Page 75 of Save Me

It was almost boring how normal her life had suddenly become.

Well…not boring. It could never be boring with Ryker. He was moving forward with opening the tattoo parlor and it was fascinating to watch him change gears from this laid-back and totally chill guy to this completely driven, hyper-focused businessman.

It was totally hot.

After they decided to make things official, he had made her a fantastic dinner of chicken parm with spaghetti and it was quite possibly the best thing she’d ever put in her mouth. He hadn’t been lying when he said how good it was and as much as she loved cooking and knew she was good at it, that one meal almost put her to shame.

After they finished eating, she had told him about being invited to dinner with her family on Sunday, but that never happened. Her father fell and broke his hip, which sent the entire Donovan family into a tizzy; for two weeks, everything was borderline out of control.

Her mother was stressed and spent most of her time at her father’s side tending to him now that he was home. Jamie was running the pub along with Uncle Ronan, and Ryleigh was doing a lot of the cooking to help. The servers who had quit a few weeks ago both came back, but Jamie was also interviewing for more help because with both their parents not being able to work, they definitely needed more hands on deck.

Sadly, she and Jamie were the only ones available. Arianna, Liam, and Patrick all had full-time jobs they couldn’t take time away from, and honestly, none of them knew anything about working the pub beyond doing some grunt work. Patrick came in a few times and helped behind the bar or ran to the bank if they needed it, and Liam came in a couple of nights to help clean the place up. Arianna, however, well…they all agreed that it was safer for her not to help. She had a tendency to drop trays of dishes and break them, she couldn’t cook, and her drinks were always way too strong, so…they only really needed her for moral support.

Still, the extra time at the pub meant less time with Ryker, but he was busy putting some finishing touches on the business. He’d hung a lot of artwork and was testing all the equipment and moving things from his house to the parlor, but he still hadn’t decided on a name and he still hadn’t set up a website.

That bothered her more than it should have because she couldn’t believe he hadn’t asked her about it.

Maybe it was a tattoo artist thing because she’d reached out to R. Moretti about the site she’d been working on for him and never got a response, so…maybe these tattoo guys were either too picky or they had a hard time making decisions.

But Ryker not asking her to do his website still burned.

Jamie walked into the pub kitchen and looked like he was ready to drop.

“You know you’re allowed to sit and relax, right?” she told him.

“I knew this was coming,” he told her. “They were going to go on that cruise in a few months, but there was going to be time to ease into this whole taking over thing. I had no idea it would hit like this and suck all the life out of me.”

“I wish I could help more, but I’ve got clients who are waiting on website stuff. I think you’re going to need to hire a full-time cook. Or maybe ask Bobby if he wants the hours.”

“Dad’s not going to be out that long.”

“Jamie, even if he comes back in a few weeks, he can’t put in the hours he was before. Rehab can take anywhere from six to nine months! Talk to Bobby and if he’s not interested, put an ad out and let's jump on this before it overwhelms us both.”

He nodded, but she could tell he wasn’t happy about it.

She was about to say more when her phone dinged with an incoming text. Jamie’s phone chimed as well, so she knew it was the family chat.

Arianna: Family dinner Sunday and we’re all chipping in!

Smiling, Ryleigh looked over at her brother. “See if you can get coverage so you can be there.”

Ryleigh: I’m in! What are we thinking? Potluck or do we have a specific meal in mind?

Arianna: I was just thinking takeout

Liam: That’s because you can’t cook

Patrick: Hey, don’t even go there. I can’t cook either so takeout sounds fantastic to me

Liam: Whatever you decide, Tessa and I will bring dessert

Jamie: Should we just bring food from the pub? That might be easier

Ryleigh picked up an oven mitt and threw it at him. “What’s wrong with you? Don’t add more work to our already full schedules. If they want to order pizza, then don’t ruin it!”

“You’re right, you’re right. I wasn’t thinking.”

Jamie: Never mind. Takeout sounds good.

---