Page 87 of Save Me

“Stop!” Shane snapped, his word directed at his youngest son. “Let him finish.” Then he nodded at Ryker.

With his attention back on Kate, he went on. “I should have put a stop to this a long time ago. I should have gone to the pub and sat you down and made you listen. I love your daughter more than any of these guys you keep digging up for her. None of them are good enough for her. Hell, I don’t think I’m good enough for her. But I can promise you this—no one is going to encourage her and support her and lift her up the way that I will. And as her mother, that should be your biggest priority—finding a man who sees your daughter’s worth and will cherish it.” He leaned back in his chair. “I foolishly thought if I didn’t look quite so rough around the edges that you’d like me, but now I realize I don’t need that. The only opinion that matters to me is Ryleigh’s.”

He looked over at her, expecting to see gratitude or a smile or maybe even love, but what he saw was absolute horror.

“Ryleigh, I…”

Pulling her hand from his, she stood and stormed out of the room.

Shit.

He got up to go after her when Kate called his name.

“I have to go after her,” he said as he began to walk away.

“She’ll be fine. She’s out on the back deck,” Kate said. “Arianna, go check on your sister.”

Ryker froze, but wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do.

Then Kate gave him a serene smile. “You want to know something funny, Ryker?”

“Right now? Not particularly.”

There were a few snickers at that and he heard someone whisper, “It’s like a train wreck, but I can’t look away!” but kept his attention on the family matriarch.

“Let me tell you something, Mr. Big Shot, I have liked you all along. I watched the way you gently pursued Ryleigh and how you respected her by not pushing too hard. But you know what else I noticed?”

He shook his head.

“That she actually enjoyed the game of cat and mouse. When she thought no one was watching, I was. I saw the way she watched you. You intrigued her and she didn’t know what to do about it.”

“But…”

“If I had encouraged her to talk to you, do you know what would have happened?” she asked. “She never would have gone out with you. Ever.” She shrugged. “So I kept quiet and kept finding men I knew she’d hate.”

“Why?!”

“Ryker, think. I didn’t want to endorse you because I knew Ryleigh would reject you just on principle. So bynotgiving my blessing or encouraging her to go out with you, I knew she’d eventually give you a chance.”

Dumbfounded, he could only stare at her. Then he looked over at Shane, who nodded with a serene smile of his own. “She speaks the truth,” he said. “Although…to be fair, Ronan was the one you can thank for it. He watches everyone too and genuinely thinks the world of you. When he noticed my Kate getting ready to intervene, he stopped her and made her see reason.” Pausing, he took his wife’s hand in his and kissed it. “That’s not always an easy task. Her heart is always in the right place; it’s her mouth that gets her into trouble.”

“Shane!” she cried in mock offense, but then leaned in and kissed him.

“Um…should I go after her now?” he asked, feeling a little dizzy from all the ways this day had thrown him for a loop.

“One more thing,” Shane said before Ryker could turn away. “Ryleigh’s stubborn, but you probably know that. And…she holds a grudge. So if she’s mad at you, just give her time. She’ll come around.”

He nodded. “I will.”

“You love her? Truly?” he asked, and again, you could have heard a pin drop.

“I do. Truly.” It occurred to him he hadn’t said those words to Ryleigh yet, and he’d already said it multiple times in front of her family. It wasn’t his smartest move, but hopefully a forgivable one.

“Then go talk to her,” her father said. “Just know that we’re all going to eat because all this food is getting cold.”

With a curt nod, he stormed from the room and went to hopefully smooth things over with Ryleigh and not make things worse than he already had.

ChapterFourteen

---