Page 23 of Surprised By Her

I couldn’t get a read on her, and it was both frustrating and intriguing. A closed book that I wished to open and read the pages of.

Chapter Six

“So, what were you and Ryan chatting about in the library last night?” Sydney slyly asked me the next day during a lull. The shop had been busy all day, so I’d been out helping Sydney with the customers and I’d been glad for the break.

“Nothing, actually. I just needed a breather and I guess she did too. She didn’t have any room at the table,” I said.

Sydney made a face. “Yeah, that was a mistake. We should have gotten another table or had people sit on the couch. I apologized to her a bunch of times.”

“I think she knew it wasn’t your fault,” I said.

“I hope so. She doesn’t really give you a lot when you talk to her,” she said. Finally, some information on Ryan. I was trying not to look too eager.

“What’s her story anyway?” I asked, hoping my voice sounded uninterested.

“You don’t know? She’s an heiress.”

I snorted. “Okay.”

“No, for real.” Sydney pulled something up on her phone. It was a picture taken from an event by press of a tall man, a tall woman, and their tall daughter.

“That’s her,” I said, stating the obvious. Ryan looked like a perfect combination of her parents, and she’d come by her height honestly. Her mother was stunning, and her father had a regal air about him.

Sydney had left me with her phone to go grab something and she came back with a candle we used as part of a display.

“Her family makes these,” she said, holding it up. The candle was a brand you saw everywhere, including entire stores you’d find in a mall.

“Wait, her family makes those?” I said, pointing to the candle.

“I mean, they don’t literally make them, but they own the company, yeah. That’s why she doesn’t have to work. Maybe she’ll take over the company one day, but right now she’s free as a bird. A super rich bird.” Sydney showed me the house, I mean mansion, where Ryan had grown up and my eyes went so wide I thought they were going to fall out of my head. Ryan hadn’t just played polo. Her family own an entire horse farm and had owned at least one horse that had run in the Kentucky Derby.

My stomach sank. Ryan was in a whole other stratosphere of life.

“It was weird inviting her to my apartment, seeing as how she could probably buy all of the buildings on Main Street with cash and not blink an eye,” Sydney said.

“Wow,” I said, at a loss for any other words.

“Yeah, seriously. Layne told me and my jaw dropped to the floor. Let me tell you, I’ve never cleaned my bathroom like that before.” She laughed and shook her head.

“Wow,” I said again.

“Anyway, I assume that level of wealth makes you a little aloof, so that kind of explains her whole deal. I’m sure she’s used to people finding out she’s rich and then not being sure if they’re going to pump her for money or not,” Sydney said, and my response was interrupted by some of our regular customers walking into the shop. They’d come for free coffee and gossip and to see what was new. Sydney turned up the charm, but I was still thinking about what I’d just learned about Ryan.

It made sense that Ryan would be wary of people she didn’t know, but it had to be more than that for her. She reminded me a little bit of Ezra. They both held themselves away from others. Ezra’s wariness with others was due to family strife, Joy had told me. But what made Ryan tick? What were the ingredients that had come together to make her the person she was?

Much to think about.

“Are you going to a party this weekend?” Mama asked me on Friday night. Mom had stopped at Nick’s Pizza and brought back pizza, salad, and garlic knots for us.

“Not that I know of,” I said, dipping another garlic knot in marinara. Tonight we were cozy on the couch with TV trays to hold everything instead of at the dining table.

“No?” Mom asked.

“No,” I said. “Why?”

They shared a glance. “We just thought you were getting out more,” Mama finally said.

“I literally went to a party last night,” I said. That had been more than enough socializing for the week.

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