Chapter 16
Going to see Ryder made her late for a shift at Ella’s. But she’d texted Tina she’d be in as soon as possible.
She also felt a bit silly bringing up the kiss with Ryder, all in the name of honesty. Replaying the conversation in her head on her way home, she concluded she sounded more rude than honest. Also, a bit of a martyr.
…I can never kiss a man, ever.
Should she apologize? Do a take-back on the whole conversation?
Maybe she would kiss a man, one day, if they pledged themselves in a lifelong commitment.
But not during a summer romance. Ugh, relationships…
This was why she preferred school and career, logic and order.
On the job, she knew the rules. Knew the boundaries.
Granny caught her when she walked into the kitchen from the mud room. “Good, you’re home for dinner.” She was removing a roasted chicken from the oven. “Set a place at the table.”
“Actually, I’m late for Ella’s. Tina needs help. One of the servers called in sick,” Elizabeth tried to pinch a piece from the chicken, but the steaming bird was too hot. “I took some papers over to Ryder.”
“What sort of papers?” Granny said without looking up. She was pouring the juices into her gravy mixture. “And you can tell Tina no. What happened to our pact to keep you from working so much?”
“I’m fine, Granny. I promise.” Though she was feeling tired today. “Papers. Purchase orders and invoices.” She paused on her way to the stairs. “Granny, how did you know you loved Pops?”
Granny whisked the gravy while she thought.
“I had a list. Your Pops ticked off all but two, and it turned out to be a good thing. He was handsome, kind, generous, loved Jesus, and worked hard. He treated his mother well. Always look at how the one you love treats his parents. If they are rude and unforgiving, that will spill over into your relationship.”
“What if his parents weren’t around much?”
Granny eyed her. “Ryder?”
“Just asking, Granny.”
“You see how Ryder treats Pops and me. When his parents are in town, I know for a fact he goes out of his way to spend time with them.”
Elizabeth came back to the stove. She needed Granny’s wisdom to wrangle with her thoughts. “We’ve almost kissed a few times.”
“I see.” Granny never broke rhythm on whisking her gravy.
“I told him tonight that I couldn’t kiss him because of EBV. I think I sounded kind of cold.” Elizabeth picked at the small thread protruding from the side of Granny’s apron. “I should apologize.” She gave Granny a forced smile, waiting for her approval.
“Darling.” Granny took her by the shoulders.
“It’s okay to not kiss a man. It’s okay to be honest about why.
But is your dormant virus really the reason?
Or are you Pops’s mini-me, determined to do your will above all else?
” Back to the bubbling gravy. Whisk, whisk, whisk.
“I don’t think you can pass on the virus if you’re not infectious. Did you ask your doctor?”
Elizabeth sighed. “So much to unpack here, Granny. First of all, I’m only like Pops in that I know what I want. Second, I know I’m not infectious, but shouldn’t I at least present Ryder or whoever with a doctor’s note?”
Granny’s laugh filled the kitchen. “Well, you didn’t get your romantic inclinations from me or Pops.
” She clicked off the stove and set the gravy aside.
“Let me ask you something. Have you ever really given love and Hearts Bend a chance? Does a Fortune 100 career mean that much to you? If so, why did you spend your summers here, with your Pops and me and the family, when you were a teen? Why didn’t you intern at one of those big Boston companies?
I know for a fact your dad secured a place for you at his firm. ”
“I wanted a career, yes. I just didn’t want to start at sixteen.”
“Fair enough, but one final question. Are you sure your ambition isn’t just in your head but not in your heart?”
Granny had a way of drilling down. Her question sat on Elizabeth as she changed into her Ella’s uniform. As she drove down First Avenue in her restored VW Bug. As she shot Tina a quick “Sorry I’m late” and stepped up to command the service window.
She was starting to sound like a broken record. Grad school, grad school, career, career. It’s not that she wasn’t open to other ideas, it’s just she’d lost so much time being sick. And to be honest, she didn’t have any other ideas. She hated to not finish what she’d started.
Yet if any man could make her want to risk it all, it was Ryder Donovan. Sigh. Too many questions. Too, too many.
Ella’s was hopping for the dinner rush. Another server called off, so Tina was busy filling in where she could, but she loved being out on the floor with the customers.
The restaurant was often a destination for out-of-towners. Nashville had Pancake Pantry. Hearts Bend had Ella’s Diner.
Around eight thirty, the rush had faded. Elizabeth started cleaning up while Tina ran numbers from the POS machine.
“Have you seen Ryder lately?” she said rather casually.
“Today,” Elizabeth said. “I had to take some things to him from the Dorsey Mill side of Dorsey Furniture.”
“And?”
“And what?” Elizabeth dumped out the lettuce fragments from the salad station, then asked one of the busboys to get a bag from the walk-in refrigerator. “I gave him the stuff.”
Tina laughed. “Okay…I won’t ask what stuff. How’s he doing? After the fire?”
“Well enough.”
“You’re never going to admit it, are you?” Tina leaned against the counter, her arms folded. “He’s a good man.”
“You want me to admit Ryder is a good man? Easy. He is.”
“No, I want you to admit you two would be great together.”
“That’s not what you said.”
“No, I want you to say it.”
Elizabeth notified one of the servers his order was up. “Okay, maybe I will say it. After you go out with Marty.”
Tina exhaled, made a face, and headed for her office.
“Two can play this game,” Elizabeth called after her.
Tina’s input layered up with Granny’s. Could she love Hearts Bend? Would she and Ryder be a good couple? What about his job offer in Colorado? They were bound for different roads. At least for now.
Grabbing a glass, Elizabeth walked out to the soda machine. Sometimes the fizz of an icy cold soda was the only way to slake a thirst. She was about to head back to the kitchen when she saw Ryder in a booth by the window. He smiled sheepishly, giving her the two-finger wave.
She slipped in the seat across from him. “The special is good. Tina’s spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread and side salad. She doesn’t make it very often. It competes too much with Angelo’s, she says.”
“Then I’ll have the special.” Ryder closed his menu and shoved it to the end of the table. “Elizabeth—”
“About what I said earlier…I must’ve sounded like an idiot. My attempt at being honest came off as rude.”
“You weren’t rude.” He had a way with his smile that made everything he said feel true. “It’s good to know if you’re not kissing me, you’re not kissing any other man.”
“Well, that’s one way of looking at it.” Could she do this? Sit at a table across from Ryder Donovan the rest of her life? Could she kiss him without thinking of the virus?
Could she get married, buy a house, and maybe paint it blue?
Could she have children, drive a van, then sit in a lawn chair with all the other parents watching their children run up and down the soccer or football field?
She’d never really thought about any of it before, and suddenly she could think of nothing else.
“I never thought I’d get married, you know. Not in my twenties, anyway.”
“I always thought I’d marry young. Being a lonely, almost-only child, I really wanted a family.” He twisted the straw paper around his fingers. “I still do.”
It seemed they were having a conversation about their relationship without actually having the conversation.
“Can you meet me at the WMA offices in the morning? Eight o’clock?” he said.
“I’ll be there.” Elizabeth slid from the booth with her soda. “Do you want dessert too? Remember Tina’s edict. On the house for our smoke-brain heroes.”
“Do you think I’m a hero?”
“Yes, I really do.”
“Cheryl, is Travis in?” Ryder paused at the admin’s desk, covered with stickies, calendars, and manuals. Cheryl adhered to an eclectic organizational style.
“In his office.” She was tweaking the return of her long, fake eyelashes with tweezers and a hand mirror.
“Am I hauling you into my controversy?” Ryder said to Elizabeth, flashing the collection of invoices and purchase orders he held in his hand.
“Consider me your backup in case he doesn’t believe you.”
Ryder knocked once, entering when Travis groused, “Enter.” His boss looked at Elizabeth. “And who is this?”
“Elizabeth Dorsey, from Dorsey Furniture accounting.” He plopped the evidence of his innocence on the desk. “She found these.”
“These being…?” Travis grabbed for the stack of papers, then rocked back in his wide, leather chair.
“Purchases in my name, but not my signature, Travis. Someone is ordering teak and cherry from the mill arm of Dorsey and charging it to my fire tower account.”
“We don’t know who fulfilled the orders at Dorsey,” Elizabeth added. “They abused a bug in the system.”
With a grunt, Travis rocked forward and spread the copies across his desk. “You found these?” He looked at Elizabeth. “Maybe Ryder knows someone at Dorsey Mill.”
“I’ve been to Ryder’s workshop, his house, and the fire tower. There is not one board of cherry or teak. Pine, yes, but that’s all.”
“Maybe he’s selling it. Making a profit. Maybe he’s in cahoots with the men he caught cutting timber.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Travis was a piece of work. A real piece of—
“If you believe that, why is he still here?” Elizabeth said. “Why haven’t you fired him? Maybe you’re the one ordering cherry and teak.”
Travis fired out of his chair. “Excuse me, but I never—”
“Doesn’t feel so good being unjustly accused, does it?” Elizabeth was unflinching.
Ryder grinned. He’d kiss her if he could. “Travis, someone is ordering lumber and charging it to us. To my fire tower account. You should report this.”
Travis picked through the evidence again, a shadow falling over his face. “All right, Donovan. For now, it looks like you’ve cleared your name. But the agency will still have to investigate.”
“I understand. And thank you, sir.” Ryder extended his hand to Travis.
It took a second, but the older man grasped his hand in a firm shake. “I’ll take it from here. You keep working on that old Hearts Bend fire tower.”
They were outside by Elizabeth’s car before either one spoke. “I feel like I’ve lost a thousand pounds,” Ryder said, leaning against her car. “Thank you.”
She stared toward the brick office. “He accused you and made no apology? No, thank you for having integrity. Being honest.”
“He will. Eventually.”
Elizabeth squeezed his arm. “I’m in your corner, you know.”
“Feels good to be defended.” Ryder took hold of her arm. “Even though my folks weren’t around much when I was a kid, they always defended me.” He grinned and slid his hand down to hers. “If I deserved it.”
“Ryder, do you forgive them for not being around?”
“I have my days, but yeah, I do. What’s the alternative? Living mad? Making myself a victim? No thanks.”
His admission tugged more on her heart than his I love you. “When will you work on the fire tower again?” She pulled the VW keys from her handbag.
“Saturday. Want to help? You should see it, Beth. It looks so regal yet lonely, sitting among the burnt area.”
“Is that common? For something to be left behind after a fire?”
“Not common at all. But that fire tower represents all the good about Hearts Bend. Folks helping folks. Being a close-knit community. Hiding in the shadows of Nashville. Maybe even hiding in the shadow of God.”