19. Ryan

Chapter nineteen

Ryan

Kelly drops Alan at the front of the building, and he takes my bag, offering to run it up for me while I go shopping with Kelly for tonight’s dinner.

“So when are you two going to properly come out?” Kelly asks, pulling into the grocery store parking lot.

“Umm, pretty sure we’re both out. I mean, I came out in high school.”

“Not out like that. You two, together. When are you going to stop pretending it’s all pretend?”

“Oh, that. Yeah, after the tour.”

“Why?”

“We don’t want the stories to become more about us and less about the sport, I guess. Plus, we don’t really know how the public will take it. Support with the star-crossed lovers bits has been mostly great, but like anything online, there are always the trolls looking to spout some homophobic bullshit. There was a big mess last year with two players that broke up, too, so we’re a little nervous the other players might have a problem with it, with us. Our friends know, but we’re keeping it to ourselves otherwise.”

“Well, just so you know, I think it’s awesome.”

“You do?”

“I do. Alan hasn’t been this happy in forever.”

“I think my family would say the same about me,” I reply, climbing from the car. We walk into the store, and I grab a basket.

“They’re all in London?”

I nod. “I came over to the US for school. I went to Arizona State, and then I got a job and then somehow made it onto a professional baseball team, and well, I guess this has become home for me. It’s hard, though, not being able to just pop over and see my parents or my gran. I think I miss her most.”

“I know I complain about Gramps a lot, but I’d feel the same if he was a plane trip away. We grew up with him always there, you know. On the ranch.”

“Yeah, Alan said. It’s good of you two to look after him.”

“It’s just what family does.”

It is what I’ve always thought family does, but until seeing Alan with his gramps, Don, I hadn’t met a guy who really felt the same way. I started to believe it might have been a cultural thing, like maybe in America, it was normal not to see your parents for years or grandparents. One guy I dated had never met his mother’s parents at all, and they lived only two states over. But it turns out it isn’t a cultural thing. The guys I was dating were just dicks.

“Okay, let’s get double everything you need so that we can make a full freezer batch for Gramps and still feed the guys,” Kelly says, and we make our way around the store, gathering supplies. We’re just about done when her phone starts buzzing.

“We’re almost done here,” she says as I push the cart to the register to check us out. “Really? Okay, I mean, sure, if he wants to. He’s not bringing the cat, is he?”

She looks my way with raised brows and the same smile Alan gives me when I’m being cheeky.

“Sure, okay. See you soon,” she says and hangs up the phone. “So, you’ll never guess what.”

“Okay, so how about you don’t make me guess and you just tell me?” I reply, putting the last of our things on the belt for the cashier to scan through.

“Gramps is coming to dinner.”

“Tonight?”

“Yep. We have to pick him and Alan up on our way back.”

“He’s going to leave his house?”

“Yep, that’s what Alan said. He’s even leaving the cat behind.”

“Nice, well the more the merrier, right?”

She laughs, covering her mouth as her eyes go a little wider, like she’s just thought of something hilarious.

“What?”

“Gramps is coming to dinner with a house full of Banana Ball players.”

Don hasn’t made it any secret he doesn’t think what we play is baseball. I steer clear of the topic as best I can when I visit him. He’d much rather talk about Precious and what I miss most about London, so it usually isn’t hard to steer the conversation that way whenever it does come up.

“Umm, maybe he should bring the cat.”

We finish paying and drive back to collect them. Surprisingly, Alan and Gramps are on the curb waiting when we arrive. I quickly jump out of the front passenger seat the second she stops.

“Here, Mr. Beaker,” I say, holding the door open for him. He’s carrying an old bowling ball bag and places it on the floor in front of the front seat floor before climbing in.

“He knows we’re having dinner at Kelly’s, not at some bowling alley, right?” I ask Alan before he opens the back door for me to climb in.

“Don’t ask,” he says, climbing in after me. Kelly drives as Don’s attention is on the view out of the windshield. Alan leans in close to my side.

“I tried to tell him he doesn’t need to bring anything, but he insisted. I’m just shocked we actually got him out the door.”

“And without the cat.”

“Exactly. He said he closed her in the bedroom, so she should be fine. She better be, or we’ll never hear the end of it. I warned the guys, too. Told them I didn’t mind if they wanted to bail on dinner.”

“Why would they do that?” I ask, shocked by his suggestion. While Don has his opinions about baseball, he’s still his family, and in a way, that makes him our family, too. At least, that’s how I see it.

“Did anyone take you up on that?” I ask, a pit forming in my stomach while I wait for his reply. I am pretty sure I know these guys well, but even the idea that one of them would skip tonight because they might have an awkward conversation with Don doesn’t sit well with me.

“Not yet, but let’s see how quickly they run once it gets going.”

“Don’t worry, my shepherd’s pie will keep them there. Trust me. Speaking of which, we’ll need to get right into it if we’re going to eat anytime soon.”

***

Once at Alan and Kelly’s place, Alan and I start on the prep for dinner while Kelly shows her grandfather around their place, all the while carrying the bowling bag. I wonder what he has in there.

Working beside Alan in the kitchen is nice. Easy. It’s like we can feel each other’s movements before we even make them. I step to the side when he needs the trash, and he passes me a knife just before I ask where I’d find one. We’re in perfect sync, and when we finally get the two giant trays into the oven, Gramps sits down on the other side of the kitchen counter.

“Now that’s over with, she can come out,” Gramps says, unzipping the bowling bag on the chair beside him and out pops Precious’s head. She meows my way and leaps free from the bag. Alan retreats, knocking over a mug on the counter behind him, and Precious hisses his way.

“Did he scare you?” I ask, bringing her attention back to me, and she lowers her head to rub her ears against my hand.

“I thought you left her at home?” Alan asks, manoeuvering his way out of the kitchen, all the while keeping his eyes on the cat.

“Now, why would I do that? It’s not fair of me to keep her locked up at home all alone if I am going out. She hasn’t seen Kelly’s place either.”

“Gramps,” Kelly sighs. “What if she gets out? She doesn’t know this area; she could get lost.”

“Pfft, she’s a smart cat. She’d find her way home.”

“Want to test that theory?” Alan says under his breath, but still loud enough for me to hear. If Gramps heard him, though, he isn’t letting on. I pick Precious up off the counter and carry her around to the couch.

“I can’t believe you just did that,” he says as I sit on the lounge, and Precious curls up in my lap, nuzzling her head into the crook of my arm.

“She’s sweet, you just have to give her a chance,” I reason.

“Nope, not happening. You stay there, I’ll finish cleaning up. I’ll have to disinfect the kitchen counter now that Satan’s feet have been on it.”

Gramps shakes his head and carries the bowling bag down the hallway.

“I’ll set her litter up in here, but she won’t need it.”

“No problem, Gramps,” Kelly calls, and Alan just stares at her wide-eyed and open-mouthed.

“No problem? It is a big problem. The guys are going to get here soon, and the spawn of Satan is going to either scratch their eyes out or seduce them into submission like with my boyfriend over there,” Alan argues, and Kelly raises her brow, a smile creeping onto her lips.

“So, boyfriend, huh?”

“Shut up and go make sure your windows are closed. He might be confident in its ability to find its way home, but I’m not, and I don’t want to spend my evening searching the city for that thing.”

She laughs but does as he asks.

“Do you think she can tell you hate her?” I ask, and Alan turns to me, shocked.

“I don’t hate Kelly.”

“Not Kelly, you daft fool. Precious. I reckon if you stopped worrying so much about her attacking you, she might stop trying to.”

“Yeah, I’m not so sure that’s it. But you just stay there keeping it happy, and I will take care of everything else.”

“Gramps will be bringing her to the ranch, too, remember. He bought the carrier?”

“What’s this I hear about the ranch?” Gramps asks, walking in. Precious immediately picks her head up and watches him until he takes a seat in the cozy chair opposite me. That appears to be her cue to climb off my lap and trade it for his.

“We were just talking about the trip we’ve organized,” I say, and Gramps side-eyes Alan.

“I was thinking about that. You young fellas don’t need an old codger around like me on your trip.”

“Actually,” I say before Alan can respond. “We were hoping while we were there, you would tell us all about how the ranch used to be. You grew up there, didn’t you? I’m sure you have loads of stories about the palace.”

“Yeah, Gramps, you used to tell us stories about the ranch all the time as kids,” Alan adds, and Don settles back into the chair.

“We’ll see. I’m not sure what’s left of the old place now that your brothers have been doin’ it up, though.”

“Oh, they’ve kept it almost the same,” Alan says, pulling out his phone and bringing it over to Gramps. It’s the closest he’s gotten to Precious in the whole time we’ve been here and his excitement to show Don the photos of the ranch overpowering his fear of being attacked. “Look, the main house is exactly like I remember it as a kid. They even got the old banister rails replaced where the ram got in that time. A local wood guy made them by hand just like they were done originally.”

Gramps’s head tilts to the side a little, his eyes getting that far-off look to them as Alan scrolls through the pages. Does he miss the ranch? Has he wanted to go back before now and just never had the chance? It’s his ranch, so it seems odd he wouldn’t just go, but Alan said he hasn’t left his house at all in years. Maybe this is the first step to getting him back there.

“The cabins are new, though,” Alan says, taking his phone back, shoving it into his pocket, and heading back to the kitchen to continue to wipe over the counter for what has to be the third time now. Either he’s a germaphobe and I never noticed, or he’s really worried about how tonight’s going to go.

“So tell me about these new additions?” Gramps asks.

“They had them built in sections already vacant,” Alan begins. “So there are a few smaller ones that only suit a couple or single, but further back there are some great sized family ones, too. They’ve been booking up pretty quickly as well, so it was lucky we wanted the week they blocked out for the pool install. We’ve got the whole place, so you won’t have to deal with strangers.”

“They’re putting in a pool?”

“It’s more like a pond,” I reply.

“And you’ve invited the people you work with?” Gramps asks, patting Precious.

“Yeah, I’ve invited some of the guys from the teams to come. So, I guess, once you meet them, they won’t be strangers.”

And with that, the doorbell chimes. Time to see what these guys are made of.