Page 2 of The Grinch who Loved Me
Since they lived in Florida, they were able to have their garden flourish all year and she prided herself on that piece of land.
His dad worked hard in the garage they had built by the side of their house.
People would bring him their cars and Rick and Ryland would work on them together.
His dad would fix what needed fixing and then move onto the next car.
He didn’t talk to any of the customers, just worked with his dad. And for years, that was their life.
Not going anywhere, just being home and being content with what they had there.
But it wasn’t what his mom wanted. She grew restless and Ryland had heard her talk to Rick about it once.
“I need to get out. To make some friends. To do anything else than to clean the house that is already clean or to make the same dinners week after week, year after year. I’m tired of the same old Rick. I need more in life. Please. Can we go somewhere? Take Ryland to see more of the country? Take him on a vacation? We haven’t done anything with him. He is almost a grown man and he hasn’t seen anything other than the town. He needs more than that.”
Rick sighed, “You know how I feel about people Til. You know it. It’s hard for me. They rub me wrong and I can’t handle it. It’s too much. And Ryland is the same. Why would we take him somewhere that makes him uncomfortable? He didn’t even want to go to school Til. Why would he want to go somewhere with lots of people? Or go somewhere new? We don’t like new. Or different. Or change. We never have. Why can’t you just be happy here? I am. Ryland is. If he wanted to go somewhere, I would take him tomorrow. But he doesn’t. He wants to stay here. Where he feels the most comfortable.”
Tillie put her foot down, “You did that to him Rick. I did too. I let him choose to stay home when I should have pushed him to get out more. To talk to people. He is only like you because he doesn’t know any different. But, he needs more. He can’t just stay here, locked away from the rest of the world because it’s new. Or different. That isn’t living Rick. You know it. He needs more out of life.”
Rick growled, “He is fine. Just fine. Ryland doesn’t want that. He wants to be here. Fixing cars. They make sense to me. To him. He doesn’t like people. He never has. Why can’t you let this go? Why do you have to push and push? I would do anything for you. For Ryland. But he doesn’t want that. He wants to be here. To live his life the way I do. What is so wrong with that?”
Tillie sighed, “There isn’t anything wrong with it. Let me just show him some places. Take him to town and introduce him to some of the kids there. I know we tried when he was younger, but now it might be different. Please?”
“Fine.”
Ryland went quietly to his room and lay back on his bed.
He was happy here. He didn’t like being around people. They were weird and loud.
He liked the simplicity of his life. He didn’t have big dreams. He was happy to be here and that was it.
When his mom woke him the next morning, she had him get dressed and try to comb his unruly dark hair into a nice style.
His cowlick at the front of his hair always made it stand up though, so he just left it be.
She started driving and Ryland said, “Where are we going? Can’t we just stay home?”
She let out a tiny breath, “No. You need to see that there is more out there. You can’t just be a recluse your entire life. You are young and life should be exciting. Full of adventures and big opportunities. If you stayed home all the time, you wouldn’t be able to have those. So, we are taking you to meet some kids and to show you that you can have more.”
Ryland stayed silent and watched the road pass under the car.
When they pulled into the small town of Celebration, she parked her car and Ryland looked around at all the different stores and the people walking on the sidewalks.
They were having a great time and Ryland got out, not wanting to be here.
There were kids eating some ice cream at a small cafe and they were laughing and talking.
His mom came around to him, “Let’s start over there.”
She pointed to the cafe and he held back a sigh, but followed along.
His mom stood in line and Ryland stood behind her and the door opened behind him.
Ryland fought to look over his shoulder and his mom smiled over hers, “Oh those girls are cute.”
Ryland turned to look at the girls and then back again. Sure, they were cute, there was a blonde one and a dark haired one, but he didn’t want to look at them and be near them.
One started to giggle and Ryland fought not to take a step forward.
