Ryan's Love - C.A. Harms Page 0,50

said

Tammy smiled as she looked around the table. It was surrounded by her family—all three of her boys, her husband, and her granddaughter. And they had allowed me to share the night with them.

“You are always welcome to join us, Amber,” Tammy said. She was such a kind woman.

“Hey, Ma, don’t forget about her roommate. We can’t force her to eat alone all the time.” Jackson looked over at Ryan and wagged his eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

“You mean the girl that kissed you once and never came back for more?” Noah chimed in, and even their dad laughed when Noah squared his shoulders, appearing proud of the dig he’d thrown at his brother.

It was comical to see Noah, Jackson, and Ryan interact. They picked and poked at one another, doing all they could to get each other wound up. They welcomed me into their home and into their family, and it felt almost natural to be near them—like I had known them for years.

After dinner, I helped Tammy clear the table, even though she insisted I relax. Then I stood back, watching Ryan and Olivia as they stood side by side, washing the dishes. The small radio on the end of the counter was set to a country station, and Ryan sang along with the music. He mimicked the tone of the singer’s voice, making his own deep and rough. Olivia laughed and nudged him with her hip and giggled when he hip-bumped her in return. At one point he pretended the spoon he was holding was a microphone and tilted his head to the side, belting out the verse only to chuckle when Liv rolled her eyes.

“That is a beautiful sight right there.” I was startled by Bill, Ryan’s dad, as he stepped up beside me. I had been peeking around the refrigerator to observe the two of them and didn’t notice him approaching. When I turned to look at him, I knocked a picture on the wall crooked with my head. Bill steadied it before it fell and smiled down at me. Ryan resembled his father, but Noah was almost identical to him.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” He chuckled. “I just saw you over here watching, and I couldn’t help myself. I never thought I would ever see my son smile and laugh again like he is now.”

I looked back toward them as they continued to wash the dishes and laugh. “I can’t take credit for that.”

“You can and you should,” he said. “After he lost Claire, I worried every day that the son I raised would forever be gone. Yeah, he still looked like him on the outside, but inside he was hollow. He fought to smile, he had to force himself through the days. Olivia was the only reason he kept going. But now, that man I thought we’d lost…” He paused as he shifted his eyes toward the kitchen. “He’s coming back a little more each day. That, darlin’, has a lot to do with you.”

When I looked back into the kitchen, Ryan’s gaze met mine. He winked and motioned with his head for me to join them.

I hesitated only to have Bill chastise my reluctance over disturbing their father-daughter moment. “You’re part of their circle now, sweetheart. Don’t take that lightly. The want you. Now go take care of them. They mean the world to me, and I can see they do to you too.” He nudged my shoulder with his.

“They certainly do mean the world to me,” I assured him before walking toward the two people that now held my heart.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Ryan

“I think I’m gonna stay the night with Gran. She promised she would teach me how to knit,” Olivia said without looking up at me.

“Smooth, Liv.” I chuckled.

“What?” she replied innocently.

“You can’t lie worth shit, kid. You couldn’t come up with something other than knitting?” I tickled her knee, and she giggled, shifting on the couch to get away from me. She was sandwiched in between Noah and me. We pinned her on opposite sides, and together we tortured the truth out of her.

“Okay, fine, I thought you and Amber could have a night alone. I had it planned all along. I already packed a bag.”

Sneaky little shit. When Amber walked away from me almost four weeks ago, I never once thought it would be Liv that brought us back together.

“You sure about this?” I asked, and she nodded without hesitation.

After we said our good-byes, I walked Amber to her