Love Unscripted (55 page)

I told them about attending Brown University and my career goals at that time, and my current involvements with the vineyards and the pub. His parents asked a lot of questions about the vineyard businesses and the details of co-ownership, and I was happy to tell them what I knew.

His father was keen on knowing as much as he could about diversifying his holdings and investment opportunities other than the standard retirement plans. We had a long conversation just on that subject alone.

It was apparent throughout the conversation that his father was worried about Ryan’s money and making sure it was properly invested. I told them that I felt Ryan was looking to expand into other areas of opportunity but I didn’t go into specifics. I certainly didn’t want them to know how willing he was to dump his money into refurbishing the kitchen in my pub.

The last thing I wanted was for his parents to think I was only after their famous son’s money. I tried to inadvertently express how I was doing financially so they would be at ease knowing that I’m a smart businesswoman all on my own and I have my own money in the bank.

They told me stories about Ryan and how he liked to draw pictures of houses when he was younger. His parents always thought that he’d become an architect one day. Even when he was a child, everything he drew or built had to be symmetrical. Block buildings, tinker toys, Lego’s - everything was always designed evenly.

Ellen recalled how Ryan’s modeling career started - she took Ryan to get his picture taken when he was three years old and the photographer suggested that she take him to one of the local modeling agencies. Soon after that, Ryan was pictured in national clothing store fliers modeling children’s clothing. His pictures were even used in a few parenting magazines. She promised to show them to me one day. I’m sure that would embarrass Ryan to no end.

It was late in his high school years when he became active in the drama club. His mother said he was a natural on the stage. I loved listening to her stories - to hear the pride in her voice when she spoke of him.

They also spoke a lot about their other son, Nick, and his wife, Janelle, and how they met at work and fell madly in love. They had been married three years now and had their first daughter, Sarah, almost ten months ago. His parents were very easy to talk to, and I had the same feeling talking to them as I did when I first met Ryan.

Just as Ryan had stated, his father snatched up the restaurant bill even before the waitress set it on the table. I held out my hand, for I really did want to treat them to lunch, but his father waived for me to put my hand down and strung a few no, no, no’s along as he reached for his wallet. I dropped it as to not offend his father.

I took them for a brief drive around the area, showing them the only two spots where I knew Ryan had filmed. I spared them the details about the two women who were arrested storming onto the movie set when they filmed on the beach. I figured they too had enough to worry about.

I drove down my street, showing them the front of my building while also secretly assessing how many fans and paparazzi were staked out. I drove down the alley, despite having paparazzi lurking there as well. Ryan’s father quickly unloaded their luggage from my trunk.

I was surprised to see that his father knew the little Italian photographer. “Jimmy? Jimmy Pop? Are you still chasing my son?” Bill asked.

“
Oh, Mr. Christensen, oi!” Jimmy said in his thick accent, tossing his cigarette butt into the alley. “Mrs. Christensen! You look so lovely! Oh, my, my! What a blessed day! How are you?”

“
We’re well! We’re here visiting our son. You guys aren’t bothering him too much, are you?” Bill teased.

“
Oh, no, no! Well, you know, it’s a job. I miss when your boy works in nice, warm places. This cold weather, it’s no good for my hands. Oh the pain,” Jimmy said, rubbing his arthritic fingers.

While we stood there talking to Jimmy, other photographers took our picture. His parents didn’t seem to be phased by it.

“
Your son… he has a lovely girl here! Look, look, how pretty! Oh, makes my heart happy!” Jimmy patted his chest. “She not like those others.” He waived a crooked finger in the air. “She’s very nice.”

“
Thank you, sir. That’s very kind.” I smiled at him.

“
See? She call me sir. No other one call me sir. They all say ‘Jimmy you go away.’ ”

I noticed how Jimmy’s pants seemed to be two sizes too big. The front of his pants puckered where his belt cinched up the extra fabric. He was looking malnourished.

“
Jimmy, are you hungry? I have a half of a sandwich here that I didn’t touch. Would you like it?” I handed him the Styrofoam box.

“
You give me food?” He looked inside to see the other half of my chicken club wrap and a new bag of chips that I didn’t eat.

I nodded my head. “You put that in your belly. I’m going to take Ryan’s parents in now. They’ve had a long trip.”

“
Bless you, Miss Taryn. Bless you!”

I quickly moved my car to the lot and noticed the old, blue Plymouth parked on the opposite corner of Mulberry Street. Angelica was sitting in her car again. Just seeing her, knowing that she was doing nothing with her life other than stalking us, sent a chill of fright down my spine. I hurried down the alley to my back door to flee psycho girl’s view.

“
I’m sorry for the disarray, but I’m remodeling. Please come in.” I walked them into the main bar area and turned on the dimmer lights. I turned the billiard room light on too so they could see the entire pub.

Bill walked over to the pool table. “So this is where it happened?” He tapped his fingers on the felt, looking at me for confirmation.

My cheeks suddenly became flushed and a wave of panic coursed through my chest. How much did Ryan share with his father? Did he tell his dad about ripping my panties off and bending me over the pool table? Bill was standing in almost the same exact spot.

I looked at him like a deer caught in headlights.

“
Where he met you?” his father continued.

Oh, thank God.

“
Yes!” I breathed out. “He came through that door and…” I opened my hands.

“
Ryan told us how the girls were chasing him,” Ellen added. She knew I was keeping the details out.

“
Speaking of girls…” I walked over to my front door and retrieved today’s pile of love letters. There were at least thirty today.

“
You get a lot of mail,” Ellen commented.

“
It’s not my mail. These are all for your son. His admirers have started to leave their love notes in my mail slot. They cover my car with letters too. These girls must think he has a real open-minded girlfriend or something.”

“
Let me see, please.” Bill reached for a sample. I willingly handed him the pile.

He tore one of the envelopes open. This one happened to have a picture of a naked girl in it. I could tell by the way his eyes bugged out in his face.

“
They know no boundaries,” I muttered. “A few days ago I caught two of them trying to break into my apartment to see him.”

“
Ellen, it’s getting worse. We have to talk to him.” His father was very displeased with whatever he saw in the next few envelopes.

I helped carry their luggage upstairs to my apartment. Bill and Ellen appeared amazed when they saw the lovely conditions their son was living in. They showered me with compliments. I had spent extra time cleaning and preparing for their arrival last night to make sure they would be pleased.

“
Can I interest you in a glass of wine from one of our wineries?” I took them into the kitchen. His mother’s eyes lit up and a huge smile appeared on her face as she entered. I did have a cool kitchen.

“
Taryn, this is magnificent! Bill, look at this stove. I
want
this stove,” she insisted.

I pulled out a new bottle of Chablis and uncorked it. I was in the mood for white wine. Just then I heard Ryan run up the steps.

Ryan dropped his keys off on the entry table by the door and he had a box under his arm when he came into the kitchen. He hugged his father first since he was still standing. His mom stood up from the table and gave her son a big squeeze and a kiss.

“
Oh, it’s so good to see you,” His mother gushed, rocking him back and forth where he stood. It was such a heart-warming reunion.

As soon as she released him, Ryan came over to me and pulled me in for a nice, respectful hello kiss.

“
Hi Honey. How’s everyone doing?” He looked around at all of us to make sure we were getting along. His mother told him about the nice restaurant where we had lunch and how she enjoyed the view of the ocean. I poured four glasses of wine and handed them out.

“
Taryn, this is delicious,” his father commented, swirling the wine around in his glass.

“
Here, check these out.” Ryan handed the box over to me. Inside were all different styles of sunglasses. “Some sunglass company wants me to wear their shades. They sent a whole box for me
and
my lady.”

I rolled my eyes at him.

“
For real! Look at the letter. See! ‘Mr. Christensen, we are honored to provide you with our Fall collection of Sun Jammer Eyewear. We have provided you with styles to suit men as well as a selection of women’s eyewear for your favorite lady.’ See? Favorite lady right there in black type.” He poked me in the belly on his way to the pantry. Ryan opened the door and removed the bag of chocolate chip cookies.

“
Oh no, you have
her
feeding your fix now?” Ellen scolded.

We took his parents on a tour of the apartment and we put our coats back on to visit the roof patio. Bill and Ellen appeared speechless – up until the point that Ellen stated she wanted to re-do their entire backyard to look like my roof.

I knew Ryan was starving; he was starting to pick at anything he could readily shove in his mouth when we returned to the kitchen. I turned the oven on and pulled out the ingredients I had set aside to make Chicken Cordon Bleu. I pounded the chicken breasts flat while Ryan took down a few layers of the sliced cheese. He was too hungry to be of any use.

“
So what do you say, Son? Want to lose to your old man in a game of pool?” His father gave him a nudge.

While the men played downstairs, I prepared dinner. His mother watched over what I was doing.

“
I never thought to put that in with the bread crumbs,” she stated. She helped coat the rolled chicken and was amazed by my deviations from the normal recipe. I liked to be creative when I cooked.

Later that evening, we gathered at the oval wooden dining table that was off to the side of my main living room. I hadn’t sat at that table for a meal in a very long time. It felt nice to eat as a family again.

“
Taryn, this is fabulous,” Ellen complimented.

Ryan kicked his foot into mine under the table and winked at me. “I told you she was taking excellent care of me!” He grinned.

“
So are you two going to tell us where we are going this weekend or are you going to keep your mother and me in suspense?”

Ryan looked at me and smirked. “Should we tell them or make them suffer like you made me suffer that day?”

I stabbed a few green beans on my plate. “I think we should tell them.”

“
We are taking you to Taryn’s family cabin at the lake, where
we
are going fishing.” he motioned to his father with his fingers. “And you two ladies can go shopping till your feet fall off.”

Our evening with his parents slowly came to a close. Ryan had to be back on set early in the morning and his parents were tired from their flight.

I quickly slipped into my bedroom to get my pillow and carried it out to the living room.

Ryan looked at me in utter confusion. He picked my pillow up and started to carry it away.

“
Honey, I thought we were going to bed?” He yawned.

“
No,” I whispered. “Please leave it here. I’m going to sleep out here on the couch.”

“
Why?” he asked, completely perplexed.

“
Your parents,” I whispered again.

“
What about my parents?”

“
Out of respect!” I quietly stated the obvious.

“
What are you talking about?” I wished he would keep his voice down.

“
Ryan, I’m not going to sleep with you in front of them,” I whispered.

“
Are you kidding me?” Just as he spoke his mother stepped up behind him.

“
What are you two whispering about?” she asked.

“
I’m not quite sure, Mom. For some reason Taryn thinks she has to sleep on the couch.”

I was thoroughly embarrassed now and had to explain myself.

“
I don’t want to disrespect you, that’s all. It’s fine,” I politely informed. “I don’t mind sleeping out here.” I tried to yank my pillow out of Ryan’s hand but he wouldn’t let it go.

Ellen looked confused and then I saw the light of understanding turn on above her head.

“
Oh, sweetie, that’s not necessary.” She walked over to me and gave me a big hug.