Falling Into Love (Paradise Place Book 5)

by Natalie Ann

  “And you ended up here? Small world,” she said. “What did Ryan say to you about us?”

  “I’m from Colonie originally. I went to school here,” Harris said. “It was only natural to come back.”

  “Ryan didn’t say much,” Kaelyn said. “Just that someone new moved in and their son liked baseball. Harris opened up a clinic for kids this spring and Ryan wanted to know if there was an age limit.”

  “Can I do it, Mom?” Jeffrey asked.

  “I don’t know,” she said, looking helpless.

  “Sorry,” Kaelyn said. “Didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I’m sure you’ve got your hands full right now.”

  She suspected Ryan might have mentioned she was a single parent too. “It’s not a time or money thing. Is he too young? He’s only five.”

  “I’ll be six when school starts,” Jeffrey said. He hated to feel like he was one of the youngest in his grade and always defended his age.

  “I have indoor and outdoor clinics for the younger kids. Some games they can play on the weekends. T-ball is pretty much over with, but a lot of kids want to continue to play as long as the weather holds. We take new kids all the time. There aren’t set teams for this. Just whoever signs up to come on certain days and we put teams together.”

  “Please, Mommy, please,” Jeffrey said, jumping around her legs. He’d been calling her “Mom” more now trying to sound older, but her heart almost melted when a “Mommy” slipped in. “I’ll remember to put my dishes in the dishwasher or the sink. I promise.”

  She felt the heat fill her face. “I’m not really a taskmaster.”

  Zoe snorted. “Don’t let her fool you. My sister runs a neat ship. That’s why the kids are upstairs and I’m in the basement. She doesn’t want to see those messes.”

  “Thanks a lot, Zoe.”

  “Don’t think anything of it,” Kaelyn said. “I’ve got one brother that’s neat, and one that is a slob. Well, maybe not a slob now, but he’s not as neat as the rest of us. No one is quite like Ryan though. He’s a bit of a freak when it comes to things.”

  “He said that he liked things organized.”

  “He told you that?” Kaelyn said. “Ryan also is the grouch of the family.”

  “She isn’t lying,” Harris said. “He hardly says more than a few words.”

  “He seemed nice to me,” she said.

  “You must have caught him on a good day,” Kaelyn said.

  “I don’t have my card on me, but if you just look up Walker Baseball Clinic, you can find our contact information and hours. Or you can stop in on Saturday if you want and talk to me. We are open seven days a week for batting practice and the gym and I’ve got one trainer there at all times.”

  “Oh, so you don’t work with the kids?” she asked.

  “I do. I’m just not there nonstop.”

  “I’m back to work and we don’t like having Scarlet in daycare,” she said. “Our parents each have one to two days they take her and Harris has her the other days.”

  “That’s great,” she said. “I work from home so I’m always around.”

  “I’m the nanny,” Zoe said. “I’m the one keeping the kids out of her hair so she can get on her conference calls and play with her numbers. Back to the grind for you on Monday. Me, I’ll be on my own with these two monkeys.”

  “I’m a monkey because I like bananas,” Maddie said.

  “You’re a monkey because you never sit still,” Shannon said. “But let’s get moving because Taffy just lay down to take a nap, so I think I’m going to have to carry her back.”

  “It was nice meeting you. Maybe we’ll see you at the picnic in a few weeks,” Kaelyn said.

  “I think we’ll be there,” she said.

  They turned around and walked back, moving down a street in the other direction than the Walkers were going. “What picnic?” Zoe asked. The kids were walking ahead of them a little, she and Zoe each carrying a sleeping puppy. When these two were ready to stop, they just plopped and nothing moved them from their positions.

  “The Butlers have a summer picnic each year for the whole development. I need to read more about it on their site. I think it’s the first Saturday of August this year. They have it at the common area.”

  “We’ll have to go,” Zoe said. “So you can meet some more neighbors and maybe see Ryan again.”

  “Stop it,” she said.

  “Stop what?” Zoe asked, whistling as they walked back to the house.

  “I’m not ready and he’s not interested. Besides, you heard his cousin. He’s the grouch of the family.”

  “And you’re little miss sunshine,” Zoe said back. “You can shine some brightness on him.”

  “Please. That was Tyler. He was the good one between us.”

  Zoe grinned. “He was, but so were you. You both are happy people. And he’d be ticked off if he knew you were giving up.”

  “I’m not giving up,” she argued. “How can you say that?”

  “Have you looked at yourself lately? When was the last time you did anything with your hair other than putting it in a ponytail? And makeup? Do you own any that you can use or did it all dry out by now?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t go many places. When I went to the office I did my hair and makeup.”

  “You went once a month, if that, and not in several months. When you have web calls, if it’s only John you don’t care what you look like.”

  “Why should I? I’ve known him since I was a teen. I’m not trying to impress anyone. Besides, once John finalizes the sale, it won’t matter. I won’t be that important. I’m not really that important now.”

  “You’ll always be important to him. To us. To someone else someday. Just remember that.”

  7

  Stopped Traffic

  Ryan wasn’t a fan of the summer picnic, but he really had no choice and had to show up.

  His grandparents started this development when his grandfather, Stephen, decided to build on the land that had been left to him by his grandfather.

  What started out small turned into miles and miles of a development. His grandfather even kept purchasing land around what he already owned, allowing them to continue to grow for years to come.

  It wasn’t just Paradise Place that the family owned, but other pieces of land with smaller developments, apartment buildings, and even commercial buildings.

  His cousin Evan oversaw all the projects and assigned timelines and checked in on them. Christian did all the blueprints. Ryan worked on a lot of the projects day to day. He was more a foreman but at a higher level, moving to whatever Evan thought needed the most work and enforcing the deadline.

  He may be the youngest of his cousins, but he liked the job he had.

  He wasn’t much of a people person. He was just fine being on site, swinging a hammer, holding a drill, or tossing supplies around.

  An achy body full of sweat was a good thing for him at the end of the day.

  Not many felt like he did, but he figured he had many years ahead of him before he’d grow tired of it. Then he could walk around with a computer like Evan. Nah, he wasn’t sure he’d ever want to do that.

  But he had to put his dislike of people aside once a year for the summer party. He wouldn’t force much of a smile on his face though. If he smiled it was genuine and many knew that about him.

  “Grandpa is going to be here in a few minutes,” his father, Matt, said. “Evan has the grill going and Christian isn’t here yet. He had to get some more ice.”

  “I’ll make sure Grandpa doesn’t try to do anything,” he said to his father.

  “Thanks. I’m going to head to the grill and give Evan a hand. Whitney is organizing the sides with Kaelyn.”

  “So, that is your way of saying I need to do something other than stand around wishing I weren’t here?”

  “I love that you aren’t afraid to say what is on your mind. You were standing here just staring at people. Looking for anyone in particular?” his
father asked.

  “No,” he said quickly. Maybe he was looking to see if Shannon was here, but there were so many people that everyone’s heads and bodies were just blending together.

  “Okay. Keep an eye out for your grandparents and send them to us by the grill if you want. He’ll want to help when Christian gets here.”

  “I’ll make sure he’s by you and I’ll help Christian unload everything.”

  His father walked away and two minutes later he saw his grandparents pull up so he made his way toward them, steering them in the direction he was told.

  “Ryan, can’t you even smile at me?” his grandmother asked.

  He did grin for her. He actually meant it too. “It’s nice to see you, Grandma.”

  She shook her head at him. “If you missed me so much you’d come visit more often.”

  “Leave the boy alone, Marilyn. He’s busy and this time of year he is probably working fifteen-hour days. You remember what it was like back then.”

  “I do. I never saw much of you from spring to late fall,” his grandmother said. “Now that you’re retired I can’t get you away from me.”

  His grandparents were bantering back and forth, but they were making their way slowly toward the grill where his father and Uncle Michael were.

  When he turned, he noticed Christian had pulled up with his truck close to the pavilion and Harris was there tossing bags of ice into plastic kiddie pools with Christian. A few more people came over to help, but he put himself to work too.

  “Got everything covered now?” he asked Christian. “Do you need some more ice or anything? I can go run and get it.”

  Christian laughed. “We’re set. You’re just trying to leave and not come back.”

  His family knew him well. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

  “You are. There’s a cooler in the back of my truck, help me get it and you can snatch a beer out of it.”

  “Thank God,” he said. “You’re having one too, right? I don’t need the stink eye if I’m the only one holding a beer in the family this early.”

  “Not only am I grabbing one but I promised one to Harris and Evan. We can all get in trouble at the same time,” Christian said.

  “Works for me.”

  He’d gotten his beer and was ready to follow Christian to the grill when a little body ran up to him and stopped. “Thank you for the tool bag.”

  “You’re welcome, Jeffrey.” He figured Shannon would realize whose idea it was. “Have you used it yet?”

  “No,” Jeffrey said, “I’m waiting for you to show me. I asked if you could.”

  He never thought of himself as much of a kid person, but there was something about the brown eyes of this little boy staring at him like a mentor. He wasn’t put off by the frown that Ryan was always sporting. Not even his size, when most kids were.

  “There you are, Jeffrey. Don’t run that fast. I don’t need your mother to think I can’t keep an eye on you,” Zoe said. She looked up at him. “This nanny deal isn’t as easy as I thought it was.”

  “I can’t believe anyone would think it was easy.”

  “Thanks for that.” She grabbed Ryan’s hand and started to tug him along and he was in such shock he didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t very well shake her off and make a scene, especially when he caught his cousin Christian looking at him oddly. “Shannon, look who I found. Jeffrey and Ryan were talking.”

  “Hi, Shannon,” he said, lifting his beer to his lips to moisten his dry throat.

  “Hi, Ryan. Was Jeffrey bothering you? He really likes the tool bag.”

  “No bother. He thanked me for it.”

  “It was very thoughtful of you,” she said.

  “I told Ryan he has to show me how to use everything though, Mom.”

  “Oh. Sorry,” she said. “He’s good at putting people on the spot. Don’t feel obligated.”

  “It’s not a problem.”

  “Tomorrow we’ve got baseball at the clinic. That won’t work. How about the day after?” Jeffrey said.

  “Zoe, why don’t you take the kids over to the playground,” she said.

  He caught the rise of Shannon’s eyes and the laughter in Zoe’s. “Sure. That’s what you pay me for.”

  “Get out of here,” she said.

  “That has to be interesting having your younger sister working for you,” he said.

  “It has its moments. We’ve always gotten along so well. We still do. She likes to pick on me, but she’s great for the kids. They needed some kind of stability with the move.”

  It’d been almost a month since Ryan had seen her, but he’d thought of her often. Whitney had talked to her more and made it a point to bring her name up. Not that he’d let Shannon know that.

  “Everyone settling in okay?” he asked. “Any problems with the house?”

  “Everything is great. No problems so far and hopefully there won’t be. I’ve been busy with work and catching up after being gone for two weeks. Zoe has been keeping the kids occupied for me.”

  “You never said what you did,” he said.

  “My husband and his best friend started a digital media company. We all went to college together and were close. I went for finance and run things there. I am the CFO, but I’m in the process of being bought out. I’ll remain on as a director there, but doing more behind the scenes work since I’m across the country now.”

  “Sounds...interesting.”

  “Boring,” she said. “I know. I like sitting in my office all by myself and looking at my numbers. I’m not a big fan of people.”

  He laughed. Probably the first he’d laughed in a week. “Seems like we’ve got that in common.”

  “Oh, but I think the difference is I don’t mind people, I just like to be in the quiet. Or maybe I’m too used to it. As my sister has kindly pointed out, I’ve let myself go and have gotten lazy because I’m never around people anymore.”

  He looked at her in shorts and a fitted T-shirt, sandals on her feet, her toenails a pretty pink color. Her hair was done and floating past her shoulders, there was a little bit of sparkle around her eyes and cheeks. He wouldn’t say it was glitter, but it was makeup with a shine to it.

  “If this is letting yourself go then you must have stopped traffic before.”

  She opened her mouth and then closed it. “That’s very sweet. I guess I just like the simple life. I’ve gotten away from that in the past few years.”

  He wanted to ask how but knew that it wasn’t any of his business.

  “So, will Jeffrey keep asking me to come over and show him how to use the tools?” he asked.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure something out.”

  “No, I can do it,” he said.

  “What?” she asked and he wondered if he shouldn’t have offered. Maybe she didn’t want him there.

  “Never mind. I just figured it’d help out and I did send it to him. Forget it though.”

  “No. I’d like that. I mean Jeffrey would love it. You wouldn’t have him using saws or anything? I have to draw the line at that.”

  “No,” he said, grinning. “No saws or anything with power. I’ll do what my father and grandfather did for me. Some wood with pre-drilled holes in it. I’ll show him the difference between screwdrivers and such. I’ll bring everything over that we need. Just let me know what works for you.”

  “I’m sure you’re very busy right now with work. At least during the week. And you probably have an active weekend.”

  “I’m here,” he said not able to stop the roll of his eyes.

  “Alone?” she asked. “I meant, I don’t want you to get in trouble with anyone if you had plans.”

  “No one to get in trouble with,” he said. “You’ve got my number. Shoot me a text for a time. What do you say next Saturday?”

  “That’s your personal cell on that business card?” she asked.

  “It is.” He didn’t give that card to many, but Whitney must have stuck it in there because he’
d talked with Shannon enough on this build.

  “Okay. I’ll let you get back to the party and I’ll be in touch.”

  He nodded his head and was going to walk away when he heard his name called and Ruby Gentile came walking over. “Hey, Ryan. How have you been?”

  “Not bad, Ruby. How many people have hit you up on listing their houses or asking questions on what their house might be worth?”

  Ruby laughed. “Same old, same old. You know how it goes.”

  “Where’s Josh?”

  “He got called in for something. He’s finishing up and will be here shortly. So the house that needed all the work on Golden Lane is under contract. A private sale with a friend of Josh’s. He’s a flipper.”

  “Perfect,” Ryan said. He turned to Shannon, not wanting her to think houses ran down around them. “One of the older houses in the development was starting to show some wear and they were trying to sell it.”

  “Hi, I’m Ruby Gentile. I live on Mystic Lane with my fiancé Josh Turner.”

  “Ruby,” Shannon said. “You sold me my house. I’m Shannon Wilder.”

  “Oh, Shannon, it’s so nice to put a face with a name. I was hoping I’d meet you here today.” When the two women started to talk, he excused himself and went to find his family.

  “Who was that?” Christian asked him.

  “Shannon Wilder. She closed on her house less than a month ago. I walked her through it.”

  “The woman pulling your arm bought that house? She didn’t look like she was even old enough to drink.”

  “No. That’s her sister, Zoe. I’m not sure of her age. Out of college. She’s the nanny.”

  “Nanny?” his cousin Evan asked. “You barely talk to people and you know this woman has a nanny. So, the one you were talking to with the young kids is Shannon?”

  “Yes,” he said, knowing that his family was watching him closer than he wanted.

  “And after you walked her through the house she still wanted to talk to you some more?” Evan asked. “Guess you didn’t scare her off with your resting bitch face.”