7. Give a Little
7
GIVE A LITTLE
HANSON
They did not see them in a bit.
In fact, Ginny and Ryan waited at the entrance to their favorite karaoke bar—Tots, Collaborate, & Listen—for a half hour, after a car ride of clipped conversation, then finally gave up and asked for a table when both their phones began to ping with notifications.
Ginny looked at her phone after taking a seat and opened up the sibling group chat.
Georgia Snow: Sorry, sis. I just can’t seem to perk up the energy needed for karaoke tonight. I’ll have to skip out.
Carolina Honey: Us too. Sorry, Gin. I can’t possibly imagine staying out any later tonight. *yawn*
Ginny: I knew you didn’t have anything in your eye.
Carolina Honey: I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Ginny: All the winking, Caroline! Those were scheming winks.
Georgia Snow: Ha! I told you she’d notice!
Sadie Girl: What’s going on?
Kota Major: Smells like meddling.
Ginny: They’re absolutely meddling.
Lake: Ginny, I had nothing to do with this, but I would really appreciate you swinging by with tots later… which I THOUGHT we’d be getting tonight.
Georgia: Hush, you.
Ginny: You’re all dead to me.
Ginny: Seriously, please don’t do this. He doesn’t want to be here!
Griffin: He does.
Kota Major: Oh, it’s Ryan again, isn’t it? If so, he does, Gin.
Carolina Honey: See, even Griff and Kota agree with us. But I will not be Winona in this!
Ginny: Georgia, you told her!?
Carolina Honey: SHE was winking too much when we met for lunch after your breakfast date… Got it out of her before the sweet tea was even delivered to the table.
Ginny: Can no one be trusted!?
Kota Major: Wait, what does Winona have to do with whatever it is y’all are doing.
Sadie Girl: Winona Ryder, right?
Georgia: Yup.
Caroline: No!
Georgia: You’re not Stranger Things, Winona. You’re Jo, Winona. Everyone loves Jo. Except for Laurie, of course, who was really meant for Amy but just doesn’t realize it yet.
Sadie Girl: You’re more like the new version of Jo anyway, Caroline… I always forget her name.
Kota Major: Saoirse Ronan… I hate that I know this. You guys have ruined me.
Sadie Girl: Yes! That’s the one. I love you, Wade.
Lake: I’m so confused right now.
Lake: And so hungry.
Griff: Me too. Y’all want to do burgers at the diner in Honey Hill?
Carolina Honey: Oh my goodness, yes. I could totally go for a bacon cheeseburger.
Georgia Snow: I’ll text Blaire and the girls. They were planning on dinner anyway and Mom and Dad just took the kids out for ice cream so we should be good for a couple of hours.
Ginny: Seriously?
Ginny: I will not forget this.
Ginny: What am I supposed to do? I’m stuck here!
Sadie Girl: I miss y’all so much right now.
Sadie Girl: Gin, I say just take my mama’s advice and kiss him square on the mouth.
Ginny: I’m not gonna do that.
Georgia Snow: [GIF- You can do it!]
Carolina Honey: Yes! Do it!
Caroline Honey: [GIF- Shaq Shimmy]
Kota Major: No.
Kota Major: Silencing now. ‘Night.
Griff: You got this, Virginia. But I will break his fingers if necessary.
Lake: What he said.
Lake: No one can resist a Remillard girl.
Ginny darkened her screen and slammed her phone down on the table top, counting out three calming breaths.
“They bailed,” Ryan said, sliding his own phone into his pocket, looking resigned.
“Yup.”
“Your sisters are…”
Ginny closed her eyes. “I know.” She couldn’t imagine what they had said to Ryan in their group chat. God-willing, Little Women was not mentioned. “But they’re your friends, buddy. I was born to them. You chose them.”
“I had little to do with the choice, I can assure you.”
Ginny smiled to herself and mumbled, “Ya can’t resist a Remillard.”
“Exactly.” He flushed, obviously realizing what he’d agreed to, and took off his ball cap, leaving his hair in a flattened mop on his head until he ran his hand through it.
“I, uh…” Ryan grimaced at the girl on stage screeching out a haunting version of a country classic. “I have never heard that particular note in this song before.”
Ginny threw her hands over her mouth, surprised he could joke in the midst of the scheme they’d just been shoved into. “It was impressive. Bless her heart.”
“I’m pretty sure I just heard the bathroom mirrors break.” Ryan bit his lower lip in a flirtatious smile. Ginny wanted to bottle it up and save it for use on a rainy day.
Wondering if you’ll ever see sunlight again? Just drink up this glorious half smile. It’s delicious and will light up your darkened spirit like multi-colored LED Christmas lights in a tiny room. Satisfaction guaranteed.
“We don’t have to stay, Ry. I know its—”
“Unexpected?”
“I was gonna say awkward, but yes,” Ginny agreed.
“It doesn’t have to be,” he said, leaning his forearms on the table, then deciding against it, sat back, rod-straight, against the booth. Ginny raised an eyebrow as if to say, This isn’t awkward?
He signaled the waitress and asked for two menus, though with how often they frequented the place, Ginny had the menu all but memorized.
When the waitress returned quickly, putting a menu in front of each of them, Ryan turned his attention to Ginny. “This doesn’t have to be weird. We’ve eaten together before. At this restaurant. Many times. We love tater tots.”
“Okay… we have. We do.” Ginny didn’t know what was happening exactly. Was she in some sort of twilight zone? What had her sisters said in that text message?
“Okay.” He nodded and looked around the room again, tapping his fingers on the sticky table top and sighing heavily. Deciding something.
“So, are you hungry?” he asked, looking at her with much softer eyes than he had in weeks.
He didn't want to leave? He wasn’t annoyed? Was this a pity meal?
“I’m starving… I mean, I haven’t eaten since breakfast, and I worked up an appetite out there, and well, we’re here, so…” Way to play it cool, Virginia. She was definitely hungry for something. “I could eat.”
He nodded to the menu in front of her. “We’ll stay if…”
Ginny’s heart stopped beating. “If?”
He smirked, looking over his own menu, “If I get to pick your first karaoke song.”
Ginny had to fight to hide her smile. “Do I get to choose yours?”
“Sure.”
They’d done this before as a large group. Choosing one another’s songs and seeing who they could embarrass the most. It was nothing new and nothing to get overly excited about. He’d probably have her sing a cringey 90’s boy band song then skedaddle outta there before she had her say. She’d love every minute of it. Maybe she’d even tell Melody Man tomorrow. Like a diary entry after a dreamy not-date . But she wouldn’t disclose a bit to her sisters. They’d get zero details. The traitors.
Plus, Ryan was obviously just making the best of the hand they’d been dealt and sticking it out so as not to hurt her feelings. She wouldn’t think anything of it…
Only, Ryan seemed to be holding his breath. Ginny watched him as he studied his menu. But even in the darkened corner of their booth, she could see his eyes hadn’t tracked along the large, laminated sheet at all.
He’d merely been staring blankly at it. His fingers gripped the page as if he were waiting anxiously for her answer. Even the final wretched note of the song overhead didn’t garner his attention.
Ginny finally nodded. “It’s a deal. But you’re paying, Coach.”
He blew out a breath and smirked, moving his eyes across the menu but never letting them drift to her. “You got it, Ginny.”
“I was sabotaged!” Ginny yelled over a woman belting Shania Twain. “No one can sing Celine, but Celine.”
“Backstreet Boys, Gin. You made me sing Backstreet Boys.” Ryan tossed a tater tot at her, which she soundly caught in her mouth. “You did Celine proud, tonight. And Adele… and Whitney.”
“Yup,” she said proudly. “I sounded just like them.”
He nodded, tossing a tot in his mouth. “You sure did.”
They’d been challenging each other for over an hour, taking turns picking the others’ songs and laughing over every performance, all while eating tater tot nachos and now a tater tot dessert comprised of perfectly fried, lightly golden tots covered with a chocolate and raspberry drizzle and a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on top.
“I still think you should have added in a little of the dancing. A boy band isn’t a boy band without some movement.”
Ryan glared playfully and scooped a bite of ice cream from their shared dessert. “A boy band isn’t a boy band with one fully grown man.”
Ginny shrugged and tapped his spoon out of the way. “Meh. Excuses, excuses.”
They both took bites of ice cream and watched the other, falling into a quiet stare down in the first moment of quiet tension between them since they’d arrived. Ginny bit the inside of her cheek, suddenly feeling low-key anxiety. She’d been having fun. So much so that she’d forgotten all about how her siblings had orchestrated this night. As much as Ginny had enjoyed almost every moment, it had happened against Ryan’s wishes.
“Virginia!?” A sanguine, male voice approached their table bringing with it a cloud of Axe body spray, shaking Ginny and Ryan from their quiet standoff. “I thought that was you!”
Liam grasped Ginny’s hand and pulled her from the table, wrapping her in a tight and particularly close hug before she realized what was happening.
“Liam Michael Holder,” she said playfully, holding him at a distance, though he held her by the elbows so as not to let her get away. “I thought you were in Florida with my brother… playin’ Top Gun. ”
“Nah. I’m here for another week or two. Enjoying all the South has to offer.” He bit his lower lip suggestively at Ginny. “Dakota went off on his honeymoon and then gave himself time to settle. But the rest of us don’t report for another few weeks.”
“Oh, that’s great. I’m… glad to see you. You should come to the Bicentennial Celebration we’re having in Sugartree in a few weeks, if you’re still in town then. It’s gonna be loads of fun.”
He gave her arms a squeeze and let his thumbs graze against her skin a few times. “That sounds great. In the meantime, I’d love to take you out while I’m still in town if you—”
Ryan suddenly stood, jutting his hand out—notably—between Liam and Ginny. “I don’t think we’ve met properly. I’m Ryan Hood.”
All smiles and cordiality, Liam released Ginny and took Ryan’s hand. “Liam Holder. And you’re the protective family friend, right? I think I saw you at the wedding a few weeks ago.”
“Yeah, that’s me. I was the one who sang with Ginny for the first dance.”
Liam’s eyes narrowed, still shaking Ryan’s hand. “And I was the one who danced with Virginia all night.”
Ginny rolled her eyes. “And I was the one who ate her weight in oatmeal raisin cookies and led the entire wedding party in the Macarena . We’re all introduced.” She waved her hand in a giant circle between them.
Both men turned to her, still holding onto each other. Liam looked entirely confused, but Ryan was delighted.
“I’m pretty sure I ate more,” he said.
“Not a chance, Coach.”
Liam released Ryan and put his hands on his hips. Even with his clean-cut polo, jeans, and entire Captain America look, Liam just couldn’t compare to the rumpled, armadillo sweatshirt-wearing man at her side—who’d just sung the most ridiculous rendition of I Want It That Way she’d ever heard and who had a speckle of chocolate sauce in the corner of his lip. Ryan was just barely taller than Liam, but in Ginny’s eyes, he’d managed to make himself look eight feet tall.
She held Ryan’s stare for three beats and despite his habit of posturing himself against every man that took notice of her, Ginny couldn’t deny the steady pitter patter of her heart as he looked at her now. Here. Alone-ish. With an inconsequential, but impressive man between them. His eyes bore into hers with an uncertain question in them. Like he couldn’t quite make out what it was he wanted, but she’d give just about anything to keep him looking at her the way he was now. Like he wasn’t as afraid of her as he let on.
Ginny, still pointed in Ryan’s direction, turned her eyes to Liam. “It was really nice to see ya, Liam, but I’m gonna have to pass on that date.” She gave him her best smile. “Thank you all the same, though.”
Liam’s eyes passed from Ginny to Ryan and back to Ginny, resigned understanding washing over his countenance. “Hmmm. I see,” he said, putting his hand out to shake Ryan’s again. “Well, it was nice to meet you Ryan and,” he turned to Ginny, scooping her into a hug before she realized what was happening, “looks like I’m the guy missing out now.”
“Sorry,” she whispered. And in some ways, she was.
“Don’t be.” He pulled away and saluted them both.
Ryan stepped closer, hands in his pockets and a Cheshire smile lighting up his face. “Well, isn’t he just so very nice.”
“You should see him dance.”
Ryan blew out a whistle. “And did you know he’s a hot pilot?”
Ginny hummed and looked around the room. “Yeah, but he doesn’t watch The Office.”
“Deal breaker?”
“Guess so.” She shrugged.
“Well, there's more fish in the sea and all that. Probably… But not that guy.” Ryan looked down at their table and the remnants of tots on the plate. “Are you ready to get outta here?”
She nodded, and Ryan, hands still shoved in his pockets, nudged her with his shoulder to lead the way.
An eclectic playlist sang over the speakers of Ryan’s car, a steady soundtrack to their ride home in the autumn twilight. It wasn’t cold enough for winter coats or boots, but Ginny felt the promise of a chill in the air and wrapped her arms around herself.
Ryan flipped the heat on low without a word and steered them towards Good Start and Ginny’s apartment, tapping his fingertips against the steering wheel.
“Thanks for sticking around with me,” Ginny said, taking a glance at Ryan, with his hands tense at ten and two and his eyes never veering from ahead. “And for paying. I had fun.”
He nodded and offered her a silent smile. Why couldn’t he just admit the same?
Ginny felt her earlier irritation with him flare. She didn’t want to return to clipped conversation and Ryan’s avoidance. She wanted his friendship if she could have nothing else.
“Your car smells like you,” she blurted.
Way to not make things more uncomfortable, Gin.
“I mean… you smell good. Well, you smell like you always smell… not that I spend a lot of time sniffing you or anything, but… bleh,” she spit her tongue out, restarting. “I haven’t been in your car in a while. Probably not since high school.”
“And it smells?”
“Yup. Definitely a unique, Ryan-esque aroma happening in here.”
“Insightful. And what does the essence of Ryan smell like? Probably a cross between chocolate tater tots and great taste in music?”
“Yeah. And loads of humility.” She bit back her smile and thought of how to describe it. “Did your mom ever make you cookies when you were little?”
Ryan glanced at her then back to the road. “Ummm. No. She wasn’t much of a cook… or a mom for that matter. But my, uh… my grandma would though. Chocolate chip.”
“Oh.” Ginny had only met Ryan’s mom maybe once over the years, but she didn’t know much about her. Just that she was a single mom and that she wasn’t around much. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“It’s fine, Gin.” He pinched his lips but offered her a small smile. “She just wasn’t equipped to be my mom. My dad passed away before I could even remember him, and she apparently just wasn’t ever the same. But I never went without. My grandparents were great parents to me.”
“But… they both passed away a few years ago.” Ginny remembered the grief in Georgia’s voice as she’d shared the news of Ryan’s grandmother’s death, and then shortly after, his grandfather’s. Ginny had reached out and fervently prayed for Ryan’s peace, but she hadn’t known then the unique hand they’d had on his life. That they’d raised him and molded him into the man she cared for so deeply.
He nodded slowly. “Yeah. Three months between them. Four years ago. You were away at school. I got your card then… and, it meant… a lot. But I’m okay now. Really.” He surprised her, reaching out and giving the hand she’d rested on her knee a squeeze then promptly returning it to a tight grasp on the wheel. “What do cookies have to do with my car smell?”
Ginny sniffled, surprised by the revelation and the new grief she felt on Ryan’s behalf. “Um… Okay.” She pulled her leg up onto the seat and rested it below the other, twisting her body to look at Ryan. “So, sometimes when I was little, Mama would make these perfect oatmeal raisin cookies. They were my absolute favorite, and she’d surprise me with them after school. I’d walk in the door and smell those cookies and, man, I felt like I could melt into the couch and take a cozy nap wrapped in that cookie smell, ya know?”
He smiled. “Oh, yeah. Best feeling.”
Ginny took a breath, pausing. “You… well, you kinda smell like that…”
“Like oatmeal raisin cookies?”
“No, Ryan, you don’t smell like cookies. Your scent makes me think of… Ugh, this is so embarrassing…”
“Come on,” he egged her on. “Don’t go shy on me now.”
She groaned and put her hands over her face. “It makes me think of a warm nap on a cold day, wrapped up in the fragrance of… home.”
She uncovered her eyes and watched her words wash over him as the streetlights set shadows across his face.
“Oh.”
She sighed, hearing how desperate that must have sounded. “Yeah, oh…” she echoed. “So, basically, you smell yummy.”
Ryan full on belly laughed, filling the air between them with the perfect sound, and making Ginny forget all about any earlier thoughts of cooler weather. She tapped her hands on her legs to keep from fanning her face. “Ya know, I think I should point out that I am perfectly ordinary with everyone but you.”
“I’ve known you for a while now, and I can confidently say, Ginny Remillard, you are anything but ordinary.” He loosened his deathgrip on the wheel, pulled onto Main Street, and slowly crept into a spot outside of the darkened front windows of Good Start.
The doorstep had been framed by haystacks and pumpkins of every shape, color, and size. A festive, fall wreath hung from the door, and Ginny knew beyond the picture perfect entrance, her mama had placed large cinnamon sticks and cloves in canning jars across the entire store, cotton bouquets decorated each table, and during operating hours, the same dangling lights used at Christmastime created the perfect twinkling ambiance, hanging from the old wooden rafters.
On any other day, going home to Good Start would be inviting. But Ginny had no desire to leave the warm, uniquely Ryan-scented, friendship bubble she’d enjoyed over the past few hours to be left alone in her loft upstairs. It wouldn’t make her think of those fresh-out-of-the-oven oatmeal cookies at all. And, mostly, she worried that if she got out of the car right then, Ryan might forget the ease of the night. How they’d teased and laughed and enjoyed each other, even when it was just the two of them.
“Ry?” She wanted to lighten the mood in the shadow of her very personal overshare. She wanted to hear him laugh again. To keep those laughs all to herself.
“Hmm?” he answered, looking up at the loft windows as if picturing her there.
Ginny thought about picking his brain apart. Asking him real questions and receiving real answers, without hesitation or the fear of him walking away from her. Again. She wanted to be as brave and fearless as she felt in nearly every other facet of her life. To give him that push Kota suspected Ryan needed. But instead, she asked, “Are you wearin’ novelty socks today?”
He sighed and let his head rest against the seat. “Yeah. They’re… The Office socks.”
“I love The Office ,” she said and placed her hand on the handle of the door, readying to leave.
“I know.” He smiled, likely remembering a certain Air Force pilot who most notably didn’t enjoy the show.
She shook her head, unable to hide her grin, and opened the door. “‘Night, Ryan.”
She almost missed him quietly call out to her, “Hey, Ginny?”
“Yeah?” she asked, leaning her head back into the car.
“You smell good, too.”