Next Time (19 page)

“If you take off your clothes, something is gonna happen, even though we may both fall asleep in the middle of it,” Payton said as she picked up the remote and turned the TV off.

Ryann took her hand and entwined their fingers. “Don’t be afraid of me, okay?”

“I’m not anymore,” Payton whispered and kissed her neck.

“Give me the green, give me the green,” Ryann sang droopily. “You make me laugh.”

Chapter 24

The following Friday when Ryann got off work, she went straight to Payton’s house with mixed emotions over their plans for the evening. Her mother and sisters were due to arrive at Shelly’s place around seven, and dinner would be served at eight. Ryann hoped they would be tired from the trip and be ready for bed by ten. She could handle two hours, and she hoped that Payton could, too.

Time with Payton went by too fast. They spent their evenings going to class and making love. Ryann was looking forward to the weekend where she didn’t have to get up and rush anywhere or do anything she and Payton didn’t want to do. Her life was all about Payton, and she was enjoying every second of it. Although Ryann knew Payton wouldn’t be home when she got there, it still bummed her not to see her car in the driveway and know that she wouldn’t be in her arms the minute the door opened. Payton had promised that she wouldn’t allow her meeting to run long with Tex, so she could work out any stress Ryann might be holding because of her mother’s visit.

When Ryann got out of her car, she found the shiny new key on her ring and smiled. It was the first tiny symbol of commitment. She’d given Payton one to her apartment, as well. Just as Ryann was about to unlock the door, she heard the sound of someone pulling into the driveway and turned with a huge smile that slid off her face when she saw Leigh get out of her car.

“What are you doing here?” Ryann asked as coolly as she could.

“You’re fucking her!” Leigh yelled as she stormed across the yard.

Ryann glanced at the woman next door watering her garden. “Lower your voice, Leigh.”

“It didn’t take you long to get right back into the saddle, did it? That’s her key,” Leigh spat out and pointed to Ryann’s ring. “I need you to admit that you were already doing her before we broke up. Admit it to everyone we know, so they’ll stop treating me like shit.”

“I didn’t cheat on you, so I guess you’re stuck being a shit. You followed me again, didn’t you—don’t bother answering that. Get in your car and go home or to whomever you’re sleeping with this week. My life is none of your business now, and I am sick of you just popping up.” Ryann narrowed her eyes. “You’ve been drinking, I smell it on you.”

“I’m not drunk.” Red blotches covered Leigh’s face and neck as she ran both hands through her hair. “I know I screwed up, Ryann. I’m seeing a shrink to figure out why I did that and also to understand why I can’t let you go.” Her voice broke as she said, “You were the only thing that was good, you were my stability. I know I did you wrong, and I regret it every waking moment. I can’t stand seeing you with her because I know she’s taking away my chance to prove that I can change.”

Eight years left a mark on Ryann, and she wasn’t unaffected by the tormented look on Leigh’s face. She swallowed hard and softened her tone, even though what she had to say was not what Leigh wanted to hear. “You missed the opportunity to get me back a long time ago. I wasn’t unfaithful, but I did you wrong, too. I’d already taken my heart back before our relationship ended because you weren’t there. You left me alone to pursue whoever you thought would make you happy. You don’t need me to stabilize you, that’s something you need to do on your own. I hope you’ll continue to work with your doctor, so you can learn how to do that. Now I need you to leave, please.”

“We can’t even talk? You’re just gonna shut me out of your life completely?”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Ryann said as calmly as she could.

Leigh planted her hands on her hips and looked around. “She’s got a birdbath in the middle of her yard shaped like a bunny. And a gnome! Does she crochet, too? She’s so not your type. She can’t handle you.”

“They were a gift,” Ryann retorted and stamped her foot. “Just go!”

A weak spot in Ryann’s armor had been revealed, and Leigh went for it again. “She dated a woman that thought she was a squirrel. Do you have to dress in a furry suit to turn her on?”

Ryann started to respond and caught herself. “You’re trying to provoke a fight,” she said as she held up a finger. “I almost fell for it. I’m going inside now, and if you don’t leave, I will call the police. Don’t bother trying to ever speak to me again.”

Ryann shoved the key into the lock, went inside, and slammed the door in Leigh’s face. Her heart pounded in her ears as she stood there listening for the sound of Leigh’s car door. She sighed when she heard it slam, but her relief was short-lived when she heard the engine rev. The noise didn’t fade but grew louder. Ryann looked out the front window just in time to see Leigh cutting a swath in Payton’s lawn. She was headed straight for the birdbath.

“Are you crazy?” Ryann bellowed as she threw open the door and stalked out onto the front walk. The bunny had been beheaded, the gnome was nowhere to be found, and the flowers planted around them were shredded by Leigh’s spinning tires as she cut doughnuts in the turf. Ryann found herself unable to move as the back end of the Mustang slid her way.

*******

Payton was pissed. Tex had waited until the last minute to present her with two new projects. One of which was for the same production company that was coming out with a new animated film, and they wanted her to produce half of the soundtrack. When the details were finally hammered out and the contracts sent to her attorney, Payton left his office in a dead run. Once she got on the road, she found all her shortcuts jammed with Friday evening traffic.

She smiled when she turned onto her street and saw Ryann’s car in her driveway, but her yard looked like it had been plowed. She parked and got out of her driveway and noticed the gnome was buried in the dirt ass up. Grace came running over with Trevor right behind her.

“Payton! I called the police,” Grace wheezed as she tried to speak. “That woman went crazy!”

“Who?” Payton looked at her house and noticed there weren’t any lights on.

“I don’t know her name, but she ran right over that pretty lady you’ve been seeing. Oh! It was horrible! I was standing right over there by my camellia, saw the whole thing. Trevor got all upset and was under my feet, and I was trying to get in the house to the phone…”

Everything Grace was saying was blending together, and Payton felt her knees grow weak. “Ran over…ran over who?”

Grace put both hands on Payton’s shoulders. “Baby, she’s fine. She was talking when they loaded her into the ambulance.”

“Ambulance,” Payton repeated numbly for a second before adrenaline kicked in.

“I called you hours ago and left you a dozen messages.”

“Where did they take her?”

“I don’t know,” Grace said with a frown. “I didn’t think to ask with all the excitement, but they took the other woman to jail. She was pitching a fit, crying, and screaming. And your friend was telling her to shut up and get out of her face. That little lady has a temper.”

“I have to go,” Payton said as she climbed back into her car and grabbed her phone.

*******

“She’s okay. Payton, look at me. She’s okay.”

“I am looking at you!”

“Well, your eyes are all wild and glazed. Only two people can go back there at a time,” Shelly said as they stood in the emergency room waiting area. “Paula and Joan just went back, but as soon as they come out, you can take a pass and go in.”

“No, I need to see her right now.” Payton started toward the door, but Shelly grabbed her. “You should chill out for a moment. She doesn’t like needles, so she’s really freaked out right now. If you go in there looking like you do, it’ll make her anxiety worse.”

“Were you honest with me on the phone when you said she wasn’t seriously hurt?” Payton stared at the door keeping her from Ryann.

“I swear. She’s got a broken leg and some cuts that took stitches, oh, and a bruised hip.”

Payton exhaled and nodded. “What happened?”

“That crazy woman she used to live with ran her over.”

Payton noticed for the first time the woman standing nearby. Her long silvery-white hair hung past her shoulders and was held away from her face with a clip. Ryann and Shelly looked a lot like her. She regarded Payton warily from behind a stylish pair of black-framed glasses. Her arms folded over a hunter green sweater, and her scarf matched her gray slacks. For a second, Payton thought she knew what Ryann would look like when she was older.

“This is our mother, Carol,” Shelly said. “Mom, this is Payton Foret.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Seely. I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances.”

“Likewise,” Carol said with a slight smile that wasn’t quite warm.

The door to the patient area opened, and two women walked brusquely through it. “Are you Payton?” one of them asked as she joined them.

“Yes.”

The woman handed her a laminated pass. “Ryann wants you—only you.”

Shelly smiled at Payton. “Pain meds turn her into a beastly bitch.”

The shorter of the two spoke up. “She threatened Paula with a bedpan, then she told the nurse that
we
were upsetting her.”

Payton didn’t wait for introductions and took off without bothering to ask where Ryann was exactly, but when she passed through the door, she heard her.

“I want to go home. Now!”

“Ms. Seely, we’re working as fast as we can. The emergency department is very busy tonight. We’re processing your paperwork as fast as we can.”

Payton watched as a frustrated-looking woman dressed in scrubs opened a curtained area and walked off shaking her head. Payton peeked around the curtain and found Ryann lying in the hospital bed on her side with a pillow between her legs, one of which was sporting a blue cast from her knee to her toes. She smiled when Ryann noticed her.

“You, get in here now.”

Payton was expecting a warmer greeting as she walked over to the bed and kissed Ryann on the forehead. “Are you hurting? Did they give you something for the pain?”

“Look, this is how this is going to go down. Sneak out there and find a wheelchair, crutches, or whatever I can use to get out of here. If you can’t find anything, you’re going to have to carry me on your back. Okay, move.”

“I’m not gonna do that,” Payton said firmly. “They may need to look you over again before you’re discharged. What can I do to make you more comfortable?”

“Carry my ass out of here. I thought I was clear on that.”

“You know…it’s been a long time since something has scared me this bad. The meeting ran late. I forgot to turn the ringer on my phone back on, and I didn’t look at it when I jumped into my car because I was in a hurry to get home to you. When I got there, Grace told me that you’d been run over, and all I could think was I finally found the right one, and now she’s gone. You’re gonna have to give me a minute for my brain to accept that you’re really okay.”

“Get me some crutches, and we can change places.”

“What happened, Ryann?”

“It was an accident. Leigh didn’t mean to run me down. She stomped the gas while landscaping, and the car slid into me.”

Payton smacked her lips. “In my front yard.”

“Well, that she meant to do. I’m sorry about your bunny, but Grace assured me she’d get you another one and a new gnome.”

“I don’t give a shit about lawn ornaments. What was she doing there?”

“She followed me from work,” Ryann said flatly.

“It’s time to get a restraining order.”

“I really don’t think we’re going to have any more problems with her. She totally freaked out after she hit me. She called 911 and stayed there until help arrived. I don’t think Leigh would’ve done that if she truly intended to hurt me.”

“The point is she did.”

“I’m on drugs, I can’t be reasonable right now,” Ryann said with a petulant frown. “Love on me.”

Payton laughed softly as she stroked Ryann’s hair. “You’re an adorable little shit.”

“I love it when you talk dirty.” Ryann gazed up at Payton with bloodshot eyes. “I assume you met my mom and sisters.”

“Shelly introduced me to your mother, but I grabbed the pass from who I think was Joan and ran back here. Shelly told me you were okay, but I couldn’t relax until I saw you with my own eyes. I’m really crazy about you if you haven’t figured that out.”

Ryann nodded and smiled. “I’m totally taken with you. Let’s sneak out of here and go back to Gulf Shores.” She grabbed Payton’s hand, eyes wide. “They want to take me to Shelly’s when I’m discharged. I want to go home with you. Promise if the stuff they gave me for pain knocks me out that you won’t let them steal my body.”

“I’m sure that’s not gonna endear me to your mother, but I’ll honor your wishes.”

“I hate pain meds. I don’t think I’m in my body right now. Am I floating above the bed?”

Payton grinned. “No, you’re still in there.”

“I want to thank you for getting yourself broken up and leaving me with Mom and the twin harpies. They’re hungry, and they’re getting mean.” Shelly threw back the curtain and entered the room.

“Take them home,” Ryann said. “I’m not dying, and when they finally discharge me, Payton will take care of me.”

Shelly laid a hand on Payton’s shoulder with a smile. “No offense, but Mom doesn’t think you’ll be able to get Ryann out of the car and into the house by yourself.”