30
Denise - Baby Shops and Ryder’s Big Heart
After a quick shower I throw on my favourite navy floral summer dress with a flared skirt (and pockets!), a lightweight cardigan, and a pair of bright orange platform wedge sandals. Luckily it wasn’t a hair washing day, so I didn’t need to dry it. I curl my bangs slightly under and pull the rest of my hair back into a sleek high bun, finishing the look off with a huge flower pin in yellow, pink, and orange. Taking a page from Alex’s book, I forgo my usual full face of makeup, instead using just some mascara and lipstick. Ryder said he had stuff to do. I don’t want to make him late for whatever it is, and I feel like I’ve taken long enough already.
“Wow! You look beautiful.” Ryder is waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. “I feel like I should take you to do something better than just to run some errands with me.”
“Oh, yeah, thanks. I figured I should wear the things I like for as long as possible before nothing fits me anymore. It seems like everyday I try something on and can’t get it zipped or buttoned.” I had to squeeze into this dress a little today, so I better enjoy wearing it because I’m sure it won’t happen again.
“Xena is on that for you, remember?” Ryder says while leading me to the door with his hand on the small of my back. Funny how such an insignificant gesture can cause my belly to flip-flop like it’s full of giant butterflies. “Before you need to worry about fitting into your clothes, she’ll have an entire bad ass maternity wardrobe for you to approve. It seems like she’s taking that job seriously too, so she probably has stuff for you to look at already.”
I grab my purse from the hook by the door and look around for my keys so I can lock up.
“I’ve got your keys already,” Ryder says, holding them out to me. “Is there anything else you need before we go? Maybe you should bring something to do? You might have to sit around for a little at one of our stops and I don’t want you to get bored.”
“Oh, OK. Hold on a sec.” I go into my office and grab my project bag for my embroidery. I’ve barely started on the piece that I want to give my OB/GYN and today could be a good chance to get some work done on it.
“Got it.” I step out onto the porch and wait while Ryder locks the door behind me. When he takes my bag from me and offers his elbow to help me down the stairs, I look up at him and smile. No matter how much of a crazy party boy he’s been in the past, he’s always been a chivalrous guy. He opens doors for people, stands when a woman arrives or leaves the table, and has decent enough manners for a guy who pretty much always gets what he wants without having to ask. He leads me to his car, opens the door for me, and passes me the seat belt and my bag before closing the door and going around to the driver’s side.
“So where are we going?” I ask when he’s backing out onto the street in front of my house. “What do we need to get done today?”
“It’s a surprise,” he says. “You’re just going to have to wait and see.” He has a slightly evil glint in his eye, because he knows how much I hate surprises. Surprises mean I don’t have control of a situation, and I hate not being in control.
“That is completely unfair, Ryder.” I’m not proud of it, but I may be pouting a little. “You know I don’t like surprises.”
“I promise you’ll like this one, babe,” he laughs. “It’ll be fun.”
I cross my arms over my chest and huff out a breath as I push myself back into the seat. “It better be fun. I could be napping my afternoon away, you know?”
He’s laughing at me again. “You might be able to have a nap at one of our stops, if you’re tired. And we can skip dinner at Alex and Connor’s too if you want. Or you can nap there. I have a bedroom there, remember, and you’re welcome to it anytime.”
All the guys have bedrooms at Connor’s place. He has a studio in his house and the guys spend so much time there that he had part of his walk-out basement converted to extra rooms for the guys. I’ve never bothered going down there, though. Something about invading their space like that just didn’t feel right to me. Especially when Ryder was still giving everyone the impression that he was sleeping with anyone with a vagina. Just because I tried to push my feelings away doesn’t mean I wanted to see the proceedings in person.
“I might take you up on that,” I say. “We’re not skipping dinner, though. I think I want to tell everyone else about the baby tonight.” I glance at him from the corner of my eye, trying to get a read on what he thinks of that. I’m not sure why his opinion matters so much to me regarding this, but it does.
Ryder is parallel parking on a narrow street downtown. This street is known for small boutique shops that carry unique items of all varieties. Things that you can’t find in big box stores. And most of them stay closed on Sundays, so I can’t figure out what Ryder could possibly have to do here today.
“I think that is a great idea, Denise.” He’s already taken off his seat belt and turned to face me. “Once you see how much support you have from all of us, hopefully this Andrew thing won’t seem as serious. You know we all have your back, and we’ll all help in any way we can.” He grabs my hand and places a kiss on my knuckles. My breath catches at the feel of his lips on my skin. He’s probably too sexy for his own good. And he’sdefinitelytoo sexy formyown good.
Before I can answer, Ryder is out of the car and opening my door for me. He takes my hand and helps me out of the vehicle.
“Here we are,” he says, pointing to a door that has a ‘closed’ sign clearly displayed. “Let’s go.”
“Ummm, Ryder?” I say as he walks up to the door. “They’re closed. It’s Sunday, remember? Everything on this street is closed on Sunday.”
“Normally, yes.” He takes his phone out of his pocket, presses some buttons, and holds it up to his ear. “Hi, we’re here,” he says into the phone after a few seconds.
“What is going on?” I ask him.
An older woman is at the door now, opening it from the inside. “Ryder! It’s so good to see you,” she says as she pulls him in for a hug. “And you must be Denise.” She comes out to hug me, too. “I’ve heard so much about you. Come in. I can’t wait to see what you two pick out. Come, come.” She turns and walks back through the door Ryder is now holding open.
Once inside, Ryder introduces the woman to me. “This is Lana,” he explains. “She was my neighbour when I was growing up. She used to watch me and my brother when my dad had to work late or when he picked up extra shifts. This is her store.”
I turn and take in our surroundings. It’s a baby store. A high end baby store.
“Oh, you shush, boy.” She smacks Ryder on the arm. “This is Ryder’s store,” she tells me. “He found it and bought it when my old job laid me off, and he lets me run it.”
“You know that’s not true, Lana. We’ve been over this.” Ryder sounds like he’s had this conversation more times than he’d like. “The deed is in your name. You own the building. You own the business. This is all you.”
