Love Takes Time (Christian Romance) (12 page)

“So
Chelsea, your face looks familiar to me.  Have I met you somewhere before?”

That’s
right.  The first day I met Ryder his dad was at the restaurant too. 

“Actually
I’d forgotten until I saw you but we have sort of met once before.  It was
a few months ago when I used to work at a restaurant in town.  You and
your son came in with a big group.  You were closing out a deal or
something.”

“
Ahh
.  That makes sense.  That was right about
when Ryder started to act a little different.  So do you still do that now?

“No
sir.  I was going to dance school at the time but decided to take some
time off and focus on teaching dance.  I’m actually doing well enough that
I don’t have to wait tables anymore.  Which is fine because I never really
liked it anyway.  It was more of a means to an end.”

“I
understand that.  It may not look like it now but even my family has had
to struggle at times to get where we are.  I respect that.  On the
flip side of that, you never got a formal college education and you didn’t
finish dance school, is that true.  What’s your plan?  Are you going
to go back one day or are you running with the business now?”

“I
don’t know to be honest with you.”

“You
don’t know?  So you are literally saying that you don’t have any idea what
you are going to do with yourself and you aren’t in the slightest bit worried
about it?  Maybe I think differently but I don’t know how you can be so
carefree regarding your future.”

“It’s
not that I’m lazy or anything like that.  I’m really good at what I do
with the studio but I don’t really like to be tied down.  I kind of just
go with the flow on things.”

He
stopped and looked at her for a second as if considering his words before
speaking.

“Chelsea,
you seem like a nice enough young lady but if you are dating my son for money
or a secure future, I will be watching.  Ryder already knows that any kind
of marriage that he enters into will have to be approved by myself and a
pre-nuptial will have to be drawn up to protect the company.”  

Chelsea
didn’t know what to say.  She certainly hadn’t been expecting that and she
had made the egregious error of letting her guard down.  Luckily for her,
Royce was there and he stepped in.

“Whoa,
Dad come on.  Was that really necessary?  She’s our guest tonight. 
I’m not surprised that you just said that but I would have expected you to use
at least a little tact.”

“Yes,
this coming from my son that I can’t get to stay in one city more than two or
three months.  If she’s carefree, you are the extreme example of
that.  You need to hear the same thing I just said to her.  You’re
doing even less with your life than she is.”

“Fine
dad.  I’m a bad son but you still can’t just talk to her like that.”

“It’s
ok Royce, your father is entitled to his opinion.  Now if you’ll excuse
me, I have to use the ladies room.”

When
she had made it to the restroom, Chelsea released a full sigh.  Looking at
her watch, she realized she had made it through what she assumed must be at
least half of the get together and aside from Mr. Chatham doing exactly what
Ryder said he would, it had been extremely enjoyable.  She didn’t mind him
so much either.  He was just trying to protect his family’s fortune from
women who might have less than true intentions towards his son.  There was
a new TV show about women like that popping up on television all the time.  

Chelsea
headed back out to the table, stepped up behind Ryder’s father and placed her
hand on his shoulder, startling him.  If he thought she was just some
wallflower that didn’t care what was said to her, he was dead wrong.  Just
because she chose not to fight and struggle didn’t mean that she
couldn’t.  She spoke as straight to him as he had just done to her.  

“I
appreciate how much you care for your family, and your son in particular.
 I really didn’t care for what you said but I understand why you did.
 I’m not out to join your family or swindle your son out of money.
 I’m just having a really good time with a wonderful guy.  I’ll tell
you this though.  If I ever do have a father in law, I hope he is someone
who protects his family with as much tenacity as you.”

When
she finished speaking, she saw that the song Ryder and his mother were dancing
to was winding down.  She excused herself and headed to the dance floor,
cutting in to get the next dance.  

When
Mrs. Chatham returned to the table, Royce had already walked off and she spoke
to her husband.

“So,
what do you think of her?”

“This
is going to surprise you, but I actually like her.  She doesn’t have all
the direction she needs, but she is a good, strong woman.  I think she
might be just what he needs.  She reminds me of you a bit with how you
grounded me.  God knows if I didn’t have you, I’d be a real jerk.”

His
wife scoffed at him.

“As
opposed to what you are now at times?”

“Exactly.”

They looked on in pleasure as they watched their
son glide across the dance floor with a grin on his face that was the size of
Texas.

Ryder
looked up at the gray, stormy skies as he neared the end of the hour long drive
from his parents’ home to Chelsea’s apartment.    

“It
was nice of your mother to let me stay the night.”

Ryder
thought it was pretty cool as well.  The night as a whole went better than
he could have even imagined that it would.  Before they had realized it,
they had been talking until almost midnight.  Before he or Chelsea could
protest, his mother had already sent one of the female members of her staff to
an up all night store to pick up items to wear to bed and a new outfit for the
drive home the next day.  In the meantime, Ryder had to sit there and
listen to Chelsea get regaled with stories of his childhood that even he’d
forgotten. 

“It
was nice of you to do so.  You made her day, I can guarantee you that.
She’s been waiting for the day that I brought a serious girl around for her to
meet.”  

Chelsea
chimed in before he could start his next sentence, a devious smile on her face.

“Oh
really?  What about Phaedra?”

Ryder
stopped and thought for a moment about her question.  Chelsea was
extremely bright and not much slipped past her when she was paying attention.

“Fine,
you got me.  But do I really have to count her in every previous
girlfriend or boyfriend conversation we have?  She was so much more
serious about her and me than I ever was.”

“Sorry
buddy, she has to be included for two reasons.  First, did you date, kiss,
etc. in any way whatsoever?  Don’t answer, we both know it’s yes.
 That alone makes her a girlfriend.  The second thing is that you
can’t forget I met her.  I’ve seen how you get when she is around and if
that isn’t ex-girlfriend cringing that I see, then I don’t know what is.”

“Hey,
you’ve met her so you know how much fun she can be.  Either way, the point
was that my mother really was ecstatic to meet you.  When I told her I was
bringing a date, she thought it was a lie.  More than anything, I’m just
happy that my dad’s comment didn’t make you hate me.”

Ryder
blamed himself for walking away from the table while his father and Chelsea sat
the table.  His saving grace was that Royce made it a point to tell Ryder
and their mother what Mr. Chatham had said, basically turning the whole family
against him for the night until Chelsea made sure that everyone knew she was
alright with it.  Regardless, Ryder really didn’t appreciate what his
father had said to her. 

“You
can’t be held accountable for the silly things that someone else says.
 Having said that, your dad is interesting to say the least.  I can
see how you would want to warn a date about him but I’ve met guys that are
loads more stuck up.  Besides, he did do a really good job of raising you
so I can cut him a little slack.”  

“Well
that’s nice of you.  And the way you set him in his place
afterwards.  I didn’t think anyone could handle him like that except my
mother but you are something else Chelsea Warner.”

“Thanks. 
Really Ryder I had a great time.   You made me think that I was going
to be walking into a den of wolves but your family was really much more fun
than I would have ever imagined.   Definitely different than mine but
that’s not a bad thing at all.  And your little brother is a riot.
 It’s like he’s full of jokes.  The one he told about you at the
grocery store.  He really tricked me good.”

“Yeah,
he used to hang out a lot with my eccentric grandpa after he transferred a lot
of the business over to my father.  With dad literally grooming me for the
takeover from age ten I was always too busy in some form or fashion to hang
with grandpa, so Royce was the old man’s attempt to reclaim the chance to be a
grandparent that he had lost due to working so much.  That’s all I can say
is wrong with him.  Too much grandpa for one kid to handle.  I still
remember thinking even at that young age that I wouldn’t let myself work so
much that I had to go back and try to find a way to make up for all the things
I missed.  Yet I still find that I’ve pushed a lot off for the business
already.”

“Well
you’ve got plenty of time left.  All you have to do is choose now.”

“You
see Chelsea.  That’s what I love so much about you.  Hopeless
workaholics like me need a little optimism in our lives when we deal with the
things we do.  You make my life a lot better Chelsea and I’m grateful that
you came with me.”

Ryder
looked over at her and saw her look away--blushing.

“You
are a smooth talker when you want to be, you know that?”

“Hey,
I’m just being honest.  I wouldn’t have asked you to come if I didn’t
really enjoy spending my time with you.  Dad knew that and that’s most
likely the reason that he said what he did to you.  He knows how reserved
I am and that I wouldn’t bring a woman to meet my family unless I considered
her special on a myriad of levels.  I really do hope that you’ll be with
me long enough to see exactly how unique you are to me.”  

Ryder
reached over to place his hand on hers as they drove--still talking the
remainder of the ride home.  Not for a second did he let her hand go until
he had pulled the car to a stop at her place.  Reaching around to the back
seat of the car, he grabbed the umbrella.  It was one of those so called
oversized ones that was still in no way near big enough for multiple people.
 He flashed the umbrella in front of Chelsea and shrugged.

“Sorry,
this is all that I have.”

“It’s
ok.  I don’t mind getting a little wet.  We’ll just have to make it
work.”

He
got out of the car, opened the umbrella and walked around to her side of the
car.  He opened the door and as the rain pelted her legs he heard Chelsea
squeal.  She moved under the covering of the umbrella, and they ran
towards the complex doors, laughing like kids the whole way.  When they
reached the front door Chelsea opened it and as he got ready to turn around,
she grabbed him by the arm, pulling him into the building.  

“No
way you are going back out there again until it calms down at least a little
bit.”

Ryder
didn’t mind.  It was the first time he would have a chance to see the inside
of her apartment since they had started dating.  They took the newly fixed
elevator up and when they got in, he nodded his head.    

Not
so bad.

He
thought it was kind of quaint.  Just the way he imagined the apartment of
two twenty something year old women would look.   

“So
that’s what it looks like in here.”

She
looked at the goofy grin on his face. 

“What
you expected?” 

“I
don’t know.  I was expecting more. . . pink.  I guess.”

“Not
as pink as I would have guessed but nice.”

“Stereotype
much Ryder.  Every girl doesn’t have to have pink all over her
apartment.” 

“Now
I know. 
Well
all I could ever do was
guess.  I’ll have you know that at one point in time, I thought you had
some kind of secret in here that you didn’t want me to see.”

“Secret?
 Not so much any of those, unless you count my roommate.  Speaking of
which.  Wait here just one second.”

She
left the room and Ryder looked around the apartment.  He really had
expected a little
more pink
.  He overheard
Chelsea and someone talking around the corner as his phone started to
ring.  It was his dad.  He really didn’t want to talk to him but that
had never stopped him before.  No need to start a precedent.

“Hi
Dad.  What’s going on?”

As he
listened to his father talk for the next minute or two, his countenance
dropped.  Could he not just have one day to himself?  Based on what
he was hearing, apparently not. 

“I
understand.  I’ll be over soon.”

***

A
very happy Chelsea left Ryder alone in the living room and practically floated
to Sasha’s door, knocking lightly enough that it wouldn’t wake her if she was
asleep.  She wasn’t.

“Hey
Chel
.  You’re back from your night out with
mister
dreamsicle
himself.  That must have been
fun!  I can’t believe you didn’t come home though.  Did you finally .
. . you know?”

“Ugh,
I’m not talking to you about that at all so stop asking me.  Especially
when you know the answer.”

“
Ooooh
you’re defensive.  That’s because you totally
did but you don’t want to tell me right?”

“If
you want to believe that, I’m not going to argue with you.”

“Then
at least tell me how everything else went.”

Chelsea
was getting a little impatient with her. 

“How
about I do that later?”

Chelsea
heard Ryder’s phone chirp followed by his voice which easily carried itself to
every corner of her small home.  Sasha covered her mouth in apparent
embarrassment.

“I’m
so sorry for this.  I did not mean to just pop in on you like this without
any warning but it’s coming down so bad out there that I invited him in. 
Is that going to be okay with you?”

Sasha
gave her an incredulous look.  When she thought about the question she had
just posed, she realized just how silly it was to ask.  Considering the number
of times that Sasha had brought a man by the house with absolutely no warning
for Chelsea, it should go without question that this was not going to be an
issue at all.  Chelsea recalled one such time that resulted in her walking
out of her bedroom in a very skimpy nighty to get a drink only to walk right
past Sasha and her then current boyfriend making out rather unexpectedly on the
couch.    

“You
know I don’t care at all if you 
finally 
bring a man home.  I never thought I’d actually
see the day but I definitely don’t mind.”

“Thanks
for understanding.  I’ll talk to you after he leaves, ok?”

“Alright.
 I’m proud of you by the way.”

Sasha
closed the door, leaving Chelsea perplexed.  She was getting
congratulations on bringing a guy home.  She made a mental note that she
really needed to find a roommate that had much higher standards.  She
didn’t have much time to dwell on that now though as she made her way back to
Ryder who was ending his call.    

“Would
you like anything to drink?”

“No,
thank you.  Chelsea I know that I said I’d stay for a while but the phone
call I was on just now was from my father.  It turns out that he wants
Trent and I to head over to Japan today to meet with one of our big
clients.   I am going to be gone for the next week, maybe two
depending on how the talks go.”

She
did nothing but look at him as he walked over slowly to her and kissed her
lightly on her forehead.  He cradled her face with his hands.  Not
that it made things any better because it did no such thing.  

“Don’t
worry, I didn’t forget my promise to you. No matter what I will make sure I am
back in time for the wedding.”

Chelsea
hadn’t even thought about that.  She was simply surprised at how he had to
change his plans on the drop of a dime.  There she was, thinking that she
would get to spend time with him and he was off to work.  Worse than that,
she wasn’t going to see her boyfriend for at least two weeks.  She started
to feel bad for him when she thought about their relationship and realized that
she should really be used to this aspect of things by now but wasn’t.  The
truth was that it happened quite a lot.  They would be out for lunch or
dinner and he would get a phone call sending him either into the office or on
an emergency trip.  He’d be the poster boy for sky miles if the family
didn’t have a private jet.