“Your nephew is pretty cute,” she said instead of answering his question.
“The cutest.”
“I went to see them in Brook. Then yesterday. They’re doing okay. Although I think Newman will drive Hope crazy with all his fussing.”
“He’s driving me crazy, and I don’t live with him 24/7.”
“He’s so in love with Hope and Brody.” Faith had a gentle smile on her face.
Was that longing Ryan heard?
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. What’s not cool is that I had dinner with Mom and Mac last night, and I caught him kissing her in the kitchen.”
“No way!” She looked shocked. “You can’t erase that kind of thing from your memory either.”
“Exactly. I mean, for years she was like this redwood tree. Unemotive and uninvolved, just kind of there standing over you.”
“The redwoods are way more mellow, to be fair.”
He snorted.
“I’m sure she loved you and showed it in her own way,” Faith said loyally.
“We knew she loved us even if she didn’t show it,” Ryan said, his voice gruff. “But there was no hugging or kissing with us or any man.”
“Mac’s a hugger though. In his way he’s a romantic too. I mean, you don’t have candles lit and soaps creating wonderful scents in your store if you’re not.”
“I hadn’t thought of it like that.” Ryan took out a piece of carrot cake because it looked like heaven in a mouthful.
“You’ve eaten a pie and a muffin already and now carrot cake. Be careful, Mr. Rock God, or you’ll be too fat to fit into your leather pants.”
“I have never worn leather pants, and don’t you worry about my waistline, sweetheart. I have a hard-working genetic makeup that allows for blow outs.”
“Nice. Get at it, then,” she said.
Ryan watched Faith walk away and felt a tightness in his chest that either signaled indigestion or longing. Of course, he knew what it was even if he was to chickenshit to acknowledge it. He wondered if he should leave town with Shay now that he’d seen his nephew arrive safely in the world.
Just the thought made his stomach clench. He’d miss the connections with his friends. Miss Faith. He’d miss everything about this place he’d once run from and not looked back.
Chapter 20
The talent show evening in The Howler generated a lot of interest. This Ryan knew, as most of the entries, or their relations, had told him how good they were. It was gentle persuasion but persuasion nonetheless.
“This town is like this weird little microclimate of cute, angst, and coolness,” Shay said as they walked into The Howler that night.
Ryan had spent the day taking Shay on a tour. Granted, it had been a small one, but he’d also introduced him to his friends. Ethan had stuttered, disappeared inside his house, and returned ten minutes later composed.
“Bud.” Ryan slapped the hand Noah held out when he found him at reception. “This is Shay.”
“Yeah, heard the buzz about you being in town. Nice to meet you, Shay.”
“You too.”
“Who are the other judges?” Ryan asked.
“Jed, who is tone deaf, stupid, and likely will make some ridiculous comments, but he’s donated his time as a laborer when we start, and strangely he’s good with a hammer, so HRH thought it was for the best if we included him.”
“Raises the age demographic too.”