Broken Love (Broken #4)(44)
The old desk in the corner was original to the house. I sat down and pulled out a drawer. The only thing in the drawer was a box. Pulling it out, I slowly took the rubber band off and opened the note attached to it.
Frowning, I looked at the signature and wondered who G was.
When I opened the box, it was filled with letters. Surely my mother had seen these already.
I opened one letter and began reading it.
I folded up the letter and put it in the box. “I feel ya, dude. Nice to see women haven’t changed in over a hundred years.”
The doorbell rang and I jumped up, setting the box on the desk as I made my way to the front door.
When I opened it, I was stunned to see two women standing before me with brown bags in each of their arms.
“We’re here with your delivery from Fusion Grill.”
Opening the door to let them in, I smiled and said, “Awesome! Follow me to the kitchen.”
Each one of them put a bag on the counter and began unpacking it.
“We have two BLTA’s with french fries and two bowls of tortilla soup.”
My stomach picked that moment to growl. “Sounds good. What do I owe you?”
“It’s already been paid for, sir.”
Reaching for my wallet, I took out a two twenty’s and handed each girl one.
“Thank you so very much, sir.”
“No problem. Thank you, ladies. Let me show you out.”
By the time I got the plates made up, I was sure Ava had to have cooled down.
At least I prayed with every stair I took that was the case.
AFTER RYDER HAD helped me up the stairs and into the most beautiful room I’d ever seen, I settled in and listened to the crackling of the fire he had made. I was so mad at myself for acting like a child. I had no reason to be jealous and really Ryder didn’t do anything wrong but be shocked by an old friend. Regardless of if something had happened between them or not, it was the past and I needed to leave it there.
Kate’s journal sat on my lap as I opened it up and read the next entry.
June 2
Jackson stopped by today and we went for a long walk. It was nice to spend time with him alone. When we’re in school each of us is pulled in so many different directions.
I don’t think Ryder likes Jackson all that much. Or he’s just playing the big brother role. At any rate, if he knew what was going on, he would really not like Jackson.
He took the news of me being pregnant pretty well. We’re both scared and not sure how to tell our parents. I’m only six weeks along from what the doctor said. I still have time to figure things out. At least I know Jackson is right there with me. He told me he loved me more than I could ever imagine.
I love him too. And I’ll love our baby.
I dropped my hands to my lap and stared straight ahead.
“Oh, holy shit. The secret had nothing to do with Lizzy and everything to do with Kate.”
The knock on the door caused me to jump as I quickly shut the journal and slid it under the pillow.
“Hey,” Ryder said softly as he walked in carrying a tray full of food. I’d never seen anyone walk so slow and with so much concentration.
“Hey, did you make that?” I asked as I licked my lips.
Ryder didn’t utter a word until he set it down on the table at the end of the bed. With a sigh of relief, he glanced up at me and grinned from ear to ear. “It’s probably cold because it took me so long to climb the stairs. And hell no, I didn’t make it. Jennifer ordered it when I called her for help in figuring out what to do to make up for being such an * earlier.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You were moving pretty slow, I don’t care if it’s cold, and you weren’t the one being an *. I was too and I’m sorry.”
“Let’s just say we both played a small role and move on?”
With a nod of my head, I said, “Sounds good to me. I’m starving! What did she send us?”
Ryder took his food off and placed it on the table then carefully picked up the tray and brought it over to me. “I’ll eat mine over here.”
“Yummy. This looks so good. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until I saw it.”
Ryder chuckled. “Same here.”
Picking up the sandwich, I took a bite and moaned in sweet relief. “I never thought a BLT would taste so good.”
With a head bob, Ryder agreed.
My mind was racing as I tried to process what I had just read in Kate’s journal. Clearly Ryder had no idea about the pregnancy with how he reacted to her saying she had sex with Jackson.
“So, Dani’s baby will be the first baby, huh?”
His eyes lifted as he looked at me. “First baby?”
“Yeah, you know … first grandbaby for your mom and dad.”
He narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment. “Unless Nate’s fathered a few kids we don’t know about.”
Letting out a chuckle, I shook my head and ate some soup. “That’s mean, Ryder.”
“The scary part is I’m not kidding.”
With a roll of my eyes, I kept eating.
“What about Jennifer? No desire to have kids?”
His eyes lifted to mine again. “Not that I’m aware of, but I doubt she would talk to me about that. Ava, you’re kind of freaking me out with this baby talk. Is there something I should know?”