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He stood and held out his arms to his mother. She hugged him fiercely, and he breathed in the scent of cookies and vanilla—the aromas of his childhood.
“Thanks, Mom. I love you.”
He loaded up Six and they drove to the Paynes’ house.
“New mission,” he said to Six as the golden gazed out the window, panting happily. “Convince Adele or Harvey to tell us which hotel Bryce is at, then it’s road trip time again.”
He hauled himself out of the truck and gathered up Six’s leash, making his way to the Paynes’ front door. He heard the girls inside, squealing and laughing, and the sound—that sound of joy—was like a candle flame to the darkness inside. He drew nearer and, screwing up his courage, rang the doorbell.
He had words all queued up in his mind—he’d say, “Hi, can you give me the name of the hotel Bryce is staying at in Niagara Falls?” and then if they balked, he’d tell them he wanted to introduce her to his service dog. Whatever it took, he was going to get the name of the hotel.
But when the door opened, it was neither Harvey nor Adele standing in front of him, nor was it one of the little Weatherford children.
It was Bryce.
His planned speech halted as he stared at her. She wore her white chef’s coat, but her face had tear tracks and her eyes were bloodshot. She’d been crying. His mouth dropped open, and he wanted to reach for her, take her in his arms, hold her, tell her he’d fix everything.
But she speared him with that direct blue-gray gaze, scanning him head to toe.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Ryker Matthews. The jerk-face who couldn’t be bothered to return my calls or texts, then has some sexy sidepiece he calls ‘sweetheart.’” Bryce’s eyes narrowed. “Give me three reasons I shouldn’t punch you in the throat right now.”
His mouth opened and closed, confusion barricading his voice. He wasn’t sure what the hell she meant by the sexy sidepiece, but the rest of her accusation was valid. So he squared his shoulders, bracing for the onslaught.
“I got nothing. Swing away.”
Chapter 23
Fine,” Bryce said to Ryker. “Why did you go MIA? And I want the truth.”
Even as hurt and angry as she was, the sight of this man still made her insides cartwheel with delight. She also noticed that his face was scruffy and looked like he hadn’t slept well in days.
Sensing that she had an audience—the Paynes had come into the living room, followed by her nieces—Bryce stepped out onto the front porch, crowding close as they shared space on the step. She tried to keep her scowl on her face, but it was tough with that sweet golden retriever wagging her tail so hard it banged against the Paynes’ screen door. “Also, why do you have a dog?”
Instead of the one-word answer she expected, he launched into a detailed, almost blow-by-blow account of his week. Her anger quickly morphed into concern, then to incredulity when she heard about how his trauma-induced HO had resulted in radiation treatments whose side effect might be sterility. But even with treatment, he worried more of his leg might be amputated, and on top of all that, he was concerned about his escalating PTSD episodes and how all this, combined, might be a relationship deal-breaker for her.
She opened her mouth to tell him how ludicrous that was, but he held up a hand.
“I know. I’m an ass. I’ve already been briefed by Drake, Zander, and my mother about that fact.” His face held remorse and also…was it fear? “I’m sorry I didn’t figure out a way to tell you, and I’m even sorrier that I went off for this service dog opportunity without explaining what was going on in my head. I didn’t tell you how I was doing this for me, but also for us—to give me the confidence that I can be there, be wholly there, for you. I guess a part of me was worried that my sterility, my HO, my having a service dog to help my PTSD—all that might…freak you out. Make you think…”
Bryce wanted to reach out to him, put her arms around him, or maybe shake him in frustration. Instead, she used her words. “That I had too much on my plate, and that you might be a heavy lift for me right now?”
He nodded. “Exactly.”
“Like hell you are,” she said. “What’s the rest? I hate people who lie, cheat, and don’t keep their stations clean, so tell me the truth and quit protecting me. Do I look like the kind of woman who needs protecting?”
This elicited a small smile. His rigid, stand-at-attention posture loosened, and he fiddled with the dog’s leash before gazing directly at her to answer. “No, you’re tough as hell. It’s one of the reasons I love you.”
Her eyes bulged. “What did you say? How can you say that when in your last message to me you were romancing some other woman?”
Ryker’s eyebrows drew together. “What are you talking about?”
“After your cryptic-as-hell voicemail, you thought you’d hung up the phone.” Her chin trembled as the memory brought back the hurt and anger. “But before it disconnected, I heard you call someone else ‘sexy’ and ‘sweetheart.’ Why don’t you admit you’re seeing another woman?”
His face went from confused to understanding, and then morphed into amusement. When his face broke out in that “sun from behind the clouds” smile, she almost flung herself at him, fists flying. But then he spoke.
“Because I wanted to introduce you to her in person. Bryce, meet the newest lady in my life. This little sweetheart is Six,” he said, taking a step away from the golden to allow the dog to approach Bryce, sniffing and panting as her tail wagged frantically. “I’ve already become that guy who talks to his dog, and although I think her name is perfect, I sort of nicknamed her ‘Six-y’ because…well, the same reason I like to call my goddaughter Lisi versus Elise. I think it fits.”
As his explanation sank in, Bryce’s hurt evaporated—he hadn’t been seeing someone else, and the dog was absolutely a sweetheart. She knelt down to pet the golden retriever, who licked her face as thoughts swirled in Bryce’s mind. He’d been gone this week to make himself more whole for him, but also for her? All this time she’d thought his emotional distance meant he didn’t have feelings, but all along he’d been worried she’d toss him aside if she knew his whole story. And he loved her. He had said that, hadn’t he?
