“You really won’t sleep now?”
He shook his head. “My mind is racing in a million different directions.” Her hand was still snuggly secured in his as he spoke. “I can’t even begin to tell you how relieved I am. The thought of something like this happening to Sean? It kills me. I hate how he’s over there by himself.”
“Me too,” she said softly, resting her head on his shoulder. “But he’s right. It’s probably very chaotic over there and you know he’s not the only one who was hurt in the storm. We’d really just be in the way. Hopefully once they get him safely out of the country and over to Hong Kong, it won’t take long until they send him home.”
“Where is that anymore? He gave up his place and put all his things in storage when he left two years ago. Steph is constantly on the move and…”
“He can stay here,” she said simply. “He won’t be able to sleep up in his room but he can use the guest room for as long as he needs.”
Ryan went silent for several minutes. “That’s putting a lot of pressure on you. You have a full-time job and a life, Tricia. From what he’s talking about with his injuries, he’ll need constant care.”
She shrugged. “Then maybe they’ll fly him home to a rehab facility until he can get around a little bit more and then he can come here.”
“Or he can come and stay with me. I mean…I have the space and…”
“That would be very nice, too. I’m sure Sean would like that. I didn’t mean to step on your toes.”
He chuckled softly. “You weren’t. You’re just more compassionate than I am. As relieved as I am that he’s alive, part of me still wants to strangle him. If he had listened to the warnings, he wouldn’t be hurt right now.”
“I’m sure he’s learned his lesson, Ryan. We can’t harp on it. He’s got enough to deal with.” And then she sighed.
“What? What’s the matter?”
“It’s…it’s nothing. Really. It’s stupid.”
“No. Come on. Tell me,” he nudged.
“I’m a completely horrible person.”
Ryan looked at her as if she was crazy. “What in the world are you talking about?”
Tears filled her eyes again. “I hate he’s hurt and that he’s got a long recovery ahead of him and all I can think of is how I’m going to miss out on the time we had planned to spend together!”
“You mean the weddings?”
She nodded and began to cry. “See? I’m a horrible person!”
He couldn’t help but chuckle again as he put an arm around her and tucked her in close beside him. “You are the least horrible person I know, Tricia.” She shook her head against him. “It’s true. How many people do you know would take care of someone’s family home and leave everything intact for them? I’ll tell you…none. You’re willing to let Sean come here to recuperate even though you know it’s going to be rough. See? Not horrible. Sweet. And kind.” He placed a kiss on the top of her head.
Beside him, Tricia wiped her eyes. “He’s my best friend, Ryan. He’s always looked out for me. How could I not do the same for him?”
“You’re a good person, Tricia. I know you’re disappointed about the weddings, but it can’t be helped.”
She yawned. “I know. He got me all excited about going with him and now…?” She yawned again and shifted beside him.
“It will all be okay,” he said softly, sitting back and relaxing a little more against the cushions. Tricia moved with him, her head still on his shoulder. “I promise.”
Her only response was a soft snore.
Four
Two weeks later Ryan was pulling back up to Tricia’s house. He parked in the driveway and sighed. The last time he was here had been to give her the news about Sean. Well, he’d been in contact with his brother every day since he left here and now he was essentially back for the same reason.
News about Sean.
Wasn’t this what phones were invented for?
With a bit of a growl, he climbed from the car and walked to the front door. Her car was in the driveway so he didn’t feel right about using his key and letting himself in. So he rang the bell and waited. Shifting uncomfortably, he wondered if he should have called first.
“Ryan!” Tricia said as she opened the door. “What a surprise!” She motioned for him to come in. “Were you working out this way again?”
“Uh…no,” he said, raking a hand through his hair. “Listen, is this…is this a good time? I wanted to talk to you about something.”
She was walking toward the kitchen – no doubt to offer him something to drink. He followed and accepted the soda she handed him. “So what’s going on? Is everything okay? I talked to Sean yesterday and he seems to be getting stronger every day.”
Ryan nodded and looked around the kitchen. “Can we maybe go and sit down?”
“O-kay,” she said slowly, following him out to the living room and taking a seat on the sofa next to him. “You’re starting to freak me out, Ryan. What’s up?”
Instead of answering right away, he finished his soda and put the glass down on the coffee table. Then he pulled out his phone and scrolled through a couple of screens. When he found what he was looking for, he turned to face her.
“Sean sent me this message this morning,” he said solemnly. Then he held the phone out for her to be able to see the screen.
“Is it a video?”
He nodded and hit play.
“Hey, bro! How’s life in the states? I seriously cannot wait to get home and have these casts off and maybe have some pizza and beers with you. I can probably still do that here but it’s not quite the same,” he chuckled. “Okay, so I have to do this quick – I’m not sure how long these video things last and the nurse is holding the camera for me. So…here’s the thing. I’m not going to make it home any time soon. I’m going to be here at least another four weeks and then I’ll be flying home for rehab. I promised Trish we’d go to these weddings together.”
He paused and then chuckled again. “Actually, I kind of made her promise to go with me. Last summer we went to a couple of weddings – stag – and they were nightmares. I don’t want her to have to deal with that again. It’s my fault she’s being forced to go alone and I hate it for her.”
The camera seemed to falter and shake and then righted again. “If you’re watching this, Tricia, I’m really sorry. You know I wanted us to go to these together. I totally screwed that up, huh?” He smiled bashfully. “Leave it to me to take something simple and make it complicated.” Another pause. “So here’s the thing, I want the two of you to go to the weddings together. Ryan, I want you to go in my place. Please. I know you hate weddings but I think if the two of you go together, you’ll actually have a lot of fun. Stick to the original plan – pretend to be a couple and just have a good time.”
Tricia looked nervously over at Ryan before looking back at the screen. “I love you guys – other than mom, there’s no one else I care about more. So…do this. For me. We’ve already RSVP’d to all of them so I know you’re still gonna go, Trish. Just…don’t go alone. Don’t put yourself in that position. And Ry? I know you’ve bailed my ass out of a lot of things in my life and I swear at some point I’ll make it up to you, but if you could do it one more time, I’d really appreciate it.” He yawned and seemed to grimace with a bit of pain. “Just think about it, okay? For me?”
And then the video ended.
They sat in silence and Ryan had to wonder what she was thinking. He’d had a couple of hours to wrap his brain around the message but for Tricia, this was brand-new information.
On the surface, it didn’t seem like a big deal.
Go to some weddings. Eat, drink and be merry.
But for some reason, Ryan had a feeling there was more to it and he wasn’t sure how to proceed.
Of course he’d do this for his brother. Hell, it was the least he could do. The thing that was really eating at him more than anything was how he never seemed sure of what the true nature of
Sean and Tricia’s relationship was.
Were they really just friends?
Did his brother have a thing for Tricia?
Years ago Ryan had said something to Sean about it and Sean had vehemently denied feeling anything more than friendship for Tricia. Ryan had never quite believed it and for some reason, it made this whole situation seem even more awkward.
He cleared his throat. “So…um…what do you think?”
Tricia was staring at her hands, and he didn’t take that as a good sign.
“Trish?”
When she finally looked up, she wouldn’t quite meet his gaze. “I…I don’t know. I mean, I don’t want you to feel obligated. I already knew Sean wasn’t going to be able to go and I’m okay with it.”
“Oh.” Why did it bother him so much? She was essentially giving him a free pass. So why didn’t he just take it and run?
“It wasn’t fair of Sean to ask that of you,” she went on. “I mean, I was looking forward to going – with him – but I’ll be fine. Really. It will be fine.”
Maybe if she didn’t keep saying “fine” he would have believed her. Or maybe it was the way she seemed to be rambling more to herself than to him. Either way, Ryan knew what he was going to do.
Shaking his head, he reached over and patted the back of her hand. “No can do, Trish. I’m not going to let my brother down on this one. You’re stuck with me.”
****
Okay, it was one thing to go to the weddings with Sean and pretend to be lovers; it was quite another to go with his brother. Sean was her best friend and she felt comfortable with him. But Ryan? Well, she was really just getting to know him. That’s not to say she didn’t know him but lately she was really getting to learn about the kind of man he was.
And she was starting to like it.
A lot.
Maybe a little too much.
He was looking at her expectantly and for the life of her, Tricia had no idea what to do or say. He wasn’t Sean. And that wasn’t a bad thing, per se, but she just wasn’t sure how she was supposed to be around him.
And throwing in the fake relationship thing certainly wasn’t helping matters.
“I really don’t think it’s necessary, Ryan. Besides, it would be awkward.”
“Why?”
Her eyes widened at the question. Was he for real? How could it be anything but? “Look, the thing is…you’re not Sean. Sean and I have known one another for years and we’re…well, I think we’re closer to one another than we are to anyone else.” She met his eyes. “No offense.”
Ryan shook his head and smiled. “None taken.”
“We just have a connection and even with that, I wasn’t sure if we could pull anything off.” She shrugged. “I just don’t think you and I can go out there and pretend anything that people would believe.”
He studied her for a minute. “Okay, how about this – we just go together, as friends. I’ll be going to represent Sean and I’ll be there by your side so no one can throw any shade at you. What do you think?”
What did she think? It sounded like a plausible plan, but did she really want to go with Ryan to all of those events? “You know it’s six weddings right? Like all summer long this is going to go on.”
He shrugged. “Summer is three months long and you’re telling me six days out of the entire summer, I’ll have to dress up and socialize. I think I can handle it.”
“You’ll essentially be giving up your weekends,” she quickly added. “I mean, you live in Jersey, all the weddings are here so…you know. You’ll need to come in Friday night for a Saturday wedding and then stay over and go home Sunday. It’s a lot of time away from home. I’m sure you have things you like to do on the weekends.”
“Not really,” he said, his smile widening.
“Oh.” She was beginning to feel a bit dejected. Life would be a lot easier if he would just take the out she was handing him and run with it, but no. He had to be admirable and want to help his brother.
At any other time it would be an attractive quality in a man.
But not right now.
With a loud sigh, Tricia stood up. “I’m not talking you out of this, am I?”
Ryan shook his head. “I think it could be fun,” he said, still grinning.
“You’re a lousy liar just like Sean,” she said as she picked up their glasses and walked to the kitchen. “If I had been smarter, I would have called everyone right after Sean’s accident and just backed out of all the damn weddings.”
“You wouldn’t do that,” he said from right behind her. For a minute he simply stood and watched her rinse the glasses and put them in the dishwasher. “You know you really want to go to these weddings and I think part of you is relieved to have someone going with you. Now I realize I’m not my brother, but I’m not trying to be. We can be as casual about why we’re there together or as outlandish as you want. I’m just going to follow your lead.”
Great. And he was going to be a gentleman too.
Slamming the dishwasher door with a little more force than necessary, she faced Ryan, her arms crossed over her chest. “Fine.”
He mimicked her pose. “Fine? That’s all you have to say is fine?”
“What am I supposed to say?” She could feel her lips twitching with the need to smile at his imitation of her.
“How about ‘Gee, Ryan, thanks. I bet we’ll have a great time.’ Or maybe ‘Thanks, Ryan. I don’t know how I would have dealt with all these weddings without you.’”
Each phrase was said in a voice that Tricia guessed was supposed to sound like her and that did have her smiling. So doing her best, she imitated that voice right back to him, repeating those phrases. They were both laughing hard by the time she was done.
“That’s better,” he finally said and turned toward the wall board with all the invitations on them. Clapping his hands together, he rubbed them before going back to the living room to get his phone. “Okay, now let’s get all these dates down on my calendar so I know where I’m supposed to be and when.”
For the next thirty minutes, Tricia dictated the dates and whose weddings they were attending and when. She felt the need to give a little background information with each couple, and by the time they were done, Ryan’s eyes were a little glazed over.
“You know I’m not going to remember any of that, right?”
She nodded. “I know but it just seemed like the thing to do.”
“So this first one is on a Friday night,” he said, scrolling back over the calendar. “Would it be all right for me to get here that afternoon – maybe after lunch?”
“That should be fine. I won’t be here, but you can let yourself in and get yourself ready.”
“Where are you going to be? Work?”
She shook her head. “No, I took the day off so I could do all of the girlie things that need to be done before going to a wedding.”
“Girlie things? What exactly does that even mean?”
“Oh…um…I’m going to get my hair done, manicure, pedicure…you know, the basics.” She looked at her own calendar to make sure she didn’t miss anything. “Besides, I have to make sure I look good for my boyfriend.” She almost couldn’t saying it without smirking.
“Damn right you do,” he agreed, chuckling. “While you’re at it, make sure you wear something slinky, okay?”
She gave him a look that let him know exactly what she thought of him at that moment and swatted him with an invitation.
“Hey! All I’m saying is that I have a reputation to maintain.”
Tricia burst out laughing. “Now you sound exactly like your brother!”
“Well, just make sure you don’t laugh at all the things I say when we’re around other people. They’ll get suspicious if every time I say something boyfriend-ish or touch you, you start to laugh.”
She hadn’t thought about that. “I don’t think it will be a problem. I still don’t think we’ll have to do a whole lot of anything. Just the fact that I
have a date with me should be enough to keep the pity-partiers at bay.”
He stood and stretched. “Well, if not, I’m here.”
She wasn’t sure yet if it was a good thing or a bad one.
****
Tricia had invited Ryan to stay the night since it was a three-hour drive back to his place in Jersey. He had readily accepted and they had decided to go out to dinner again. He was back in his old room relaxing while she had gone to take a shower.
As she stood under the steaming hot spray, she was deep in thought. In all the years she’d known the Petersons, she’d never spent this much time with Ryan. It was awkward and…comfortable all at the same time.
Hell, who was she kidding? It was more comfortable than awkward.
Ryan Peterson had been a good-looking teenager and he was now a devastatingly handsome man, the kind who looked good without even trying. And he wasn’t her best friend. And he wasn’t off limits. She let out a sigh and turned off the water. Where the hell did that thought even come from? She thought.
As she was toweling off, she heard Ryan moving around in his room. Quickly, she went through her routine of putting on her moisturizer and brushing her teeth. When she was done, she realized she hadn’t brought a robe into the bathroom with her. She wasn’t used to having someone else in the house and normally walking back to her room in just a towel wouldn’t be a big deal. Feeling confident that Ryan was doing his own thing, she opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.
Just as Ryan was stepping out into the hallway himself.
“Oh!” she cried as they nearly collided. She tried not to meet his eyes.
“Sorry,” he mumbled as he kept his gaze averted and moved around her. “I was just heading downstairs to wait until you were ready.”
“Um…no big deal,” she said nervously as she headed toward her bedroom. Awkward. Awkward. Awkward. In the doorway, she turned and then their eyes did meet – briefly – before she closed the door. And then she stood there with her back against the bedroom door for several long moments until her racing heart calmed down.
The Wedding Season Page 4