Page 6 of The Grinch who Loved Me
The girls once saw him and they saw his size and the fact that he was different, that made them giggle behind their hands.
He would walk to another place to get away from them and when he told his dad that, his dad rolled his eyes, “Women aren’t worth it Ryland. None of them are. They will drag you to the pit of hell and leave you there while they move onto the next man. Don’t waste your time.”
Ryland took the advice to heart and stayed close to his dad and to the shop.
Slowly they opened the shop again and Ryland excelled at it.
He loved working on cars. It helped him to lose himself in his work and when he turned eighteen, his dad signed the shop over to him.
Ryland was shocked that his dad signed the shop to him, and when he asked why, his dad said, “I need some time away from this place. All I see is your mom in every single fucking room. She is everywhere and in everything and I can’t deal with it anymore. I need to get out of this fucking town.”
Ryland raised his eyebrows, “But? You don’t like people. Where will you go?”
His dad shook his head, “I don’t know. Anywhere would be better than here. I might go to the mountains. I just need some time for myself.”
“You are leaving like mom.”
His dad hung his head, “I have to Ry. I’m sorry. I can’t keep seeing her all around me and not have her. She ruined me. And I will never be the same. I know you can do this. You can make the garage into something you want. You can do this. I know you can. I’m proud of you Ryland. I always have been. Be the man I never was.”
And then he left. Just drove away in the Camaro and didn’t look back.
Ryland worked hard to keep himself sane. He was sad that his dad left, but he understood.
His dad wanted his space and needed to see what else was out there, but being left behind wasn’t easy.
He just kept the shop up and working and doing everything he could to keep his mind off it.
He got lonely sometimes, but he reminded himself that he never wanted to be in pain like his dad was. Women and relationships weren’t what he needed.
And Ryland would be fine to keep to himself because of that small talk. No women made him turn his head anyway.
They weren’t worth his time.
He worked for years. Learning more and more about cars and slowly taking more high-end clients.
He loved working on old cars the most. Renovating them and making them brand new again.
They needed extra love and he was more than willing to do that.
Because it was all he wanted to do. And all he had.
