The Shore (16 page)

“Yeh.”

“Then I think you need to cut him some slack, Ryan. He obviously likes you. You obviously like him. He slept with Paige. And while that really sucks, and could totally make Christmas
really
awkward,” Madison added under her breath, “it’s not a big enough deal to make you walk out of his life.”

“What if I blew it Mad? What if he won’t talk to me now?”

“I don’t think it’s an issue of him not talking to you. I think it’s an issue of what you’re going to say to him.”

“Great…” Ryan could feel her anxiety bubble inside her. She had no idea what she would say to him.

Reading her mind, Madison added, “You’ll figure it out Ryan. The words will come to you. Don’t sweat about it until you need to.”

“Okay.”

If only I had her confidence.

Cody’s head snapped to his phone when he heard it ring, but there was disappointment in his voice as he answered it. “Hey sis.”

Mac loved it when he called her that. They had known each other a long time and made it through a lot of shit. She felt like he really was her brother.

“Hey. Still haven’t heard from her, huh?”

“No.” She always knew. “Have you heard from her?”

“No, sweetie, I’m sorry.”

Cody let out a deflated sigh.

“I just wanted to call and check on you. See if you had heard anything.”

“Thanks, Mac. No, nothing yet. I drove past her place this morning and her car was there. At least I know she made it home last night.”

“I’m sure she’s fine, Cody. It sounds like there’s a lot of history between Ryan and her sister. Maybe she just needs time to decompress, let it all sink in. She knows this all happened a long time ago.”

“I just don’t want her to leave before I get a chance to talk to her.”

“I know,” she replied, offering, “You could always go over to her place.”

“If I don’t hear from her by mid-afternoon, I’ll take a drive over there.”

“That sounds good.” Mac had a hunch something else was going on, she could hear it in his voice. She just wasn’t sure what it was. “Is there something else, Cody?”

Cody chuckled. Mac would be the best mom ever. She could just sense things and always seemed to know when something was up. “You’re good, you know that?” he teased.

“I do know that,” she answered. “So what’s going on?”

He was quiet again, gathering his thoughts. “I went to visit Laura the other day.”

“Wow. You haven’t been there in a while.”

Mac appreciated the closeness she had with Cody. They could talk easily and he let her in. As much as she loved Laura, she wished he could move on with his life. Find someone new to love. He had such a big heart and so much love to give. Cody Calloway was one of the best people she knew.

“No,” he paused. “I wanted to talk to her about Ryan.”

Mac knew she nailed this one on the head. She knew there was something between these two!

“How did it go?” she asked as calmly as she could.

“Good. I told Laura I really liked her. That she would have really liked her.” He paused again. “I kind of said goodbye, Mac.”

Mac felt tears well up in her eyes. “That must have been really hard, Cody.”

“And then I came back here and boxed up all of her things.”

“All by yourself? You know we would have helped you.”

“I know. I needed to do it myself.”

“Okay.” They were both quiet again before Mac continued, “How do you feel? Are you okay?”

“I’m okay. The house feels a little weird,” he answered. “I think it was time. And if I want to have anything serious with Ryan, if she’ll even talk to me again, it needed to be done.”

“I’m really proud of you, Cody. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been. It’s nice to see our old Cody is back.” He could hear the smile in her voice.

“Thanks, Mac.”

“I’ll let you go. Let me know if you hear from Ryan, okay? I’m worried about her, too.”

Cody smiled. “I will. Thanks sis.”

“Anytime bro,” she chuckled. “Love you.” It wasn’t her typical closing for one of their conversations, but she felt it was appropriate for the moment.

“Love you, too,” Cody smiled.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

She was about half a mile down a fairly desolate beach when Ryan saw someone jogging toward her. As they got closer to each other, she realized it was Mac.

Mac knew she should have told Cody her plan, but she wasn’t sure he’d agree, and she wasn’t sure she’d find Ryan anyway. She thought she’d take an innocent jog along the beach, and if Ryan happened to be there, then so be it. From what Cody told her, Ryan liked to walk on the beach and Mac thought there were pretty good odds she’d run into her.

“Hey Mac,” Ryan said in greeting.

“Hey,” Mac answered with a smile. She stopped running and took a moment to catch her breath. “Fancy meeting you out here.”

“Yeh. We thought we’d go for a little walk this morning.”

Mac smiled at her and reached down to pet Berkley behind the ears. Looking up at Ryan, she asked, “You okay, sweetie?”

Ryan looked down at her feet. “I am. I’m sorry I didn’t call or text you back. I guess I just needed to sort some things out.”

Mac nodded. “I’m just glad you’re alright. We were all worried about you.”

“I really am sorry. I should have let you know I was okay.”

“The important thing is we know now,” Mac smiled softly. “I want you to know, Ryan, whatever happens between you and Cody is between you and him. Whether you’re together or not, that doesn’t impact our friendship. If you ever need to talk, I’m here.”

Ryan could feel the tears start in her eyes again. “Thanks, Mac.”

After a moment, Ryan asked, “Have you talked to him? How’s he doing?” She quickly followed it with, “Never mind. Forget I asked. I don’t want to put you in the middle.”

“Ryan, it’s alright,” Mac chuckled. “Honestly, you can ask me anything. If I can’t tell you, I’ll let you know. But yes, I have talked to him, and he’s okay. He’s worried about you, too.”

“I know. He sounded pretty mad in his voicemail this morning.”

“Are you going to talk to him?” Mac asked tentatively, not wanting to remark on Cody’s anger.

“Eventually. I’m just not ready to yet.”

“And that’s okay. Cody’s got a big heart. Just let him know that and he’ll give you the space you need.”

“I’ll probably text him this afternoon.”

“Good,” Mac said, but Ryan could tell she had more to say.

“I’ve known Cody a long time, Ryan. He’s truly one of the best people I know. The kind that would give the shirt off his back to a stranger.”

Ryan smiled.

That was definitely Cody.

“He would never do anything to purposefully hurt you. I don’t know exactly what happened last night, but I believe his intentions came from a good place, an honest place.”

“Thanks, Mac.”

“So, tonight…” Mac said excitedly, changing the subject. “You want to drive over to my place around 7:30? Abby will be dropping off Jake to spend the evening with Riley, and we can all take one car from there.”

“Are you sure?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I just didn’t know because of everything going on…”

“I told you, what happens between you and Cody is between the two of you. As for me, I’m looking forward to a girls’ night,” Mac winked.

“In that case, that sounds great,” Ryan smiled. “What’s your address?”

Mac gave Ryan the address and then added, “Girl, I don’t plan on this being an early or sober night. If you want to crash at our place, feel free. Bring whatever you might want. In fact, why don't you bring Berkley over so you don’t have to worry about her?”

“Really?” Ryan asked, shocked.

“Absolutely! I haven’t been out in a long time and I’m lookin’ forward to tonight. Let’s have some fun! Besides, I bet Jake would love having a dog for the night.”

“That would be great,” Ryan said with a smile on her face. “Thanks, Mac. You really are the best.”

“Aww, shucks,” Mac teased. “You’re not so bad yourself, Ryan.”

“I’ll see you tonight.”

Both women turned to head in the direction they had come from.

“Oh, Mac?”

“Yeh?” Mac asked as she turned back around to face Ryan.

“My friend, Madison, came in this morning. She was concerned because she couldn't reach me last night,” Ryan paused as her cheeks turn the slightest bit pink. “Would it be okay if she joined us tonight?”

“You bet! The more the merrier!” Mac smiled. “Where is she now?”

“I left her back at the house crashed on the couch. She was up all night and needed a nap.”

“Ah, gotcha. Well I look forward to meeting her tonight.”

“Thanks, Mac. See you then.”

Once again they both turned and headed back to their respective homes. Ryan was feeling much better, at least about girls’ night tonight. Mac just had a way of making people smile. Cody and Riley were lucky to have her in their lives. She considered herself lucky, too.

Still smiling, Ryan tapped out a text to Mac and Abby.

Ryan: 
Sorry for the disappearing act, guys. I’m okay. Just talked to Mac and sounds like 7:30 at her house tonight. I can’t wait! See you both then.

Almost immediately, she received a response from Abby.

Abby: 
Glad you’re okay. Can’t wait for tonight! :)

“How was your walk?” Madison asked sleepily.

“It was good. I ran into Mac, Cody's sister-in-law.”

“Oh yeh?”

“Yeh. She said Cody’s fine. Worried, but fine.”

“Hmm-hmm. So when are you going to talk to him?” Madison prodded.

“I’m going to text him in a bit. See if he’ll talk with me.”

“Don’t wait too long, okay?”

Ryan thought for a moment. “Yeh, I know. It’s not to torture him or anything, I just want to get some things straight in my head.”

Madison nodded. “Okay,” but then shook her head. “Wait. What do you need to get straight, Ryan?”

Ryan didn’t say anything.

“The guy obviously really likes you and you like him. What is there to think about?”

Ryan looked down to her hands while she contemplated the truth.

“I guess I’m embarrassed,” she said quietly. “You’re right. I completely overreacted when he told me about Paige. I don’t know how to face him.”

“You talk to him and explain what happened.”

“You make it sound so easy.”

“It is. I go back to what I said before. If he’s that much of an ass that he laughs or belittles you because of it, then he’s not right for you. Better to find that out now instead of later, right?”

Ryan nodded her head, “Yeh.” She didn’t think Cody would do that, but it didn’t make the idea of talking to him any easier.

“Good.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ryan grabbed a book, trying to read to calm her mind. She would do better talking to Cody if she wasn’t stressed about what to say. When she had read the same sentence ten times and still wasn’t able to remember what it said, she gave up. She wasn’t quite ready to talk to Cody and decided to text him instead. She grabbed her phone and walked out to the deck.

Ryan: 
Hi.

Cody: 
Hi.

Ryan was still at a loss for words, and when she didn’t write back, Cody sent another message to her.

Cody: 
You okay?

Ryan: 
Yeh. I’m sorry I didn’t answer your texts or call you back.

Cody: 
I was worried about you. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.

Ryan: 
I know.

Cody: 
Do you want to get together tonight? We could talk.

Ryan: 
I honestly wasn’t sure you’d want to talk.

Cody: 
I do, Ryan. How about it? Can I see you tonight?

Ryan: 
I can’t. I’m going out with the girls tonight. And don’t you have a game?

Cody: 
I do, but I can miss it. I forgot about girls’ night.

Ryan: 
Sorry. We can plan for something tomorrow though.

Cody: 
Would it be okay if I stopped by the bar tonight?

Ryan: 
I’m not sure where we’re going.

Cody: 
I can find out from Riley.

Ryan: 
Okay. I’ll see you sometime tonight then.

Cody: 
See you tonight.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cody felt better after having some sort of communication with her. He was thankful she finally answered him. If she hadn’t sent the text or called him, he was ready to knock on her door and make her talk to him. Okay, maybe not “make,” but at least he would have been able to see she was okay with his own eyes.

In the meantime, he did everything he could to concentrate on work and not on seeing Ryan that evening.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ryan loved getting ready with Madison. It was a sisterly type of thing that never happened with Paige. And if she was honest, Madison was much more like a sister to her than Paige ever was. The thought made her a little sad.

Madison hadn't packed a thing when she left. She had been more concerned with what was going on with Ryan than she was about what we should wear for the weekend. Since they were going out for girls' night that meant they had needed to go shopping.

By the end of their trip, Madison has chosen a shirt for Ryan that was a light blue that made her eyes sparkle and showed just a bit more cleavage than Ryan would have liked and a pair of dark denim shorts.

Ryan grabbed a pair of her sandals, much to the chagrin of Madison – she had wanted her to wear the heels.

“I am not wearing heels tonight, Mad.”

“Why not? Your legs would look sexy in these!” she said, holding up the shoes. “You know it’s a proven fact that the higher the heel the more the girl is looking to get laid.”

“In that case, get me a pair of ballet slippers. Besides, you know me. I’m about comfort, not torturing myself. You’ve already got my boobs hanging out, for crying out loud.”

“They are not! This is what your boobs would look like if they were.” Madison unbuttoned one of the buttons on Ryan's shirt and tied the ends of the shirt underneath.

Madison stepped back to admire the view. “Damn, girl. That’s hot!”

The girls stared as they looked at Ryan in the mirror. This was so not her style.

Ryan blew a raspberry at Madison in the mirror and proceeded to re-button the button and untie the shirt like it had been. This outfit was a good cross of cute and comfortable with just a touch of sexy, and that was just fine for Ryan.

After Madison had Ryan ready, she scooted to her own room to get dressed. When she walked around the corner and back into Ryan's room, Ryan gave a loud wolf whistle.

Madison was in the palest of green shirt that made her eyes look like ice and a short denim skirt that was definitely shorter than anything Ryan would ever wear. The shoes on her feet were the same pair Madison had wanted her to wear. She looked fucking hot.

“Are you on the prowl tonight?” Ryan asked, bringing her hands up and clawing at the air.

Madison laughed. “Prowl? Seriously?”

“You look hot, girl. Looks like I’ll be the DD tonight.”

“Oh no you don’t, Ryan Echo Blake. You are going to drink, be merry, and get completely wasted.”

Ryan looked at her befuddled.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’ll hold your hair if you start puking.”

“Can we make it so I don’t puke and call it a day?” She hadn’t told Madison yet that Cody would be making an appearance wherever they ended up tonight. If they were going to talk at all, she needed to be sober enough to have the conversation.

Madison tapped her chin with her index finger. “Hmm… maybe,” she grinned.