Resisting Ryder(18)

“Don’t sell it,” she said. “Rent it out. That’ll be a source of income for you. We’ll figure this out if this is what you really want.”

Brooklyn’ phone beeped, and she glanced down to read a text message.

“Ugh,” Brooklyn groaned. “I better get going. Work needs me to come in early today.”

Brooklyn was the manager of a local call center, which was pretty impressive for her young age and lack of a college degree of any sort. She was the hardest working person Stormy knew, though. She started working there in high school and just kept climbing the ladder. She always thought Brooklyn was selling herself short, but she seemed moderately happy, so Stormy always kept her mouth shut.

“That sucks you have to work on a Saturday,” Stormy said. “Thanks for coming by today. I needed this little talk.”

“Let’s hang out more often, okay? I’m completely serious,” Brooklyn said as she stood up and hugged Stormy. “I know you hate when people just drop by, but I don’t care. I’ll do it if I have to.”

Stormy laughed as she walked Brooklyn to the door. Within seconds, she was all alone again, only her thoughts weren’t as dark as they had been. Little by little, she was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. She was starting to regain that hope she thought was gone forever.

Spending time with Brooklyn made her want to get out of the house a little. She thought about going over to her parents’ house for a bit, but she didn’t know if they were even home that day. Saturdays were always a wild card in the Michaels family, especially in the summer. Her dad was an avid fisherman and it was one of the less expensive hobbies he could still enjoy while he was laid off from the factory.

As she flicked through all of the contacts in her phone, she happened to pass by Ryder’s name. She didn’t remember putting it in, and she wondered if he’d done it the night she was passed out. She thought about sending him a quick message, but something told her to wait. She decided to let him contact her first.

Stormy slipped her shoes on and went for a drive to stop by her parents’ house. She figured her mother would at least be home.

She pulled into her parents’ cracked and pitted driveway and saw her mom’s rusting, beige mini van parked in the garage. She walked in the house and announced her presence, expecting to be greeted with her mother’s smiling face at any second.

“Oh,” she said as she turned the corner towards the living room and saw Willow sitting on the couch.

“Where’s Mom?” Stormy asked.

“Backyard,” Willow said as she avoided eye contact. “In the garden.”

She walked outside to the backyard to see her mother. Her mother was crouched over pulling weeds from her pride and joy vegetable garden.

“Hey, mom,” Stormy said as she hugged her mom from behind.

“Oh, hi, Sweetie,” her mom said as she pushed herself up and hugged her back. “I wasn’t expecting you today. This is a nice treat. How’s my girl doing?”

Her mom brushed the dirt off her gloves and smoothed her hair out of her sweaty face.

“I just wanted to stop by and say hi,” Stormy replied. “I needed to get out of the house.”

“Good for you,” her mom smiled. “I was thinking of stopping by sometime, but I wasn’t sure if you wanted visitors yet. Have you been alone all week?”

“Actually no,” Stormy said, unable to hide her smile.

Her mom cocked her head to the side as she tried to get a read on her daughter’s mysterious smile.

“Brooklyn keeping you company?”

“No, it wasn’t Brooklyn.”

“Please tell me it wasn’t Hayden,” her mom said as she rolled her eyes.

“It was Jett’s older brother,” Stormy said, biting her lip and waiting for her mother’s response.

“I knew it,” her mom half-yelled as her eyes widened. “I knew he had siblings. I tried to tell you once and you didn’t believe me.”

“Okay, okay,” Stormy laughed. “You were right.”

Her mom beamed proudly.

“I only know of the one brother now,” Stormy mused to herself. “But at this point, nothing would surprise me. For all I know, there could be more. I just can’t figure out why Jett never told me about Ryder.”

“I’m sure he had a perfectly good reason,” her mom said. “Maybe this brother is bad news. There’s a reason he didn’t want you to know he existed.”

Stormy wanted to tell her mom how wonderful her days with Ryder were, how he had breathed a little bit of hope back into her life, and he had allowed her to forget her pain for a few days. She wanted to tell her how genuine and smart and successful he was. He was living the life Jett was meant to live. He was healthy and strong and independent.