Appeal to You (A Beyond the Cove Novel Book 3)

by Jaclyn Quinn

  “Deciding to foster wasn’t easy, but we went through with the process. We fostered a little girl named Cassie. The longer she was with us, the more attached to her we got. We knew in our hearts we would adopt her if given the chance. I’m not saying that I’m unhappy her parents got their act together, but the loss we felt…” Her eyes glistened, and she took a deep breath. “I promised myself I’d never do it again. I just couldn’t handle another heartbreak.”

  Ryder felt like an ass and hated the pain this subject had apparently brought up for Nina. Just admit you’re out of options. “I’m sorry, Nina. I shouldn’t have…” Ryder stood, gripping the back of his neck and feeling incredibly awkward. He wasn’t good at consoling people. His idea of being there for his friends in hard times was with comic relief. But there was no making light of this situation. “Yeah, I’m just gonna go. I guess you’re used to me now, huh? Just chalk it up to another stupid idea thought up by yours truly.” He laughed nervously, trying to lessen the tension he’d caused.

  He made it as far as the door when Nina grabbed his arm. “Ryder, I’m sorry…”

  “No, it’s all good. I shouldn’t have asked.” All he wanted to do was flee. Get back to his place, make sure Chris was safe in his hiding place, and crash for the night.

  “It’s not a decision I can make tonight or on my own.” And with her words, hope flared in Ryder’s chest. “Stan and I will have to sit down and talk this through. I’m not making any promises except to say that I’ll talk to Stan in the morning.” When Ryder smiled, Nina asked, “Where is he now? Is he okay for the night?”

  “I think so.” God, I fucking hope so. “For now…but he needs a place as soon as possible.”

  Nina let go of his arm and placed her hand, instead, on Ryder’s face. “He means a lot to you?”

  Ryder didn’t know how to answer that. He knew Chris, spoke to him every day, but it wasn’t like they had this great friendship. Third and last fucking time I’m going to admit this… “Chris and I have a lot in common. I would’ve…” He closed his eyes and forced himself to say the words. Words that he hoped would change Nina’s mind; not to make her feel guilty but because they were the truth. “I would’ve given anything to have foster parents like you and Stan in my life when I was a kid.” Ryder opened his eyes, saw the understanding and compassion on Nina’s face, and shrugged. He leaned in and kissed her soft cheek. “Goodnight, Nina.”

  “Goodnight, honey.”

  Ryder paced in front of his window, keeping an eye on the laundry room stairs. He could see it from his place and had been watching for the kid since he’d gotten home. It was two in the morning and no fucking sign of him yet.

  “Fuck this,” Ryder growled, grabbing his laundry keycard on his way out the door. He crossed the courtyard and got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach when he saw the laundry room light was out. Sure enough, when Ryder opened the door, the room was empty.

  He thought for a minute. “Check the other one, dumbass.” It would make sense that Chris wouldn’t stay in the same one twice in a row, right? The kid was smart. Smarter than Ryder had ever been at that age. Hell, he’s probably smarter than I am now.

  Ryder cut diagonally across the grass to the other building, cursing when he saw that the light was out in that room, also. Still, he went down into the room, confirming what he’d already figured: Chris wasn’t there.

  “This is your fucking fault. You probably spooked him. You let him know you knew where he was hiding,” he chided himself, never hating himself and his stupid decisions more than in that moment.

  Taking the stairs two at a time, Ryder began his search of the area for the third time in two days. He checked places he hadn’t thought to the first time around, but he still came up empty. Sitting on a bench on the boardwalk, Ryder tried not to panic, but he knew, if anything happened to Chris, it would be his goddamn fault for not letting someone know he was in the laundry room last night. Ryder stood and circled back around to his building. He deflated when he checked both rooms again, and still there was no sign of Chris.

  Ryder pulled out his phone, his hand shaking. He couldn’t call Novak or Eli; they had the boys and wouldn’t be able to help him. Parker and Kenz knew nothing about what was going on. His finger hovered over the name he’d pulled up then he took a deep breath, pressed down, and listened to the phone ring.

  “Hello?” His voice was groggy, void of all the firmness that was usually in his tone.

  “Avery?” Why he’d said that like a question, like he didn’t know who he expected to answer, made no sense. “Avery, I—”

  “Ryder? What’s going on? Are you okay?” There was the authority Ryder was used to hearing from the man, and somehow, it calmed him down.

  He needed someone else to take charge here. He needed someone else to figure out what to do. He needed… “Avery.” Ryder cleared his throat. “I fucked up. Can you…?” Jesus, how the hell was he supposed to ask the man for help now? After he’d lied to him all day?

  “Where are you?” The rustle of sheets as Avery got out of bed let Ryder know he didn’t have to ask for help. Avery knew he needed it.

  “I’m at my place, sitting on the steps.”

  “I’ll be there in five minutes.” Before Ryder could even respond, Avery ended the call. It was at that moment that Ryder realized he hadn’t even told Avery what was going on. Avery had no idea why Ryder needed him, yet he was coming over at almost three in the morning.

  He felt a crushing weight on his chest. “He’s gonna hate you when he finds out what you did. You fucking deserve it, but you sure as hell don’t deserve him.” Jesus, why the hell did that matter? Nothing was ever going to happen between them, anyway. “Focus on what’s important, asshole.”

  Ryder heard a car pull into the parking lot and stood up, wiping his clammy hands on his jeans. He’d tried preparing himself for how angry Avery was going to be once he found out what Ryder had done. But as his heart fluttered—fucking fluttered—in his chest when he finally caught sight of the man, Ryder’s shoulders sagged. Yeah, you are nowhere near good enough for that man. A quick fuck? Ryder could give him one hell of a night. But who was he kidding, anyway? Ryder didn’t do relationships. He wasn’t quite sure why he was even thinking about it.

  “What’s going on?” Avery asked as he approached Ryder with determined, long strides until he was standing right in front of him.

  Now or never. “Chris…” Shit. He started again. “I don’t know where Chris is.”

  Avery gave him a confused look. “We haven’t known where Chris is for almost two days.” Ryder held Avery’s gaze as long as he could, but then averted his eyes. “You knew.” It was a simple statement, but the disappointment it was laced with made it so much more substantial. “Jesus, Ryder.”

  “Yeah,” was all he could think to say because yeah, he’d known where Chris was last night, and yeah, he’d kept his stupid mouth shut. “He slept in the laundry room last night, but I had no idea where he was today.”

  Avery hung his head, anger coming off him in waves, but regardless of that, he looked back up and said, “Let’s go. He’s out there somewhere.”

  Relief washed over Ryder. Avery was pissed, probably hated Ryder even more now, but he was still going to help him.

  There was no small talk this time around. Avery had every right to be angry with him; Ryder knew that. Yet, he stayed with him, and they searched for hours. By the time the sun came up, Ryder could feel the exhaustion in his every step. He had one client later today, but he knew he’d be in no shape to work on such an intricate design with no sleep. When it reached a decent hour, Ryder took his phone out, grabbing Avery’s arm to get him to stop walking. “Hey, listen,” he said when Novak answered, “could you reschedule my appointment today?”

  “What’s going on?”

  “I’m looking for that kid I told you about.” He glanced up at Avery, hating the hollow look he was giving him. “Been up all night, and I don’t want to fuck up
Vinny’s piece.”

  “Shit. Yeah, okay. Wait, hang on a second…” Ryder could hear Novak talking to someone, but it was muffled. When he came back, he said, “Sorry. Nina just got here to get the boys. They’re taking them for breakfast. What’s going on? You still can’t find the kid?”

  Ryder sighed, another wave of guilt drowning him. “No, we can’t find him.”

  “We?”

  Ryder glanced up at the man in front of him. “Avery’s been helping me look.”

  “He has?” Novak asked, but when Ryder didn’t answer, he said, “I’ll give Vinny a call. Let us know if we can do anything.”

  “Thanks.” After saying goodbye and hanging up, Ryder chanced another look at Avery. The guy was staring at him now, and uncomfortable didn’t even begin to describe how that look was making Ryder feel. “You can go home, if you want. I know you have to work, and this isn’t your problem. Hell, I’m not even sure how it became my problem, but—”

  “I already sent in a text to Phyllis that I wouldn’t be in the office today.” Avery continued to stare, making Ryder avert his eyes. “Just tell me one thing. Yes or no, did you think you were protecting him?”

  Ryder met Avery’s blue eyes again, more confident in this answer than anything else he’d done or said in the last couple days. “Yes.”

  Avery gave a nod, the tension in his jaw loosening. “Come on. I think we need to check some of the shady areas we’ve been avoiding.”

  “You really think he’d be over there?” Ryder thought about the area he’d grown up in, the dark side of the shore area no one liked to acknowledge. The locals dubbed it The Pit because it was in between Beachside and Brighton Pier. Neither of the towns liked to take responsibility for what went down there, even though, technically, it was a part of Beachside. But Ryder knew those streets like the back of his hand, and the thought of Chris being in that area sent a chill down his spine.

  “I don’t think we can assume anymore that he isn’t. We’ve searched every inch of Brighton Pier multiple times.”

  Avery didn’t miss the hesitation in Ryder’s expression. It was obvious he didn’t want to go into that part of town. Hell, neither did Avery, but what other choice did they have? “Come on. We can take my car.” Avery started to walk away.

  “Nope,” Ryder said firmly, making Avery halt and look back at him. “No way in hell we’re taking your hey-I’m-fucking-loaded BMW. Let’s just hang a fucking sign on your neck that says, Please, jump me. Bad enough you look like that.” Ryder waved a hand at Avery, looking him up and down.

  “Look like what?” Avery asked defensively, glancing down at his outfit.

  “Like a fucking GQ ad. Seriously, I woke you up close to three in the morning. How the hell do you look so damn good?” Ryder scowled, and Avery couldn’t help the laugh that slipped out.

  “Hashtag I woke up like this?” Avery watched as Ryder’s eyes lightened and a smile formed.

  “You did not just say that.” Laughter spilled out of Ryder’s plump lips as he shook his head in disbelief.

  “Come on.” Avery nudged his head in the direction of Ryder’s place. “So, we’re taking your car, I guess?”

  “Hell yeah. No one’s gonna bat an eye at my piece of shit on wheels.”

  “I’m not loaded, by the way.” Avery had no idea why he felt the need to say that, but Ryder just gave him a look that said, yeah right.

  It was completely ludicrous for Avery to feel like he wasn’t good enough because he had money. What kind of backward thinking was that? Still, he felt like Ryder was putting him in another category, and oddly enough, he didn’t want to be there. He wanted to be in the same category as Ryder, but as they got closer to Ryder’s car and the man tensed up even more, Avery realized how thoughtless that was.

  He’d been entitled his entire life. Yes, he did his part to help those in need, but it didn’t change where he’d come from. It didn’t change that he lived in an expensive place on the boardwalk or the pricey car that was sitting in the parking lot a few spots down from Ryder’s older-model Ford Focus.

  He gave Ryder a side-glance. They couldn’t be more different from one another, but there was a level of comfort Avery felt with the man beside him, and he couldn’t quite explain why.

  Ryder opened the passenger door for Avery, tossing things on the seat to the back. “Sorry. My car’s a mess.”

  “It’s fine.”

  Finally, Ryder went around to his side of the car, and as they got in, Ryder’s phone rang. “Can you get that?”

  Avery realized that this model of car wouldn’t have Bluetooth. “Hello?” he said, after he saw that it was Nina.

  “Ryder?”

  “No, this is Avery. Ryder’s driving so he asked me to answer his phone.”

  “Avery, hi, honey. It’s Nina. Did you find the boy?” She sounded concerned, but quite honestly, he was surprised Nina knew anything about it.

  “Not yet. Let me put you on speaker.” Avery switched over, letting Nina know they were still there. “We’re going to try another area now.”

  “I’m so sorry you both have to do this. That poor boy. Ryder…honey, are you there?”

  Ryder smiled warmly, no doubt feeling the same love they all did for the sweet woman on the phone. “I’m here, Nina.”

  “I talked to Stan and told him about you stopping by last night.” Ryder glanced quickly at Avery out of the corner of his eye before focusing back on the road. “I don’t know what I was thinking, honey. I think you just caught me off guard. I want to let you know that, of course, we’ll take the child in. Just let me know what we have to do. I have no doubt you’ll find him. We’ll be ready and waiting when you do.”

  Ryder exhaled loudly, and if Avery wasn’t mistaken, his bottom lip trembled a bit. “Nina…I… Thank you so much.”

  “Anything for you. Remember that, okay?” she said, and Ryder nodded even though she couldn’t see him.

  “Thank you, Nina,” Avery said. “You and Stan have all the licensing needed?” It was probably an inane question, but some people didn’t realize what was involved with taking a child into their home.

  “Yes, we’re all set.”

  Now it was Avery’s turn to breathe a sigh of relief. Jesus, he felt a sense of protectiveness over the boy, and he’d never even met him. “Then I see no reason why they wouldn’t let you take him in. You’re doing a great thing.”

  “We’re doing the right thing. That boy is lucky Ryder is looking out for him.”

  Avery studied Ryder again as Ryder’s eyes stayed glued to the road. “He sure is.”

  Ryder’s expression morphed to one of shock. Avery could only imagine the guilt the man had felt when Chris didn’t show up in the laundry room for the night. But guilt aside, Ryder had done the right thing and reached out for help—apparently, in more ways than one.

  “Okay, well, keep me updated. I’ll be here all day with the boys.”

  “Will do,” Avery replied. They all said their goodbyes, and Avery ended the call. “So, you went to Nina and Stan for help?” Avery was blown away that this was affecting Ryder this much. The man seemed really invested in finding Chris a safe home.

  “Technically, I went to Novak and Eli first. Pretty dumb, huh? Thinkin’ they could take Chris in just ‘cause they got custody of the boys.”

  “Why do you do that?”

  “Do what? Make stupid decisions?” Ryder shrugged. “In my blood, I guess.”

  “No. Why do you put yourself down like that?” Avery waited for Ryder to respond, but when it became obvious that he wasn’t going to, Avery asked, “So, after I left last night, you went and asked Jake and Eli to take Chris in?”

  Ryder scrubbed a hand over his face. “Yeah. I was thinking about what you said before you left.” Uneasy eyes shifted to look at Avery. “I mean, the part about you not being legally able to take Chris in.”

  Avery thought of the other things he had said to Ryder. He’d meant every word, even if it was weird comi
ng from him. Maybe they hadn’t been the closest of friends over the last year, but Ryder was a constant in Avery’s life now. Deep down, he knew that wasn’t only because of their mutual friends. There was something about Ryder that appealed to Avery, no matter how hard he tried to pretend it didn’t. And it wasn’t only sex appeal; Ryder had no idea how big his heart actually was. In a matter of a couple of days, Avery was beginning to understand, though.

  “I got to thinking,” Ryder continued, “that maybe Novak and Eli had to go through some kind of screening or some shit.” He was acting like it was no big deal that he’d asked his friends to help. “They couldn’t take him.” He leaned his elbow on the door, cradling his head in his hand as he waited for the light to turn green to cross over into The Pit. “I’m sure you knew that already. Anyway, they said Nina and Stan used to take kids in, and I went over and asked.” He shrugged, pushing his glasses higher up on his nose.

  “You can shrug it off all you want, but you did a good thing, Ryder. Don’t pretend otherwise.” Avery had no idea why Ryder thought that showing people a certain side of himself—a compassionate side of himself—was a bad thing. It wasn’t just that Ryder had so many layers, but that he used the outer layers as a defense mechanism. Like if he didn’t show people what was underneath then that would somehow protect him.

  They were quiet as they drove through the rundown neighborhood. Avery had so many questions on the tip of his tongue, but he went with the most obvious. “The way you talked back there, about not bringing my car here…you sounded like you were talking from experience.”

  Ryder’s hand tightened on the steering wheel, and for a second, Avery didn’t think he was going to say anything. “Yeah. So?” There was a hard edge to his voice, one that Avery had only heard once before when they’d gotten in the argument at Inkubus.