Chapter 8
***RYAN***
The sun was shining for the first time in days when Ryan walked out of his last final of the semester, thoughts of the future spinning through his mind.
It would only be a few short months until he was certified to teach in his own classroom, and he couldn’t wait.
He had so many plans once he had his own classroom that they were brimming over in his head.
He’d been dreaming of being a teacher for so long that it was hard to believe it was really going to happen.
The fight to get where he was had been long and hard, but he was almost there.
Looking forward to celebrating the end of the semester with the rest of his friends that night, he took a shortcut through campus even though it meant tromping through the melting snow and arrived to find the fraternity van backed up to the garage, back doors open, the engine running.
Wondering who was using it in the middle of the afternoon, he skipped the front door and went directly to the garage, surprised to find Paula loading cookie baskets into the back of the van.
“What are you doing?” he demanded, putting his hands on his hips. “Hattie hired someone to deliver these, you shouldn’t be doing this.”
Paula carefully loaded the baskets she’d been carrying before turning to look over at him, a scowl on her face. “Unless I missed it, Hattie is the one in charge around here,” she said. “If you have a problem, take it up with her. I’m tired of defending myself to you.”
Without even giving him a chance to speak, she turned and headed back into the house, letting the door slam right in his face when he followed her.
Trying to control his temper, he flung the door open and stomped into the kitchen behind Paula, ready to lay into her, but then he saw Hattie standing by the table, a clipboard in her hands.
Ignoring the look Paula gave him, he strode over to Hattie. “What happened to Trevor?” he asked. “I thought he was going to do the deliveries for you.”
“His mom broke her hip and he had to cancel on me, but we’ve got it handled.
You don’t need to worry,” Hattie said. “I got permission to use the van and Paula volunteered to do the deliveries. She’ll have them all done by the end of the day.
She’s very organized. I don’t know what I’d do without her. ”
“Well, isn’t that nice?” he said, trying to ignore the I told you so look on Paula’s face as she gathered another armload of baskets.
“There are a lot of deliveries to make, I’d be happy to pitch in.
I’ve got a few free hours before we’re supposed to go out and celebrate the end of the semester tonight. ”
“Oh, Ryan, that’s very sweet of you, but it’s really up to Paula,” Hattie said. “I wouldn’t want to overstep. She’s worked very hard putting together a schedule that works for her.”
“Oh, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind the help; one of us can drive, and the other can make the deliveries. It will all go so much faster,” he said, walking over and taking the clipboard from Hattie. “I’m sure you have other things you need to be doing. I’m really happy to help.”
“Well, I could get started on the cake for the Dean’s Christmas dinner,” Hattie said, looking longingly at the stove. “It’s going to have twelve layers of chocolate cake and three different fillings. I’ve got hours of work to do, but the baskets come first.”
Paula was on her way to the door, but she paused as the satisfied smile disappeared from her face and she turned back around.
“Hattie, I don’t mind letting Ryan help if it would free you up to do something else,” she said, shooting him a dirty look.
“But I am perfectly capable of doing this on my own. Maybe he can just stay here and help me load up when I stop back for more baskets.”
“We could do it that way or we could just take them all at once and sort them on the road,” he said, then saw the look on Paula’s face. “I mean if that works for you, I’m just here to make things easier for you, that’s all.”
“Aren’t you sweet?” Hattie said, then looked over at Paula. “He’s always been such a big help, you don’t mind doing things a little differently, do you?”
“No, that’s fine,” Paula said, shooting daggers at him with her eyes. “We both just want to help. I’m sure we can find a way to work together.”
“Excellent,” Hattie said, a big smile on her face. “I’m going to get started on that cake.”
Feeling triumphant, he tucked the clipboard under his arm and started gathering up baskets. “Do you want to drive or hand out the baskets?” he asked, starting for the door, his arms full. “I’m happy to do either, it doesn’t matter to me.”
“How about you stay here?” Paula hissed at him.
“What do you think you’re going to gain by going with me?
Are you afraid I’m going to steal your crappy van and run away with the baskets?
Or maybe there’s something in the van that you’re trying to hide?
Then again, you could just be paranoid and a little… ”
“I’m just trying to help Hattie, she’s always been there for us, and I have some free time since I’m done with finals,” he said.
“Maybe if you didn’t think the entire world revolves around you, you’d see that I’m just doing something nice for the woman who has been taking care of me for the last four years. ”
“Well, excuse me, remind me to give you a medal when we get back,” Paula said, heading for the door. “I feel so honored to be allowed to work with a saint like you, but you’d better get a move on. You’ve already made us ten minutes late.”
It wasn’t until he piled the baskets he’d been carrying into the back of the van with the others that he realized what he’d volunteered to do.
He might have won that round with Paula, but he’d signed himself up for an entire afternoon of work, and it was clear that she knew it too when she walked by him and tossed him the keys to the van, a big smile on her face.
“You can drive, I want to hand out the baskets,” she said, then climbed into the passenger seat and tooted the horn. “Get a move on, Ryan, we’re already behind schedule.”
***Paula***
Quietly seething in the passenger seat, Paula was plotting her revenge as they drove to the first drop-off location, more than just a little annoyed that Ryan had ruined the entire experience.
She’d been looking forward to playing Santa or at least one of his elves and spreading some Christmas cheer, but now, with the Grinch riding next to her, the fun had completely evaporated from the day.
“I don’t know why you had to come along and ruin everything,” she finally said when they pulled up to the first location. “I could have done this all alone, it’s not rocket science, and you’ve got as much Christmas spirit as…”
“You could always quit, then you wouldn’t have to put up with me,” Ryan said, shrugging his shoulders. “I warned you, remember? I’ve got my eye on you and I’m not backing down.”
His words did something to her, but not what he wanted.
A burst of desire rushed through her, making her entire body begin to tingle, and she felt her cheeks beginning to get hot.
Slightly breathless, she cursed under her breath, opened the door and jumped out, stomped around to the back of the van, threw open the doors, and grabbed the first basket on the list.
When she got back, Ryan was looking much too pleased with himself. “I’ve decided I’m going to enjoy watching you scramble in and out of the van, making deliveries from my nice warm comfy seat,” he said, putting it into gear. “Where to next, boss?”
She gave him the address, then turned to look out the window, afraid that she’d say something she might regret later, although the possibility seemed remote.
The next few hours passed by in the same manner, but she was able to enjoy the good cheer of the season as she passed out the baskets between trading jabs with Ryan.
“Okay, that’s the last of the business offices,” she said, flipping the page on the clipboard. “Now we just have the fraternities and sororities left to go.”
“What’s the first address?” he asked. “Do we get one?”
“I didn’t bother with addresses, I know where all of these go,” she said, pointing to the list. “Hattie donated your basket to the children’s hospital, she said she’s been doing that every year, something about you boys getting enough sweets already.”
“That’s not fair, we don’t get that many sweets,” he said, a pouty look on his face. “She could have asked us first.”
“Are you really throwing a fit over a basket of goodies that ended up with sick children?” she asked, shaking her head. “You’re a bigger baby than I thought you were.”
“I’m not a baby, I just like sweets,” he tried defending himself, then sighed. “I guess that did sound selfish.”
“You think?” she asked, then sighed. “Let’s just get going, I don’t want to be at this all night. Pick a sorority house and we’ll start there.”
Ryan put the van in gear without another word, and she wondered how much longer she could put up with him or if discovering what she’d seen that night was worth the hassle.
But she’d made a commitment to Hattie and really wanted to help get the new business launched, so she was stuck for a few more weeks.
She’d have to find a way to put up with him.
For the next hour, they rode in silence, exchanging words only when absolutely necessary.
It was a relief when she looked at the list and saw that they only had one basket left to deliver.
Letting out a sigh of relief, she flipped through the pages again to make sure they hadn’t missed anyone since there were still a couple of baskets in the back.
“We must have brought too many,” she said, looking up and out the window. “Where are you going? We still have to go to the Kappa house; they’re the last ones on the list.”
“We’re not going there,” Ryan said, turning the van in the other direction. “Hattie will have to find someone else to deliver theirs.”
“We have to, they’re in the contract, we have to deliver their basket,” she said, shaking her head, then saw the stubborn look on Ryan’s face. “Fine, let’s go back to the house. I’ll drop it off on the way home.”
Ryan stopped the van in the middle of the road and turned to look over at her, “No one is going to the Kappa house, not you, not me. Those guys are dangerous; they can’t be trusted.”
“Have you lost your mind?” she asked, looking around, wincing when she saw traffic backing up behind them. “We’re sitting in the middle of the road! You’re more dangerous than the Kappas could ever be.”
Ryan put the van back into gear and started driving again, a scowl on his face. “I mean it, Paula, I don’t want you going over there,” he finally said. “They’ll survive without that basket of cookies.”
“What if Dean Proctor finds out they didn’t get it?
” she asked, not about to take orders from him.
“Hattie could get in a lot of trouble. I’m not going to let that happen just because you have a problem with them.
I don’t even know them, and I’m just going to knock on the door and hand the basket over.
You’re making a big deal out of nothing again, but don’t worry, I’ll take care of it. ”
This time, Ryan pulled over to the side of the road. “You’re not going to listen to me, are you?” he asked, a frown on his face. “You’re going to go over there no matter what I say.”
“Yep, I am. I’m trying to help Hattie out here, not hurt her. I’ll be perfectly safe, I’m not even going inside,” she repeated. “I’ll just drop the basket off and be on my way. I don’t understand what the problem is.”
“And hopefully you never will,” he said, then sighed and pulled away from the curb. “We’ll take the stupid basket over there, but I’m coming to the door with you.”
She studied him for a second. “Fine, but I swear you’re creating problems just to be difficult,” she said, giving him a dirty look. “I have other things to do today, you know, Christmas shopping and stuff. I’d like to get this done before midnight.”