Fidelity - SF6 (36 page)

Sick of losing
, Ryan thought to herself. "No, I’m fine. I guess I could stomach another one of those fish tacos. Is that cool?"

"Totally. Let’s rock."

Slipping her key in the lock of her family’s front door, Ryan called out, "I’m home!" Expecting a greeting from Conor or her father, she was met instead with stark silence. Dropping her bag in the entryway, she went to investigate. "Duffy?" To her surprise, not even her faithful pooch was home to greet her, and she had to wrestle with her disappointment.
They knew I was coming home today
, she moped as she flopped down on a dining room chair to look through her mail.
Coulda left a note or something
. She tossed the mail back onto the table with a dejected sigh.
Now what? I’m hungry and tired, and I have a headache from driving into the sun all afternoon. My baby’s not home, and my dog isn’t even here to lick my face!

She went to the phone and dialed her Aunt Maeve, sticking her lower lip out even further when there was no answer at her house either.
Where in the hell is everybody?
Next she dialed Brendan, and was pleased when he picked up on the second ring. "Hey," she said laconically.

"Ryan!" her oldest brother cried, sounding very happy to hear her voice. "Are you home?"

"Yeah…but nobody else is. Where is everyone?" She sounded just as irritable as she felt, but she knew that Brendan would not hold it against her.

"Da’s at work, and I think Conor is over at Niall’s."

"Where’s Duff?"

"Oh, Da wanted him to be clean for you and Jamie when you came home, so I took him to the groomer. I was just going to go pick him up."

"Are you free tonight?" she asked hopefully.

He caught the tone in her voice and said, "I can be if you need me to be. What’s up, Sis? You sound kinda down."

"I’m okay," she said, fibbing just a little. "I guess it just feels funny to be home without Jamie," she admitted, getting to the crux of the matter.

"I’ll swing by and get you on my way to pick up Duff. We can have a bite to eat before I go out tonight." He was in full-on big brother protector mode now, and Ryan was very touched by his thoughtfulness.

"You don’t have to do that," she assured him. "Are you going out with Maggie tonight?"

"Yeah, but she went in to work today, and I haven’t heard from her. Don’t they always tell women not to be too available? Maybe I should play a little harder to get." His deep voice rumbled through the phone, and Ryan once again thought that the woman who snared Brendan was a lucky woman indeed.

"Well…" She really did want to spend some time with her brother, but she didn’t want to upset his plans. "I’d love to have dinner with you, but I don’t want to mess up your evening."

"Nah. Don’t worry about it. We’re still spending most of our time uh…not talking," he laughed. "As long as we get together by ten, we can still have our usual entertainment."

"It’s a deal," Ryan said, sounding as relieved as she really was. "I’ll be waiting for you."

She dashed downstairs and stripped out of her oversized basketball clothes, reasoning that they’d probably stop some place decent for dinner, knowing Brendan. Slipping into a clean pair of jeans and a khaki colored cotton shirt, she ran a comb through her hair and dashed back upstairs, smiling to herself when she saw Brendan’s dark head through the window in the front door.
He’s a quick one
, she thought, admiring her brother’s chronic punctuality.

They stopped to pick up Duffy first, since the groomer was closing soon, then they had to find a spot they could eat with the exuberant dog in tow. Luckily, Barney’s on 24
^th
Street had an outdoor patio, and they were able to hook the leash on the white picket fence that separated the diners from pedestrians. Duffy would have preferred a long walk, a run in the park, or an hour with his doggy pals, but he was so glad to have Ryan home that he happily settled down to wait.

"So, tell me all about camp," Brendan encouraged, looking at his sister with genuine interest.

"Not much to tell, other than two-a-days for a week. It was pretty taxing, to be honest. I think coach wanted to make an impression on us. He did," she laughed wryly.

"Was it really rough being away from Jamie for a week?" he asked, cocking his head slightly.

"Oooh…" Ryan moaned, dropping her head in her hands. "I am sooooo whipped. I never thought this would happen to me, Bren, but I can hardly breathe without her!"

"I feel your pain," Brendan laughed, realizing that he was in the same straits as his sister. "Who would have thought that half of the O’Flahertys would fall in the same year?"

Three fifths, Bren
, she thought to herself, the mathematician in her always striving for accuracy.
Speaking of which, I need to speak with Da about making his news public. I hate having secrets from my brothers
.

"So, when is your keeper coming back?" Brendan asked, a playful smile on his face.

"Not until tomorrow afternoon," Ryan sighed, still unhappy about the arrangements. "Luckily, I’ll have Caitlin with me to pass the time, but it’s gonna be tough. I might show up at the airport at dawn on the off chance that she’ll be early."

Smiling at her obvious hyperbole, Brendan asked, "Are you sure that you know what you’re in for, keeping Caitlin for the better part of a week? I’d have thought that you two would want to be alone."

"We do," his sister admitted. "But we also want to watch the baby to give Tommy and Annie a little time alone. This is the way the schedule worked out. If we could just have one day alone it would be nice," she mused. "But it doesn’t look like that will happen."

"Damn, I wish I could help you out, but I’m in trial this week and I’ve got to spend tomorrow prepping. Da’s got to work tomorrow, too, and Aunt Maeve has her big thing for the Hibernians," he reminded her.

"Oh, right," she nodded, remembering that her aunt had been working on the social group's annual fundraiser for months now. "What’s Conor up to?" she asked, looking for any help she could get.

"Niall’s putting in his new driveway. They’re over there tonight trying to get the bed level."

"Can you explain why that guy needs a brick driveway?" Ryan asked, shaking her head. "Other than as another delaying tactic so he doesn’t have to move out, of course."

Brendan shrugged his broad shoulders, as his eyes rolled dramatically. "I’d say that is the only logical reason," he agreed. "His concrete drive was perfectly fine, but he says brick is more elegant." He chuckled softly, shaking his head as he added, "This from a guy who’s using lawn furniture in his living room."

"Ah well, the good news is that Niall will be beholden to every one of us for the rest of his life," Ryan decided, making the best of the situation.

"At least!" Brendan agreed. Surreptitiously slipping Duffy a cracker, he asked, "So, how are things going with Jamie? I mean, I know you’re head over heels, but I got the impression that you were having some trouble with her parents."

"Not parents–father," Ryan corrected. "Her mom has been beyond wonderful, much to Jamie’s surprise." Their food arrived and both O’Flahertys spent a few minutes gobbling down a substantial portion of the meal in silence. Once the edge was off of her appetite, Ryan continued with her explanation. "I could actually use a little advice here, Bren," she said thoughtfully.

"Go," he urged, in his usual succinct style.

"The day I left for camp, he showed up at the house." Brendan’s eyebrow lifted, in a gesture very reminiscent of the one his sister habitually made. "Yeah," she said. "It was a little tense."

"He didn’t hurt you, did he?" her older brother asked, the menace in his tone entirely intentional.

"No, he’s not stupid. Manipulation and intimidation are his things," she said derisively.

"What happened? What did he even want from you?"

She sighed heavily, reaching over to pat Duffy, which always calmed her down. "It’s kinda complex, but the bottom line is that he thinks I’m after her money."

He looked quite surprised and said, "I thought it would be homophobia. Are you sure the money isn’t just a subterfuge to mask his intolerance?"

"No, I’m not sure, but I think I believe him. I mean, he also doesn’t think Jamie’s gay, but that seems like a side issue. He seems to think that she’ll outgrow this ‘crush’ that she has, but he’s afraid that I’ll have run through all of her money by then."

"Yeah…that’s you, all right," he said, rolling his eyes at the mere thought. "I can tell he’s really taken the time to get to know you."

"No, of course he hasn’t," she agreed, "but at this point, I don’t know how to proceed. He ordered me out of the house, and he said that he’s going to stop Jamie from supporting me this year."

"WHAT?!" Their neighboring diners all stared in their direction, and Duffy put his tail between his legs and looked guiltily in their direction, not sure of what he had done, but figuring that he was being yelled at anyway.

"You heard me," Ryan said. "He’s playing rough."

"What does Jamie have to say about this? I’m surprised she didn’t come home and throw a fit."

"Umm…that’s the part I need your advice about," Ryan informed him, looking a little guilty herself.

"Don’t tell me that you’ve kept this from her." His brow had furrowed, and he gazed at her with a look of stark concern.

"Uh…okay, I won’t tell you that." Her eyes grew wide as she shrugged her shoulders, looking very much like an adolescent.

He leaned back in his chair, shaking his head slowly. "That’s a dangerous game, Ryan. Hiding things from someone you’re supposed to share everything with is rarely a good idea."

"I agree," she nodded, "but I thought it was the proper thing to do in this situation. She’s very volatile when it comes to her father, and I knew she’d hop on the first plane and have it out with him. Given his mood when I saw him, it just seemed like that was a recipe for disaster. I hate to think for her, but it just felt to me like it would be best to tell her in person. I’ll be there to stop her from doing something that she’ll eventually regret."

"Okay," he said thoughtfully, leaning back in his chair. "I guess I can see that. Did he tell you to move out immediately?"

"No, he said I had to be out when Jamie got back. He seems to think he can make her stay in Rhode Island for the whole month of August."

"Make her?" Brendan asked slowly. "I’ve only known Jamie for a short while, and I wouldn’t be foolish enough to think I could ‘make her’ do anything! Doesn’t he know who he’s dealing with?"

"Apparently not," Ryan muttered. "But I’m afraid he’s gonna find out–soon."

"Guess where I am?" Ryan asked when she finally got hold of her lover.

"Hmmm…your voice sounds kinda funny," Jamie mused. "Let’s see…it’s nine o’clock there, you’re probably at home, and you sound a little muffled. I’d guess that you’re in our cozy little bed."

"You are so good at this," Ryan praised. "You really should consider being one of the telephone psychics."

"It’s on my list, Love. We liberal arts majors don’t have as many opportunities available as you science and math types do."

"Don’t worry your pretty little liberal head," Ryan joked. "I’ll happily support you."
And I just might have to if your father has his way
, she thought, that secret still eating at her.

"I’ll happily let you," Jamie replied, finding it adorable that her partner was fully willing to do so, even though it would never be necessary. Sighing deeply she asked wistfully, "Does our bed feel nice?" She herself was lying in bed amidst the sumptuous feel of Egyptian cotton sheets and plump eiderdown pillows, but she longed for the lumpy old mattress, foam pillows, and nearly threadbare sheets that surrounded her beloved partner.

"Not really," Ryan sighed. "Without you, it’s just a bed. It’s when we’re in it together that it becomes magical."

"It is magical, isn’t it?" Jamie asked, stretching out languidly and rolling over onto her stomach.

"It sure is," Ryan purred, unknowingly mirroring her partner’s posture. "It’s just wood and steel and cotton batting and foam, but when you’re here with me, it’s nirvana."

Jamie signed heavily, her need to be near her partner rising to painful proportions. "Do you think you miss me as much as I miss you?" she asked softly.

"I don’t know," Ryan answered in her usual thoughtful style. "I do know that I’ve never had a week pass so slowly, nor have I ever slept so poorly or been so preoccupied. Thank God that playing ball is so ingrained in me that it’s nearly automatic, because I was so inattentive this week that coach would have kicked me off the team!"

"I feel scattered, too," Jamie agreed. "I’ve been much more tired than normal, and more emotional, too."

"Ha! I almost cried while I was braiding Jordan’s hair last night. Try looking mature in front of your teammates when you do that!"

"Ooohh, why did you almost cry, Sweetheart?"

"I’m not sure," Ryan mused. "I just felt lonely, even though the whole team was there. It reminded me of my mother, and I was missing you and before I knew it, I felt this knot in my chest, and I almost let loose with the waterworks!"