Page 65 of The Moment He Saw Her

“Sure wish I’d been in the library when that all went down,” Brody said. “Was there blood?”

“I had to restrain Abilene by gripping her shoulder. She’s just had her hip replaced and shouldn’t do any lunging movements,” Robyn added.

“More excitement than the library’s seen in a while, I’m sure,” Ryder said. “Now what’s for dessert?”

Chapter19

After they’d eaten banana pudding and ice cream, all the while discussing the Fletchers, with people explaining things to Libby as they went, Ryder said it was time to leave.

Libby had thanked his mother five times for allowing her to be part of their family dinner before he got her out of the house and into the car. She then sat silently while he backed out and headed into town. Ryder could feel her tension and that something wasn’t right besides the obvious of her life being a mess.

“Okay, Libby?”

“Of course, yes,” she said, looking out her window. “You have a nice family, Ryder.”

“They have their moments, but yeah, they’re the best.”

“All families have their moments, but the fact they are always there for each other is what matters.”

“Yours weren’t?”

She didn’t answer his question, but her shoulders rose to her ears.

“Is that a no-go subject too?”

“We’re not talking about my family, we’re talking about yours, which looks just about perfect from where I’m sitting.”

To him, those words sounded bitter.

“My dad died when I was young, leaving Mom alone to raise us all. My Uncle Asher came home to help and some of us resented him for stepping into Dad’s footsteps.”

“Ryder—”

“Not finished,” he said, digging back into the painful memories of his past. “Mom got sick and had a breakdown. Zoe developed pneumonia, and the hospital admitted her. They nearly expelled Sawyer for smoking drugs on elementary school grounds. Someone kidnapped Ally and Phoebe, and Sawyer’s ex nearly killed Birdie?—”

“Ryder, stop,” Libby said. “I didn’t say you hadn’t suffered or struggled, and wow, those last two things sound terrifying. Everyone has bad stuff happen, but you have a family that is close, and you’re always there for each other. Perhaps perfect was not the right word.”

He shot her a look, but her eyes were still on the window.

“You close with your siblings, Libby?”

“Close enough. You know how it is. You’re all different, and that just grows as you get older.” She said the words to the window.

“Sure, and we’re all different too, but we’re still close and always have been, even when my siblings lived away from Lyntacky,” Ryder said.

“How come you never left?”

It was a question he’d been asked many times, and one he’d never really known how to answer until a few years ago.

“I never had the courage to leave. I was the Duke who liked to be close to home, and nothing really tugged at me to change that. So I stayed and drifted until I found martial arts and then my love of cooking, baking, and chocolate making. The day I purchased the cafe, I knew that was something I’d always wanted.”

“You’re lucky you found it, then,” she said.

“It’s not a vocation, and maybe I’m just someone who’s never been driven to reach great heights, but this, what I am and do, is enough for me for now. Maybe one day I’ll want more.”

“I always thought I knew which direction I was going, but not anymore.” Her words sounded sad.

“Was it the direction you wanted to go in, though?” Ryder felt the need to ask.

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