Always My Hero

by Jennifer DeCuir

  “He’s frustrated. He can’t speak. He can’t communicate what he wants unless I ask him yes or no questions.”

  “Has there been any progress? Do they think this is the best situation for him?”

  Ryan knew his father’s doctor had recommended he go into a nursing home. His father had become extremely agitated and, in order to calm the man, the hospital agreed to let him return home. But he had to show progress. The doctors needed to know that the homecare nurses and physical therapists were worth it.

  “I think so. It’s really too soon to tell.”

  “Well, I’ve got some news that will brighten his day. A chance for a good laugh at my expense.” Ryan winked at his mother, sweeping the crumbs off the counter onto his plate and carrying it to the kitchen sink.

  “We could use a good laugh around here.” Anne pounced on the dirty dish in the sink, like she’d been waiting for something to do.

  “Ma, come sit down. That plate will be there when you get back.”

  He only wanted to have this conversation once.

  The couch had been pushed to the far wall to make room for his father’s hospital bed. There was just enough room to edge through between them in order to sit down. The large screen TV had been mounted right beside the big picture window overlooking the front yard and the street beyond. Ryan’s dad, Bo, could watch television and still be able to see everything going on outside.

  At the moment, the Patriots were playing the Bears. Ryan nodded when he saw the score. Ten, zip. Brady’s team was in good shape this year.

  “That Super Bowl’s ours this year, Dad. Stupid Seahawks were a fluke last year.”

  His father grunted something unintelligible, but his head bobbed up and down, which Ryan took to mean he agreed.

  “So you want to hear something utterly ridiculous? Guess who has been roped into posing for a calendar? The Sexy Men of Scallop Shores.”

  “Posing?” Anne asked, pointedly.

  “Yep. Shirtless.”

  “Good heavens!” She rolled her eyes while Bo made a choking noise in his throat.

  Ryan wasn’t sure if he should be alarmed or not. But his dad had a twinkle in his eye. As he watched, the man lifted one shaky hand and turned it over slowly until he had one thumb sticking straight in the air. Yes!

  “Oh, honey, good for you!” Anne gushed to her husband.

  Bo dropped his hand on the bedspread as though disgusted. He was a grown man used to his independence. To be praised for something as little as a thumbs up must have been humiliating.

  “Yeah, you’ll never believe who’s running the whole show, either.”

  “I imagine it’s that little snip of a thing that runs the new coffee shop downtown. Cady?”

  “Nope. Bree. The calendar is raising money for the library. A new roof.”

  Anne looked torn between laughing and feeling bad.

  “She came up with the idea of men posing shirtless for a calendar? That doesn’t sound like Bree at all.”

  “Wasn’t her idea. But she jumped in to help.”

  “What a nice girl. She’s always there to pitch in whenever someone in town needs her.”

  Ryan looked away. He’d never stopped to ask Bree if they were interrupting her plans for the morning. For all he knew, she had something to do, somewhere to be. But she’d been wearing her glasses again, and a sleepy smile. So understatedly sexy. He’d had to beat a fast retreat before he did something stupid.

  “Listen, we need to talk.”

  He sat down on the end of the hospital bed, his back to the game. Patting the opposite side, he motioned for his mother to join him. Her lips pressed firmly together, she looked back and forth between husband and son before she finally took her spot on the bed.

  “I wasn’t completely honest with you when I arrived in town. I told you about the temporary leave I was able to get through work. I know you want me to stay, to run the hardware store so it stays in the family. But I left part of my agenda out.” Daring a brief look at each of his parents, Ryan steeled his nerves and pressed on. “I didn’t come out here to run the store for Dad. I came out here to try to sell it for you guys and then Wes and I are going back to California.”

  Anne gasped and Bo made a low growl in his throat.

  “You need to think about the future. Both of you. Dad, you aren’t going to be able to run the store again. I’m not saying that to be cruel, it’s just a tough fact that we all have to face. Ma, are you going to do it? With the help you’d need to hire, it wouldn’t be cost effective. I’m not trying to be cruel. I’m trying to help you.

  “I want to set you up with a nest egg. Dad, you’re gonna get better. Not perfect, but we’ll get you out there fishing again. And you always said you wanted to take up golf. I think you ought to sell the house too. Get out of this harsh weather and move somewhere more temperate.”

  “You want us to move in with you?” Anne asked, confusion warring with anger on her face.

  Holy crap, no! “Southern California is beautiful this time of year. But so is Florida. The Carolinas even. You’ve got lots of options.”

  “We like it right here, thank you very much.” Her tone was on the waspish side as she grabbed Bo’s hand. A show of solidarity?

  “But you had to hire someone to clear the snow. You shouldn’t have to do that.”

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Ryan! You hire people to perform a service. That’s their job. If we didn’t hire them, they wouldn’t have any work. It’s how the economy works.”

  “But ... ”

  “What is so awful about living in Scallop Shores? Why can’t you stay? I would understand if you had a girlfriend back home. Someone that you can’t live without.”

  Unbidden, Bree’s face floated into Ryan’s subconscious. He wanted to swat it away.

  “We do have a life in California. Wes thrives at his school. It’s good for him.”

  “Scallop Shores is better. The boy needs to learn that there are more things in life than his books. He needs to experience ice hockey and camping, swimming in the cold Atlantic and making homemade flapjacks with the berries he picked himself. And family. You’d finally bring Wesley here and have him get to know his grandparents, only to yank him away again so quickly?”

  He couldn’t disagree with any of this. His need to leave town as quickly as possible had nothing to do with Wesley and everything to do with himself. Ryan watched his father clench his one working hand into a fist, relax it and clench it again.

  It wasn’t his intention to yank the man’s control away. He was trying to be practical. And sometimes practical sucked. No way around it.

  “I’m going to contact a Realtor. Maybe if you could see some actual numbers, find out what you could expect to get for the house and the business, that might help put things in perspective. Just think about it.”

  Not having anything more to add, Ryan squeezed his dad’s shoulder and muttered a quick goodbye before he stood up and hurried for the hallway. His mother raced after him.

  “Ryan? I know you don’t want to run the hardware store. We never wanted that for you. But this job that’s waiting for you? Do you really want to be an accountant? Don’t be in such a rush to get back there unless it’s what will make you truly happy.”

  “It’s what I know, Ma. And here’s a shocker, I’m good at it.”

  “I’m just asking you to consider staying. Spend a little time here. Remember what it felt like to belong.”

  “I’ve got to go pick up Wes, Ma. Tell Dad I love him. We’ll stop by sometime tomorrow.” Ryan shoved his feet in his boots, grabbed his jacket and flew out the door with a careless wave.

  His mother was right on all counts. He had nothing waiting for him in California, beyond a job that he could really get anywhere else in the country—including Scallop Shores. And the more time he spent in town, the more he did remember, and enjoy, the closeness, the sense of community, and belonging. Which just made him all the more anxious to leave. His hometown onl
y served to remind him that he’d done nothing with his dreams—especially the dream he had that involved the pretty town librarian.

  Chapter 6

  They’d made plans to meet at her place after Wesley fell asleep. His son knew he would be right next door if he needed him. But that wasn’t likely. So it would be just the two of them. Ryan wiped his palms on his jeans, blew out a shaky breath, and tapped lightly at Bree’s door. He didn’t get where these stupid nerves were coming from. It wasn’t like this was a date or anything.

  She answered the door in a pretty pink sweater and long flowing black skirt. Ryan liked how she dressed now, as opposed to when they were in high school. Back then she’d opted for huge shirts that she’d had to have bought in the men’s department. Shapeless outfits that, knowing Bree, were designed to hide her body rather than display it.

  At least now she dressed femininely, even if she did still hide that sexy, lithe body of hers behind long skirts. The woman had legs like a dancer. It seemed a crime not to show them off.

  He liked that she’d gotten contacts. Not that she hadn’t looked adorable in glasses, but he’d always loved her caramel-colored eyes and was pleased that he could see them better now. Shaking his head, Ryan wondered why he was spending so much time studying the way Bree looked.

  Steering him past the cozy living room that was an exact replica of the one he and Wesley shared next door, she waved him across the hall, toward the kitchen table. He stopped and blinked. It was like stepping back in time. A stack of books and homemade flash cards waited for him on the table. Just like their old tutoring sessions. He wondered if she remembered how his mother had always served them homemade cookies and a tall glass of milk.

  “Are you going to make me earn my cookies?”

  Bree’s tutoring strategy had relied on a healthy dose of bribery. His mom would set the plate of cookies down and Bree would snatch it away, doling out cookies with each right answer. As they’d gotten to know each other and their relationship began to change, this wasn’t a bribery tactic, so much as it was pure flirtation. If he knew his parents weren’t paying attention, he would eat the cookie right out of her fingers.

  “I thought of that just before you got here.” She blushed and he could see she was remembering how he’d nibble on her fingers. “Sorry, I don’t have any cookies. But I do have Kisses. You can earn those instead.”

  Fire shot through his body, making him rock hard in an instant. Choking down a groan, he hobbled to the table before she could see how her words had affected him.

  “I beg your pardon?” he croaked out.

  “Oh, for goodness’ sake! Hershey Kisses? Chocolate? Not all women are as adept at baking as your mother.” She set a bowl of the foil wrapped candies on the table and slid into the chair across from him.

  Unsure whether her pink cheeks were from embarrassment or mutual attraction, Ryan hoped for the latter. He’d spent years trying to forget the one night they’d been together and now the more time he spent with her, the more he couldn’t stop thinking about it. But that wasn’t why he was here. Focus, buddy!

  “I can’t thank you enough for tutoring me … again. Wes wanted to know why I was coming over here tonight, wanted to know why he couldn’t come with me. If we could just keep this between ourselves?”

  “Of course. I think Wes would feel awkward if he knew the lengths you were going to in order to connect. He’s a very lucky kid.”

  “No, I’m a lucky dad. I can’t imagine my life without him in it.”

  A look of intense pain crossed Bree’s features so swiftly that he almost second-guessed whether he’d actually seen it. Guilt clenched his gut. He knew she’d been expecting him to leave Haley after they’d admitted their feelings for one another. He’d wanted to. God, he’d wanted to. And then his son, who reminded him so much of Bree, might have actually been hers. Regrets? Yeah, he had a few thousand.

  Seriously, dude! Focus already.

  Bree reached for a book and began to give him an abbreviated version of the first year of Harry Potter’s life at Hogwarts. She quickly explained that he couldn’t hope to keep up his end of a conversation with Wesley by cheating and watching the films. She caught his eye at this point, showing him without words that she knew him better than he thought.

  As he learned the characters and who held what role, Ryan was rewarded with a Kiss, tossed across the table. Never mind that he would have preferred the skin-to-skin version. Spending time with Bree was a reward in itself. They got through the first book and she insisted they take a break for the night.

  “How about I make coffee?”

  Since he wasn’t quite ready to leave her company, he nodded.

  “If you’ve got decaf, I’d love some.”

  Ryan got up and wandered around while she prepared their drinks. The cheap little desk in the living room held a small laptop. She hadn’t bothered to close it, so he figured he wasn’t exactly snooping by checking out what was on the screen. He chuckled to himself.

  “You’re still trying to get on Jeopardy. That’s awesome. When the time comes, you better tell me. I fully intend to be in the audience to watch you become the next Ken Jennings.” He was proud of her, regardless.

  “I don’t know. I think it’s time to admit I’ll never be Jeopardy material. If I haven’t made it on there by now, then I probably never will.” She stepped up beside him, handing him one of the mugs she’d carried in with her.

  “Promise me you won’t ever give up. Your time will come.”

  Ryan waited to see where Bree would settle, hoping she’d choose the couch where he could sit beside her. She looked at it, then perched herself in the overstuffed chair in the corner. He didn’t realize his sigh was audible until she looked up sharply and raised one brow, quizzically. Whoops.

  “Can I ask you a question?” He sat down in the center of the couch, cupping his mug in his palms.

  “Fire away.”

  “Why didn’t you become a teacher? You used to talk about it all the time. It was why you began tutoring. My mom said you quit school to help your mom. But surely you could have just taken a little time off?”

  Bree glanced away.

  “It didn’t fit in with my plans anymore. My mom needed me. My stepdad was gone. The boys needed me. I had to find a job where I could get all my training online.”

  “While still being able to work with kids,” he added.

  “A happy coincidence.”

  “You would have made an excellent teacher. You still could.”

  “I like where I am now. It’s satisfying.”

  “Recruiting men to pose for your calendar—shirtless,” Ryan teased.

  “Never a dull moment, huh?” She took a sip of coffee and leaned back into the cushions.

  “I’ve missed you, Bree.”

  Huh. It would appear that something as simple as decaf coffee had the power to loosen his tongue tonight.

  “My turn. Can I ask you a question?”

  “Don’t hold back.” He watched her over the rim of his mug.

  “Why numbers? Why accounting? As I recall, you and numbers didn’t get along.”

  Because it reminded him of her. He couldn’t tell her that, though.

  “People change, I guess. And as far as a backup career, it seemed as good as any.”

  “I suppose. But you didn’t have to abandon sports altogether. You could have become a coach. Or gone into sports medicine. Or announcing.” Oh, she was just getting warmed up. He could tell.

  “After my accident, I felt like a fraud just thinking about anything sports related, you know?” He had never admitted that to anyone.

  “Never too late to change your mind.”

  “Fair enough, Ms. Librarian. Fair enough.” He drained the last of his coffee and set the mug on the coffee table. “It’s late. I should let you get some sleep.”

  “Can I stop by the store in the next couple of days? You said you had some names of other guys that might want to help with the ca
lendar?” She stood up from her chair, looked as though she might sit back down again and then thought better of it. Though she acted twitchy because she was anxious for him to leave or because she wished he would stay, Ryan couldn’t be certain.

  “I open at nine. Stop in any time after that. We’ll put our heads together and come up with some detailed lists to get us started.”

  “Great. I’ll make up for the lack of cookies tonight and bring you something from Cady’s Dream. What do you like?”

  Oh, there was a loaded question, if ever he’d heard one. He shook the naughty thoughts that were beginning to form from his head.

  “I’m not picky. Anything you bring, I’ll love.”

  They stood at the front door. Ryan put one hand on the doorknob but turned back to say one last goodnight.

  “I meant what I said before. I’ve missed you.”

  She was so close. If he leaned in just a little ...

  “I’ve missed you too, Ryan.”

  His name on her lips was all the encouragement he needed. He let go of the doorknob to cup a hand behind the back of her head. If she told him no, he’d stop. Instead, her eyelids fluttered shut and her head angled just enough to show him she had no intention of stopping him.

  A low groan rumbling deep in his throat, he captured her mouth in a soul-stealing kiss. Shocked that he could still remember how she tasted after all this time, Ryan held on tight. Feelings he’d denied for thirteen years came flooding back. Love. Pain. Guilt. Regret. So much regret. He crushed her to him, wishing like hell that he could go back and make different choices. Choices that included Bree, that didn’t push her away.

  He felt the searing touch of her fingertips on his shoulders as a brand. Slowly they crept up to wrap around his neck, her deft fingers sliding into his hair to drive him crazy with need. Pivoting their bodies, he pushed her up against the door and released her mouth to trail hot kisses along her jaw, feasting on her sensitive neck.

  His Bree.

  “We should stop.” Her voice was husky.

  He couldn’t get close enough. Her hands were grasping at his. Tangling their fingers together.