by Reber, Tina
“Good morning,” he said, flinching with confusion.
“Are you ready?” I mouthed to him.
He grabbed his bag and followed me along the rows of trucks and vans. I hit the key fob to unlock the doors, which made the lights flash.
“Nice van, Ms. Mitchell,” he murmured at me.
“Bond, Taryn Bond,” I muttered back to him.
Ryan jumped into the back of the van and I shut the door quickly behind him. The guards moved the barricades and I drove right past the waiting paparazzi completely unnoticed. Ryan laughed hysterically as we drove down the road.
“Where the hell did you get a catering van?” he asked, climbing into the front passenger seat.
“It’s Tammy’s.” I removed the T&P Catering baseball cap off my head and shook out my hair. “She owns a catering business. Don’t touch the pastries back there or she’ll shoot you!”
“Ms. Bond, you are truly amazing!” He laughed.
I drove back to Pete and Tammy’s house. Tammy and I exchanged car keys and Ryan thanked them both. “You two are the best,” Ryan said.
“Have fun!” Pete tapped him in the arm. “Go enjoy yourself!”
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going or is it still a secret?” Ryan nudged me with his elbow as I drove us out onto the highway.
I looked over at him and smiled. He was reading the road signs trying to figure it out.
“Northwest,” I answered, unperturbed.
He looked at me and just kept shaking his head. He was dying to know where we were going and I was holding out.
“And how long do we drive northwest?” he pried.
I glanced at the time on the dashboard. “Another hour and forty minutes.”
Ryan spent a good portion of the trip chewing on his fingers. I noticed he was a fingernail biter.
“I like this car,” he said as he closed his eyes. “Seats are really comfortable. Infiniti, right?”
“Yep. M45.”
“Wake me up when we get there,” he said brusquely.
“Oh, hell no!” I poked him in his side. He jumped and flinched away from me, laughing. “You have to stay awake!”
We were about fifteen minutes away from our final destination when I pulled off into the parking lot of the local convenience store and gas station. This was the place where my family would stop before every trip to the cabin. I backed my car up to the tree line on the far end of the lot so Ryan would remain unnoticed.
“I want to get some coffee,” I replied, answering the question on Ryan’s face. “You want anything?”
“Yeah, would you get me a twenty-ouncer?” he asked, reaching in his pocket for money. I grimaced at his actions and ignored the money in his hand.
“Do you want anything in it? Cream, sugar?” I asked. I already had one leg out of the car.
“Yeah, make it a shade light and three sugars. Here, take this,” he insisted, handing a twenty dollar bill to me.
“Nah, I got it.”
“Would you at least let me buy you a damn cup of coffee?” he pleaded. I could tell he was a little upset.
“Fine,” I whispered and made a face at him. I didn’t want to argue. I slipped the money from his fingers.
While I was paying for the coffees I noticed that his picture was on the front of one of the gossip magazines. In the picture, behind him, was the front door to my pub. I grabbed the magazine and thumbed through it quickly to read what they had printed. Amongst the worthless drivel surrounding his pictures was a photo of him and the two actresses exiting my pub. I read the caption:
Suzanne is growing closer to Ryan. The two have been spending a lot of alone time on and off the set, although they both deny that they are secretly dating. The two were spotted keeping each other company October 4 as they were caught leaving a local club after a late night of partying in downtown Seaport. "Ryan and Suzanne were very close all night and seemed happy," says an eyewitness.
I slapped the magazine shut and put it back on the rack. I knew the truth; he didn’t pay much attention to Suzanne that night at all – he was too busy watching me, wearing my T-shirt, in my pub. I smiled widely; he was sitting in my car waiting for me that very moment.
“I got two sausage, egg and cheese muffins,” I said, handing his change and the bag over to him.
“Excellent! I’m hungry.”
“I figured you might be. Hey, you need to share!” I leered at him. He was already unwrapping the second sandwich while still eating the first.
“Here, take a bite,” he snickered, even though he took another big bite of the muffin before holding it to my mouth.
I made the final turn on the last leg of our trip. The last few miles of road were bordered on both sides by tall pines and thick trees; the air was scented with the fresh perfume of the woods. The leaves were just starting to turn with fall’s colors and they made beautiful hues on the windshield.
I turned onto the obscure drive to my grandfather’s cabin and stopped to unlock the metal pipe gate that blocked cars from driving further onto the property. Ryan slipped his sunglasses off his face; his eyes were wide with wonder.
“Welcome to my grandfather’s fishing shack.” I smiled at him as we drove up to the house.
“Shack? That isn’t a shack!” he declared, pointing to the house. He smiled in amazement.
Nestled comfortably in the woods was a log sided A-frame with a wooden deck that wrapped around the sides and past an enormous stone chimney. The front of the house was all windows that reflected the sunrays breaking through the trees. Off the back of the house was a raised, screened-in porch that overlooked the lake.
“It’s not that big. It only has two bedrooms,” I answered his gaze. I parked the car in the stone-covered car pad right next to the stairs that led to the deck.
Ryan helped me carry the cooler up the steps to the front door. I gave him a quick tour of the house while I turned the power and water on.
“This is excellent!” he said with an exulted grin on his face. I watched him wander around the room, touching and looking at everything.
“That right there is why I didn’t want to ruin the surprise.” I pointed at his smile.
“After we get the car unpacked, I thought we might take the boat out on the lake… do a little fishing?” I waved the cup of night-crawlers in the air.
“We’re going fishing?” he asked, completely astonished. “You? You… fish?”
“Sure,” I quipped. “That’s why I brought you here. I thought we’d take the boat out on the lake.”
We walked down the stone-covered drive to the one car garage where the boat was stored. The boat was painted gunmetal silver with black and red detail stripes and a dark gray interior.
“Nice!” Ryan said as he pushed the garage door up. “17 footer?”
“It belongs to my Uncle Al.” I nodded. “It was my dad’s and his, but… well… it was big enough for the two of them.”
I climbed onto the big ATV that we needed to use to tow the boat down to the lake, but when I tried to start it the battery was obviously dead.
“Go get your car. We can jumpstart it,” he said confidently.
Ryan was enjoying himself, tinkering around with jumper cables and twisting the throttle on the ATV. He was like a kid in a candy store, so happy and relaxed. I loved how he was able to fix things. He reminded me of my father.
He backed the ATV up and I helped him hook the hitch to the boat trailer. I held his shoulders to steady myself as I climbed on the four-wheeler behind him. I took the liberty to give him a few extra squeezes to massage his tense muscles. I took his moaning as confirmation that he enjoyed my touch.
“Hold on tight!” He patted and squeezed my thigh before twisting the throttle to set us in motion.
I rested my chin on his shoulder while the light breeze blew his hair onto my cheek. I nestled my frosty nose near his warm neck to add another delicious scent of him to my memory. I wished we had further to drive so I c
ould enjoy holding on to him like this longer, but it was a short distance between the garage and the lake.
The noontime sun was bright overhead. He backed the boat trailer into the water and helped me push the boat into the lake. We worked well as a team.
Ryan gave me a few teasing bumps when we walked back up the driveway to get our things. He just kept grinning and smiling and shaking his head at me.
We loaded up the boat with all the essentials - fishing gear, beer, and sandwiches – and Ryan started the little trolling motor to get us out on the water.
The air was still and it wasn’t as cold as it had been the last few days. The lake was calm and reflected the trees and sky like a gigantic mirror. I tipped my sunglasses down to take in the sight of Ryan driving the boat. He was looking so good in his blue jeans, and white thermal shirt with a brown coat. The grin on his face was one of heavenly bliss. I was thrilled that he was enjoying this mini-vacation.
“Head over towards those trees.” I pointed. “That’s my dad’s lucky spot. He caught lots of fish over there.”
“So how did you come up with the fishing idea?” he asked, casting his line out into the water.
“From you.” I laughed lightly. I opted to put a lure on my line instead of one of the worms.
“Me? When did I ever tell you I love to fish?”
“The first day I met you. You showed me the scar where your brother hooked you in the arm.”
He looked over at me and smiled. “You have a good memory for detail. I forgot about that. This was your dad’s favorite spot? I can see why. It’s beautiful out here.”
I inhaled deeply, enjoying the soft scent of pine and fallen leaves. It was much different from the smell that emanated off the Atlantic.
Ryan stared at me for a moment, chewing on his lip. “Can I ask what happened?” he said hesitantly. “Your dad?”
I gasped slightly; just thinking about it hurt.
“The doctors told me he had a massive heart attack.” I sniffed. “It was right after Labor Day last year. We weren’t busy for some reason so dad told me to take the night off - said he’d lock up the bar for once.” I grimaced from hearing his voice in my head. “When I came home I found him on the floor. I tried to do CPR on him until the ambulance came, but I was too late.”
“I’m so sorry.” Ryan looked at me apologetically.
“Thanks,” I replied. “It was really hard at first but I’ve been dealing with it. I just try to remember all the good times.”
“And… your mom?” He looked as if he shouldn’t have asked.
I took another deep breath and held it in my lungs for a few seconds.
“My mom was hit by a car.” I winced at the memory. “She was pushing a grocery cart through a parking lot when an elderly lady backed out of a parking space too fast and hit her. The impact shattered my mom’s hip and severed her femoral artery. Doctors couldn’t save her.” I kept a careful hold on the memory so it wouldn’t overpower me. Talking about my parents made it all seem fresh again.
Ryan stepped over to where I sat in the boat and gently rubbed my back. “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine how hard that must be for you.”
“It’s hard but you have to just go on, you know? You don’t really know how much you miss something until it’s gone,” I said, looking in his eyes.
Ryan let his arm rest behind me. His presence was extremely comforting.
I felt the line on my fishing pole tug. “Hey, I think I got one!” I started to reel in my line. Ryan grabbed the net and leaned over the side to see what I caught.
“Nice!” he said enthusiastically, netting the big mouth bass that was on my hook. “He’s got to be about ten inches!” Ryan had to get the fish unhooked for me. “Good job!” He beamed.
I made a fish face at the poor fish before he released it back into the lake. “See ya Mr. Bass.”
“So tell me more about you,” Ryan started.
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything!” he stated emphatically.
As we fished he asked me a barrage of questions, and I found myself telling him my life’s story. Some of his questions prompted questions of my own and he didn’t seem hesitant to tell me anything I wanted to know either.
“Actually, I was born in upstate New York,” I told him, sniffing in some of the mountain air. “I grew up near Watkins Glen. Have you ever heard of it?”
“Sure,” he replied. “I’ve even been there once. My dad took us there to see a race.”
I smiled. “Our house was only four miles from the track.”
“How long did you live there?”
“Until I was almost fourteen. We moved to Seaport when my grandfather got sick.” I pulled my hair back from my shoulders.
“I thought you grew up in Seaport. I got the impression that your dad always ran the pub.”
“No, actually my dad used to work for Corning. He was a VP there for a long time. But my grandfather had a stroke, so we moved here to take care of him. I think my dad loved his job, but when it all happened… I guess the timing was right for him to resign and slow down a little. Actually he seemed happier when he took over running the pub.”
“What about your mom? Did she work?”
I nodded and took a sip of my beer. “She worked in the admissions office at Ithaca University. I was planning on going to college there, but… things change, I guess. We moved here and Brown was closer. What about you? Did you go to college?”
Ryan smiled and looked slightly embarrassed. “I went to Pitt for two years.”
“Pitt?” I repeated.
He nodded. “I was going for a degree in Architecture,” he said remorsefully. I wanted to design houses and buildings,” he added. “I love to draw.”
“But you didn’t finish?”
Ryan appeared slightly embarrassed. “I was living at home, going to school, and doing some local theatre at the time. One of my acting coaches told me about this open audition in L.A., so I went, and soon after that I got my first major movie role. It’s pretty much been a big blur since!” He chuckled. “I had to get an agent and a manager… and a lawyer!” He cast his line out into the water. “Sometimes I wonder how my life would have turned out if I stayed in college and didn’t get on that plane to L.A.”
“I’d like to believe that everything happens for a reason. If you hadn’t gotten on that plane, then you probably wouldn’t be sitting here in this boat on this lake right now.”
“You’re right.” He beamed. “This would have been a shame to miss. I want to have a place just like this one day. A house on a lake surrounded by woods, dock for the boat, a big stone fireplace...”
“I miss the house we used to have near the Glen,” I said. “That was near a lake too, kind of like this lake but smaller. It was a big, white farmhouse with a huge yard. We had a rope swing hanging from one of the big elm trees that would swing out over the lake; I remember we would start at the top of the embankment and run down this worn path and swing as hard as we could. It was a game to see who could swing out the farthest.”
Ryan looked at me and grinned. “Sounds like you were a bit of a daredevil when you were younger.”
I stretched my legs out straight, remembering how I used to jump off the rope swing.
“The best part of summer was when the grapes were ready to be picked. My dad built this huge arbor in our yard; it was covered in grapevines. I remember running out in the back yard first thing in the morning to pick the grapes that were covered in morning dew. Dad said that they were nature’s wine,” I reminisced. “Do you know how wine is made?”
“I know a little. I know more about drinking wine than how it’s made though. What about you?”
I nodded. “My family has co-owned a few wineries for a long time. I have a vested interest in three active wineries now.”
“You do?” He was surprised.
I nodded again. “My parents invested a lot of money into some of the local wineries up around the F
inger Lakes. We used to co-own five, but we sold our interests in one of them and two of the wineries merged. After my father died, I inherited all the shares. I’m a limited partner now, but I still get involved in the businesses sometimes. We’ve been great friends with the families that run the wineries – some of them I’ve known my whole life.”
“Quite the businesswoman you are!” he snickered.
“I like diversity. It makes for a steady income and good wine connections.” I shrugged. “I’m also a silent partner in Tammy’s catering business; I stay silent and let it up to her to run it as she sees fit.”
Ryan cast his line out again. “Isn’t it hard to be in business with a friend?”
“No, not yet. Tammy and I have a legal business relationship. We are both partners in a limited liability corporation with signed agreements. I gave her the start-up capital. I wanted to help my friend, but I want to keep my friend no matter what happens. The business relationship is one thing, the long-standing friendship is another. She has the option to buy me out at any time.”
“So let me get this straight. You own a bar, co-own a few wineries, and are a partner in a catering business? Did I get them all?”
“Well, there’s the stained glass business too,” I murmured. “But that’s more of a hobby now. Do you remember seeing the big glass ‘Mitchell’s Pub’ sign hanging behind the bar?”
He nodded.
“I made that.”
“You made that?” He sounded impressed.
“I made quite a few pieces for some of the local businesses. The book store next to my pub… I made their sign too.”
“I think I got one!” Ryan reeled in his line to find a small bass on his hook. “Did you like that worm? Did ya?” he asked the fish, like they were friends. It made me chuckle.
“So what about your parents?” I asked.
“My dad is a dentist,” he said proudly. He parted his lips to show me his teeth. “This is all his handy work.” He motioned with his finger. “I had braces until I was sixteen.”
“I bet that impressed the ladies!” I teased.
“Yeah! Got me a lot of dates! I was so happy when he finally took them off.”