By Summer's End (Christian Fiction) (16 page)

Ryan
pulled into a Chinese restaurant Holly and Brianna had yet to visit.  Along
Main Street, it was apparently popular with town residents, since the parking
lot was crowded with cars.   Fortunately, a space opened up just as Ryan was
about to leave the lot and attempt to park along the street.

“I hope you like this place,” he
directed to both women.  “It’s always been a favorite of mine.”

“I love Chinese food,” Brianna gushed. 
“It’s been so long since we’ve had any.  Holly and I don’t go out much
because…”  Her words dwindled off. 

Holly comprehended that Brianna had realized
she’d nearly shared too much with Ryan and had pulled back before divulging
personal information.  She was proud of her for that, but knew her sister had
piqued Ryan’s interest, as evidenced by the questioning gaze he sent Holly’s
way.

 She decided she probably was a
curiosity to him.  It was evident he came from extreme wealth, if his home was
any indication.  His home was furnished with the finest decorator items, while
she and Brianna found the bulk of their furnishings on the side of the road.

She almost laughed aloud.  What did he
think of her? she wondered.  He was accustomed to the priciest furnishings and
vehicles, and she considered others’ castoffs treasure. 

Brianna scrambled out of the truck and
took her first tentative steps in her new boots.  Paired with shorts and a tank
top, the boots were an interesting fashion choice. 

Holly chuckled and Brianna gave her a
mock angry look.  “Don’t you approve of my ensemble?”

Holly laughed in return.  “Fortunately,
my dear, you have the legs to pull off that particular look.”

Brianna grinned cheekily.  “Yeah, I take
after my sister.”

When Ryan stepped between them and took
each sister by the arm, Brianna seemed perfectly at ease.  Holly, on the other
hand, was still uncomfortable about him buying the boots.  She wondered if she
should insist on buying dinner, but doing so would assure their monthly budget
took a huge hit.  She’d long ago learned that she could cook five meals for the
price of a single meal out, if she chose her ingredients carefully and if those
ingredients overlapped effectively for a variety of meals.

She was still mulling over the situation
when Ryan pulled open the door to the restaurant.  “After you,” he directed to
Holly.

She walked in first, followed by
Brianna.  Ryan brought up the rear.  They’d no sooner stepped into the
restaurant than a young waitress hurried over.  Obviously pleased to see Ryan,
she smiled widely in his direction.  “Where’ve you been, Ryan?” she asked. 
“It’s been a long time.”

“I’ve been out of town,” he told her.

“Oh, I think I heard that,” she said. 
“Hey, a couple of your cohorts are here tonight.”

He arched a brow.  “Who?”

“Drake and Bill.  They said something
about tracking you down later.  I guess they won’t have to look too far, eh?”

He smiled in answer and followed her to
a table.  Each table in the restaurant was occupied, with the exception of one
in a corner.  A busboy was currently scrubbing it down for the next guests.

“Give Tom a minute to clean up and the
table is yours,” the waitress said.  “I’ll leave you now.  People are waiting.”

“Thank you,” Ryan said.

“Don’t be a stranger,” she replied,
offering him a seductive little smile before scurrying off.

When the boy was finished readying the
table, Ryan pulled out a chair for Holly, and followed by assisting Brianna. 
“See, Holly,” the teenager said with a grin, “chivalry isn’t dead after all.”

Holly grinned wanly.  She and Brianna
had recently had a conversation in which Holly had urged her to consider a
young man’s manners before agreeing to date him.  The conversation was
premature, however, since Holly had no intention of allowing Brianna to date
until she was at least sixteen.

As if on cue, she spotted a young teen
boy watching Brianna from a nearby table.  She sighed and glanced at her beautiful
sister.  The writing was on the wall.

Ryan followed her gaze and noted
immediately that Brianna was garnering appreciative glances from several boys
in the restaurant.  Fortunately, she was unaware of the attention, otherwise,
he realized he might have had to run interference.  Holly looked absolutely
sick.

When he took in her pale face, and then
glanced around the restaurant, it became evident that she, too, was the object
of attention.  He narrowed his gaze, a sure sign to nearby males to back off.

A waitress suddenly appeared with water
glasses all around.  “I’ll be right back to take your order,” she said crisply,
and hurried off.

Ryan sighed.  “What it lacks in personal
attention, it makes up for in food quality,” he assured them.

“I’m just hungry, plain and simple,”
Brianna said agreeably.  “That waitress could be purple with green hair, and
have a really bad attitude, as long as she comes back soon to take our food
order.  I’m starving!”

Ryan chuckled.  “Ah, but would you tip
her?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’d give her a ‘tip’ in the form
of a note.  It would read, ‘Like the hair, but change the attitude.’”

Holly gave her sister a stern look that
abruptly softened.  She couldn’t be mad at Brianna.  The girl was honest—almost
to a fault—but genuine and downright loveable.

 The harried waitress reappeared. 
“What’ll you have?”  She watched them with a bored expression on her face as
she began tapping her order pad with the tip of her pencil.

Neither Holly nor Brianna had taken any
time to study the menu.  “Oh, darn,” Brianna cried.  “I don’t know what I
want.”

The waitress gave her a stern look and
glanced heavenward.

“Ryan, perhaps you could order for us?”
Holly suggested.

“Sure.”  He promptly ordered several
items on the menu, family style.  From the sounds of it, he ordered far more
items than they could eat in a single evening.  Brianna was practically
bouncing in her seat with enthusiasm.

As the waitress dashed off, Ryan opened
his mouth to speak, when they were joined by two men.  He turned to address
them, knowing without looking who was standing tableside.

“Drake, Bill,” he said, and then
introduced both Holly and Brianna.  Drake, the taller and darker of the two
men, seemed drawn to Holly.

“I don’t think we’ve met before,” he
noted, watching her speculatively.

“We’re new to Battle Ground,” Brianna
spoke up.

He nodded.  “Welcome,” he said, still
eyeing Holly with interest.

“What brings you two to Battle Ground?”
Ryan asked.

“You,” Drake said without hesitation. 
“Since you’re not answering our calls during customary business hours…”

Ryan watched him, unblinking, and
seemingly unconcerned.  “I’m confident in the people I’ve left in charge.”

“Yeah, well, as gratifying as that is,”
Drake began, “we’re starting to wonder if you ever plan on coming back to
work.”

Ryan glanced away and back to him.  He
gave a shrug.  “I don’t know.”

Drake turned to Bill, who spoke next. 
“There’s something we need to talk to you about,” he said. 

“Talk,” Ryan prompted, but then gave a
dismissive wave.  “Actually, no, we’ll have to talk later.  As you can see, I’m
busy right now.”

Drake gave a crisp nod.  “May we stop by
your house later?”

He shook his head.  “I don’t know how
long we’ll be.  I’ll stop by the office first thing Monday.”  He hesitated.  “I
understand you’re finished up at Unicon Oil.”

Bill smiled menacingly.  “Yeah.  We made
a killing.”

Ryan paled at the statement.  Unicon had
been in dire need of direction.  No doubt Drake and Bill had given it.  Of
course they had.  He’d taught them well. 

He could see by the wordless exchange
between the two men—upturned lips, narrowed, triumphant eyes—they were very
pleased with themselves.

Why couldn’t he derive the same
satisfaction? 

“We’ll leave you to your evening,” Drake
said. 

“And see you first thing Monday,” Bill
added.

The two men strode off.  Ryan watched
after them, wishing desperately he hadn’t promised he’d stop by the office
Monday.  It had been forever since he’d graced them with his presence.

“What do you do, Ryan?” Brianna asked,
her brows knitted curiously.  “Those guys seemed kind of…”  She appeared to
search her brain.  “Well, I’ll say it.  They seemed mean.”

Holly’s first inclination was to scold
her sister, but the men had seemed … predatory.  She hadn’t liked them much
either.

Ryan forced a smile.  “If you don’t
mind, I’d rather not talk about work.  There’s something more important we need
to discuss.”

Holly and Brianna exchanged glances. 
Neither missed Ryan’s foreboding tone.  He was just about to speak when Jim
dropped into the open chair at their table.  He grinned widely.  “Hey there. 
Fancy meeting you here tonight.”

If he sensed Ryan wasn’t happy about his
sudden arrival, he didn’t show it.  He turned to Holly.  “What’d you think of
church?  Did you like it?”  He glanced from Holly to Brianna, and back.

“We liked it,” Holly said.  “I
thoroughly appreciated the pastor’s message.”

“And I liked it too,” Brianna said. 
“I’m thinking about going to the youth group on Wednesday.”

Jim was delighted.  “I’m so glad,” he
said, grinning.  “I hope you’ll come back Sunday, and the one after that too.” 
He turned his attention to Ryan.  “I’m still reeling from the shock of seeing
you in God’s house.”

“Uh huh,” Ryan said, his voice
monotone.  “So you said at church.”

Jim laughed.  “I’m just giving you a
hard time.”  He slapped him on the back.  “May we expect to see you Sunday?”

Ryan glanced at Holly, who watched him
expectantly.  He sensed she had a relationship with God.  If she was anything
like her uncle, of course she loved the Lord.  “I don’t know if I’ll make it
Sunday,” he answered honestly.

Jim took his words at face value, and
grew serious.  “Is it true Annabelle is leaving Washington soon?”

Ryan sighed.  “How is it you seem to
know more about my sister’s comings and goings than I do?  But yeah, she tells
me she’s marrying Harrison this summer and plans on joining him on the East
Coast.”

“What are you going to do?” Jim asked,
his manner intensely serious.  “Does this mean you’re going to go ahead and
sell the property?”

Brianna gasped.  “You’re not selling the
horse farm, are you?”

Holly laid a gentle hand on her arm,
attempting to convey to her to be quiet.  It wasn’t their concern what Ryan did
with his property.  Unfortunately, Brianna refused to be dissuaded.  “Holly,
you have to get me my own horse.  If I can’t ride the McGraw’s horses, I don’t
know what I’ll do.  Yes, yes, I do.  I’ll go crazy.”

“Brianna,” Holly scolded.  “We’ll talk
about this later.”

“I’m going to buy my own horse,” she
announced.  “I have the money.  You said I could use some of it.  Right?”

Holly breathed evenly, to still her
pounding heart.  This wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have right now.

Brianna turned to Ryan.  “Have you seen
the old barn behind our place?  It’s old, but it’s in pretty good shape.  Do
you think I could keep a horse in it now?”

It was Jim who spoke up.  “That barn
belongs to you, doesn’t it, Ryan?”  His eyes were pinned on his friend like
guided missiles, almost daring him to deny it.

Finally, Ryan answered.  “Yes, it
belongs to Annabelle and me.”

“And if you sell the land, the buyers
will own the barn, am I right?” Jim pressed.

Ryan nodded, heartsick at the
disappointment on Brianna’s face.  He knew how much she longed for a horse of
her own.  She had believed she might have the very place to keep it.

“So you’re selling your house and farm?”
Brianna said sadly.

Ryan leaned forward in his chair and
rested his elbows on the table.  He made a point of keeping eye contact with
the teen.  “At this point, Annabelle and I are considering selling a piece of
our property.  It doesn’t include our house and several acres.”

Brianna breathed a sigh of relief.  “Oh,
okay.”  She gave a tremulous smile.  “Okay, good then.”

Jim watched his friend, frowning.  Holly
noticed.  When Jim spoke again, she noted that Ryan gave him a scalding look. 
“But it’s possible you may decide to sell the house and surrounding acres,
too.  If Annabelle leaves, and let’s say, ultimately decides not to come back,
then…”  He spread his hands wide.  “Who are we kidding?  You’re not interested
in living in the big house and maintaining the barns and outlying property.”

“I don’t know what I’m interested in,”
Ryan said, his voice monotone.  His narrowed eyes dared Jim to open his mouth
again.  Jim seemed to take the hint and settled against the back of his chair.