“Love?” his father murmured with more than a little disgust. “Ryder, a man in your position needs to be a bit more practical. You may think you’re in love, but trust me, this girl…this…café owner…sees you as meal ticket.” He laughed softly. “Excuse the play on words. Be careful. Have your fun with her but don’t think for a moment this is real.”
Again, Ryder glanced toward his mother and saw a sadness there.
And possibly disappointment.
“Thanks for the advice, Dad, but I don’t agree with it. I don’t need your approval on this.” He stood and looked down and hoped he appeared menacing. “And I expect you to treat Peyton with respect when she gets here while you keep your opinions to yourself!” He stalked away, but…there wasn’t anywhere for him to go. Then he looked over at his mother. “I’d appreciate it if you did the same. She’s nervous enough about joining us for dinner and I don’t want either of you upsetting her.”
All she did was nod.
After that, conversation leaned toward the mundane in typical Ashford fashion. By the time Peyton arrived, it was as if a lifeline had finally been thrown. Ryder jumped to his feet and ran down to help her carry everything in. He stepped out onto the front porch and pulled her in close, and realized he was shaking.
“Ryder, are you okay?” she asked, pulling back to look up at him. “What’s going on?”
Where did he even begin? “It’s been…it’s been a bit rough in there.” He hugged her tightly again. “If you want to run, now’s the time to do it.”
She laughed softly before kissing him. “Nonsense. There isn’t anything they can throw at me that I’m not prepared for.”
“Don’t count on it.”
She grinned before leading him over to her car to grab all the food. “You may not believe this, but my mother has mellowed in the last few years.”
His bark of laughter was out before he could stop it. “Good grief! That’s mellowed?”
Fortunately, she laughed with him. “I know, right?” They slowly made their way back to the door. “Anyway, I’m just saying that I know how to deal with snobbery. I can’t say I won’t have my feelings hurt, but…they’ll never know.”
“Peyton…”
But she wasn’t listening and was already walking into the house. He caught up with her in the kitchen where she began unpacking everything.
“Mr. Ashford,” she said to his father as she shook his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Then she smiled at his mother. “It’s nice to see you again, Mrs. Ashford. I hope everyone’s hungry because we have a ton of food here.”
She never stopped moving–setting out trays of food and then grabbing plates and silverware and setting the table. Ryder helped before pouring her some wine.
“I picked up dessert from Henderson’s Bakery,” she said to no one in particular. “Their cupcakes are truly decadent, but I also opted for some of their fresh fruit tarts.” Once everything was set, she sat down like she was the queen, and Ryder had never been more impressed with her.
“Mom, Dad, please…” He motioned to the chairs but stopped to kiss Peyton on the cheek before he took his own seat. “Everything looks and smells as spectacular as usual.”
“Thank you.” Everyone helped themselves and Peyton did her best to engage in conversation. “So, Mr. and Mrs. Ashford, will you be staying here with Ryder while you visit?”
“No,” his mother said politely. “We’re staying at Magnolia on the Sound. It’s the bed and breakfast.”
Then, Ryder simply took a forkful of the Southern loaded sweet potato and enjoyed what was about to happen.
“Oh, that’s an excellent choice!” Peyton said enthusiastically. “That house is one of the oldest in Magnolia Sound and was built by my great-grandfather, Ezekiel Coleman! The Colemans are one of the founding families of the area. When he passed away several years ago, the house was given to my Aunt Susannah, and she turned it into the bed and breakfast. It’s been wonderful to see the old house refurbished and brought back to its former glory where people can learn about the history of the town!” She smiled at Ryder before continuing. “My great-grandfather firmly believed in keeping Magnolia’s charm and not letting it be overrun with too many outside commercial interests. He owned many of the businesses in town and passed a lot of them on to his family. That’s how I came to own the café.”
“That’s very interesting,” his mother replied, and Ryder thought she was being genuine. “What other businesses does your family own?”
“Oh my goodness, let’s see…my cousin Mallory owns a home décor shop in town, her brother Sam now runs the landscape architecture firm, um…Mallory’s husband Jake is now the owner of Coleman Construction, my cousin Austin works with Jake but also has his own architecture firm here as well.”
“Austin’s the one who did the renovations on my place on the beach,” Ryder chimed in.
“My brother Mason works for the town but owns a restaurant up on the north end of town and my parents own the marina and yacht club. My father’s an attorney and my mother is involved with many local charities. They stay very busy but we all enjoy knowing we’re preserving the very things my great-grandfather built.”
“My…that’s impressive,” his mother said, smiling.
“It is,” Peyton agreed. “Family had always been my great-grandfather’s main priority and he wanted nothing more than for us to carry on in his footsteps. I’m proud to be able to do that.”
Ryder noticed his father’s silence and refused to let it bother him. Instead, he and Peyton talked about the town and all the perks of it and what they loved most about it, and he was surprised when his mother engaged and shared some of the things she was finding charming about it as well.
Color me surprised…
They worked together to clean up and opted to have dessert out on the deck. The sun was setting and it was a little cool, but not uncomfortable. “So what brought you in for a visit?” Peyton asked and Ryder inwardly groaned because he probably should have given her a heads-up when she first arrived.
“My wife has breast cancer and wanted to tell Ryder in person. Privately,” his father said without even looking at Peyton. “At least, we assumed it would be just the three of us.”
“Dad!” Ryder hissed, but rather than apologize or say anything, his father simply stood and walked back into the house. “Peyton, I…I’m sorry. Maybe I should go talk to him.”
“Don’t,” Helen said before taking a forkful of her tart. “You’ll be wasting your breath. Let him go pout.” Then she looked over at Peyton apologetically. “Although I am sorry he was so rude.”
At that point, Ryder was pretty sure his jaw was on the ground.
“It’s okay,” Peyton told her. “But I am sorry to hear about your diagnosis. Have you started treatment yet?”
His mother looked at Peyton in confusion for a moment before talking more about her diagnosis and her plan to have the bilateral mastectomy.