Rydin' the Storm Out (11 page)

“I do…I guess. I just don’t want to be her, Ryder. She did some horrible things to people when she was younger. I don’t want to be that person.”

“Well, I know, without a doubt, you’re not that person. Please don’t let something your mom did years ago keep us from moving forward in our relationship. That’s a cruel, cruel punishment for no reason at all.”

Molly nodded. He was right. She knew that, she was just scared. The oven timer went off signaling time to eat. Molly went into the kitchen and pulled the casserole out of the oven while Ryder set the table. They ate in relative silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

After they had eaten, Ryder sat back in his chair and rubbed his full belly. “You’re a great cook, babe. That was delicious.”

Molly smiled her brightest smile and whispered, “Thank you.”

They spent the evening sitting on the sofa with the TV on and neither of them paying attention to what was blasting away on the tube. Ryder didn’t know what else he could say to make Molly understand that she wasn’t her mom. He thought maybe he could talk to his mom about it and see what she thought. Maybe that’s what he would do. Surely, she could talk some sense into Molly. Ryder had a niggling feeling that wasn’t all to Molly’s story, but it seemed so hard for her to tell him things about her past. He needed to be patient with her. There wasn’t anything that would make him think less of her. Eventually, she would know that.

“Have you ever lived with anyone else?” Ryder held his breath, waiting for Molly to respond. Maybe that’s what was bugging her.

Molly pinched her eyebrows together. She slowly turned her head and the look on his face nearly brought her to tears. He was scared.

“No. I never have.”

Ryder’s breath escaped his lungs in a whoosh. Then he chuckled and shook his head.

“Stupid to ask. I just wondered.”

Ryder watched Molly’s smile slowly spread across her face. He had been worried. Not about her being like her mom, but he wanted to be the first to live with her. And, eventually, he would live with her.

“Would you like to move in with me?”

Molly was looking at Ryder with a big smile on her face. His eyes got huge and a grin spread across his entire face turning into the most beautiful smile she had ever seen.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I am. You’re right! I can’t let my mom’s past behavior keep me from having a good life of my own. That’s not fair to either one of us and, to be honest, if she knew that’s what I was doing, she would hate it. She wasn’t a great mom, but I do believe she loved me.”

Ryder smirked at her. “Well, I don’t know now… I’ll have to think about it,” he said as he rubbed his chin with his hand.

Molly looked at him with her brows furrowed and saw him smirking. She started laughing and so did he. They were moving in together. Holy cow! She couldn’t wait to tell Tammy.

After making love through the night, Molly woke early, excitement and nerves running through her over the purchase of the house and Ryder moving in with her. She got up and showered while Ryder still slept. She made a pot of coffee and took a cup to him. She sat on the bed next to him and ran her hand through his hair.

“Hey babe, wake up.”

Ryder groaned and pulled her close to him to snuggle. When he felt her clothes, he opened his eyes to look at her.

“Why are you up and dressed already? I thought we could have a little more fun.”

Molly laughed. “Good lord, you’re a horny one. Didn’t you get enough of me last night?”

“I’ll never get enough of you. If I’m horny, it’s entirely your fault. You smell good, you look good, and you feel good. I’m completely unable to keep my hands off of you.”

Molly stiffened up at Ryder’s words. She took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. She sat back and collecting herself, she chuckled. “Good to know. Jeffrey Jepson is coming over this morning to discuss my purchase of the house. I was too nervous and excited to sleep anymore.”

Ryder sat up and scraped his hands through his hair and down his face. That was weird, it seemed like she was uncomfortable just now. Molly handed him his cup of coffee and he smiled at her.

“Thanks, babe. You’re incredible.”

He kissed her first, taking her hand as he grabbed his cup and pulled her in, then took a drink of his coffee.

“Mmmm. I needed that. Do you need me here with you?”

“If you want to be here, I certainly don’t mind. After all, you’re living here or will be. But, I know you have work, so I don’t expect you to take off for this.”

“I’m happy to be here, but only if you’re comfortable with it; I don’t want to butt in. I know you want to do this yourself.”

“Thanks, babe. I really appreciate you letting a ‘girl’ take care of this on her own.” Molly smiled.

“I’ve never said you aren’t capable of this because you’re a girl. Which, by the way, is one of the things I love most about you. I just want you to feel safe and comfortable with all the decisions, and there’s nothing wrong with having a second set of ears and eyes when talking about a purchase like this. That’s all.”

That was true. Molly hadn’t thought of that.

“Well, if you don’t mind coming back to the house around nine-thirty, I would love to have you here.”

Ryder grinned. “Deal. I’ll be here at nine-thirty.”

Molly went out to the kitchen to start making breakfast. If she stayed in the bedroom, he’d be late for work and she wouldn’t be ready for her meeting with Jeffrey.

Ryder left a few minutes before eight to head for the shop with the promise to be home at nine-thirty. Molly cleaned up the breakfast dishes and straightened up the living room. She made the bed and picked up dirty clothes. She wanted the house to look nice and to make a good impression on Jeffrey. She wanted this to work out. She also thought a little more about Ryder. He didn’t push her, he just wanted to be part of her life. Molly had kept him at arm’s length for a while now. She didn’t want him to wake up one morning and decide she wasn’t worth it. So, tonight she would tell him she would be happy if he wanted to buy the house with her. After all, if they did it right and had a contract drawn up, they could do this together. They loved each other. She enjoyed his company, and she liked talking to him. Their evenings together were great; actually, everything they did together was enjoyable. They spent time sharing their days with each other. He shared his family with her without reservation. It was what she had always hoped for. She needed to introduce him to her mother, to share with him as much as he shared with her.

Molly’s phone chimed with her business ring. “Memories by Molly.”

“Hello. Molly. Bates.”

Molly sucked in a breath. Her knees weakened as she sank into a chair in the kitchen.

“How…How did you get my number?”

“Well, you little bitch, you’ve plastered your name all over the Rolling Thunder DVDs. Your picture too. It wasn’t all that hard to find you.”

Molly swallowed and tried to focus on a spot on the wall. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

“You’re not supposed to contact me.”

“Says who? Nobody’s gonna stop me from contacting you. I told you years ago, you owe me and you will pay me back. We both know what that means.”

Molly hit the
End Call
button on her phone. Fuck! She should have known it was all too good to be true. Her breakfast threatened to make a quick exit, and she ran to the bathroom just in time to empty her stomach. She sat on the edge of the bathroom counter, unconsciously wiping her mouth with a wet cloth when her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Walking down the hall, she checked the time on her phone—it was only nine-ten. She opened the door to a short, balding, rotund man in his early forties. He wore glasses and his hair was too long for the small amount he had on his head. And, he smelled…gross.

“May I help you?”

“Are you Molly? I’m Jeffrey Jepson.”             

“Yes. Oh, please come in. I wasn’t expecting you until nine-thirty.”

“Yes, sorry about that. I finished my meetings early and wanted to get this one out of the way before I have to go and see the probate attorney. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course not.” Molly led him into the kitchen and pointed to the kitchen table.

“Can I get you a cup of coffee?”

“Yes, black, please.”

Molly poured him a cup and another one for herself. She didn’t know if she should call Ryder or just start without him. Jeffrey seemed to be in a hurry, so she didn’t want to keep him. She sat across from him at the table and sipped her coffee.

“How long have you lived here?”

“I’ve been here five years now. I’ve done a lot of work here, fixing it up hoping that it would be mine one day. I’ve painted, had the roof replaced as well as all the inside doors. I’ve replaced the kitchen flooring and was thinking about replacing the bathroom tile this winter. I’m very sorry for you loss, by the way. I really liked Mr. Jepson.”

“Thanks. Yes, it looks very nice. You’ve done a great job.” Jeffrey looked around the room.

Molly got a weird vibe from him. It was apparent that he was socially awkward, but it was something a bit more…creepy.

“I found this in my dad’s safe as I was going through his things. He had just a couple of rentals, this one being one of them. As I was digging around trying to locate his assets, I came across this.”

Jeffrey showed her a piece of paper his father had in his safe.

Upon my death, if I haven’t previously sold the house on Ninth Street to Molly Bates, I would like for it to be sold to her for $115,000. We have a verbal agreement and I would like that agreement honored. Ellison Jepson

Molly was stunned. The house appraised out at one hundred forty-two thousand dollars just last year. This was incredible. Molly looked at Jeffrey before looking back at the piece of paper again.

“This is very generous. Are you holding to this agreement?”

Jeffrey nodded but didn’t say anything. Molly was beginning to feel very uncomfortable with him. The way he was staring at her was starting to make her jittery. She was very aware that they were alone in the house and Ryder wasn’t due for another few minutes or so, and that was provided he could get away on time. Her heart was hammering away in her chest and her skin grew moist and pink.

“O-okay. Y-yes, I would be happy to buy the house for this price.”

Jeffrey stood up. “I would like a tour to see what you’ve done here.”

Molly didn’t really want to give him a tour alone. Why would he need a tour? The price had already been established, but she didn’t know how to turn him down. He was giving her a fabulous deal on this house and she didn’t want him to change his mind.

Molly nodded and slowly stood up. Jeffrey followed and Molly thought the best place to start would be outside. She turned and opened the sliding doors to the patio and held her arm out motioning him to head outside.

She started by showing him the landscaping she’d done.

“I planted all of the flowers, added the chips and edging and the decorations.”

When Jeffrey made no response, Molly pointed to the roof. “I had the roof replaced two years ago.”

She showed him the section of fence she had repaired. Now that she had shown him everything she could show him outside, she had no choice but to go inside.

Please come home soon, Ryder.

Jeffrey was eerily silent and continued to stare at her. Growing more and more uneasy, Molly walked into the living room. He walked close to her and touched her shoulder. He reached up and touched her hair and Molly jumped. “I need another cup of coffee, would you like one?”

“No.” His voice had become very flat and hard.

Molly quickly walked into the kitchen and refilled her cup. She slowly turned to find him standing right behind her, very close, too close and effectively trapping her in the corner of the kitchen. Molly stepped forward and to the side to walk around him and he stepped in front of her. Her heart started racing and her breathing became choppy and her hands began shaking.
Where is Ryder?

“What’s going on?”

Oh, thank God.

“Hi, babe. Come on in and meet Jeffrey Jepson.” Molly said trying to hide the quiver in her voice.

Ryder looked at the fear on Molly’s face and the close proximity between herself and Jeffrey. He walked over and held out his hand to Jeffrey while at the same time, stepping in front of Molly and between her and Jeffrey.

“Ryder Sheppard. Nice to meet you.”

“A-a-are you h-her h-husband?” Jeffrey stuttered out.

“Not yet. But soon.”

Ryder looked back at Molly and winked. She relaxed and smiled.

“Did I miss anything? I thought the meeting was for nine-thirty.”

“Y-yes, I was a little early. I had other meetings this morning and later today, s-so I thought I would come b-by early.”

“Oh, well I’m sorry I missed it.”

Ryder reached back and pulled Molly forward, putting his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. Jeffrey stepped back and started walking toward the front door, Ryder and Molly on his heels.

“Yes. W-well I’m leaving n-now. I h-have other things to do. I’ll leave you t-to work out the details with your bank.”

He looked Molly straight in the eye for a long moment and turned and walked out the door.

As soon as the door was closed Ryder reached forward and locked it. Molly’s shaking became pronounced. She reached out and hugged Ryder tight. When he felt her body shaking, he became enraged.

Taking a deep breath to get his own emotions under control, he asked, “Did he hurt you, babe?”

Molly shook her head no, but she couldn’t get words out just yet. When she had settled down a little, she told Ryder, “I was so scared. He was giving me the creeps. He wanted a tour of the house and I didn’t want to be alone with him in the bedroom or any small room. I took him out to the backyard first and tried stalling as long as I could. We came back in and I showed him the living room and he touched my hair. I was scared and went into the kitchen pretending to need more coffee. That’s when he came up behind me. Thank God you walked in when you did.”

Ryder wrapped his arms tighter around Molly. “I’ll never let anything happen to you, Molly. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.”

Ryder calmly rubbed Molly’s back as he held her tight to his body, breathing deeply to keep his own emotions under control.

Molly began calming down. With Ryder here, she felt so much better. She showed Ryder the piece of paper Mr. Jepson had written and kept in his safe. She was so excited at the price she was getting this house for. He looked at it and smiled his most brilliant smile.

“Do you still want to buy it with me?”

Ryder’s brows shot up. “Really? You mean it?”

Molly nodded. “I was thinking about our conversation last night. You’re right, I can’t keep worrying about what my mom did in the past. I love you, Ryder, and I want to move forward with you. We could have a contract written up to protect each of us, in case it doesn’t work out, or whatever you want. Just let me know.”