Coming Home (16 page)

“That’s probably a better idea than what I was thinking.” Ryan
adjusted himself as he stood up and picked up the bag to get the rest of the
items from the field.

I stopped him and looked into his eyes so he knew I was serious. “I
think I may have liked your idea better, but I want to take this slowly. Is
that okay?” Ryan nodded and smiled before returning to the field. I picked up
the filled bag in the dugout to take to the truck.

When Ryan met up with me a few minutes later, I could tell he had
something on his mind. “How do you want to handle this at work? I want to date
you, but I’ve never dated anyone at work before.”

“Maybe it could just be between us for now. I know the girls won’t
be happy with me once they find out.”

Ryan rolled his eyes as he leaned against the back of the truck
and pulled me between his legs. “You’re the only one that sees me for me. You
see what I need, and you don’t want to take me from it. I couldn’t stand the
others trying to get me to go out when they knew I had prior commitments here.”

I stroked his face and the stubble tickled my palm. “I’ll never
take you away from your commitments just for a date. Are you okay to keep it
quiet at work?”

“We should see where this is headed before the office gets involved.
I’m okay with waiting. Are you hungry?”

“Starving.”

Chapter 11

The next day I met my parents halfway for lunch and an
afternoon together. The second my mom saw me, she knew there was something
different. “Oh my God, you’re dating someone. Sit down and tell me all about
it.” Did she have me followed?

I looked at my dad as he rolled his eyes. I’ve seen my mom a few
times since I moved, but have only seen my dad once or twice. The length of
time in between our visits had proven my parents were not getting any younger.
His black hair was slowly turning salt and pepper, and the lines that were
starting to appear softened his face. My dad wasn’t mean at all, but he was the
one to always carry out the punishments when I was a child, and the look on his
face always told me he meant it. Even the dark brown of his eyes seemed to
lighten up a little.

Dad took out the magazine he brought with him. He always came
prepared. He just didn’t usually pull out the reading material so early into
the lunch. I reached over to lower the magazine.

“He’s parking the car.”

Dad dropped the magazine. “You brought him with you? I should
have been told about this. I don’t have any questions prepared for this. Let me
go to the restroom to write a few down.”

My mom pulled on his arm. “Sit down and be quiet. You will behave
yourself. This is not an interrogation.” She turned back to me. “You really
should have told us. We would have dressed better and would have picked a nicer
restaurant.”

“Mom, you’ve already met him.”

“It’s not that Wade guy, is it?” My dad obviously didn’t approve
of Wade even without meeting him.

“No, it’s Ryan.”

To say my mother beamed would have been the understatement of the
century. Dad just picked up his magazine. I knew instantly I had both of their
approvals. Ryan walked in and slowly made his way over to the table.

“Hello, Mr. Shultz. Mrs. Shultz, it’s a pleasure to see you
again.” Ryan kissed my mother on the cheek and shook my dad’s hand after my
mother nudged him in the ribs to accept the handshake.

“Please call us Hillary and Dave. We would have picked a better
place had we known you were joining us.” My mother isn’t so subtle when she
gives her approval.

“Oh, this place is perfect. I don’t like to go to anything fancy.
Too stuffy for me.”

That got my dad’s attention. He often uses that word—stuffy—when
complaining about the finer places my mother likes to go. “So, you play
baseball, huh?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Let’s go talk about the game and grab a beer at the bar. This
way the girls can get their conversation out of the way and we won’t have to be
tortured by it.”

Ryan looked over at me as if he was asking permission and I
nodded my head. He started to lean in for a kiss and stopped to look at my dad
and then back to me. I leaned in the rest of the way and kissed him instead.
Once they were out of earshot, my mother started her barrage of questions.

“When did you become a couple?”

“I’m not sure we are a couple yet.” I mumbled.

“Well, when did you start dating?”

“Technically, this is our first date.”

The look of shock on my mother was one I would never forget. I
thought she was going to start hyperventilating or pass out or something.

“Your first date?” She started drinking her water. “You two look
a little cozy for a first date. Don’t tell your father. I know how it is with
the modern woman, but please don’t tell your—”

“Mom!” I look around to make sure no one overheard her little
speech. “We aren’t sleeping together. Jeez.”

“Well, excuse me, but with the way you two look at each other and
touch and that kiss, I wouldn’t be surprised if your father is checking Ryan’s
wallet for condoms as we speak. Please tell me you didn’t let your prescription
lapse on your birth control.”

I put my elbows on the table and my face in my hands. “I can’t believe
you guys. Ryan and I realize there is more than just friendship between us, and
we want to explore that possibility, but we’re taking it slowly. We haven’t
done anything yet.”

“Well, why is he here then? Usually you invite the boyfriend to
meet the parents when it’s serious and after you’ve taken the test drive.”

Oh, God. Not the test-drive conversation. Still hiding my face in
my hands, I begged my mother. “Not here, Mom. Not now, please.” I peeked out
between my hands and made sure my mother was listening before I fully uncovered
my face. “He’s going to help me find my birth parents. That’s why he’s here.”

“You told him you were adopted?”

I reached over and touched my mother’s hand. “Yes, and he was so
surprised that you’re not my birth mother. He said he never would have expected
it since I talk about you as though you are my mother.”

“What did you say?”

I squeezed her hand. “I told him you are my mother, so why
wouldn’t I talk about you like my family. I’ve never thought of anyone else as
my mother.”

“Then why do you need to find them?”

I didn’t see Ryan and my father coming back. “She thinks there’s
something wrong with her and that’s why they gave her away.” Ryan sat next to
me and took my other hand. “I keep telling her there’s something wrong with
them to not keep her.”

“Yep, she’s a keeper.” That’s about as much emotion as I’ve ever
heard from my dad and it made me smile.

“If it’s all right, I’d like to hear what you’ve been doing over
lunch, and maybe I can check out a few sources of my own.” Ryan fully had my
mother’s attention, and, while I didn’t know if he was at full attention or
not, my father never picked up the magazine again.

~*~

It was hard to keep my growing relationship with Ryan a
secret at work. We would steal kisses when we knew we were alone like in the
morning before our workouts. On the nights Ryan didn’t go to the group home, we
ended up staying later so no one would see us leave together. It was early one
morning in my office, and Ryan just popped in to say good morning—again. There
wasn’t much talking with his good mornings, but I really liked the early
morning kisses.

Vicki walked in without knocking and started to back out with her
apologies until she realized who was kissing. She came back in with a huge
smile on her face. “Well, isn’t this a surprise.” Ryan and I just looked at
each other and then back to Vicki.

“I was just leaving.” I couldn’t believe Ryan was leaving me
alone to explain this to our boss.

Vicki let him walk out and shut the door behind him. Turning to
me, she still had a smile, but it wasn’t as big. “So . . . How long has this
been going on?”

I went to sit behind my desk. “Um, just a few weeks. Are you
going to make us stop dating?”

“No. I’m glad you’re dating each other.” She sat in the chair in
front of my desk. “You know I’ve been hoping for the two of you to finally see
that you belong together. Does anyone know?”

“My parents and, well, now you.”

Vicki smiled again. “You’ve told your parents? This is serious.”

“I’m not sure how serious.”

“It looked serious to me.” She pointed to where she caught us
kissing.

I cleared my throat. “Well, I know what I’m feeling, but I don’t
know about him.”

“What are you feeling?” Vicki leaned in and smiled back when I
smiled at her. “I thought so. You’re a cute couple. You know I say go for it.
I’ll have to tell Matt, of course, but no one else needs to know beyond that
right now.” She got up and walked towards the door.

“Did you need something?”

“What? Oh, why I came in here.” She smiled. “I just wanted to
catch you in the act. I’ve suspected for a week, but could never catch you
two.” She laughed as she left while I sat there stunned by her confession.

Ryan came back in a couple of minutes later. “Ryan! How could you
leave me alone with her?”

“I’m sorry.” Ryan locked the office door. “I came to make it up
to you.”

“Unlock the door. I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea.”
Ryan smiled as he pulled me to my feet and kissed me. I started to protest, but
of course gave in. “Okay, maybe they’ll have the right idea, but I still don’t
want them to have it.” He kissed me again and, again, I caved. “Maybe just a
few minutes.”

~*~

Ryan followed me home so I could change, and then we
headed out to check on the boys. We usually spent most of our date nights
there, but I didn’t mind. I loved seeing Ryan happy just to be there. He was
like a child himself in some ways, getting lost in the fun. He had a firm side,
though, that told me instantly he would be a great father. I shook my head as I
tried to clear that thought. We were supposed to be taking it slowly. That didn’t
include picturing him playing in the backyard with our children.

I was lost in the thoughts I was supposed to be trying to clear
and didn’t hear Ryan come up behind me. He wrapped one arm around my waist and put
his other hand on my hand to help me guide the key into the deadbolt. “What are
you thinking about?”

I twisted just enough to look him in the eye. “Just how great you
are with those kids. And I can’t wait for my team to kick your team’s butt.” I
kissed his cheek and finished opening up my door. “Oh my God.”

Ryan pushed his way by me and told me to stay in the hall. I
didn’t want to go in any further anyway. My apartment had been demolished.
Everything I owned was turned over, upside down or inside out. It was a
complete mess. After the initial shock wore off, I was afraid whoever did this
was still inside and I needed to see Ryan. “Ryan!”

Ryan appeared in the doorway and tried to push me back into the
hallway. “Let’s call the police and wait out here.”

“No, I want to see it.”

“No, you don’t.” Ryan held me by my shoulders and fought me to
stay in the hallway. I gave up and leaned against the wall while Ryan called
the police. “We don’t want to touch anything until they get through. Do you
want to call your mom?”

I couldn’t speak. I just shook my head. Ryan wrapped his arms
around me and held me throughout the entire evening. He never let me go while
the police questioned us in the hallway, while the police escorted me through
the apartment to see the damage and while I cried at the writing that was
literally on the wall.

All of my things were completely destroyed. My clothes were all
shredded or had unknown stains. The refrigerator and freezer were both emptied
and left open—which could have accounted for some of the stains on my clothing.
The fabric was ripped on all the furniture with the kitchen table and chairs
marred and nicked as if someone beat his frustrations out on them. The
breakable things such as electronics or dishes were completely smashed or
shattered.

Officer Daniels took the report. “Anyone else have a key to your
apartment?” He looked at Ryan.

I was still in a daze, so it was hard to focus. “Um, my mom, but
she’s three hours away in Anson.” I finally followed his gaze. “No, Ryan
doesn’t have a key. Besides, he was with me all day.” I hugged Ryan’s arms, which
were around my waist. I knew the officer was just doing his job, but it wasn’t
Ryan.

“Okay. You mentioned the other things going on at work. Do you
think they are connected?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know.” I looked at Ryan. “I think someone
has been coming in my apartment for a while.” Ryan tightened his hold on my
waist. That told me we would be having a long discussion about that later.

Officer Daniels stopped writing and looked at me. “What makes you
say that?”

“Well, things would move, but would never be missing. I just
thought it was the stress causing my mind to play tricks, but now I see I was
wrong.”

Officer Daniels pointed to the wall. “What about the message? Do
you know what that’s about?”

I looked at the wall. It said, “You won’t find it here. Go home.”
I didn’t want the fact I was adopted to be part of the investigation. I didn’t
want it to get out, and I didn’t want to find my parents that way. Telling them
I found them because my apartment was destroyed wasn’t a good first impression.

“I moved here recently from Anson.”

“Have you made anyone mad in the building? Any fights over noise
or laundry facilities?” I shook my head. “Okay, we’ll ask around and see if
anyone noticed anything, but you can go for tonight.” Officer Daniels looked
around the apartment. “If there’s something you want to salvage, I suggest you
take it with you now. Is there anything you want?”

Ryan and I looked around the apartment. I shook my head and
started crying when I realized there wasn’t anything left. Everything had been
ruined. Ryan took me out to his truck and I didn’t argue. I couldn’t. All
rational thought and words escaped me—until I saw where he was taking me. I
still couldn’t really speak, but the look I gave him told him enough.