by Alice Shaw
There was no champagne celebration or jumping for joy. The day we were supposed to appear was the same day we had to go back to the ranch for his father’s operation. Instead of rejoicing, we sulked.
“What are we going to do now?” Holden asked me, standing by the food truck. His eyes were full of worry as he scanned the long line of customers. Every single day, our business was growing, but the stresses seemed to keep stacking up alongside our success.
“We’re going to go to the ranch,” I said.
What else could we do? Even though a lot was at stake, I would never leave Holden’s side, especially during a time like this. A broken hip was a serious thing, and that was much more important than any television appearance.
“You can’t do that,” Holden said.
I smiled as I handed a customer a báhn mì sandwich. That same smile quickly faded as I turned around to cook some more pork.
“I can and I will. This is your father that we’re talking about. I haven’t even met the guy. I want to be there for you, and I want to be there for them too,” I said.
“It’s the Today Show. Do you know what that means, Riley?” Holden threw his hands into the air, in a fit of rage. He turned around and refused to face me.
“I know what it means. I’m not an idiot,” I said.
“Yeah, well, you’re acting like one,” Holden whispered.
“Well, I don’t want to go on any national television show without you by my side. This isn’t just my food truck. It’s yours too,” I said.
I took a deep breath because I knew how much pressure Holden was under. He was bearing our child, and that was a lot of pressure for an omega to go through.
“We’ll just have to figure out a way to do both,” I said.
Riley handed me a bottle of sauce to pour on the rest of the food that needed to be served. We were running out of supplies for the day, so I knew it was about time to close up shop. I checked my watch and turned back around to serve a bowl of hot soup.
In the distance, the sun was setting. The shops were closing down, and the jazz musicians were just starting to play their music at the restaurants across the bay. There were still three more hungry people in line. I couldn’t just close the truck down without serving them.
“Hey guys, we’re closing up. I’m out of the menu items, but I want to whip you up something special, since I recognize your faces,” I said.
Though there was a lot of hardship we had to face, these were the moments that made us happy. The customers gave their praise, and I got to experiment a little. With the ingredients I had left, I made a fusion Vietnamese dish. Once the customers were served, it was time to close.
“Well, we’re lucky in a lot of ways,” Holden said. “We have people who love what we do.”
“We’re right on that precipice,” I said, staring at the bay. The nice restaurants were starting to feel less like monoliths to me now. Everything was just within reach. Yet, there were still so many roadblocks standing in our way.
Holden laughed to himself, but it was more out of exhaustion than humor. “What?” I laughed with him.
He collapsed into his hands. “I’m just tired and emotional,” he said. He sat up and revealed the tears in his eyes. “I’m scared of my dad dying. We didn’t have the best times in the world together, but he is still my dad.”
I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him in, closing my eyes in silence. “It’s going to be okay. He loves you too,” I said, thinking of my parents in the past. “He’s going to get through the surgery. You’ll see.”
Holden nodded and calmed himself by taking a big sip of water. He fanned his face with his hands and sighed. “You’re probably right,” he said. “I’m lucky to have you, Riley. But we need to do that television appearance. I want you to go alone. It’s okay. This has always been your dream, and we have our whole lives to do appearances like this together.”
“Babe, no…” I sighed and looked into his eyes. I spent a few seconds thinking of ways it could work out. Finally, something came to mind.
“What is it?” Holden asked, seeing the light bulbs flash over my head.
“We’re just going to have to tell them the truth. We’ll have to reschedule,” I said, grabbing the phone.
I dialed the television executive’s number and held my breath as I listened to the hold music. Finally, after a few minutes of waiting, the executive answered the phone. “This is Joel,” he said.
“Joel? It’s Riley Chase,” I said.
“Who?” he asked.
I scowled and rolled my eyes. “The guy with the gourmet food truck,” I said, feeling a bit sour.
Joel’s tone changed after that. “Riley! How are you doing? Is there a problem? I thought we had everything scheduled.”
“Well, there’s been a bit of an accident,” I said. Holden turned around and walked out of the food truck.
“Oh? I hope everything is okay,” Joel said.
“Holden’s father has to get a pretty serious surgery on the day of our appearance,” I said. “We don’t want to cancel, but I’m not sure we can make a live appearance. So, I guess I was going to ask if we could reschedule. I know it’s not ideal, but this is an emergency. What do you think?”
Joel sighed. “Well, the whole point was for you to cook one of your dishes. If I ask my producers for a different date, you could lose the spot completely.”
Shit. I felt my whole body sink to the floor of my food truck. I pressed my back against the warm oven and closed my eyes. It was a bummer, but we had improved the business without their help. Maybe we didn’t need the appearance after all.
“Well, I don’t know what we can do, Joel. I know this is important, but family comes first. I have to be there for my omega,” I said.
“Give me a few hours, and I’ll call you back. I need to talk to some people. I hope you know how big this opportunity was, Riley. Lots of people would kill to have something like this fall into their laps,” Joel said.
I stood my ground. I was an alpha, and I needed to be there for my omega. That was the code I lived by now.
“I know, but that’s just the way it goes. Plus, my food speaks for itself. If you can’t accommodate us, I understand. I’ll be waiting for your call,” I said.
I hung up the phone and stepped out of the food truck. I closed everything down and locked the windows up. Holden was sitting at one of the plastic tables, holding his chin in his hands.
“They’re cancelling, aren’t they?” he asked.
I sat down next to him, feeling the warm breeze wrap around our bodies. I scooted my butt closer and kissed him on the cheek. “He’s going to call us back, but I’m not worried anymore.”
“But we need that promotion. These things are so important to a growing business,” Holden said. “We need that loan to go through.”
I stood up and walked behind Holden. I knew exactly what he needed at that moment. “I’m going to give you a massage, babe,” I said.
“I don’t need a massage. I need to have this baby. It’s draining all of my energy!” Regardless, Holden leaned back into my hands. I started to massage his shoulders gently.
“Okay, maybe I did need a massage. God, that feels good,” he moaned with pleasure.
“You’re whole back is full of knots. You’ve been going through so much, Holden. I’m so sorry,” I said.
“It’s okay, my love. I know things will work out. It’s just hard sometimes. I’m starting to feel things I’ve never felt before. Most of all, I’m afraid of changing forever. I don’t want to lose myself,” Holden said.
It was the first time in a while that I saw Holden vulnerable. Most of the time, we could cuddle and talk about the future with smiles on our faces. Deep down, he must have been going a little crazy over the possibilities. He had told me numerous times that his hormones were taking a toll on him. I just felt so bad for him.
At that point, the sun was barely visible. The lights of the bay reflected against the wa
ter. Everything felt serene, like the setting had been taken straight out of a painting.
“Let’s take a walk,” I said.
“I don’t know. I’m feeling pretty tired,” Holden whispered, sadly. “Maybe we should just hit the hay.”
“Come on. It’ll be quick. Ten minutes at the most,” I said.
“Fine,” he muttered.
I took his hand and smiled as we made our way toward the blue bridge. So many memories flooded back into my mind. Soon enough, Holden was thinking the exact same thoughts as I was.
“Remember the night we fell in love?” Holden asked.
“I remember that night so well. We ate a delicious dinner and then you celebrated life by jumping victoriously into the bay. There was a sparkle in your eyes that night,” I said. “I knew you were special. Shit. That’s when I knew you were the one.”
“There was that same sparkle in your eyes,” he whispered. “We both knew. It was like something out of a story. Why can’t it always be like that, Riley? Why does life have to be so hard sometimes?”
“You’ll never lose that sparkle, Holden. It’s always with you now. Some days, it gets buried because, let’s face it, life gets hard. But when the timing is right, the light comes out in all of us. In those moments, we are truly free,” I said.
Holden tightened his hand around mine. “But we’re going to get old. What’s going to happen then?”
“Old is a bullshit term. A lot of people just give up. Remember what you told me? People go to work, they go home, and then they fall asleep. They slowly lose themselves, day by day. But we’re lucky. We get to live the life we’ve always wanted to because we kept trying,” I said.
“We did, didn’t we?” Holden looked up at me and smiled. His eyes had that same sparkle in them as the night we reflected on.
“We did. And even if we fail some more, I know that it’s important to keep trying. That’ll keep us young.”
We kept walking, enjoying the breeze and the lights that surrounded us. Above our heads, a full moon reflected on the water. “You know what? I’m going in the water,” Holden said.
There was that sparkle in his eyes again. Before I could answer, his pregnant body was running toward the water. He threw off his shirt and nearly stumbled to the ground while taking off his pants.
“Hey!” I called out. “I’m coming too!”
That night, we fell in love all over again, clinging to each other in the water.
“Right now, I just want to focus on us,” I said.
“Me too,” Holden whispered.
I could see my phone light up on the sandbank. Joel was calling us from the television station, but that could wait until the morning. Right now, it was our time to focus on each other.
Chapter Seventeen
Holden
“I’ve got some good news, guys. The network has decided on a change of plans. They’re going to move your segment. The only problem is that it won’t be for another four months. I know that it’s not ideal, but at least this way, you get what you want,” Joel said.
He added, “Oh yeah. One more thing. They want a small biography from you. You know, just a little segment about your life.” Joel waited for our response.
“Honestly, this is a huge relief. Thank you for accommodating us,” I said. “Send me all the details, and we’ll plan for it. We’ll be ready.”
“Great. And I hope everything goes well with the surgery. It’s a rough thing to go through,” Joel said before hanging up the phone.
I glanced over at Riley, who had been driving for over six hours now. He looked tired and worried. “It’s going to be great,” I ran my hand over his shoulder to comfort him.
“They want to know about my past? What am I going to tell them?” Riley asked.
“All you have to do is be honest,” I said.
“Tell them the truth? Tell them that I was a hardened criminal?” Riley glanced at me and laughed, awkwardly. His hands were shaking against the wheel.
“It’s not as bad as you’re making it out to be. Everybody fucks up, Riley,” I said.
“Really? Everybody comfortably holds a pistol in their hands while they rob a bunch of innocent people?” Riley asked.
I guess I didn’t know what it was like to have that hanging on their conscience, but I felt like I had an obligation to get him to see that he could forgive himself. Riley had come so far, but he still needed that extra push.
“You have redeemed yourself to me,” I said.
“That’s different. I love you more than anything,” he said.
“It’s not different. Telling the truth to me was just the first step. Now, you can redeem yourself to the whole world,” I said.
I looked out of the window. We were getting closer to my ranch. For once I felt good about being this close to home.
“I wish my parents could see the segment. They used to always watch that show in the morning,” Riley said. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I can finally let go of what I did.”
“This is your chance, honey,” I said.
Riley smiled and turned on the paved road toward my ranch. I looked longingly at the entrance, the horseshoe sign that bore our family’s initials. When I left this place, I was a completely different person. Now, after months of trying to figure out who I was, I was ready to come back.
“I can’t believe I’m here,” I said.
“It’s crazy, right? We’ve come such a long way,” Riley said.
He stopped the car and reached for the door, but I stopped him. “Wait,” I said, taking a deep breath.
Riley looked at me with loving eyes. “You can do this, baby,” he said.
“No, I know. I just want to hug you before we go inside. You’ve helped me so much, Riley,” I said.
At that moment, I saw my brother Andy walk onto the porch and wave. The two of us waved back. Then, Riley took me into his arms.
“We’ve helped each other,” Riley whispered. “I don’t know where we’d be without one another, but it wouldn’t be here.”
I laughed and kissed his cheek. “I think we’d both be miserable still,” I said.
“I’d still be fighting with officer Brady and serving flapjacks to Jared,” Riley said.
“Come on. It’s time for you to meet the family,” I said.
With a new sense of courage, I stepped out of the car and walked toward my brother with open arms. We used to be enemies, but things felt much different now.
“Welcome home, brother,” Andy said with tears in his eyes.
I embraced him and squeezed. These moments were meaningful to me. “Are you crying, Andy? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you cry.”
“I’m not crying, dammit,” he said, pulling away from me. I gave him a knowing glance and smiled. “Okay, maybe I am crying a little bit. It’s not every day you see your brother four months pregnant.”
Riley came up behind me and put his arms out wide for a hug. “Hey, Andy,” he said with an unsure smile.
Andy immediately embraced him. “Riley. Welcome to the family,” he said. So far so good…
Riley swallowed and took a step back. “It’s an honor. Seriously, man.”
My smile faded when I saw my mom walk into the inside hallway. She stopped before stepping outside to greet us. I could see the dark bags under her eyes. She must have been hurting so much.
“Oh, mom,” I said, running toward her.
“Holden.” Her voice was a quiet whimper. She grabbed my face and looked into my eyes as if we were separated for much longer than we were. “Look at you. You’re pregnant and glowing!”
I hugged my mother as tightly as I could. Things were strained between us, but I always felt close to her. “About four more months until he arrives,” I said. “Can you believe it?”
Though she tried to hide the guilt, I could see it on her face. She looked at the ground, then at me, and then at Riley. “Holden, I’m sor—”
“Mom, it’s okay. We all made mistakes, but no
w we’re here. I just want us to move forward as a family. I want you to be the best grandmother in the world to this baby,” I said.
My mom started to tear up. She was a tough cookie, but this was hard for her. We were both close to my grandmother, and when she passed, it was like a black hole opened up in our family.
“I’m sorry for running away, mom. I just felt like it was time to leave for a while. I needed to find myself. I needed a chance to grow. If I knew this was going to happen to dad, well…” I glanced over at Riley who was waiting patiently by my side.
To my surprise, my mother stepped forward to hug Riley. “Well, you wouldn’t have met this man if you didn’t leave,” she said.
“You have a wonderful son, Mrs. Reiss. I’m so honored to meet you and your family,” Riley said.
“Well, I wish it was under different circumstances, but it’s great to meet you, Riley.” my mom said.
“Enough with the introductions,” Andy said, dragging his feet against the dirt. “Let’s get going to the hospital. I want to see dad.”
The smiles quickly faded from our faces as the reality started to set in. We didn’t know how my father would fare after the surgery. After speaking with my mom, I learned that a broken hip could end a person’s life, especially if they were getting older.
I felt my pulse race, and even though Riley took my hand, I couldn’t settle down. The four of us drove in silence toward the hospital where my dad was undergoing surgery. We didn’t dare say a word.
In the lobby, our family huddled close. We told stories about my dad and tried to keep a positive outlook. Hours passed, but the world seemed to stand completely still. There was nothing I could do to take my mind off of the possible outcome that this might not end well.
Riley took to his role well. He brought my mom and brother coffee, and he continually stood by them when they needed it most.
Finally, the doctor came out of the hospital room, completely expressionless. My mother stood up, tears soaking her cheeks. “How is he?” she asked.