by A. C. Arthur
Naomi was everything Rylan wasn’t.
“Look, you have your interests and I have mine,” Rylan added. “It’s always been that way and that’s fine. I’ve worked with Dad at the auto shop since I was seven years old. It’s what I love to do.”
“You would’ve found something else to love if you’d gone away to college like I wanted you to. You were accepted into Spellman, UC Berkley, Howard, and Georgetown. And those were just the places I applied to for you. If you’d put your mind to it you could‘ve gone anywhere and become anything,” Estelle told her while reaching into a cabinet and taking out a glass bowl for the white potatoes she was peeling for potato salad.
“I like working on cars,” Rylan said in defense. “That’s why I went to trade school instead of college. I wanted to perfect all the skills Dad had already taught me. And since then I’ve taken business and accounting classes at the community college. I can run Kent Automotive in every aspect now.”
“And because of your father’s gambling and drinking, you’ve been doing exactly that for the last couple of years. But no more, I can promise you that, Rylan. This nonsense stops here and now,” Estelle said adamantly. “We’re selling the auto shop so that your father can reimburse me for the shares of his retirement fund that he gambled away trying to save that damn place.”
Rylan set the knife down because now her hands were shaking. She picked up the bowl of butter and put it into the microwave to melt. This wasn’t the conversation she’d wanted to have today. She’d come to the house where she’d grown up, that her mother now lived in alone, at ten in the morning to start helping with preparations for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving dinner. She didn’t come here to argue.
“Dad’s been going through a lot in the past few years. I’m only stating a fact, not making excuses for him,” Rylan added because she knew what her mother was going to say even before she said it.
“The shop was losing money and he did what he thought he could to save it. Gambling wasn’t the right move. I’ve told him that. But I’m going to find a way to make this work, because it’s my livelihood now, Mama. It’s my life that you’re so vehemently talking about selling off,” she said.
“Get a new life,” Estelle snapped. “If you can admit that your father and his ridiculous, lazy way of thinking was wrong, then you can walk away. It’s as simple as that. You can still get into Berkley and go for a master’s in business since you’re interested in running things.”
“I’m interested in running the auto shop,” Rylan insisted.
“She’s interested in being Greasy Peasy all her life,” Naomi interjected. “Don’t even waste your time trying to talk sense into her, Mama. You know how stubborn she is.”
And that was Naomi’s not-so-gentle slap-in-the-face way of helping Rylan out of the conversation she’d had with her mother all of her life. The only good decisions Rylan could ever make were the ones orchestrated by Estelle. Any of her own thoughts were wrong on one level or another because Rylan wasn’t the second daughter that Estelle had wanted.
“It’s a waste of time, Rylan. You’re a pretty and smart girl. You can do anything you want with your life,” Estelle continued.
Rylan whirled around to face her mother. “I am doing what I want with my life!”
Silence immediately fell over the room. Rylan and her mother stared at each other. Naomi picked up her phone and stared at it. And the microwave dinged.
“Ellis is coming for dinner tomorrow!” Naomi screamed. “He’ll be here in the morning. We have to get this place cleaned up. And Rylan, don’t mess up the sweet potato pie because that’s Ellis’s favorite.”
Rylan didn’t want to hear another word about Ellis—even though he’d scored an amazing 47 points in the playoffs last year—so she opened the microwave door and removed the bowl of melted butter.
“Don’t worry about my pies, Naomi. I’ve got this. That’s why you’re only allowed to chop the food and not actually cook anything,” she quipped.
Naomi rolled her eyes but didn’t bother to reply because she knew Rylan was right.
The conversation in the Kent kitchen immediately shifted to Ellis Colby and how much he was worth, to a possible summer wedding even though there hadn’t been an official proposal. Rylan kept quiet and continued working. She had nothing to add to the discussion of wedding colors, event planners or honeymoon locations. She’d never thought about who she would marry or what their wedding would look like. Probably because in all her years of dating she’d deduced that relationships were overrated and sexual pleasure could be a solo achievement.
Rylan also didn’t believe in the butterflies dancing in the stomach which Naomi was now describing about each time she was with Ellis. Rylan had never experienced that when with any of her dates. Eager anticipation was what her mother called it, followed by more flowery and romantic words. Rylan kept mashing the sweet potatoes, butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. She’d never anticipated any date with a guy. She had, however, looked forward to her nightly chats with GCSports18, which was all the way ridiculous because she had no idea who he was.
But she could find out. Last night he’d said they should meet. Today, Rylan wondered if he was right.
Del frowned at his phone for the billionth time today. He stuffed it into his pocket at the exact moment that Camy walked into the living room.
“You on your phone again?” she asked as she passed where he sat on the couch and dropped down on the other end. “The bar’s closed for the holiday so nobody’s texting you about an emergency down there. “
Del knew the bar was closed. He’d been there at quarter to nine when they’d wished the last customers of the night a happy Thanksgiving. The guys unanimously agreed to close early tonight and remain closed until noon on Friday. Even though they’d each had a rough start in life, they all recognized the importance of family and spending holidays with them instead of at a bar drinking. Which was why he’d come to his childhood home where his sister now lived alone, to offer his help with the family dinner she was hosting tomorrow. Of course, he’d come once all the preparations were completed, but he’d decided to stay and keep Camy company for a while anyway. He wouldn’t tell her that he was actually the one who needed the company.
“I know,” he replied. “The bar’s all locked up for the night.”
“You guys are doing good there,” Camy said as she reached for the remote control.
Del let her take it. He wasn’t watching whatever was playing on the television anyway.
“Hosting the kids’ football league barbeque last weekend was a fabulous idea,” she continued as she changed channels. “It was so much fun watching them all run around the park, eat and have fun.”
Del nodded. “Yeah. That was Ethan’s idea. He and Portia have lots of plans for activities for the young people in Providence and once Game Changers Safe House opens, we’ll all be chipping in to offer unique programs to carry out throughout the year.”
“That’s what’s up,” Camy said and leaned over to slap him on the shoulder. “You guys have been doing a lot of good in the community since you’ve been back.”
“Not enough for some people,” Del snapped.
Camy shook her head, knowing who he was talking about without him having to recount the run-in he’d had with his arch-nemesis yesterday. “He’s an ass. He was jealous of you in high school when you made captain of the football team and took all the girls, and he was even more jealous when you got into the DEA at such a young age. No matter what you do, Mal Penning is always going to dislike you. But that’s his problem, not yours.”
Del and Mal had a history. It was a dark and sometimes dangerous history stemming from the time Del broke Mal’s nose when they were sixteen and culminating with part of the reason Del resigned from the DEA. The fact that Mal was now in a position of authority over him wasn’t sitting well with Del. But as always, he was trying to handle the situation as diplomatically as possible.
He leaned forward
resting his elbows on his knees. “You sound just like her.”
Camy chuckled. “I’m her daughter. And you’re her son. She raised us to be confident and compassionate and to look out for each other. Which is why I’ve been going to the town council meetings and speaking up each time Mal tries to slide in something negative about you and the guys. Others in Providence see what he’s trying to do and they’re on your side too.”
“I don’t want anybody choosing sides. I want them to accept that people can change. We all changed,” he said.
“You got that right,” she quipped. “I’ve never seen you checking your phone as much as I have in the past few days. You texting someone special?”
Del shook his head and smiled. His sister was tenacious and nosy as hell.
“Nobody special,” he told her, even though he wondered what MercedesGirl926 really was to him. And why he couldn’t go one day without thinking about her.
“But you are texting someone?” she continued.
Del shook his head. “No. I wasn’t texting anyone.”
Camy narrowed her eyes at him. “Was someone texting you?”
“No,” he replied.
She sighed heavily. “Would you tell me if they were?”
He shook his head once more. “No.”
She pushed him again. “You always were the secretive one.”
Del laughed. The first time he’d done so all day. “And you were always the dreamy one. Please change this channel because I do not want to watch these silly holiday movies about the couple that falls in love two hours after they swore they were against falling in love.”
Camy laughed and tucked the remote under the pillow she was leaning against. “Well that’s just too bad because my television stays on this channel from late October until after New Year’s Day. Love and holiday festivities are definitely in the air!”
Del groaned and was about to say something about regretting coming over here when the sound of the ringing doorbell interrupted them.
“When I come back, I want to see something else on this television,” he said, getting up to answer the door.
“There’s nothing else on.”
“Sure, there is,” he yelled over his shoulder. “Die Hard is a Christmas movie, see if that’s on.”
“That is not a Christmas movie and I’d much rather watch a couple fall in love than Bruce Willis tossing some guy off a building,” Camy replied.
Del was about to reply that was the best part of the movie when he entered the small foyer and opened the door.
“Hey Del,” Rylan said before walking past him and into the house.
“Hey Rylan,” he spoke and closed the door.
It was getting late and while Del knew that Rylan and Camy had been best friends forever, he wondered why she was out alone at this time of night. Then he shook his head as he walked back into the living room.
“Hey, you’re just in time for the next movie,” Camy was saying to Rylan by the time Del entered the living room again.
“Oh no, girl are you still watching these silly romances,” Rylan quipped.
“Thank you!” Del said with more enthusiasm than was probably necessary. “I was just trying to tell her there had to be something else on television that we could watch.”
Rylan nodded. “Seriously, Camy, there has to be something else.”
“Why is everyone so against holidays and love? You two need to find your happy ever after, or a drink or something,” Camy said.
Del watched his sister stand and had the good sense to duck as she tossed one of the decorative pillows off the couch in his direction.
“I’m getting a drink,” she announced. “Anybody else want something?”
“Cranberry juice,” Rylan yelled.
“Beer,” Del said.
He sat on the loveseat across from the couch and looked over to ask Rylan how she was doing, but snapped his lips shut when he saw her leaning over. Actually, what he saw was the curve of her ass in jeans that looked as if they were made specifically for her. He closed his eyes immediately because, what the fuck?
Rylan was his sister’s friend. Hell, she was damn near a sister to him. How many times had Rylan spent the night at their house, been at the table first thing in the morning eating cereal right alongside him and Lance? Wherever Camy was, Rylan wasn’t far behind. Except when Camy sang, danced or was on the cheerleading squad, Rylan was usually at her dad’s body shop. When the hell did the tomboy get a woman’s body?
“It’s about time,” she said and Del’s eyes shot open.
“What?”
Rylan was sitting on the couch now, the remote in hand as she held it up in triumph.
“I found the remote,” she announced with a smile and immediately changed the channel.
A really nice smile, Del thought.
Her hair came to her chin, black with golden highlights, in what looked like soft waves. She removed her leather jacket. The yellow t-shirt she wore was as tight as her jeans, the material smoothly stretching over palm-size breasts. She kicked off the short black boots she was wearing before tucking her legs beneath her.
“There,” she said when he was too dumfounded to speak another word. “Christmas Vacation. That’s a holiday movie worth watching.”
“Absolutely,” he replied, rubbing a hand down his face and taking a deep breath.
He was trippin’. Rylan wasn’t sexy. The woman he was really thinking about was MercedesGril926. It was her body that Del wanted to see. Her long legs he wanted wrapped around his waist as he plunged deep into her. Not Rylan, who he knew hated ketchup and couldn’t dance to save her life but could ride a bike and hold a wheelie for longer than any of the guys that had lived on their block.
“Wait. Who changed the channel?” Camy asked when she came back into the room.
“Not me,” Rylan answered quickly and tossed the remote across the room to Del.
He caught it without a second’s thought and tucked it under the pillow of the loveseat.
“Oh, so that’s the game we’re playing now,” Camy said with a frown as she put the glasses on the table and tossed the beer to Del. “Well, I don’t really care. It’s a Christmas movie so I’m good.”
Camy plopped down on the couch beside Rylan and crossed her legs. “I love the holidays.”
Rylan looked at Del. He shrugged and they both grinned. His sister was something. And Rylan, well, she was his sister’s best friend.
The movie was halfway over when Del thought he felt his phone vibrate. He dug into his pocket and pulled it out, only to sigh with disappointment at the sight of a text message from Lance letting Del know that he would not be crashing at his place tonight. That meant his brother had probably found a woman to spend the evening with instead. Del sighed as he stared at the television once more. He wished he were spending the evening differently. Perhaps with MercedesGirl926 was a thought.
4
Del: Been thinking about you all night.
It was easy to admit that via messages.
MercedesGirl926: I thought about you too.
That made him feel good.
Tonight had been mad busy at the bar with people coming in after concluding their Black Friday shopping at the outlet mall just down the road. All hands had been on deck with the guys pulling double duties and shifts and calling in mostly all of their staff to do the same. Business had definitely been good, but damn he was tired as hell and feeling edgier than he had in he couldn’t even remember when.
After a quick, hot shower when he came home, Del passed on the beer and grabbed a bottle of water instead. On the ride home, he’d thought about the other half of a foot-long hoagie he had left over in the fridge, but now, he’d decided against that as well. What he really wanted wasn’t going to be found in his refrigerator. He wanted to talk to MercedesGirl926 more than he wanted to eat.
Their messaging had resumed hours after he’d finished watching movies with Camy and Rylan, with both of them ignoring his
request to meet. They’d simply continued chatting as if that comment hadn’t been made. She wasn’t looking forward to Thanksgiving any more than he had been. Even though they didn’t discuss the specifics of why, they were still able to commiserate together. She did mention being stressed about her business and Del had wondered what kind of work she did. Instead of asking, he offered some advice based on his newfound experience and the business classes he’d taken last year. She’d been very receptive and thanked him as if he’d answered some sort of prayer when all he’d done was convey some of the organizational tips he’d learned and a bit of the marketing stuff Noah had taught him. Still, it had made Del feel good to read the lighter, more relieved tone of her messages.
In return, chatting with her had lifted some of the stress Del had been feeling as he contemplated what he was going to do about the subpoena he’d received to testify in the final drug bust of his law enforcement career. There was also the issue of Lance and how he was coping with his life’s changes. Del didn’t want to admit that thinking about either of those things struck a chord of fear in him. So instead, he reluctantly accepted that his friends may have been right all along. These burdens Del was carrying might not be as heavy if he’d found some sort of relief.
Preferably of the sexual kind.
Del: Never thought this much about a woman before.
He was sitting in his recliner, the towel still wrapped around his waist. It was dark in his room at almost four in the morning.
MercedesGirl926: It would be cliché if I said the same to you, but since I’m up at this insane hour waiting for our nightly chat, I guess my actions speak for me.
Del’s grin was slow, but wide as it spread while he read those words. Why did this woman make him feel so good, when all the others had failed?
Del: I would hope we could be honest and real. No pretenses or misconceptions.
He typed that as he thought about his previous personal relationships. Del never had problems getting girls in high school, or college for that matter. And he enjoyed every minute of their fun-filled, carefree, sexual relations. But there’d never been anything more. He’d been chatting with MercedesGirl926 for three weeks now and felt closer to this woman he’d never met in person, than he had all the women he’d lay in bed with naked.