some pain and inflammation. By the summer, I was down twenty pounds, pale, weak, feverish. I thought I’d get better over the summer.
I didn’t. The doctors ran all kinds of tests, but nothing was conclusive.
” Her eyes glistened with tears. “Not knowing was worse than anything.”
“So you were sidelined.”
“For two years. Went to more doctors than I care to remember until one figured it out. The homeopathic doctor did a lot to help me recover my immune system, but the virus never goes away. So I’m told.
And I was really scared. You read stuff online, and I had one foot in the grave.
” By the look on her face, she’d never said that out loud before.
“I don’t want to be scared, Ryder. I don’t want to feel that fear, that helplessness, again. ”
“I’m surprised your granny isn’t all over you about working so much.”
“She is, but I’m careful. I take my supplements, but I need to eat better.” She snatched another garlic roll. “But tonight is about fun, right? So here’s looking at you, kid.”
“And you.” Ryder reached for a roll of his own. “My boss is on my case. Someone ordered a bunch of cherrywood, and he thinks I’m using it to fix up the fire tower. Or maybe my own place, but I didn’t order it. He’s also alluding to me being behind the illegal loggers.”
“So you threw yourself down a ravine to look innocent?” Elizabeth said.
“Yes, but don’t tell.” Ryder grinned.
“Seriously, what do you think is going on? There’s nothing worse than being falsely accused.” Elizabeth looked away, as if considering her next comment. “I wouldn’t have said anything, but Ryder, your name is on an invoice at the shop for cherrywood.”
“When? I couldn’t have ordered it.”
“The spring. Grant said they’d never cut cherry for the TWRA. It’s used for fine furniture or flooring.”
“I promise, Elizabeth, that order did not come from me.” He shoved the last bit of the roll in his mouth. “I got a job offer in Colorado. Maybe I should go if—” He caught himself reasoning out loud.
“They’ll really think you’re guilty if you leave.” Elizabeth sat back as the server set down their pizza. “Besides, you just moved here.”
“Are you saying you’ll miss me?” Ryder handed her a plate with a large slice.
“Well, no, I mean, yes, but it’s not Hearts Bend without you.” She bit into pepperoni, cheese, and sauce.
“Funny, I think it’s not Hearts Bend without you.”
What was happening? The romantic atmosphere of Angelo’s, that’s what. The candlelight, the soft glow, Dean Martin singing “That’s Amore,” and she’s suddenly hinting to Ryder Donovan she’d miss him. Why did she care where he lived? Good luck to him.
“—not sure I can leave. Hearts Bend gets in your blood. Never mind my childhood.” Ryder reached for another slice of pizza.
“I remember your parents traveled a lot,” Elizabeth said. “How’re they doing?”
So it seemed tonight’s fun was about a heart-to-heart. Like the time they stayed up all night on the high school bleachers, talking.
“They’re in Europe. Still working all the time.
When I was out west, they sold their house and bought a condo near the airport.
We get together. When they’re in town.” Elizabeth knew his story, how his parents prioritized their career over him, leaving him alone with nannies until he was a teen.
“I’m grateful to your family for adopting me.
Jeff found me like a lost puppy and took me home. ”
“I’m sorry your parents didn’t see you as their greatest achievement.”
“Will you see your children as your greatest achievement?” The pointed questions seemed a bit harsh, but he wanted to know.
“I must seem selfish and driven like your parents with all my talk of master’s degrees and Fortune 100 jobs, but it’s my only goal.
I’ve never wanted anything else. Dad and I started talking about my career when I was in eighth grade.
I worked hard to get into MIT. I overcame sickness to graduate.
Now the end of the journey, the master’s degree…
” She held up her fingers. “It’s so close. I can see it, smell it, taste it.”
“Too close to give up now.” Ryder held her gaze for a moment.
“I understand. I came along late in my parents’ lives.
Their identities were in their careers. They loved me in their way, but hauling a kid across Europe or through Asia was not their idea of a good time.
Just count the cost of career over marriage and family, Elizabeth. They can’t all win.”
“No, I guess not.” She regarded him for a moment. “What about your brother? Where was he in all of this?”
“He was fifteen years older,” Ryder said. “I was three when he went to college. Nine when he got married and moved to North Carolina, where he was ensconced in his wife’s family.”
“You used to say you wanted nothing more than a family of your own.”
“We talked about it a lot that night on the bleachers.” Ryder set down his pizza, then took a sip of his soda. “Jeff told you I saved his life, but really he saved mine.”
“By inviting you into the family?”
“Yeah, it was Christmas, and my mom was stuck in London, and Dad in Taiwan or some place. Karl had gone skiing with his wife’s family.
He said I could join them, but it felt like one of those obligatory invitations.
Then Jeff came along, asked what I was doing over the holidays and invited me to stay with them.
The tradition was for all the cousins, except the babies, to sleep over Christmas Eve at your grandparents’. ”
“I mostly missed out on that tradition.”
“I was all in. Being with the Dorsey clan felt more like family than my sister-in-law’s.”
“We do have a strong family vibe, don’t we?” Elizabeth opened a package of wet wipes. The pizza was good and greasy.
“Yes, and that story made me sound like a sad sack if ever there was one. I’m bringing down the whole vibe. How did you like that pizza?”
“For what it’s worth, Ryder”—Elizabeth leaned toward him—“the Dorsey family loves you like their own. You’ll always have a place at Granny’s table. And what’s not to love about Angelo’s? Best pizza in the state.”
The server refilled their drinks and asked about dessert. Elizabeth said tiramisu in harmony with Ryder.
“One piece, two spoons.”
The jukebox changed to Frank Sinatra singing “The Way You Look Tonight.” Ryder slid out of the booth and offered his hand. “Can I have this dance?”
“I’m not a good dancer,” she said, scooting out of the booth, suddenly shy, feeling awkward.
“That’s okay. I am.” Ryder led her to the small corner dance floor.
“Even with your bum knee?”
“I forget about my knee when you’re around.
” Ryder slipped one hand around her waist and held her hand with the other.
Slowly, they began to turn, inching closer and closer until she rested her chin on his broad, firm shoulder.
Ryder rested his cheek against her hair.
“Have I told you you look very pretty tonight?”
She shook her head, warming all over. She’d gotten a few compliments from guys in her life, but never ones that made her swoon. Yet this wasn’t supposed to be a date. This was just two friends dining out, having fun.
When the song ended, he looked into her eyes, but she stepped out of his arms. “We should get back to the table. Our tiramisu has arrived.”
It was an excuse, but it got her out of the Ryder swirl.
Three bites into a creamy, coffee-soaked ladyfinger, Elizabeth’s pulse found its normal beat. Even if she wasn’t so determined about her MBA, she was definitely determined about love. Another moment in his arms and he might have tried to kiss her, and she could not let that happen.
When the server brought the check, she said, “You two make a cute couple.”
“Oh, we’re just friends,” Elizabeth said. A little too loud. A little too forceful.
Then she tried to grab the bill, but Ryder snatched it away.
“Consolation prize, remember?”
“Yes, but I’m covering the garlic rolls and drinks.”