by Amber Lynn
She heard the front door click and keys jingle as Ryan locked the door behind him. Lisa stood motionless for a second, waiting to hear him come back, like it was some kind of test. They hadn’t even known each other for a week, and he left her totally alone in his apartment. An apartment she had already explained to him was three times bigger than hers.
It wasn’t like there was much she could grab and throw into the trunk of her small car, but it still felt weird that he trusted her. She supposed it went both ways, since she’d let him walk out of the apartment with one of the things she cared most about, not that she considered Pepe just a thing.
When Ryan didn’t come rushing back in around thirty seconds later, Lisa let out a breath she’d been holding and looked to the bathroom she needed to head towards. She’d used it the night before, so the heated tile under her bare feet wasn’t a surprise. She flipped on the light switch just inside the door and looked at the space again in the morning light.
The sound of her phone ringing kept her from spending all day looking at the marble countertops and stone shower that looked straight out of a mansion, or at least what Lisa assumed would be pieces of a mansion. The ringtone was her mother’s, which caused a sigh to escape Lisa as she hurried to go to the bathroom and switch from the t-shirt into her dress. She immediately missed the soft cotton of the shirt against her skin, but didn’t have time to really dwell on it.
Her phone had quieted for a second before it started ringing again. Her mother tended to just leave a message when she didn’t get ahold of her, so it was surprising the song started right back up. Her sigh turned into a groan as she made her way back over to the bed, where her phone sat on a side table.
“Good morning, Mother,” Lisa said as soon as the phone was up to her ear.
“Oh thank God, you’re there. I didn’t want to have to leave a message because I’m barely hanging on as it is right now.”
Lisa could hear her mom sniffle and the hurried tone in her voice told her it wasn’t a normal check-in call. Her chest tightened as she stepped back and sat down on the bed. Her mind immediately started going to the worst-case reasons for calling. Someone had to be seriously hurt to make her mother cry.
“Who is it?” Lisa hadn’t spoken to her brothers or sisters in a few months and her contact with her parents usually went through her mother, so she didn’t remember the last time she talked to her dad. It always felt odd to her that she thought she had a better relationship with her father, but talked to him the least.
“It’s your father.” The pain in Lisa’s chest escalated, causing her to squeeze her chest with her free hand. “He had a heart attack last night and they’ve got him in intensive care.”
“I’m on my way.” Logistically it wasn’t a great time to be rushing off, but she wasn’t going to be able to work anyway. “What are they saying about his prognosis?”
“They keep telling me it’s too early to know anything for sure, but they’re doing everything they can. He hasn’t regained consciousness, so I don’t know what to think.”
“Is there anyone there with you?”
Lisa was the oldest of five children, but all of them had moved out of the house. Her youngest sister was still in the area, while the others had scattered a bit in their pursuits of careers. Lisa was the farthest away, which meant her pocket book was going to take a big hit to get home in a hurry. She didn’t have a day to make the drive home, and that day would’ve been driving nonstop, so she needed to try to find a flight.
“Olive’s here and when I get off the phone with you I’ll call the others. I know it’s asking a lot to get you to come home, but I think you being here would make a difference.”
“Stop that.” Lisa’s words didn’t come off as sternly as she would’ve liked them, but it was better that they didn’t.
Her mother had pushed her to pursue her dreams, even when her siblings seemed to think she was wasting her time and should stay at home. Lisa always thought it was funny that they could move away to become a teacher, a doctor and a lawyer, but Lisa didn’t have a right to because she was trying to make it in the music industry.
Lisa couldn’t claim their jobs weren’t important. Mel was a second-grade teacher, molding the minds of the future. Justin wasn’t technically a doctor yet, but he was in his last year of medical school and it was only a matter of time. Henry was a junior associate in a law firm. They were all great jobs, but they didn’t make her hope of living her dream any less important. Lisa tried not to let it get to her, but little things like her mom feeling sorry for calling her home reminded her that everyone else would be on her for not being there in the first place.
“Nothing is more important than Dad. Let me get off the phone and see how soon I can get a flight. I probably won’t be able to find a direct one, so it’s going to be a while. Tell Dad if you can see him that I love him and will be there as soon as I can. I know you said he isn’t awake, but tell him anyway, please.”
The tears were streaming down Lisa’s face, enough that she needed to reach up and wipe some of them away. Her parents were in their early fifties, so she hadn’t really thought about having to worry about one of them having a heart attack. Thinking about it, she knew it should have been on her mind more because of how hard her dad worked the farm every day.
They had thirty acres of mostly corn, hay and soybeans. Her dad wasn’t doing it all alone, but there were times Lisa thought he thought he was. Always up before the sun came up and out working until after it went down at night. The more Lisa relieved parts of her childhood, the more it was clear they were lucky he hadn’t had a heart attack before.
With all the work, her dad seemed to be in amazing health. Clearly looks were deceiving, or maybe it was just an indicator of how long it had been since she saw him last.
“He knows you love him, sweetheart, but I’ll be sure to remind him. Be safe travelling. I wish you were coming home for happier circumstances.”
“So do I, Mom. I’ll see you in a few hours.” Lisa hung up the phone before she broke down and made things worse for her mom.
She put the phone next to her on the bed and took a deep breath as she covered her face. She needed to get it all out before she got to the hospital and had a major breakdown. Even though she loved spreading her wings and trying to make it on her own, knowing that every one of her siblings were going to make it back before her made her second guess what she was doing with her life.
Chapter Nine
Ryan thought he was being a nice guy taking Pepe out for a walk, but it became pretty obvious from the second they stepped outside that Pepe didn’t seem to think Ryan was up for the task. The dog hadn’t attacked him, but he was still making his mind up about whether Ryan was good enough for Lisa.
During their walk, Ryan tried to convince Pepe that he only wanted what was best for Lisa, and the looks on the faces of the people they passed told him everyone, including the dog, thought he was crazy. The people obviously hadn’t been in the early stages of falling in love before, or maybe they just didn’t experience it the same way Ryan did.
He didn’t care. The night they spent talking told Ryan all he needed to know about the woman waiting for him back in his apartment. He’d already told her he was thinking about the future and he was ready to make sure she knew that involved her. It felt strange that he’d lived for around thirty years and never been struck with the need to include someone else in his life, but with Lisa he was ready when most people would say they barely knew each other.
He was thinking about when to start asking her to move home with him when he got back to the apartment. They’d need to fence in the yard for Pepe, but Ryan had come to the conclusion both dog and owner would settle into his house just fine.
As soon as he opened the door, he heard sobs coming from the bedroom. Ryan made sure Pepe was inside and the door was shut behind him, but his focus was mainly on running to see what had happened in the twenty minutes they were gone. Nothing Lisa had said
during their talk had led him to believe she was a crier, which led him to believe it wasn’t just tears over a spider or some other creepy crawler showing up for a visit.
“What’s wrong, Lisa?” Ryan was already worried, but seeing Lisa sitting on his bed with her head in her hands caused a dull pain in his chest to sharpen a bit.
Lisa didn’t answer him, so Ryan made his way over to the bed and sat down next to her. When she still didn’t acknowledge him, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him, gently kissing the top of her head.
“What happened?” Ryan’s voice was quiet, but a little harsher to hopefully get through.
Lisa snorted as she sniffed and wiped her face with her hands. Ryan gave her a little room so he could turn her because he wanted to see her face. Ryan knew some guys who would’ve seen the red splotches and tear stains and run the other way, but all Ryan wanted to do was pull her in close and fix whatever was wrong.
“My mom called. Dad had a heart attack and is in intensive care.” Lisa’s words were sputtered out as she dropped her head and tried to wipe her face again.
During their long conversation the night before, Ryan had learned a lot about Lisa’s home life and how her dad was really the rock that held the whole family together, or at least held it together for Lisa. There seemed to be something off about her brothers and sisters, all of which Ryan wanted to give a piece of his mind. Ryan’s home life varied drastically from that, but he knew how much it would hurt to hear his dad was in the same situation.
“How soon are we leaving? I can get us a couple tickets on the first flight out and see about getting a rental car waiting for us at the airport.”
Ryan pulled the phone out of his back pocket and started typing in the airport’s website to see what flights were heading towards Nebraska. Ryan had never touched down in the state before, but if Lisa was going to be in his life, he knew he’d eventually need to go for a visit.
“What?” A confused Lisa looked up and seemed to actually see Ryan sitting there, like she hadn’t realized it was him she was talking to.
“You said your dad had a heart attack. I assume that means you’re going home to be with your family, right?” Ryan didn’t think he’d jumped to the wrong conclusion, so he wasn’t sure why Lisa seemed confused.
“Yeah, I’m going home, but I was planning on going by myself.”
“Well, yeah, I suppose you could do that.” Ryan wasn’t surprised she hadn’t included him in her travel plans. Bringing some guy home with you when you were rushing home to be by your dad’s side in the hospital probably wasn’t the first thing that crossed her mind. “But after hearing about the animosity between you and your siblings, I’d really like to be there for you.”
Ryan glanced up at Lisa as he spoke, but most of his attention continued to be on the phone in his hand. There was a flight heading to Nebraska in about two hours. That gave them a little time to get things together and head to the airport. They needed to find a carrier for Pepe, which Ryan assumed Lisa already had. If she didn’t, he was pretty sure they could find something at the airport.
He went ahead and bought them a pair of first-class tickets. They were the only ones he could find together and he preferred to have a little extra leg room. With the purchase made, he set his phone down and refocused on Lisa. She still had a confused look on her face, which he hoped wasn’t just because of his actions.
“How much do you need to pack? We’ve got about thirty minutes to get to the airport to make sure we get through security before the plane takes off.”
“You can’t come with me. You have a game tomorrow night and I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”
Ryan thought he’d made it clear that he wasn’t an extremely important part of the team. It was the time of the year when they were bringing up more players from the minor league to see how they did on the big ice, so he wouldn’t really be missed. Granted he wasn’t supposed to just take off on a trip, but he could get an emergency leave that wouldn’t make him totally AWOL.
If someone wanted to throw a fit about him taking leave, they could keep the rest of the money left in his contract and he could speed up the process of moving. His lawyers would need to get involved, but that’s what he paid them for.
“Last I checked, you were supposed to be at that game too, and you’re supposed to be at the diner in about an hour. I assume you’re planning on making a couple calls and letting the people who need to know what’s going on in on the fact you’re heading out of town. I have a phone and I’ll make my calls while I’m grabbing the bag I already have loaded for a road trip next week.”
Ryan always had a bag ready to go. It made sense for him when they had games on the road at least a few times a month. He also liked the ability to just jump on a plane and go somewhere. During the season he couldn’t do that often.
“I don’t understand. You’re willing to drop everything and head to Nebraska with me? Have you ever been to Nebraska? I plan on being at the hospital most of the time I’m there, but even if I wasn’t, our town doesn’t have more than a barn dance once a month as an attraction.”
Pepe had been forgotten by Ryan, but the dog was trying to jump up on Lisa, so she bent down to pick him up. Ryan had mentioned he didn’t particularly want Pepe on the bed, but he didn’t bother making a big deal about it. The dog more than likely was more comforting to Lisa than he was.
“Of course I’m willing to go with you. I’ve already bought a ticket, so I’m coming even if I have to make it really awkward.” Ryan had never thought of himself as a stalker, but he figured it didn’t take a rocket scientist to become one.
“Why are you trying to make me fall in love with you?” The way Lisa was nuzzling noses with Pepe made it seem like she was asking the dog the question. Ryan knew Lisa was already head over heels in love with the dog, so he figured the love question was directed at him.
The fact that she didn’t seem embarrassed about asking the question let Ryan know a little more about her state of mind. Anytime she talked about the relationship brewing between them her cheeks turned red and she averted her eyes. Her cheeks were already red and she wasn’t looking at him, but Ryan didn’t hear the intake of breath she usually took as she waited to hear what his response was.
“I’m pretty sure that would take longer than a half an hour to explain, so maybe we can broach that topic on the plane. Let me just grab my bag and we can head over to pick up your stuff. Pepe has a carrier, right?”
Lisa nodded. “I was actually going to ask you if you’d mind watching him while I was gone. Like I mentioned, I’m planning on spending a lot of time at the hospital, which obviously isn’t a great place for a dog.”
“It’s not, but we’ll figure something out. Are you ready to go?”
Lisa tried to stand, but she wobbled a little as she got to her feet. At least Pepe wasn’t jumping around on her. He seemed to realize something was up and was the calmest Ryan had seen him as he curled in Lisa’s arms. Ryan reached an arm up to steady Lisa as he stood. It was going to be a long eight or so hours, but he planned on doing everything he could to make the trip easier for Lisa.
“Yeah, I think I’m ready. Do you mind if I leave Pepe’s stuff here? You said we have to hurry and if I remember right, he strew his toys around everywhere.”
“It’s probably a good idea if we keep some stuff here for the next time you come over anyway. Is there anything you think he’ll need that I should grab?”
Lisa thought about it for a second and shook her head. “We’ve got his leash. I just need to grab some poop bags and he’ll be set. We can pick up some food when we get there.”
“Perfect.” Ryan verified Lisa could stand on her own, then ran over to grab his carryon bag from the closet. It had a pair of jeans and a few shirts along with underwear and socks. It wasn’t really clear how long they’d be gone, but he could make those garments last.
He made it back to the woman who looked like she ma
y fall down at any second. Leading her out of the room, they stopped in the kitchen quickly so he could grab some protein bars and a bottle of water. They would hopefully have time to get something to eat at the airport, but he wanted to make sure she had something in her before that.
“What about your license? I was under the assumption you didn’t have it tucked in your bra last night and the only bag you had seemed to be filled with Pepe’s stuff.”
Ryan had picked up his wallet on the way out the door with Pepe for his walk, so he had everything he needed for the trip. If Lisa didn’t have identification on her, they weren’t going to get very far.”
“It’s in my car in my purse. I forgot it when I was grabbing everything last night.”
Ryan thought it was a little dangerous leaving a purse in a car, even in his neighborhood. Lisa had described her car to him, though, so he wasn’t too worried about it becoming a target. He hadn’t mentioned that they were going to take his car when they left, but it was clear to him Lisa wasn’t in any shape to drive, and he wasn’t driving her car.
“Okay, which way is it to your car?”
They’d made it down to the sidewalk after he quickly locked up. Ryan had glanced in both directions and hadn’t found a red car with dents covering about half of the body. When Lisa had described it, he was pretty sure she was exaggerating about just how much damage the poor vehicle had. He’d supposedly seen it at Dylan’s, but he didn’t remember a thing about it.
She started pulling him down the sidewalk away from the park area he’d taken Pepe. It took them about a block for him to be able to pick out the car they were heading to. The crumpled back bumper told Ryan that Lisa had been right on the money. It also solidified in his mind that she wasn’t going to be doing much driving when they were together.
