Page 102 of Ryder

“She was a terrible person,” Ryder says. “But she had her reasons why she went off the deep end, and a lot of that was to do with my dad when he disappeared.”

“You never found him?” Stu asks.

Ryder meets his eye. “I didn’t try very hard, to be honest. I didn’t have a whole lot of respect for him after he did what he did.”

Stu frowns, and something flashes across his face. “You know, I heard some shit in the joint about him, years ago.”

Ryder’s eyebrows perk up, as do my ears. “Yeah?”

“Rumor was he got in deep with the mob when he borrowed all that money to set up that scheme. That’s the reason he never came back — it wasn’t because he ran away.”

Shock hits me like a ton of bricks. “W-what?”

Stu looks a little wistful as he adds, “It can’t have ended good for him, let’s face it. And your mom? I can’t say for sure, but I heard she knew about it, she just played dumb to the cops so she wouldn’t be implicated.”

“Holy shit,” Ryder whispers. “I always thought he ran like a coward and found himself a new family.”Or wound up dead.

I grip Ryder’s hand again. He and his dad were close, so his disappearance never made any sense. Aside from shame, of course, because he’d lost a lot of money from his friends and family. Him being on the run kinda made sense if he was in trouble with the law and on a missing persons list. But mob ties? It just gets worse.

“Maybe he didn’t.” Stu shrugs.

Ryder palms the back of his neck. “To be honest, I think I’ve lost enough sleep over him in any given lifetime. If he is still alive, it’s him who has to live with his conscience. That’s if he even has one.”

“Debatable,” I mutter.

“Listen, I know it’s not a great time right now with, uh, everything, but Stacey and I would like to invite you to dinner, or we could come to New Orleans one time,” Stu says hopefully. “That’s if you want to.”

Ryder nods, then turns to me. “I think we’d like that, wouldn’t we, Sugar?”

I smile. “Yes, and you’d get to meet our little man.”

A comfortable silence falls between us all. A new beginning; that’s what it feels like.

“Is there anything you need help with for tomorrow?” Stu goes to stand.

“Well,” I say. “We actually thought you were going to contest the will.”

Stu balks. “Really?”

I shrug. “We didn’t know you’d turned over a new leaf then. We thought because Ryder’s mom had a small inheritance, every family member in the universe would come out of hiding.” It wasn’t that far a stretch.

He chuckles. “I guess you didn’t know, but rest assured, I don’t want anything to do with any of that. Rita was your mom. Whatever she had, has nothing to do with me.”

Rita.Wow, I haven’t heard that name in a long time.

“Appreciate that.” Ryder stands, too. “Keep in touch. I know I’d like to catch up again, when we both have the time.”

Stu smiles. “I’d like that, too.”

Of course, I go one further and as he steps to the side of the desk, I stand and reach out for a hug. He hugs me back and I feel a lump in my throat. Nope, I don’t feel any bad vibes here, as Bronco would say.

“I’m really glad you made something of yourself, Stu,” I whisper. “And I’m happy you’ve found Stacey.”

“Thanks, it was great seeing you,” Stu replies.

He and Ryder shake hands. It isn’t like they’re going to be best buddies anytime soon, but again, it’s some kind of closure for him. If he wants to meet up with Stu again, like he said, I’ll support that. It may have only been one conversation, but I really feel that he’s telling the truth, and he’s living it. He has nothing to gain by lying. Not this time.

He gives me a knowing smile. “Me, too. And for what it’s worth, I’m glad you two finally got together.”

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