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“Don’t be silly, Car! We want you to join us. Right, Sally?”
“Of course we do.” Sal grins over at me. “It’s always a pleasure to have you around, darlin’.”
“The feeling is mutual,” I respond. “But I think I’ll just eat my lunch in my room or something while I go through all the update emails from my shop manager.”
My mother turns around and tsks. “Carly, I’m sure Brody understands that you’re busy spending time and taking care of me. Leave the emails for the afternoon, and eat lunch with us.”
“But I—”
“I won’t take no for an answer, sweetie,” she says and points the spoon in her hand in my direction. “You’re not going to be here with me for much longer, and I want to soak up all the time I can.”
I roll my eyes. “Mom, I’m literally sleeping in the same house as you. You see me practically all day, every day.”
“Yeah, but my tailbone is healing, and it’s getting close to the time when you have to go back to Vail because ski season will be kicking off.”
I wish I could say she’s being overly dramatic with that statement, but she’s not. Technically speaking, I only have about two or three more weeks that I can physically stay here in Sunny Creek before I have to go back to Vail.
A few weeks ago, I would’ve been excited to get back home, but now, the mere thought of having to leave makes me feel…unsettled. Pretty fucking sad, even.
I think about Ryan and how quickly we’ve gone from two complete strangers to two people who are always trying to find ways to secretly see each other behind our parents’ backs.
It’s crazy how fast the tables have turned.
The first time I met him, he thought I was an asshole for stealing his taxi, and I thought he was an uptight, suit-wearing CEO with a stick up his ass.
And now, I’m having a hard time imagining not seeing him every day in some form. Even if it’s just eating dinner with Sal and Stella at the clubhouse. Or feeling the power of his handsome, sexy smile directed at me when I pick up his dad in the afternoon to go to the pool.
Seeing Ryan has become a true high point of my day.
Just a high point? Finding ways to spend time with him has become your sole focus…
“Here, Carly,” my mom says, grabbing my attention by holding out three plates toward me. “Start getting the outside table set for us. Lunch’ll be ready in a few minutes.”
Hell’s bells. Looks like I’m having lunch with the geriatric lovebirds today.
And here I thought I might be able to sneak over to Sal’s house and get freaky with Ryan. Pfft. Obviously, I was sadly mistaken.
Plates now in my hand, I head through the sliding glass doors and start setting the table for the three of us. And just before I turn to head back inside to grab cutlery, napkins, and glasses, my phone vibrates in the back pocket of my jean shorts.
Ryan: Get your cute ass over here, please.
Dammit. I pout.
Me: I can’t. Stella is forcing me to have lunch with her and Sal. Played the whole “You’re going to be leaving soon, and I want to soak up as much time with you as I can” guilt card.
Ryan: Son of a bitch.
Me: Tell me about it.
Right after I hit send, a new message appears on the screen. Though, it’s not from Ryan. It’s from my sister.
Willow: Hey, is Mom’s physical therapy evaluation tomorrow or Wednesday?
I wince a little before typing out a response. I meant to text her a couple days ago to let her know, but truth be told, I’ve been a little too wrapped up in Ryan to think of anything else.
Me: It’s tomorrow.
Willow: Will you call me after and let me know how it went?
Me: Of course.
Tomorrow is the big day when Stella gets evaluated by a physical therapist from Dr. Samson’s practice to see if her tailbone fracture has created any prolonged issues with independent functioning or if she’ll need to make some changes in her daily routine. Per Sunny Creek Village’s rules, after any type of mobility-affecting injury, this type of evaluation is required to ensure that you can stay a resident here. At first, it sounded ridiculous to me, but once Dr. Samson explained it’s to make sure everyone living here can maintain an independent living status, it made a lot more sense.
Bottom line, they just want to ensure safety.
Which is why both Stella and Sal have to complete PT evals tomorrow.
Wait a minute… Now there’s something to consider…
Eyes wide and fingers moving at a furious pace, I text Ryan.
Me: When is Sal’s PT eval?
Ryan: Tomorrow at noon. Why?
Oh, holy hell. This is perfect…
Me: Did you know that a PT eval can take up to three hours to complete? Dr. Samson warned me to bring a book or something to stay occupied if I planned on hanging around in the waiting room until the eval was done.
