CHAPTER 21
RYAN

I could hear the panic and exasperation in Grace’s voice when she called. I wasn't sure what had taken place, but the fact that she called and expressed a need for me made me jump into action. I sprang off the couch and took a quick shower, then pulled on my best jeans and a shirt. I slid my leather jacket over my arms and raced out the door, then over to her house. I didn’t care that her mother was there or that Amy was going to be there as well. The only thing I cared about was making sure she was okay.

I raced through town, my mind whirling a thousand miles a second. I pulled into Grace’s driveway and jumped out of my car. I took a moment to gather my thoughts and settle myself before I went inside. The last thing I needed to do was run into the house like a crazed lunatic.

I walked up to the porch and knocked on the door. But when the door opened, there was another girl standing there. A brown-haired, hazel-eyed girl I was vaguely familiar with. She eyed me up and down before she opened the door, and I stepped into the bustling house. Wonderful smells were coming from the kitchen as Harper sat on the couch, her eyes glued to a movie on the television.

But Grace was nowhere to be found.

“Ryan. It’s been a while.”

“Amy. Nice to see you again,” I said.

I held my hand out to shake and she took it with a grin on her face.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

“Honestly? I’m not sure. I got here and Grace’s mother was whirling around in the kitchen. From what Harper told me, it sounded like they might’ve been fighting about something. But I’m not sure what. Grace is still in her room.”

“Is that where she called me from?” I asked.

“I’m assuming so. She hasn’t come out.”

“Let me go talk with her,” I said.

“Mr. Ryan!”

Harper jumped off the couch and ran at me full-force. I picked her up and swung her around, then I held her against me. She wrapped her arms around me and I held her close, watching as Grace’s mother peeked around the corner of the kitchen.

She was eyeing me curiously, like she wasn’t sure about me anymore.

“Are you gonna eat with us, too?” Harper asked.

“Yes I am. Your mother called and invited me,” I said.

“Yay! Does that mean Mommy will come out now?”

“I’m going to go check right now. Why don’t you hop back up on the couch and watch that fun movie?”

“Will you come sit with me after Mommy comes out?” she asked.

“I promise I will, kiddo.”

I drew in a deep breath and started down the hallway. Amy pointed me in the direction of her room and I thanked her for her guidance. I walked up to the door and thought about opening it, but if Grace was having a moment I didn’t want to intrude without her permission.

So I knocked on the door and waited for her to respond.

“Yes?”

“It’s me. Can I come in?”

I didn’t hear an answer.

“I’m coming in, okay?” I asked.

“Okay,” Grace said.

Opening the door slowly, I slipped in, then shut it quietly behind me. Grace was sitting on her bed, her shoulders slumped and her head in her hands. I could tell by the sound of her voice that she’d been crying, and I felt myself beginning to bristle. I didn’t want her to hurt in any way.

I walked over to the bed and sat behind her, then placed my hand between her shoulder blades.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “But I’m glad you’re here.”

“Harper said you had a fight with your mom.”

“Shit. She heard?”

“I’m not sure. I heard it through the grapevine from Amy,” I said.

“Then she did hear.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?” I asked.

“I mean, I do. I need to. But now isn’t the time. Nowhere near the time to address it.”

“Then we can talk about it whenever you feel comfortable, okay? But I’m worried about you being worked up like this and your mother still being here.”

“Welcome to my life,” she said.

“Do you want me to get her to leave?”

“I promise, you couldn’t get her to leave if you physically removed her.”

I chuckled as my hand began to rub her back.

“All right, you two. Dinner’s ready,” Amy said.

“Thanks,” Grace said. “We’ll be out in a second.”

“Clothed, preferably,” Amy said.

Grace snickered and shook her head as a grin spread across my cheeks.

“Wild as ever, I see.”

“I promise you, she hasn’t changed a bit.”

“It’s refreshing, if you think about it. Sometimes, in a world of constant change, something that remains the same can be the thing that roots us to the ground,” I said.

Grace slowly turned her head toward me with a confused look on her face.

“I didn’t take you for a philosophical person.”

“Most don’t. Doesn’t mean I don’t think about these things,” I said. “Come on. Let’s go trudge through dinner. I promised Harper I’d finish her movie with her.”

“That girl loves you,” she said.

I felt my heart skip a beat at her words. There was something that wanted to ask if Harper’s mother felt the same way, but I bit my tongue before it flew out of my mouth. I had no idea what possessed those words to enter my head, but there was no way I was hitting her with something like that.

Not when things were already up in arms with her damn mother.

The two of us left the room and made our way into the kitchen. Amy was sitting on one side of Grace’s mother and Harper was sitting on the other. I pulled out Grace’s chair and she thanked me, then I sat between her and Amy.

We all spooned up the wonderful dinner Donna had made before the talking began.

“So, Amy. What are you doing these days?” I asked.

“Working too much and getting paid too little to do it,” she said. “You?”

“Construction. Some projects on the outskirts of town,” I said.

“How are those going, by the way?” Donna asked.

I lifted my eyes to hers and her glare made me wary of her question. The tone of her voice was kind, but her eyes were lit with fire. I took a bite of my food as Grace turned her gaze towards me, her hand creeping onto my thigh and squeezing.

Almost like she was telling me not to answer.

“Slowly,” I said. “But construction is usually that way. The only construction that seems to go quickly is road work, but even that can seem like a long time if it’s being done in the middle of the day.”

“Do you get paid much for these jobs?” Donna asked.

“Mom,” Grace said.

“No, no. It’s fine. She wants to make sure I can hold my own and that you’re not supporting me or something. I get it. Yes, I get paid a decent wage to work these jobs. Enough to keep a roof over my head, send Jason to college, and live.”

“Jason?” Donna asked “That’s your younger brother, correct?”

“Yes ma’am. He’s almost ten years younger than me.”

“Still in high school, then,” she said.

“He is. And smart as a whip. I’m trying to keep him on the path to college.”

“You don’t think it’s a good idea for him to earn an honest living like you do?” she asked.

“Mom, back off,” Grace said.

“Mommy, what's wrong?” Harper said.

“Nothing’s wrong, sweetie. I’m just asking questions,” Donna said.

“That’s not all you’re doing and you know it,” Grace said.

“Did anyone see that basketball game last night?” Amy asked.

All of us whipped our heads over to Amy as she stabbed at her food.

“You know, all those goals and touchdowns and stuff.”

“I think you have your sports mixed up,” Grace said.

“You know, I’ve never been a fan of basketball, but I love baseball. Not on television though. That’s boring. I like actually being there for the games,” I said.

“I wanna play tee-ball, but Mommy won’t let me,” Harper said.

“I’m sure your mom has a very good reason if she won’t let you,” I said.

“She wants to play tee-ball, but she doesn’t want to get dirty,” Grace said.

“Well, that’s a problem. Because half the fun of tee-ball is getting dirty,” I said.

“I don’t like getting dirty. It’s gross.”

“Not even to play tee-ball?” I asked.

“Why do sports have to be dirty?”

“I think the better question is why don’t you want to be dirty? When I was a kid, I loved digging in the dirt.”

“Because then I have to take a bath and Mommy scrubs my head really hard.”

“Her hair is thick at her scalp. It’s like it’s made to cling to dirt,” Grace said.

“I know a thing or two about that,” I said as I raked my hand through my hair. “That’s why I keep mine this length.”

“If I cut my hair, will you let me play tee-ball?” Harper asked.

“Look at what the new guy started,” Amy said, with a grin.

“Whoops,” I said. “Sorry.”

“It’s not a problem. I like the fact that she wants to play sports,” Grace said.

“We could go to all of her games and cheer like crazy with beers in our hands,” Amy said.

“Yep. You really haven’t changed a bit,” I said with a grin.

“And you’ve changed a lot, shockingly enough.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Donna said.

My eyes whipped over to Grace’s mother as my brow furrowed.

“What was that?” I asked.

“Nothing,” Grace said. “It was absolutely nothing.”

I wasn't sure why Donna was acting weird toward me, but she was. I thought that we had come to an understanding of sorts, and that she accepted that I wasn’t the same asshole kid I’d been in highschool, causing trouble just to cause trouble. The way she was looking at me now, though, made me nervous.

“Donna,” I said. “Are you still working? Or are you retired?”

“Still working,” she said.

“What do you do?”

“I’m the manager at the grocery store in town.”

“Do you enjoy what you do?”

“About as much as you do,” she said flatly.

“Then, you do enjoy it,” I said.

“Grandma, why are you being mean to Mr. Ryan?” Harper asked.

“No, no. She’s okay, guys. I promise,” I said.

We all sat in thickening silence while Grace and her mother glared at one another. “Well, this train wreck has been fun,” Amy said. “But I believe I’m going to tell you guys that work is calling so I can go home and not be a part of the awkward fun any longer.”

“That’s okay. Thanks for staying for dinner,” Grace said. “I’ll walk you out.”

“Can I come say bye to Auntie Amy?” Harper asked.

“Of course you can, princess. Come on,” Grace said.

The three of them got up and walked out the door, which left me staring at Donna. This was the perfect time to address whatever the fuck was wrong. It was one thing to come at me like that, but it was another thing entirely to make Grace feel the way she felt and to put Harper in the middle of it all.

And even though I was new, I still wasn’t going to stand for it.

“Would you like to talk about why you don’t really like me?” I asked.

“I’m onto you,” Donna said.

I felt my stomach drop to my toes as my eyes hooked onto hers.

“I only hope Grace can wake up soon enough from whatever trance you have her in.”

“I care about your daughter. Greatly.”

“You better,” she said.

“I do. In fact, I think I might still love her.”

“You think? Still? You have no idea what you’re talking about. You’re lying to her and she doesn’t even care. Whatever you’ve done to my daughter, I hope she can break free from it.”

I tried to keep my composure as my mind started swirling. I was beginning to worry. I was taken aback by the aggressiveness of Donna’s tone of voice, but I wondered what she knew about me. Was it possible she knew what I was really doing in town? How did she know I wasn’t really a construction worker?

And what did she mean by saying Grace didn’t believe her?

“I’m not going to hurt your daughter. I love her, and Harper. And I’ll do whatever it takes to provide for them.”

“You've been in the picture three weeks,” Donna said. “You don’t know what it takes to love a woman like Grace. Someone who has been broken and has lost so much. I won’t let a man like you hurt her. A liar and a cheat, born from nothing more than a criminal.”

I sat back in my chair, feeling like I’d been slapped across the face. There it was. The real reason she didn’t like me. Despite the fact that she somehow knew I wasn’t working construction, she really didn’t like me because of who my father was. She was still looking at me like I was that eighteen-year old hoodlum boy in high school.

Maybe I wasn't good enough for her daughter, but that didn’t change how I felt about Grace and Harper. It didn’t change my plans to stop the life I was leading after this last heist so I could try to live the life I wanted.

Hopefully, with Grace by my side.

“I only have the purest of intentions, despite who my father is,” I said.

“We’ll see about that,” Donna said.

“Mr. Ryan?”

Harper’s voice pulled me from the conversation as I looked down upon the little girl.

“Yes?” I asked.

“Can you come finish my movie with me now?”

“Of course I can. Let me clear my plate. And you should do the same with yours. Your grandmother cooked, so she shouldn't have to clean,” I said.

My eyes rose up to Donna one last time before I got up from my chair.

I could hear Grace and Donna bickering with one another in the kitchen as Harper and I sat on the couch. I pulled the little girl close to me, hoping she was paying attention to the movie. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I picked up little bits of the conversation. Things like ‘he isn’t all that’ and ‘get off it’ and ‘don’t come back’ and ‘I’m your mother’. I had no idea what was going on, but it was bad.

Donna stormed through the house and dashed out the front door. Harper got up on her knees, watching through the window as her grandmother stormed off. I pulled her into my arms and cradled her close as we continued to watch the movie, but I could see the sadness in her eyes.

Whatever was going on, it was affecting Harper.

And when Grace emerged from the kitchen with puffy red eyes, I knew it was affecting her, too.

“Come here,” I said.

I held out my arm for Grace as she flopped onto the couch.

“Let’s finish the movie, then I’ll tuck you guys in. How does that sound?” I asked.

As if the two of them were connected with a thread, Harper and Grace both leaned into me. Nothing had ever felt so natural in all my life.