Fierce-Ryder (Fierce Family Series Book 7) Read online

  Marissa walked back in with a frame in her hand and something on top of it. She handed over the frame first. “Tommy’s school picture. I thought you might like it.”

  “I do,” he said, taking it and making room on the fireplace right in the center. “Thank you for that.”

  “And this,” she said.

  “It looks like a photo book.”

  “It is one. I put together these books every year for my parents from Tommy for Christmas. The pictures were already in my account so I did a few pages for each year so you could see him through the years.”

  He was more touched than he cared to admit. It did seem like she was going to work at what they had or could have.

  He moved over to the island and sat down next to his son and started to flip through the pages, Tommy pointing things out and making comments. He laughed at several. His kid was a ham in front of the camera, just like he was.

  “Looks like you’ve got a lot of friends,” he said to Tommy when they were looking at pictures from a fifth birthday party.

  “I don’t have a birthday party every year. Mom said I could at five and ten. So she makes it big.”

  He laughed. “That’s a good idea. You’ve got a birthday coming up in less than a month. Nine. No party with friends then, huh?”

  “No,” Tommy said. “Just family. But that’s okay.”

  “We’ll have to make sure you get one with family here too. Trust me, it will be full of people.” He knew his parents were going to go nuts. They wanted to have all sorts of things for Tommy today too, but he’d told them to hold off. If Marissa was pissed about the fifty thousand- dollar check, she had no idea what was in store for her in the future. His parents were ready to start a college fund too.

  His parents would behave today, he knew that, but they felt they were gypped of the years like he was. It was going to take a long time for them to forgive Marissa for this.

  As much as he wanted to confide more to them, he realized it might not be smart. For everyone’s sake—but mostly Tommy’s—they needed to try to get along. That meant he was going to have to protect Marissa until he got a better feel on his family’s reaction.

  “I can’t wait to meet everyone,” Tommy said.

  “I’m going to bring this with me,” he said, finally closing the book. “My mother will love to see it.”

  “I got one for your parents too,” Marissa said.

  He looked up sharply. “You did? My mother will love that. She might even start crying.”

  “I thought it was the least I could do. I’ve got Tommy’s school picture for her too. Actually, my mother suggested that. I put smaller pictures of Tommy through the years in one frame. I hope that was fine.”

  “Perfect,” he said, the urge to pull her into his arms completely overwhelming him. She didn’t have to do any of this, but she did.

  “I was trying to find ways to make up for the lost years. I know I can’t. My reasons are my own and not worth getting into, but I can try to bridge the gap that was lost.”

  And that was how they were going to manage to get through this. He hoped.

  6

  Bad Kid

  Marissa was more nervous now riding over to Ryder’s parents’ house. He’d said no one was showing up until one, but they were going over at twelve so that Tommy could meet his grandparents first.

  It was probably best, she knew. Her own parents would have wanted that too.

  She was still annoyed over the fifty thousand-dollar check but knew enough to keep any argument to herself. She had a lot of medical bills that were due. She was making payments on them. Though she had insurance, it wasn’t great. She had a high deductible and copays. She worked for a small investment firm and it wasn’t the best insurance, but it was better than nothing.

  But once she paid them all off, she was going to do what Ryder had suggested. It was a college fund. She had no intention of touching it for anything else at the moment. She didn’t want or need any more, but she knew it’d go a long way toward the things that Tommy wanted and she managed to pay for by going without herself.

  “Relax,” Ryder said to her.

  She turned her head and looked at his grin. “Sorry. I feel like enemy number one walking into a protest.”

  He snorted. “You might be, but my family won’t treat you badly. They’ve got manners and they will be more interested in Tommy than you.”

  She had that coming, she knew it. “Okay.” What more could she say?

  “I’m not nervous,” Tommy said in the back seat. “This car is sweet.”

  Her modest sedan wasn’t anything fancy like the Mercedes they were in right now. There were more gadgets and toys in his car than what Ryder had in Tommy’s room this morning.

  “Thanks,” Ryder said. “I happen to like it. Just got it a few months ago. It’s nothing like my cousin Drake’s car, but he’s always been flashier.”

  “There is someone flashier than you in the family?” she asked before she could stop herself. She’d always thought Ryder was well dressed and liked the finer things in life. Even in college, he used to take her out to nice restaurants when other college kids went to pubs.

  Not that they didn’t do their fair share of that too. One of her roommates had made a comment about Ryder living on his parents’ dime, but he’d told her that every single one of his siblings had to work each summer and put money away. His parents paid for his education—unlike the student loans she still had—but everything else he had to pay for himself.

  She wasn’t sure she’d believed it back then and looking at his house and car now she still wasn’t sure. Yet he handed over that check easily enough. She knew architects made a pretty penny and he was working for the family firm probably making more than most his age. Unless his parents gave him the money.

  No, Ryder didn’t seem like the type that would ask his parents to bail him out of anything. She remembered that about him. He busted his ass in school to prove he deserved to be there.

  Not her business, she reminded herself. Her income was nothing to sneeze at for a soon to be thirty-one-year-old. But it wasn’t just her and she’d been on her own fairly fast with daycare costs and a growing boy. Her parents had no problem with her living with them after Tommy was born, but it didn’t feel right after he was a year old and they were sharing her old room.

  Her independent nature wouldn’t let her continue and she’d put enough money away to purchase a small home that they lived in now. Some smart investments and good commissions allowed her to build up a nice savings that she didn’t want to have to touch if she didn’t need to. Her income wasn’t always steady and consistent and she wasn’t going to live beyond her means. So she lived off her salary only.

  It was working for her. For her and her son. But now Tommy was going to get a taste of a life she couldn’t give him.

  “As I said, Drake likes the finer things in life, but his wife is a finance person too. You’d get along with her.”

  “This is Kara that works at the firm?” she asked.

  “You’ve been looking at our website, I see,” he said.

  “Just trying to have an understanding of things.”

  “Hmm,” he said and they didn’t talk much more after that. It wasn’t a long drive anyway. “That’s my Uncle Garrett and Aunt Diane’s house.”

  She turned and looked at the large colonial in the development they had entered. “They live close by?”

  “Just a mile apart. Like Drake and Noah. They live in a different development about a mile apart too.”

  She found that funny. “Does anyone live by you?” she asked.

  “Sam is in the same development as me. Bryce and Payton live here too by my parents. They just bought the house about a year ago.”

  “Can we walk to Sam’s house from your house?” Tommy asked.

  “We could if we wanted to. Though it’s a little chilly out this time of year. I’ve done it a time or two when I’ve had a bit too much to drink and
didn’t want to crash in a spare room.”

  She knew Ryder did like to drink in college. Not that he got drunk a lot. He was a social drinker, but he was a responsible one too. She drove them home from pubs plenty when he wasn’t drunk, but didn’t want to risk it either. “Don’t want to taint the family name,” he’d said often. “I’m not going to be the bad kid.”

  She wondered if his parents thought he was the bad kid now having a child so young.

  “So, do Wyatt and Jade live close to each other?” she asked not wanting the silence.

  “No. Wyatt is in a condo right now. Not sure how long they will stay there, but it suits him and Adriana.”

  “Adriana?”

  “His fiancée. Jade just got engaged a few weeks ago. Brock is the Director of Security for the entire Duke campus. The college, the hospitals and so on. He has a house on the outskirts of town. Jade has a townhouse but my guess is she’ll move into Brock’s since she helped him find the place a few months ago.”

  “That’s nice,” she said. Some big-time jobs in this family too.

  “Here we are,” he said, pulling into another big two-story home. It was probably the same size as his aunt and uncle’s or close to it.

  “This is huge,” Tommy said, unbuckling fast and jumping out as soon as the car shut off.

  “Slow down, Tommy,” she said.

  “He’s excited,” he said. “My parents will be happy. They are nervous and thrilled at the same time. Let them have this moment, please.”

  “I wouldn’t interfere. I just don’t want him barging in there.”

  “Please,” Ryder said. “He’s my son. They are totally used to it.”

  She took a deep breath and then followed Ryder into the house with her frame and photo book in her hands clutched to her chest like a lifeline.

  The front door opened before they could get there and she got her first look at Diane Fierce. She wasn’t that big at all, but she’d seen that in the family photos. She sure the heck didn’t look old enough to have a child in his late thirties that she was guessing Sam was.

  “You must be Tommy,” Diane said. “I’m your grandmother. Your other grandmother. Ryder told me you have a set of grandparents, but now you’ve got two. You’re in fourth grade, Ryder said. I teach fourth grade.”

  Now she knew where Ryder might get his personality from. “Hi,” her son said. “I am Tommy. And yes I’m in fourth grade. Can I call you Grandma?”

  Oh boy, they hadn’t addressed this yet. He was calling Ryder by his name and hadn’t asked to call him Dad and she was glad about that. She just figured Tommy would call Diane and Grant by their names.

  “You absolutely can,” Diane said. “Oh dear, I might cry. He looks just like Ryder. I mean Ryder sent us some pictures but in person, it’s like a mini version of my own son.”

  “He acts like me too, Mom,” Ryder said. “Be ready for a time warp.”

  “Oh, I’ve got much more patience now that I’m older than I did when you were this age. Hello, I’m Diane.”

  She shifted the book and frame and put her hand out. “Marissa.”

  “Please come in. Grant is in the back. He told me not to rush you at the door, but Ryder would tell you that nothing stops me when I get like this.”

  “It’s fine,” she said. “Tommy is excited.”

  “I’m so glad. Follow me to the back, Tommy.”

  Her son took off on her. “Don’t feel bad like he is deserting you,” Ryder said.

  Funny how he understood that about her. “It’s a good thing. Or it should be.”

  “But it’s hard for you to see. I understand.”

  Though he couldn’t possibly understand from her point of view.

  Over two hours later, she was much more relaxed. Diane burst into tears when she handed over the frame and the photo book and she knew that she’d scored some much-needed points. No one was judging her, no one was giving her dirty looks, but no one was going out of the way to come and talk with her either.

  That is, until now. “So we always thought Ryder would be the one to have a child floating out there,” Jade said. “But the truth is, it was more of a family joke.”

  “It’s not really funny,” Marissa said.

  Jade lifted her eyebrows. “I’m just trying to make you feel a bit of a welcome. Our family can be loud and overbearing. But if you’d prefer to be left alone that is fine too.”

  “No. I’m sorry. I’m extremely out of my element here.”

  “I realize that. We all do. No one knows what to say or how to handle this situation. My comment was meant as nothing more than how we talk to everyone here.”

  “They aren’t alone in not knowing how to handle things,” she said back.

  Jade looked over at Tommy sitting on the floor playing video games with Sebastian. She met Noah’s wife. Sebastian was fifteen and though he was Paige’s nephew they were finalizing adoption proceedings for Sebastian to be their son.

  She’d heard that Noah and Paige hadn’t been together long and the family took Sebastian in like one of their own. She could see it too. Even if it was a different situation.

  The Fierces were an open and welcoming family even if they were a bit loud.

  “Give us all a chance,” Jade said. “We are trying to understand and it’s hard, but no one wants to cause trouble.”

  “Thank you,” Marissa said, feeling somewhat humbled. Jade left and went back to sit by her fiancé, Brock.

  “What did Jade say to you?”

  She turned to see Ryder standing there with a bottle of water in his hand. “Not much.”

  “I don’t believe it. Jade always has an opinion. She’s very protective of her brothers, but my guess is she was busting on my ass.”

  “Yes and no. She made a joke, but in the end she wanted me to know they were all trying to be accepting. It’s not an easy thing, but we are all making the best of it. All for Tommy,” she said.

  “That’s my family for you.”

  She’d also met Wyatt and his fiancée, Adriana. Sam had told Tommy that he was requesting both of them be in the surgery. Adriana was an OR nurse.

  Yes, his family was trying. There was no doubt and she should be thankful rather than resentful that they might steal her son away from her.

  “What do you think?” Diane said to her sister-in-law Carolyn. “I’m so confused over this.”

  “Well, we all said Ryder was going to be the hardest of the group to settle down, but now maybe he will have a reason and purpose to calm his wild ways.”

  “I agree,” she said. “But what do you think of Marissa? I can’t help but notice that Ryder can’t keep his eyes off of her.”

  Carolyn turned her head. Jade had just left Marissa’s side and Ryder was quick to move over and lower his head to talk to her. “I noticed that too. You don’t know anything at all about their relationship?”

  “Nothing,” she said. “Ryder isn’t saying a word. And we know that isn’t like him.”

  “No. Did you notice that she looks nothing at all like the bimbos he always dates now?” Carolyn asked.

  Diane laughed. “It was the first thing that caught my eye. Ryder had sent a lot of pictures of Tommy to me, but none of Marissa. I was half expecting some ditzy blonde. Not someone completely calm and trying to be in control.”

  “Marissa reminds me of Kara,” Carolyn said. “Very quiet, smart, and careful almost. Even uncomfortable in large settings. She’s not annoying like the women Ryder normally has on his arm. I really don’t know what to make of this.”

  “Tell me about it,” she said. “My son has a horrible reputation of not only being the annoying pesky one in the family but also bringing women around that are worse than him.”

  “I think we all need to sit back and see what happens here.”

  “I’m not completely convinced Ryder doesn’t still feel something for Marissa,” she said. “He’s being too tight-lipped, which isn’t like him. Not only that, it’s almost like he’s pr
otecting her even after she’d kept Tommy a secret for so long.”

  “Interesting,” Carolyn said. “So, what are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking I might not have had a part in finding Marissa but I’m damn well going to meddle and do my thing like I did with the other two. Are you in with me?”

  “You know I am. I wish Jolene were here. She’d have all sorts of ideas.”

  “I have every intention of calling her later tonight,” she said of her older sister-in-law who was the best there was at setting up this generation of kids. “But for now I want to spend some more time with my grandson.”

  “I almost cried when he called you and Grant Grandma and Grandpa,” Carolyn said.

  “I hadn’t expected that,” she said. “I don’t think Marissa did either. Even Ryder looked stunned. Notice he only calls Ryder by his name. Not Dad?”

  “I did notice that. That might be pushing it right now,” Carolyn said.

  “True. I’m going to have to work on my youngest to get information, but for now, the bigger focus has to be Tommy’s health.”

  “He looks healthy to me. It’s hard to believe he’s got a mass on his liver.”

  “Sam explained that sickness comes and goes. The infections and the pain. He must have good and bad days and it’s a good one now. I think as a mother it’d break my heart and I’d do the same thing Marissa did and keep fighting until I found the answers I wanted.”

  “I agree. I can’t fault Marissa as a mother from what I’ve seen. Tommy is outgoing, he’s friendly, he’s accepting, and he’s polite. She’s doing something right.”

  “I hate to say this, but she knows her son better than I knew or could handle Ryder at that age.”

  Her sister-in-law laughed and patted her hand. “Please. By the time Ryder came we were all worn out. Now we are primed and ready to go. You’ve got two other grandkids coming too. I’m still waiting for mine to get to work. Sebastian is great and I love him, but he’s almost an adult in my eyes.”