Ryan
The flowers made me think of you. Soft pink and pretty green. Hope you like them.
My cheeks flushed.
“You there, Autumn?” Shep asked.
“I’m here.” I quickly closed the text as my heart lodged itself in my throat. “Sorry. Got a text.”
“That text wouldn’t happen to be from the man currently dating Willow Winslet, would it?”
I groaned. “Please stop following my social media accounts.”
Shep chuckled, a rich sound that had always comforted me. “What’s the real story?”
I spilled every single detail, including the very embarrassing meet-hate where Ryan teased me for buying a vibrator that ended up being a box full of rocks.
“And he sent you flowers and breakfast fit for a queen this morning?” Shep asked. “Completely unprompted?”
“Well, I mean I guess it’s not completely unprompted. He’s trying to get me to endorse his dating program or whatever.”
Shep chuckled. “Autumn, I know you don’t want to hear this?—”
“Then don’t say it,” I begged.
“Have you ever stopped to think that he might actually like spending time with you?”
“I highly doubt that,” I said around a French fry. “I almost checked the French toast for poison, but I was too hungry to care.”
“Why do you doubt it, darling?”
“Because he should hate me.” It was as simple as that.
“Or maybe he enjoyed talking to someone who didn’t bend to him easily. Maybe he liked being challenged as a person. Maybe he actually had a good time going on an adventure with you.”
“Pierogies are hardly an adventure.”
“Anything can be an adventure, Autumn. I would think you’d have learned that by now. What, with all your travels? Maybe this is the stint where your adventure is a person, not a place. You said you two had to be together for three months. That’s how long you usually stay in a state.”
“I hate when you sound like a parent,” I groaned.
Shep laughed. “Sorry, kiddo. I had you for fifteen years. It doesn’t wear off easily.”
“You still have me,” I said. “You’ll always be Step Shep.” I could see his silver-stubbled smile in my mind. “You driving?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’m headed back to Lisa. You could always come back home. Show your fancy city boy the sights. Let me interrogate him.”
I laughed. “You mean the one stoplight and the willow tree?”
“That willow tree is my favorite spot in the world.”
“Mine too,” I admitted.
Neither of us spoke for a few minutes, but I picked up on the soft tune he was humming. It took me back to the days of freckled cheeks, skinned knees, grass-stained jeans, and Shep.
Those were the good days.
The idea of going home wasn’t the most thrilling, but I missed everyone. My dad would probably hate that I’d want to go spend time with Shep and Lisa—the woman Shep had married after his divorce from my mom. My mom wouldn’t be thrilled about it either, but she’d keep those opinions to herself.
