Love Unscripted (16 page)

The noontime sun was bright overhead. He backed the boat trailer into the water and helped me push the boat into the lake. We worked well as a team.

Ryan gave me a few teasing bumps when we walked back up the driveway to get our things. He just kept grinning and smiling and shaking his head at me.

We loaded up the boat with all the essentials - fishing gear, beer, and sandwiches – and Ryan started the little trolling motor to get us out on the water.

The air was still and it wasn’t as cold as it had been the last few days. The lake was calm and reflected the trees and sky like a gigantic mirror. I tipped my sunglasses down to take in the sight of Ryan driving the boat. He was looking so good in his blue jeans, and white thermal shirt with a brown coat. The grin on his face was one of heavenly bliss. I was thrilled that he was enjoying this mini-vacation.

“
Head over towards those trees.” I pointed. “That’s my dad’s lucky spot. He caught lots of fish over there.”

“
So how did you come up with the fishing idea?” he asked, casting his line out into the water.

“
From you.” I laughed lightly. I opted to put a lure on my line instead of one of the worms.

“
Me? When did I ever tell you I love to fish?”

“
The first day I met you. You showed me the scar where your brother hooked you in the arm.”

He looked over at me and smiled. “You have a good memory for detail. I forgot about that. This was your dad’s favorite spot? I can see why. It’s beautiful out here.”

I inhaled deeply, enjoying the soft scent of pine and fallen leaves. It was much different from the smell that emanated off the Atlantic.

Ryan stared at me for a moment, chewing on his lip. “Can I ask what happened?” he said hesitantly. “Your dad?”

I gasped slightly; just thinking about it hurt.

“
The doctors told me he had a massive heart attack.” I sniffed. “It was right after Labor Day last year. We weren’t busy for some reason so dad told me to take the night off - said he’d lock up the bar for once.” I grimaced from hearing his voice in my head. “When I came home I found him on the floor. I tried to do CPR on him until the ambulance came, but I was too late.”

“
I’m so sorry.” Ryan looked at me apologetically.

“
Thanks,” I replied. “It was really hard at first but I’ve been dealing with it. I just try to remember all the good times.”

“
And… your mom?” He looked as if he shouldn’t have asked.

I took another deep breath and held it in my lungs for a few seconds.

“
My mom was hit by a car.” I winced at the memory. “She was pushing a grocery cart through a parking lot when an elderly lady backed out of a parking space too fast and hit her. The impact shattered my mom’s hip and severed her femoral artery. Doctors couldn’t save her.” I kept a careful hold on the memory so it wouldn’t overpower me. Talking about my parents made it all seem fresh again.

Ryan stepped over to where I sat in the boat and gently rubbed my back. “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine how hard that must be for you.”

“
It’s hard but you have to just go on, you know? You don’t really know how much you miss something until it’s gone,” I said, looking in his eyes.

Ryan let his arm rest behind me. His presence was extremely comforting.

I felt the line on my fishing pole tug. “Hey, I think I got one!” I started to reel in my line. Ryan grabbed the net and leaned over the side to see what I caught.

“
Nice!” he said enthusiastically, netting the big mouth bass that was on my hook. “He’s got to be about ten inches!” Ryan had to get the fish unhooked for me. “Good job!” He beamed.

I made a fish face at the poor fish before he released it back into the lake. “See ya Mr. Bass.”

“
So tell me more about you,” Ryan started.

“
What do you want to know?”

“
Everything!” he stated emphatically.

As we fished he asked me a barrage of questions, and I found myself telling him my life’s story. Some of his questions prompted questions of my own and he didn’t seem hesitant to tell me anything I wanted to know either.

“
Actually, I was born in upstate New York,” I told him, sniffing in some of the mountain air. “I grew up near Watkins Glen. Have you ever heard of it?”

“
Sure,” he replied. “I’ve even been there once. My dad took us there to see a race.”

I smiled. “Our house was only four miles from the track.”

“
How long did you live there?”

“
Until I was almost fourteen. We moved to Seaport when my grandfather got sick.” I pulled my hair back from my shoulders.

“
I thought you grew up in Seaport. I got the impression that your dad always ran the pub.”

“
No, actually my dad used to work for Corning. He was a VP there for a long time. But my grandfather had a stroke, so we moved here to take care of him. I think my dad loved his job, but when it all happened… I guess the timing was right for him to resign and slow down a little. Actually he seemed happier when he took over running the pub.”

“
What about your mom? Did she work?”

I nodded and took a sip of my beer. “She worked in the admissions office at Ithaca University. I was planning on going to college there, but… things change, I guess. We moved here and Brown was closer. What about you? Did you go to college?”

Ryan smiled and looked slightly embarrassed. “I went to Pitt for two years.”

“
Pitt?” I repeated.

He nodded. “I
was
going for a degree in Architecture,” he said remorsefully. I wanted to design houses and buildings,” he added. “I love to draw.”

“
But you didn’t finish?”

Ryan appeared slightly embarrassed. “I was living at home, going to school, and doing some local theatre at the time. One of my acting coaches told me about this open audition in L.A., so I went, and soon after that I got my first major movie role. It’s pretty much been a big blur since!” He chuckled. “I had to get an agent and a manager… and a lawyer!” He cast his line out into the water. “Sometimes I wonder how my life would have turned out if I stayed in college and didn’t get on that plane to L.A.”

“
I’d like to believe that everything happens for a reason. If you hadn’t gotten on that plane, then you probably wouldn’t be sitting here in this boat on this lake right now.”

“
You’re right.” He beamed. “This would have been a shame to miss. I want to have a place just like this one day. A house on a lake surrounded by woods, dock for the boat, a big stone fireplace...”

“
I miss the house we used to have near the Glen,” I said. “That was near a lake too, kind of like this lake but smaller. It was a big, white farmhouse with a huge yard. We had a rope swing hanging from one of the big elm trees that would swing out over the lake; I remember we would start at the top of the embankment and run down this worn path and swing as hard as we could. It was a game to see who could swing out the farthest.”

Ryan looked at me and grinned. “Sounds like you were a bit of a daredevil when you were younger.”

I stretched my legs out straight, remembering how I used to jump off the rope swing.

“
The best part of summer was when the grapes were ready to be picked. My dad built this huge arbor in our yard; it was covered in grapevines. I remember running out in the back yard first thing in the morning to pick the grapes that were covered in morning dew. Dad said that they were nature’s wine,” I reminisced. “Do you know how wine is made?”

“
I know a little. I know more about drinking wine than how it’s made though. What about you?”

I nodded. “My family has co-owned a few wineries for a long time. I have a vested interest in three active wineries now.”

“
You do?” He was surprised.

I nodded again. “My parents invested a lot of money into some of the local wineries up around the Finger Lakes. We used to co-own five, but we sold our interests in one of them and two of the wineries merged. After my father died, I inherited all the shares. I’m a limited partner now, but I still get involved in the businesses sometimes. We’ve been great friends with the families that run the wineries – some of them I’ve known my whole life.”

“
Quite the businesswoman you are!” he snickered.

“
I like diversity. It makes for a steady income and good wine connections.” I shrugged. “I’m also a silent partner in Tammy’s catering business; I stay silent and let it up to her to run it as she sees fit.”

Ryan cast his line out again. “Isn’t it hard to be in business with a friend?”

“
No, not yet. Tammy and I have a legal business relationship. We are both partners in a limited liability corporation with signed agreements. I gave her the start-up capital. I wanted to help my friend, but I want to keep my friend no matter what happens. The business relationship is one thing, the long-standing friendship is another. She has the option to buy me out at any time.”

“
So let me get this straight. You own a bar, co-own a few wineries, and are a partner in a catering business? Did I get them all?”

“
Well, there’s the stained glass business too,” I murmured. “But that’s more of a hobby now. Do you remember seeing the big glass ‘Mitchell’s Pub’ sign hanging behind the bar?”

He nodded.

“
I made that.”

“
You made that?” He sounded impressed.

“
I made quite a few pieces for some of the local businesses. The book store next to my pub… I made their sign too.”

“
I think I got one!” Ryan reeled in his line to find a small bass on his hook. “Did you like that worm? Did ya?” he asked the fish, like they were friends. It made me chuckle.

“
So what about your parents?” I asked.

“
My dad is a dentist,” he said proudly. He parted his lips to show me his teeth. “This is all his handy work.” He motioned with his finger. “I had braces until I was sixteen.”

“
I bet that impressed the ladies!” I teased.

“
Yeah! Got me
a lot
of dates! I was so happy when he finally took them off.”

Ryan paused for a moment to take a swig of his beer. “My mom has been his office manager for forever. She pretty much runs the place. We always kid him that all he has to do is show up and tell people to say ‘ahh.’ Mom does the rest.”

A minute or two passed and I had a vision of his dad’s dental business being inundated with new patients. It made me laugh out loud.

“
What’s so funny?” he asked.

“
I was just picturing your dad’s waiting room being lined up with hundreds of new patients, all young and female! Oh, Dr. Christensen, I think I have a cavity. By the way can you introduce me to your son?”

“
Hah! That’s funny you said that. If someone new calls to make an appointment… if you’re under forty and female forget it. You’re not getting in. My mom will hang up on you.”

“
Guess it’s a good thing that I already have a dentist.” I laughed. “I thought maybe they were grading the women for you. Only the ones with minimal amounts of plaque get your phone number.”

He was laughing so hard he didn’t even realize he had another fish on his line.

I set my pole down and retrieved the net. “Look at that!” I yelled. He had a huge fish on his hook. Poor thing was thrashing its body. Ryan had the biggest smile on his face; he was in his happy place.

“
That’s good eating right there!” He held the fish up.

“
No, no… catch and release,” I reminded him.

We spent the entire afternoon fishing out on the lake. I learned some inside trade secrets of the movie industry and how he got hurt once doing some of his own stunts. He told me about all the stunts that he had to do for the
Seaside
movie and how each move was carefully choreographed.

It was really interesting to learn about green screens and how they sometimes filmed inside a huge building but once the computer graphics and sceneries were added it would appear that they were actually outside.

We lounged peacefully in the boat as we watched the hawks fly in the breeze. The setting sun changed the horizon to beautiful shades of orange and red and the wind that blew across the water had a frosty chill.

Over the course of several hours we shared our stories, our thoughts, likes and dislikes, and hopes and dreams. We made each other laugh a lot. It was all so surreal.

“
That was a lot of fun,” Ryan said as he tied the boat to the dock. We walked up the path to the cabin and he took the fishing poles out of my hand.

“
Thank you,” he said softly. The smile on his face was genuine. He bumped his arm into mine, giving me a little nudge.

I was really happy that he enjoyed himself and that he caught more fish than I did. He didn’t seem egotistical but regardless he was still a man, and all men have their pride.

I felt a sudden urge to hold his hand as we walked to the house; his arm was almost touching mine. This would have been a perfect moment for that sentiment, but we didn’t have that kind of relationship.

I wondered if we ever would. I could picture him all too clearly being a part of my life and me being a part of his. But the part of his life that I was imagining was this part, right now – a life of peace and togetherness – of normalcy. The kind of life that most people on the planet experienced.