Page 3 of The Fault Next Door
The sermon after the baptism had been about being neighborly. He could tell the pastor was trying to introduce the concept of kindness. The man had replaced the long-time pastor who'd preached for decades in this town. Honestly, Ryder hated the old pastor. The man had been into shaming others and treating women like crap. Amy had refused to attend the church his family had gone to for almost a century, and that had almost driven a wedge in their relationship. Not because he thought they had to go to that church but because his mom sure thought they did.
It still amazed him how so many people in the church could listen to sermons about being kind to others and then spend the rest of the week being jerks. But the old pastor had taught them well—actually bad—but they'd learned that lesson and acted out on it quite often. It would take more than a few years of this newpastor teaching about being a nice person for those diehards in the congregation to give up their hate-filled ways.
The sun was up, but just barely, as a car pulled up in his driveway. He looked out the window, seeing his mother behind the wheel. He rolled his eyes, wondering why she was there. Usually, she only stopped by if she needed him to do something. What would she demand of him today?
He opened the door and ushered her in. “Good morning. Do you want any breakfast?”
“I already ate. I would like some coffee.” Maggie Jameson was short, with wavy gray hair and blue eyes, which everyone said matched his. There was so little of his father in him, which was a relief.
Thomas Jameson had always been a strict disciplinarian. They didn’t have a good relationship, ever. He tried for his mother, but there was no way he would ever see eye to eye with his dad.
Ryder shook off the thoughts of his father and kissed his mother on the cheek. “What do I owe this pleasure?”
“Thank you for helping last night. It means a lot that you came back here and are part of the community. I know when you and Amy—God rest her soul—moved away, you all weren’t going to church. It’s important to be tied into the right faith.”
Ryder grunted, trying not to get too worked up about what his mother said. She didn’t understand him. Heck, he didn’t understand much of himself. Amy and he hadn’t thought church was necessary. He was only going to church here because it was expected of him. He was glad the new pastor had moved in a month before he’d moved back. He could at least get something from the sermon, like being kind to others. If it had been the old pastor, he would have had to find something to do on Sunday mornings.
“You know,” his mother continued speaking as she poured herself a mug of coffee, “Cindy Newman will be at church this weekend. She’s such a sweet girl. Her mother told me she was moving back to town. She’s not with anyone. You could ask her out.”
Ryder’s jaw clenched almost on its own accord. There was no way he was dating anyone. Amy hadn't been dead long. Besides, he wasn't ready to date.
“Mom, I don’t want to date anyone. You know that.” He still missed Amy. There was no way he could go on a date with anyone else. Amy had been the love of his life, and that was it for him. No woman even made him wonder what it would be like to sleep with them. He definitely had no desire to kiss anyone, and he certainly didn’t give a shit about their stories. He just wanted peace.
“Ryder, you can’t spend the rest of your life alone,” his mother insisted, her eyes filled with concern. “Cindy is a good match for you. I think you two would be happy together.”
He had known true happiness with Amy, and there was no way some Cindy or Kandi or any other woman could replace her. Anger swirled, but he pushed it down. He didn't want to scream at his mother. That wouldn't go over well at all.
“I’m not ready to date.”
“She is really cute. She knows how to cook and is very tidy. She can darn socks and mend shirts. She has a job as a bookkeeper, so she’s good with money. She would be perfect for you.”
Anger rose, but he held it in check. “If I need someone to cook for me, I’ll hire someone.”
“But you need someone to share a relationship with. Man isn’t happy alone.”
He snorted. “I’m perfectly fine alone.”
“Well, I don’t think so. I think you need a woman in your life.” His mother sipped her coffee, and something twinkled in her eyes that made him think his mother was already scheming to set him up with this Cindy whoever.
“I don’t want to date anyone,” he said, his voice a little gruffer than he usually spoke to his mother.
“But you’re alone. You don’t want to spend the rest of your life alone. Just think how nice it would be to have a woman helping you. You could start a family and fill this house up. I know your uncle was happy here with Liza. They had five children. A house like this needs to be filled again with children.”
Ryder scoffed. “I don’t want or need a woman in my life.”
“Every man needs a woman.”
"I had one, and she's dead." He checked the time and realized he'd spent too long talking to his mother. "I have to get to work."
She sighed and set her mug down hard. “Fine, but this isn’t over.”
Ryder blew out a breath. If it had been anyone other than his mother, he would have said more than a few choice words and kicked them out. There was no way he would date anyone any time soon. He should have expected this. His mom had been meddlesome when he’d been in high school, and he shouldn’t have expected her to stop just because he was older.
She picked up her purse and shot him a look over her shoulder. “I don’t know why you have a job. Your Uncle Steve never had to work while he ran this farm. If it was good enough for him, it should be good enough for you.”
He didn’t want to get into with his mother. She was from a time when people could survive on fifty dollars a month for groceries. She was totally out of touch with how life operated. It didn’t help that she’d never traveled more than a few miles from home. Her experiences were limited, and it showed.
His mother also never took into account that her parents had left the farm to Uncle Steve, and all he had to pay were the yearly taxes. Steve had never paid a mortgage. He never had to deal with making ends meet. Steve had also only done a few updates to the home, so when Ryder moved in, he had to replace the roof, the AC, the flooring, and a few other things. Thankfully, he had a friend from high school who did roofing, and he'd gotten a deal on the AC. The flooring was another story, and he would be paying off what he'd spent to fix up the place for years to come.