The Shore (12 page)

Ryan’s head was swimming with all that had happened in the last 24 hours. When she got back to the house, she fixed herself something to drink and took up residence on the couch so she could call Madison.

She answered on the second ring. “Bonjour, chica!”

Ryan laughed. “You do realize you’re mixing French and Spanish again, don’t you?”

“Aww, who cares? I could speak Portuguese, Pig Latin and Russian and people still wouldn’t understand me.”

“Of course they wouldn’t! You are so weird,” Ryan said, laughing again.

“Yes, but you love me. And that’s all that matters.”

“Damn straight, girl.” After a moment, Ryan continued. “How are things going there?”

“You didn’t seriously call me to talk about work, did you? Cause that shit’s messed up. You’re on vacay. I refuse to talk shop with you.”

“Okay! Okay!” Ryan laughed.

Seriously this girl is such a drama queen.

“Since I know you didn’t call for
that
reason, what’s up? Miss me?

“Of course I do.” Ryan was quiet for a second then continued. “I thought I could fill you in on some recent events.”

“Ooh… Sounds juicy! Should I get some popcorn first?”

If Madison didn’t stop making her laugh, Ryan wasn’t going to be able to say anything anyway. “No. Popcorn is not required. However, you do get to tell me which bit you’d like to hear first.”

“I’m intrigued! Hang on. Let me get comfy.”

Ryan chuckled. She could hear Madison actually moving around.

“Okay, what are my options?” Madison finally asked.

“Well,” Ryan hesitated knowing she wasn’t going to like the first option. “Option A is about Jaxon…”

“WHAT!?” Madison asked very loudly into the phone.

“And Option B is about Cody,” Ryan added quickly.

“What could you possibly have to tell me about that motherfucking-cock-sucking…”

“Mad, stop,” Ryan said forcefully, cutting her off.

Madison had never met Jaxon, only heard about him from Ryan. It seemed he was a relatively good guy, that is, until he got a few beers or Jack or any other kind of alcohol in his system. Then, it seemed, he stopped thinking with his brain and let other parts of his anatomy take control. All Madison knew was she had never seen someone cry or hurt as much as Ryan did when they first met. That guy had fucked her over. Hard.

“Seriously, Ryan?” Madison took a deep breath and exhaled. “Okay, tell me about fuckwad first.”

Ryan sighed and shook her head. “Jaxon,” she emphasized, “is here this week dealing with some family issues. I ran into him while taking a walk on the beach yesterday.”

“And?” she asked impatiently.

“And I kind of blew up at him.”

“Good for you! It’s about fucking time! What did he have to say for himself?”

“Well, not much, really. He apologized several times.”

“That doesn’t make it right, Ryan.”

“I know, Mad, and I told him that. I asked him all of the questions I’ve wanted to ask since that day. Granted, he didn’t answer a single one, but I finally realized I didn’t need the answers.” She was quiet for a second. “I just needed him to recognize how badly he hurt me.”

“And did he?”

“Today he did, finally, yeh.”

“What do you mean ‘today’? I thought you saw him yesterday?”

“Yesterday was when I blew up at him. Today,” Ryan said then took a deep breath. “I was taking another walk and happened to walk right in front of his grandma’s house. He saw Berkley and me and ran down to the beach. He asked me to go to lunch.”

“And you agreed? Why didn’t you call me? I would have talked you out of it.”

“I’m actually glad I went, Mad. He didn’t explain anything and he didn’t answer any of my questions from yesterday, but I saw he was truly sorry. I saw the recognition in his eyes that he hurt me.”

Madison felt herself begin to calm. She would do anything for that girl, and that shitstain had raked her over the coals when he hurt her.

“I’d still like to knee him in the balls for you, but if you’re okay with how things ended, then… I’m happy for you, Ryan.”

“Thank you, Mad. I think I am. I know I’m still going to have trust issues, but I do feel better about things with Jaxon.”

“Good,” Madison said, and Ryan could hear a smile in her voice. “Is that it for the fuckwad?”

Ryan laughed. “Yes, that’s all for
Jaxon
.”

“Good. Then tell me about the sex-on-a-stick you’re spending time with.”

Ryan couldn’t help but smile. She was feeling a little better about her relationship with Cody since the conversation with Jaxon. She wasn’t exactly sure how it all related, but she was looking forward to seeing Cody tonight.

“Well,” Ryan started. “I took Berkley for a doggie play date with Wrigley at his place yesterday.”

“Is that what we’re calling it now?”

Laughing, Ryan answered, “I’m serious. We talked about getting together so the dogs could play on the beach together.”

“Uh-huh. Sure. Go on.” Knowing Ryan, that’s exactly what it was, but Madison got a kick out of teasing her anyway.

“When I got there, Cody showed me around his place, and I just had this feeling that a woman lived there. There was nothing ‘man cave’ about his house.”

“Am I going to like where this is going?”

“It’s not what you think. After the tour we took the dogs out – oh, and he has the most awesome deck on the back of his house. We could have some amazing parties out there. Anyway, the feeling I was getting about the woman’s touch on his house, plus the fact that he’s this great guy was really starting to weigh on me. I wanted to know why he hadn’t been married, so I asked him.”

Madison gasped. “I knew you had those balls hiding somewhere! What did he say?”

Ryan got quiet. “He began telling me about Laura…”

“Who the fuck is Laura?” Madison interrupted.

Ryan loved that Madison always had her back, no matter what, but she was great at jumping to conclusions that were often wrong.

“Laura,” Ryan said sternly, “was the girl Cody was going to ask to marry him.”

“Was?”

“Yeh. He was going to propose to her on the day she was killed in a car accident.”

Madison gasped again. “Fuck me.”

“Yeh. She was hit head-on by another car just on the other side of Roanoke Island.”

“Oh my God, Ry… She was so close to home.”

“I know.”

They were both quiet for a long minute.

“What else did he say?” Madison asked.

“He talked about how crushed he was. How he hadn’t really wanted to date anyone else since then.”

“At least, not until he met you, right?”

“Yeh.” Ryan could feel herself blush.

“Wow, Ry. That’s pretty intense.”

“Yeh,” she sighed. “But there’s more.”

“God, what else?”             

“I told him what happened with Jaxon. Of course, never in a million years did I expect to run into him after having this conversation with Cody.”

“Are you going to tell Cody you saw him?”

“Probably. I know whatever we have is pretty new, but I don’t want to keep things from him.”

“That’s probably best.”

They were both quiet again, letting everything sink in. “Sounds like you’ve had one hell of a couple of days.”

Ryan chuckled. “Yeh, you could say that.”

“Are you going to see Cody again?”

“Yeh. He’s supposed to text me sometime today, but I haven’t heard from him yet.”

“How are things going with him?”

Ryan felt herself smile as her cheeks turned red. “Really good, I think.”

“This next date would be lucky date number three, right? You going to sleep with him?”

“I want to, Mad, I really do. But I’m so fucking nervous.”

“It’s just like riding a bike, Ryan. Get on, and let him do the pedaling.”

Ryan laughed. She could always make things sound so easy. “You are weird, you know that?”

“I think we’ve covered this already. And you’re changing the subject.”

Ryan didn’t say a word.

“Ryan, I’m glad you opened up to him. It sounds like you guys had a really good, really tough conversation.”

“We did.”

“Then if things are ready to progress to the next level, let them go there. It’ll be okay.”

“I know.”

“Call me if you want. I’m here for you, girl.”

“I know. Thanks, Mad.”

“Anytime. I better get back to work.”

“K. Talk to you soon.”

“Love ya!” Madison said before disconnecting the call.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was nearly dinnertime before Ryan heard from Cody.

Cody: 
Hey there, beautiful.

Ryan smiled. She was starting to realize how much seeing “beautiful” from Cody meant to her.

Ryan: 
Hey you. How was your day?

Cody: 
It was good.

Ryan: 
Good :)             

Cody: 
Sorry I didn’t text earlier. I was wrapped up with some things and unfortunately I have a project for work I need to tackle tonight.

Ryan: 
That’s alright. I’ve got a book calling my name.

Cody: 
Want to get together tomorrow night?

Ryan: 
That sounds really good. Whatcha got in mind?

Cody: 
Not sure yet. Can I let you know later in the day tomorrow? I’ll have a better idea of time then, too.

Ryan: 
Yeh, of course.

Cody: 
Okay. I’ll text you then. Sleep well, Ryan.

Ryan: 
You, too. Night.

It wasn’t that Cody didn’t want to tell her about visiting Laura, he just didn’t want to do it in a text message.

Ryan spent the evening in quiet solitude. She needed that sometimes. Stretches of time where she didn’t talk to anyone or watch TV or go anywhere. She made herself comfortable on the couch and read a good book.

There was one thing she wanted to do that she hadn’t done yet this trip. Before going to bed, she set her alarm for far too early so she could wake with enough time to get to the beach and watch the sunrise. Every time she came to the shore, she made sure she was up early enough to watch it at least once. Hell, she could go back to sleep after, and most times, she did.

Not nearly enough hours later, the alarm went off and Ryan groaned. Knowing the view would be well worth the missed sleep, she quickly perked up, threw on a pair of cut-off sweats and whipped her hair into a ponytail. On her way up the stairs, she grabbed an old blanket.

It was as though Berkley knew exactly what Ryan was up to because the dog was waiting by the door when Ryan reached the top floor. She grabbed a bottle of water and walked toward the deck.

“Come on, girl.”

Ryan slid the door open and looked up to the sky. It was the lightest mix of orange and pink with a scattering of light clouds. She watched Berkley lead the way across the deck and down the wooden stairs. They walked up the dune and when Ryan reached the crest, she stopped to take in the view. It looked no different than the last time she was here, but it was something she always did.

They walked closer to the water and Ryan laid the blanket out for them both to lay on. At least with the blanket underneath them, Berkley would be less likely to bring an entire beach worth of sand back into the house.

Every so often Ryan would snap a picture as the clouds moved this way or that, or as the rays of the sun sliced through the clouds. This was her peace; watching the sun rise up in the sky, the colors reflected in the clouds and the sound of the waves crashing into the surf.

If only she could bottle this up and bring it back to Charlotte with her.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Back in the house, Ryan thought she would read for a while and grabbed her iPad. Not two pages into the book she was reading, her eyes closed and she drifted off to sleep. A few hours later she was startled awake by the sound of a text message on her phone.

Cody: 
Hey there, beautiful. Good morning.

Ryan: 
Hey there yourself. Morning.

Cody: 
How’s it going?

Ryan: 
Good here, you?

Cody: 
Not bad. You still up for doing something tonight?

Ryan: 
Of course. Any ideas?

Cody: 
I was thinking maybe dinner and a movie. I could cook at my place.

Ryan: 
That sounds good. Can I bring anything?

Cody: 
Nope, just you. I’ve got everything else covered.

Ryan: 
What time?

Cody: 
7:30 work for you?

Ryan: 
Perfect. I’ll see you then.

Cody: 
See you then.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ryan decided she wanted to wear something a little nicer for her dinner with Cody. Every time she’d seen him, she had been wearing shorts and some kind of summery shirt. She was thinking a sundress would be nice for the occasion. Since she hadn’t brought one with her, however, she needed to do some shopping.

She drove up the Causeway, evaluating the shops she saw. Most seemed too touristy, full of the trinkets tourists would take home as a reminder of their trip. She finally came upon a couple shops that looked right up her alley. After she tried a few dresses on, she finally found the one she thought would be perfect.

As she went to drive home, Ryan realized she wasn’t far from Abby’s ice cream shop. Rather than heading straight home, she decided to stop in. Even if Abby wasn’t there, ice cream sounded good.

Ryan drove the short distance to the shop and walked into the store. There was a mom with what looked like three- or four-year-old twin girls sitting at a table enjoying their treats. Ryan couldn’t help but smile to the mom as she took in the girls’ cute blonde pigtails.

Just as she turned to peruse the flavors available, Abby walked in from the back room.

“Hey, girl. I didn’t expect to see you today.”

“Hey. Yeh, I was out shopping and thought ice cream sounded good.”

“Well I’m glad I was here. I have to take off in a few minutes to pick up Jake from school.”

Ryan looked down at the ice cream and pointed to one named Sunset Red. “Can I try that one? That sounds interesting.”

“Sure.” Abby grabbed a small spoon and scooped a bite of ice cream onto it. “It’s kind of a sangria sorbet with bits of fruit in it. Strawberries, oranges.”

“Hmm… that’s good,” Ryan answered, the spoon still in her mouth. “I’ll take a scoop, please.”

As Abby handed Ryan her cup of ice cream, Ryan tried to hand Abby money to pay for it.

“Are you kidding me? You’ll never pay for ice cream in this place, Ry.”

Ryan grinned. Very few people called her “Ry” anymore, and she kind of missed it. “Thanks Abby.”

Abby came around the counter and joined Ryan at one of the tables. “So what are you up to tonight? Was this shopping trip for something special?”

“Cody invited me over for dinner tonight. I thought it’d be nice to be in a dress. Or at least something other than shorts.”

“Ahh. He’s a pretty good cook. You should enjoy the meal.”

They chatted for a few minutes before Abby had to leave.

“Well, I should probably run and get Jake,” Abby said as she stood from the table. “We still good for tomorrow night?”

“Yeh, absolutely. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Good. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“See you tomorrow. Thanks again for the ice cream!”