Page 30 of So Long, Honey
“Usually, I would argue with you, but today I’m happy to let you win because there’s only two things I need in this world, your love and to win that game.” Ryan huffed gently with our foreheads still pressed together, his breath warm on my cheeks.
“That was cheesy,” I laughed and scrunched my nose up.
“My backpack is in your bushes around the back,” he said with a chuckle before kissing my forehead and pushing off the steps to retrieve it.
I watched him walk away with a thousand thoughts swirling in his mind, his fingers tapping against his thigh as his eyes searched the sky for answers. The stars wouldn’t help him, though. They never helped me.
FIELD
Sitting at the island going over his work had taken hours, and before I knew it, the lock on the front door had popped, and my heart dropped into my stomach.
“Don’t say a word,” I warned Ryan as his eyes drifted over my head to the front door.
I hadn’t put my wig back on as per his request, and for some reason, the idea of my parents seeing me like this—messy hair, dirty sweater, half-eaten cake on the island strewn about with a bunch of half-finished English papers—shook my confidence.
Ryan being here would cause my mother to riot, but in the most constricted, fake way her nature would allow. She’d likely thank him for coming to our home before shooing him out the door to scold me for two hours about the rules and regulations of our house and the importance of screening everyone who enters our front door.
“Lorraine?” Her voice echoed through the empty house to the kitchen, and my entire body tensed at the sound.
“In here, Mom,” I said.
As she and Dad came around the corner, tired from travel but still looking pristine, Dad stripped from his suit jacket and rolled his sleeves when he stopped in the doorway of the kitchen behind my mother in her pearl dress shirt and matching skirt.
Ryan rose off the stool behind me and straightened out against my back. His breathing was slow and methodical as my father studied him and then looked back at me.
“Who’s this?” He asked me as he stepped into the kitchen.
I opened my mouth to explain, but Ryan was faster, and I mumbled a few tame curse words at the sound of his voice. I kept forgetting that his listening skills left much to be desired.
“Ryan Cody, Mayor Field.” Ryan stepped out from behind me and held out his hand.
“Robert Cody’s boy, you live off Lorne Way, the farm.”
“That’s correct, sir,” Ryan said.
I had to stifle the laughter that uncharacteristically bubbled from me at the sight of Ryan being so polite.
“Your brother, Robert Jr., comes to town hall meetings with him. I’ve never seen you there.” My Dad pointed out. Faces, that was his entire election campaign, and he never forgot a face, which meant he was taking care of everyone in the town. The idea that he could remembereveryonewas absurd, but the town had believed every word and he had been elected and re-elected.
I could feel my mother's gaze on my face as I watched them talk.
It burned like hot metal; unfortunately, I had to sit and take it from her.
“Until I graduate, my focus is on school and baseball, sir.”
My Dad’s expression tightened at his answer.
“And why are you in my home with my daughter, Mr. Cody?” He asked Ryan.
“She’s tutoring me in English, sir,” Ryan answered without hesitation.
“Seems your focus slipped.” The backhanded comment landed because I watched Ryan’s shoulder blades come together beneath his shirt.
“English was never my strong suit, sir, but I reached out for help, and my grade is coming up.” I wasn’t sure how honest of a statement it was because he hadn't handed in any of his missing assignments yet, and his grade was stagnant, just like his baseball career.
Suspended in time until he figured out how to balance it all in the small pocket of his baseball mitt.
“I hope the time spent with my daughter has helped, but I do ask that if you’re coming over to our home, you pick a day when we’re home. I’m not comfortable with the idea of you being alone with Lorraine, " he said.