Love Unscripted (53 page)

“
You? I’ve been limping around here all morning,” I admitted.

“
Have you really? Huh, that’s too funny. And here I thought I was the only one hurting. Guess we put a hurting on each other!” he growled. “Cal asked me why I was moving so slow.”

“
You were asleep about five minutes afterwards… in the same position.” I laughed.

“
You wore me out with all of that good loving. I have to stop thinking about it. I’m going to make those dinner reservations and I’ll see you around seven. I love you.”

“
I love you too!”

I smiled as I tore the sheets off
our
bed and carried the pile to the laundry room. I heard my phone ring again, but it wasn’t his ringtone.

“
Hey Marie, what’s up?”

“
Taryn?” I could tell by her voice that she had been crying.

“
Marie, what’s wrong?” I panicked.

“
Gary’s mom died this morning.”

“
Oh my God, Marie. I’m so sorry.” An old memory of me calling Marie to tell her my mom had died flashed through my mind. “What happened?”

“
She must have had a stroke in bed last night. Gary’s dad couldn’t wake her. And we just saw them a few weeks ago.”

“
How’s Gary?”

“
He’s a mess.” She sniffed. “First time I’ve ever seen him cry. He’s already called off work and well, it’s the other reason I’m calling. Please don’t be mad…” she pleaded, “but he got us tickets to fly to Tampa tomorrow. He wants to be there – help make arrangements with his dad. We’re flying out at eight twenty in the morning.”

“
No, I completely understand. Don’t worry at all.”

“
Tar, we’re going to be gone for a couple of days. I don’t think we’ll be back until Monday or Tuesday. I hate to do this to you.”

“
Marie, don’t worry about it. Family is first, always first. Is there anything I can do? Do you need anything?”

“
No. Just your understanding and love, that’s all we need. I really hate this. I know you wanted to spend the weekend with his family; I feel like I’m sticking you. I feel horrible. I’m so sorry.”

“
Marie! Please! It’s okay! I’ll figure something out. Just give Gary and his family our condolences.”

I turned the washing machine on and added the soap. Shit. What was I going to do now? I had just unloaded the dryer when my phone rang again. All of a sudden I was popular.

“
Hi Pete,” I answered glumly.

“
You okay?” Pete asked.

“
Yeah. No. I just got off the phone with Marie. Gary’s mom passed away this morning.”

After a few minutes of filling him in on what little information I had he got to the reason for his call. He had calculated the cost of the materials to do the stairwell remodel. The steel door alone was several hundred combined with drywall and wood studs came to almost two thousand dollars. That didn’t include his labor.

Pete figured once he got the work permit Thursday morning he could start later that day, but it would be loud with all the banging and he’d have to cut through the brick wall to make the new outside door.

“
I can start the demo of the drywall tonight and get that out of the way. Tammy is going to be busy making food for a luncheon she’s catering tomorrow anyway. Oh, and before I forget to tell you, she booked a party for Saturday, so she can’t work Friday and Saturday nights,” he said.

That put the icing on my cake. I was hoping that Tammy would be able to lend a hand to manage the crowd but now that option was gone too.

I snapped my phone shut and sat for a while. I couldn’t handle the crowds on my own. I was already looking forward to a weekend off with Ryan and his parents. Ryan had just made diner reservations for Friday. His parents already cancelled their hotel stay. Damn.

I let out a big sigh. I couldn’t cancel on Ryan nor jeopardize meeting his parents for the first time. I wandered around the apartment, trying to figure out what to do.

I was leaning on the washing machine when I thought I heard someone scream, instantly grabbing my attention.

“
No freaking way,” I groaned, looking out my front window. I could clearly see the line of girls forming on my sidewalk. They were waiting for me to open, and it was obvious that they weren’t here to drink. The line was so long, there must have been forty or more of them.

I hurried down my steps to get a better look at the situation. I peeked through the blinds, shocked at what I saw. Girls were leaning on my walls; some were sitting on the sidewalk. I looked in the other direction to confirm that the line started at my door.
Un-freaking believable!

Right then I made my final decision. I walked to the kitchen to get a piece of cardboard. In my office, I grabbed a fat, black magic marker and wrote in big letters:

I could hear the anger from the waiting crowd when I put the sign in my window. They certainly left me know how they felt about it, but I ignored them and went back upstairs. I had phone calls to make and bands to cancel. There went my Halloween weekend income.

“
I’m on my way,” Ryan said when he called from his car. “How’s the crowd? Everything all right there?”

“
There is no crowd. Most of the girls left after I put the closed sign in the window, although a couple of them pounded on my door,” I sighed.

“
Closed? Taryn, what’s-”

“
I had no choice,” I muttered. “Gary’s mom died this morning. He and Marie are leaving for Tampa tomorrow morning to be with his dad. Marie is staying home with him tonight; he is pretty distraught.”

“
Jeez, why didn’t you call me?”

“
For what, Ryan? To give you bad news while you’re having a stressful day as so as it is? I figured I’d fill you in when you got here.”

“
What about Cory? Isn’t he supposed to work tonight?”

“
I cancelled him. I cancelled the bands I had scheduled to play this weekend too. Actually I’ve been on the phone most of the afternoon it seems. Oh and Pete called. He’s coming here tonight to start tearing down the drywall on the steps. That was another reason – Tammy has catering jobs this weekend so she can’t work either.”

“
We just turned into the alley. I guess I get to try out my new keys. I’ll see you in a minute.”

A few minutes later he sprinted up the steps and through the apartment door. “Tar?” he yelled down the hallway.

“
Kitchen.”

“
Hey you.” Ryan hugged and kissed me. “Are you okay?” His fingers drifted down my cheek.

“
Yeah, just a bit out of sorts I guess.” He kissed my forehead when I looked down at his feet.

“
I’m sorry you had a crappy day.” Ryan hugged me so tightly it kind of hurt.

Deep inside I was marveling that he actually cared what kind of day I had. He was the first in my history of dating for that emotion.

He sniffed the air. “What smells so good?”

“
Pork chops?” I pointed a finger at the glass dish that I just took out of the oven. “Pete is on his way; I figured I’d make him some supper too, since Tammy is busy baking for tomorrow.”

“
Tar, what’s wrong? I can tell you’re sad.”

“
I’m thinking about Gary. I just have a lot on my mind.” I set out three dinner plates on the kitchen table, trying to suppress the memory of my own mother’s funeral by trying to figure out what account I was going to move money from to cover Pete’s costs.

Ryan filled three glasses with ice and water. “Did Pete call you with an estimate today?”

“
Yeah.”

“
And?” He sounded perturbed.

“
He said two grand for the materials; that didn’t include his labor.”

“
That’s not bad. I thought it would be more.”

Easy for him to say... I was trying to figure out how I was going to manage taking a thirteen thousand dollar hit this weekend. If I put off the stairwell remodel, then I’ll only be down ten thousand in income, minus having to pay for two bands that weren’t going to play. It made me edgy to lose that much income from the bar. Halloween was one of my biggest cash nights.

Pete was starving. “That was delicious Taryn!” he complimented. He scraped his plate with his fork. “I’ve forgotten what it’s like to eat home-cooked meals. Tammy only cooks for other people now.”

“
It
was
delicious. Thanks for cooking, Honey.” Ryan smiled and gave me a quick kiss. He put his dirty plate in the sink and rinsed it off. “Are you ready to tear down some drywall, Pete?”

“
What? You helping?”

“
Hell yeah! I’m hoping you have an extra sledge hammer ‘cause I have some pent-up Suzanne aggression to get rid of. Oh, and before I forget...”

Ryan trotted back to the bedroom and returned with his checkbook. He dug in the junk drawer for a pen.

“
What are you doing?” I asked.

“
Writing Pete a check.”

“
For what?”

“
The renovations.” He looked at me like I was missing the obvious.

“
No, I can’t let you do that,” I stated directly. “My building… it’s my responsibility.”

“
Who said anything about you paying for it? I’m paying Pete.” He wrinkled his nose at me.

“
No! I can’t let you do that,” I stated firmly.

“
I don’t really care what you say. I’m paying for the construction and that’s that. End of discussion,” he said sternly.

Pete was smiling at him for some reason.

“
That’s way too much, Ryan. No! I can’t let you pay for it.”

“
Taryn, please don’t argue with me.” He looked back at his checkbook and continued writing.

“
Pete, I’d appreciate if you would contact the security company and get a separate system added to the new doors. I’d like a sensor put on the roof door as well.”

“
Okay, will do.” I presumed Pete could see the tension growing in the kitchen. He pulled the keys from his pocket. “I’m going to go get my tools. I’ll see you downstairs.”

Frustration coated with anger started to well up inside me as I washed the dishes. Ryan stood behind me, placing his hands on the edge of the sink counter to keep me in place.

“
I know you’re pissed at me,” he whispered in my ear. “But if I wasn’t here with you this fix wouldn’t be happening. It’s because of me that we’re doing this. And when I’m not here, I want to know that you’re safe. So please try not to be mad at me for long.” He nuzzled his face next to mine.

“
Besides, I still owe you for the chocolate chip cookies.” He swept my hair to the side. “And the card you got for my mom… and all of the other stuff you bought for me.” He drifted his lips down my neck.

“
And the cake I see you’re going to bake since all of the ingredients are laying out on the counter. I’m guessing that’s for
my
mom?” Ryan wrapped his arms around me. “I take care of you, you take care of me. That was the deal you signed last night.”

I leaned back on him and turned my head to look up into his eyes.

“
I love you,” he said, softly kissing my lips before departing for the door.

An hour had gone by and after I took the cake out of the oven, I went to check on the guys to see how much progress they had made. The hammering had stopped so I presumed they were finished with the demolition.

I could not believe how different the view was from the top landing with one of the stairwell walls removed. Sandwiched between the layers of drywall was an old layer of plaster and thin strips of wood. I picked at a loose piece of drywall that hung from the corner, trying to even out the jagged line they had made at the top of the landing.

“
Taryn amazes me,” I heard Ryan say.  My body became rigid after hearing my name mentioned. I held my breath in my lungs so I wouldn’t make a sound.

“
I can’t believe how obstinate she gets when I offer to do anything nice for her. I bought her earrings, but she refuses to wear them. She said I spent too much money. I guess I have to take them back to the jewelry store.” Ryan sighed. “I thought it was genetically impossible for women to turn down jewelry, but not her.”

“
She’s one of a kind. But then again, I think you already know that,” Pete replied.