Bachelor at Her Bidding (Bachelor Auction Book 2)(32)
“We played cards,” Phyllis said. “But Susie was saying, her best friends Lexy and Dayna could make a four with us. It’d be more fun. If that’s all right with you, Ry?”
“What makes my grandmother happy makes me happy,” he said with a smile. “And I’ll make brownies for next time.”
“You are so on,” Susie said. “I’ve had your brownies at Grey’s. They’re awesome.”
“So are you and Rachel officially an item now?” Phyllis asked.
Ryan blew out a breath. “Yes, Gram. But we’re keeping it low key.”
“I ought to tell my friends, given that they’re playing cards with your grandmother and my sister, but they’ll be discreet,” Rachel reassured him.
Ryan’s closest friends from school had all moved away. He’d bonded well with his colleagues at Grey’s, but he knew none of them would be able to keep it quiet – not from malice, but because they worked in a bar in the middle of the town and it was way too easy to get carried away in conversation and spill secrets without meaning to. “I hope you’re right,” he said. “Don’t think I’m dissing you; I’m just not ready to go loud about it right now.”
“That’s fine.” She smiled at him. “So future dates will be only in Bozeman, right? On the grounds that going to see a band at FlintWorks or to the cinema in the middle of town is the same as standing on the town hall steps with a megaphone announcing that we’re seeing each other?”
He grimaced. “Put like that, it sounds bad.”
“No, I get why you’re wary. Me, too.”
“Thank you. For being understanding.” He kissed her. “You’re an amazing woman, Rachel Cassidy.”
“You’re not so bad yourself, Ryan Henderson.”
*
The following Friday night, Susie, Lexy and Dayna set up a card game with Phyllis – fortified with Ryan’s brownies – while Ryan and Rachel caught a movie in Bozeman.
“It’s a long while since I’ve been to the cinema,” he said after the movie, and slid his arm round her shoulders. “I really enjoyed myself tonight.”
“So did I,” she said with a smile.
On the way back to Marietta, he pulled his car over at the side of the road and opened the roof so they could look up at the stars. “It’s a perfect night,” he said softly.
The only thing that would make it more perfect, Rachel thought, would be if they could snatch a whole night together. But his circumstances meant it wasn’t going to happen, and she wasn’t going to make a fuss about it – that wasn’t fair to him. “Perfect night and perfect company,” she said.
As he pulled up outside the house he shared with his grandmother, Rachel asked, “Would you and Phyllis like to come for Sunday lunch?”
She couldn’t help smiling at the momentary look of horror on his face and the careful way he asked, “Are you cooking?”
“No, my mom will be cooking. We try to get together as a family once a week.”
He looked slightly worried. “And I’ll be there as a… friend?”
She shrugged. “As whatever you like.”
“We’ll be there – just tell me what time.” He smiled and kissed her. “Tell your mom I’ll bring dessert as my contribution.”
*
Sunday lunchtime, Ryan drove Phyllis over to Rachel’s parents’ house. Phyllis had chosen some flowers and wine, and he’d made one of his red velvet cheesecakes.
He already knew Rachel’s sister, Susie, but discovered that her husband, Jake, was a sweetheart, and so were their five-year-old twins, Allie and Kirstie. Rachel’s brother, Ricky, was quiet but welcoming, and her parents, Richard and Susan, were really sweet. He could see why Rachel was so close to them, and why she’d missed them so much when she’d lived in Missoula.
After lunch, Allie and Kirstie insisted on playing snakes and ladders with him and then having a dollies’ tea party.
“It’s Lindy’s birthday,” Allie lisped. “Will you make her a birthday cake like the one you did for Aunty Rachel?”
“We saw a picture on Mummy’s phone,” Kirstie enlightened him. “Like a fairy princess tower.”
“It’s called a croquembouche,” he said. “Can you say that?”
“Cr…” Allie looked stuck.
“Say it after me,” he said. “Croc.”
“Croc,” the girls chorused.
“Um.”
“Um.”
“Boosh.”
They beamed. “Boosh.”
“And now you put it all together. Croc-um-boosh.”
“Croc-um-boosh!” they yelled, clearly pleased with their new word.
Rachel looked at him playing with the girls and had the clearest vision of how he’d be with his own children. And it shook her. She’d never thought about Nick in terms of being a father; he wasn’t really a family man and liked the sophisticated side of city living. He’d rarely come back to Marietta with Rachel and had only seen the twins a couple of times, and the last time they’d been very shy and wary of him. Whereas Ryan was a natural with kids, and the girls had taken to him straight away.