Page 64 of Save Me

“Yeah, well…I’m sure if given the chance, she’d start up all over again.”

Wrapping an arm around her, he led her back over to the bar. “I wouldn’t be so sure. You might not know this, but your siblings have your back.”

“Um…what?”

Nodding, he poured a beer from the tap and handed it to Billy Raven, the owner of the print shop around the corner. “Ari and Tessa were in here the other day to talk to Kate about some fundraiser and it turned into a big hullabaloo!” He shook his head. “Your sister pitched a fit and stormed out, and then poor Tessa had the difficult task of being left behind.”

“Oh my goodness! What happened?”

“I can’t believe Arianna hasn’t called you!”

“I was out of town for the weekend, so she probably didn’t want to disturb me.” That sounded logical, right?

“Ah…you went away with Ryker, huh?”

Ryleigh felt her cheeks heat as she nodded.

“Good for you. He’s a good one, that Ryker. Sure, he’s a little rough around the edges, but he’s got a good heart.”

“How can you know that, Uncle Ro? I mean…I didn’t think you knew him that well.”

He chuckled softly. “Ryleigh, that man’s been coming in here several nights a week for months, and he sits here at the bar and talks to me when he’s not mooning over you.”

She rolled her eyes. “He wasn’t mooning…”

“Believe me, he was.” Turning away, he poured a few more drinks before coming back to her. “He asked all kinds of questions about you and every time I encouraged him to ask you out, you shot him down!” He laughed again. “Luckily he’s persistent.” With a wink, he added, “He’s much better for you than any of those pushovers Kate picked out for you.”

“So what happened that made Ari stop talking to Mom? What exactly happened?”

“It’s not just Arianna, Tessa put her foot down too before she left, then Liam was upset because Tessa was upset…” With a weary sigh, he leaned on the bar. “No one showed up for dinner Sunday. No one.”

“No!”

Nodding, he said, “It’s true! Your father has no sympathy for any of it and told Kate she had no one to blame but herself.” He shrugged. “Of course, poor Jamie has to deal with her here and it’s been tense.”

“Yeah, I have zero sympathy for him,” she muttered, but her uncle only laughed.

“I heard about what he did, so I’m sure you’re not feeling too kindly toward him. But…don’t be too hard on him. He’s been bearing the brunt of Kate’s mood. We lost two good servers last week, but I think they’re coming back.”

“Really?”

“Your father talked to them and your mother promised to apologize, so…”

“Great. So she can apologize to everyone else but me,” she said miserably, but was saved from saying more when Jamie walked over with a huge takeout bag.

“Here you go, Ry.”

Laughing, she asked, “Did you put the entire pie in there?”

Chuckling, he shook his head. “No, but there are two portions of it, plus an order of corn fritters, and an order of fries because I know how much you love them and how…” He glanced around. “And how she-who-must-not-be-named always gave you grief when you ate them.”

Aww…

Leaning over, she hugged you. “You may have just redeemed yourself a little.”

He hugged her back. “I hate to say it, but…you should go. Mom just ran to the store and she’ll be back any minute. Save yourself.”

And that was the clincher. Pulling him in for another hug, Ryleigh kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”

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