Page 51 of Finding Home with You

“Where are you from, Erin?” Ryan’s mom asks.

“Did you grow up in Rockport or Boston?” Sarah tosses in along with her mom’s question.

“Shit, that’s a lot of questions,” Ryan says, saving me. “Give her a second to answer.”

I take a drink of water and begin to answer their questions, trying to keep my answers as vague as possible, but something tells me this family doesn’t do vague.

“I’m from just outside of Atlanta originally, but I summered in Rockport. That’s how I met Beck and Kelsey.” Okay that wasn’t so bad.

“Is your family still in Atlanta?” Ryan’s mom asks, and I stop and take another drink of water.

“Yes,” I say, pausing as Ryan looks over at me, knowing this is an incredibly difficult conversation for me to have, he begins stroking the back of my neck. “My mom still lives in Atlanta, I think, but I don’t see her much. And my dad…” I say, trailing off, but quickly adding in, “I haven’t seen him in a while.”

The table falls silent and all I can do is mentally chastise myself. I’m lying and I know it, Ryan knows it, but how do you explain that you saw your father recently, but it was in a prison visitation room, and the last words you said to him were, “fuck you”?

Nice one, Erin.

“Oh, that’s too bad, dear,” Ryan’s mom says, her eyes filled with sympathy. “I imagine that’s hard, but I’m sure there’s a reason things happened the way they did.”

It’s like this woman is an expert at families and making people feel less awkward, and without asking me another question, she changes the subject and the table is back to chatting mindlessly.

“So what’s on the agenda today, Ry?” his dad asks and I wonder if he’s told his parents the reason for his visit. I’m not sure how you explain that you’re avoiding the Boston mob by running up to small town Maine without it sounding bat shit crazy.

“I’ve gotta head over to Warren today to interview an inmate for a case I’m working on. It all just kinda came together and I thought it would also be a great time for you to meet Erin.”

He smiles at me and my stomach flutters a little as he takes my hand in his, pressing a small kiss to my palm.

“You don’t mind hanging out with Sarah today, do you?” he says, looking at me as he asks.

“No, not at all.” And I look over at Sarah and give her a smile. I’m looking forward to getting to know Ryan’s sister, because it means I get to know more about Ryan.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to you visiting prisons on a regular basis,” Ryan’s mom says. “It still makes me nervous.” She shrugs her shoulders and gives him a look that says he’ll always be her kid no matter how old he is.

Her words make my stomach clench and I can’t help but think she’d hate the idea of her son dating the daughter of the biggest mob boss in Boston.

Ryan showers and dresses quickly with me following suit since I know he has an appointment at Maine State Prison soon.

I haven’t let myself ask it, but the thought has been swirling around in my head since he told me he had to visit the prison. I wonder whom he’s going to visit? A former associate of my father’s? Someone connected to Anthony? As much it consumes my thoughts, I can’t bring myself to truly want an answer, so I let it go, ignore it like I always do.

We meet up with Sarah in the kitchen. She’s still sitting at the table picking at a few leftover pieces of pancake on her plate as she scrolls through the screen on her phone. I’m going to guess she’s on her third mimosa and I honestly don’t blame her. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be back living with your parents after being on your own for so long. It’s my definition of a nightmare and her family is nothing like mine.

“You sure you’re okay staying here with Sarah and my mom?” Ryan asks again.

“Of course. Go do what you need to do and Sarah and I can get to know each other.”

Without looking up from her phone Sarah chimes in, “Yeah, she’ll be fine. I’m gonna take her on a historic homes tour and show her where the mayor lives. It’s going to be amazing.” Sarah’s tone is dripping with so much sarcasm it’s hard not to laugh. This town is pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

A few hours later Sarah and I are sitting in front the TV flipping through channels trying to find something to watch. It’s late in the afternoon now and our day was spent having lunch at the bar where she works and chatting, and later driving through town with Sarah filling me in on all the funny things that happened in their childhood.

With Sarah being the baby of the family and her sisters being quite a bit older than her, she spent most of her time with Ryan, the three-year age difference not mattering much until they were in high school. That’s when Ryan decided she couldn’t hang around with him anymore; too much of a distraction to his friends. I can totally see Ryan as the protective big brother.

Sarah stops on a movie channel just as the opening scene of the movie begins. “Oh shit, I love this movie. You wanna watch it?” Sarah asks beaming, and giving my leg a little shove to show her excitement.

“Sure. What is it?”

“Casino.”

Fuck my life, she can’t be serious.

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