Ryan

He had walked over to Jack's for dinner. It was easy to get an invitation, and he had taken advantage of Maddie's cooking many times over the summer. He dominated the dinner conversation with the news of his new cottage, Cam's return, and Lana's forgiveness.

Jack seemed genuinely happy he would be around more. The summer had been great for Ryan in so many ways. He thought about his mother learning about Aidan and stared out the window to push those thoughts away. He turned back to the table and smiled.

"Okay let's celebrate. I'll buy the ice cream!"

Rory said, "Yes! Can we see your new place too?"

Jack said, "Rory, you already know what it looks like. You're over on Osprey all the time." Jack must have noticed Ryan looked confused and clarified. "Sam's on Osprey."

"Oh, so kid, the best news is I plan to put in a pool for us."

"Sweet!" she exclaimed and ran up to him to put her arms around him. He hugged her back and could only smile. "I don't care what Dad says, I think you're a great uncle."

Ryan looked at Jack who was looking at his shoes."I said it in May."

"Yeah well, I was a pretty sh... bad uncle in May."

"You mean shitty. You can say shitty."

"Rory!" Jack jerked his head towards Emma.

"Hey if the rugrat says words like that don't blame me." Ryan quickly defended himself.

Maddie said, "No it will be Rory or Jack!"

Ryan just laughed as Maddie forced Jack to go on the defensive. After his brother suffered enough, he changed the subject. "Hey how about those Sox, there's no stopping them. I really think they can go all the way!"

Maddie walked through the new cottage. She stopped and slowly turned to take in the whole kitchen. "Sorry Ryan, but this place is ugly."

"I know. I've already hired Alex to save it from itself."

Jen pulled into his driveway at exactly eight-thirty. He slid into the passenger seat. "I hope you don't mind Eliza goes everywhere with me, except to my clients. My mom watches her those days. She's a trooper."

"No, it's fine. I was at Jack's yesterday. I showed them my cottage."

"Just wait until we're done. I have some great ideas."

"Remember my brother is the rich one."

Jen laughed. "You know I didn't believe it when rumors started to fly around The Point."

"That doesn't happen." Ryan deadpanned his remark.

"Never! Seriously I had to google it to believe it. I was used to the super-rich in New York, but your brother is one of a kind."

"Growing up with a perfect brother sucked, but Jack wasn't so perfect when he got Maddie pregnant."

"Ryan! Actually, you're right, but it was the best thing for them. They belong together. I remember Jack when he first showed up. Rory too. Maddie saved them."

"So did Alex really lure you back from living among the rich and famous in Manhattan?"

"Yup, I came to work on the new house down by the river and hated him for building it. The rest is history."

"Somehow I think you're leaving out a lot of details."

"Maybe one or two, now what style do you think you might want?"

"Style? Um..."

"Oh Eliza we've got our work cut out for us." Jen cooed to the whimpering baby in the back seat.

"Do you need to pull over and do something with her?"

"No, we're almost there. She probably needs her diaper changed. Now style, there is the cottage look with white or off white. Very popular on The Point. There is contemporary which might work, but not too modern. It is a cottage."

"I don't want it to look frilly."

"I think a distressed cottage look might work." Her voice sounded like she was singing.

"Distressed? What's distressed, aside from your daughter?"

The baby was showing off her lungs. Ryan felt uncomfortable and relaxed when Jen put on her blinker and turned into a parking lot. The building was an old mill on the Androscoggin River.

"All right, you go look around and I'll be along in five minutes top."

Ryan gladly left the car. It wasn't the noise that bothered him. The little person was unhappy and there was nothing he could do to help. It was the helplessness he didn't like. It was another reason he was glad not to be a parent.

The smell of fresh wood was overwhelming. It smelled like Christmas, but less tangy. Jen was right there were so many styles to choose from. When a man came up to ask if he could help, Ryan explained he was waiting for someone.

The man turned his attention away from Ryan and smiled. Ryan turned his head to see Jen with a happy baby secured to the front of her facing out and kicking her legs as Jen gave a slight bounce to her step.

"Jen and Miss. Eliza!" The man greet them with a smile.

"Hi, George! Have you met my friend Ryan?"

"Oh, you're with Jen well then you are all set, I see."

Ryan turned to Jen. "I'm out of my element."

"Have no fear."

He followed her like a puppy and when his phone rang he felt relieved to see it was Allie. "I need to take this."

"Go sit. I'll let you know when I'm ready for you."

He nodding. "Hey Allie. Yeah, I can but does he know I am not at my computer."

"He does and Rye in case you hadn't checked, the Nats were off last night."

"Yeah, I know and my team lost their second game in a row!"

"You can't win every night! I'll call you later. I have some updates, but here's Don."

"Don!"

"What are you out shopping?"

"You wouldn't believe where I am, but yes, shopping. So I'll be back in a week, how about lunch? It's been too long."

"I might fit you into my busy schedule. You know I might be shopping."

Ryan laughed, but Don did shop a lot. He would go to multiple grocery stores to take advantage of all the sales. Ryan learned long ago one reason clients like Don were wealthy was because they were frugal, like Warren Buffett who lived a middle-class lifestyle.

They talked for a while until Jen appeared. "Ryan when you're done, I have some options."

"Who is that? Do you have a girl you haven't told me about?" Don sounded much too excited.

"No, just a friend helping me with my shopping." Ryan winked at Jen. "I will let you go. If you need anything, I'll be back at my desk this afternoon."

When he turned his attention to Jen she had four cabinet door samples for him to look at. Each was a little different, but two he didn't care for. They were too feminine - girly.

"Which of these two do you like?"

She paused. "This one. I didn't pick it, but it is similar to what Alex had in the house he lived in when I met him. You know when he was a single guy too."

"Is that all I need to decide?"

"That depends..."

"On what?"

"If you trust me enough to take care of the rest for you."

"What's the rest?"

"Well, hardware, style of the panels. Oh, then there's the bathroom, which is a whole other stop."

"I want a bathtub, a toilet, and a sink."

"Big enough for one or two?"

"What?"

"Never mind. I'll take care of you. Let's go home. Come to see our house and tell me what you like."

"Okay."

Ryan liked everything about Jen's house including the large double shower. Too bad he didn't have anyone to shower with. He still felt he needed a tub because he planned to rent the cottage and kids needed tubs. He stated his concerns to Jen.

"It all depends on what you're willing to spend. Alex is working on an option of extending the original cottage to give you an extra bathroom. You have enough land."

"I want my pool though."

"He knows. Trust us."

He did and although he shouldn't be blowing his savings on a cottage in Maine, every gut instinct he had told him it was the right thing to do.

He saw Lana in the pool, but he was too busy because of his morning away to go outside. Allie called him at five o'clock to update him on the talent search. She had some promising leads.

"Is Cam there? I need to talk to him."

"Yeah, hold on."

While he was waiting for Cam to come on the line he grabbed a beer and went to sit outside. The afternoon onshore breeze had kicked up, so it wasn't as warm as he would like. Ryan was debating whether he would swim when Cam came on the line.

"Are you outside? I recognize the buzz of the filter from when I would call Heidi."

"Yeah, just enjoying my beer by your pool."

"I'm glad you still remember whose pool it is."

Ryan wasn't sure if Cam was kidding or not. "Are you working or on vacation next week?"

"Working, I took enough time off when Grace was born. Why?"

"I was thinking about taking a vacation week. I'm not ready to go home, but I'm not sure I could work from my parent's condo so..."

"You didn't want to go and now you don't want to come home. What happened to you?"

"Some people find God, I found my family and The Point again. In fact, I have some news."

"Jesus, I knew it! Who is she?"

"What? No! I bought a cottage."

"You what? Who are you?" Ryan heard Cam's muffled voice. "You knew about this didn't you?"

"Hey, Allie works for me!" Ryan reminded him. "Why are you angry? I thought you might like me being around on weekends."

"And swimming in my pool."

"I'll put in my own damn pool. I hear you have sex in yours."

"What? I don't want to know! Heidi will never believe this. I'm not angry. I'm just shocked and wondering who you are and what you did with my friend Ryan."

"Ha, ha... So about next week?"

"Yeah whatever, then you're coming back to stay?"

"Well, I might make some weekend trips. I'll have construction going on and will want to check on it, although I'm hiring someone to keep an eye on things."

"Someone?"

"Well, Lana."

"Lana hates you."

"Hate's a strong word. She forgave me."

"Heidi will be glad she was working on her for you. I don't know why she cared."

"I'm sure she just wanted her friend to be happy."

"Yeah, but where do you fit in with that."

"I have no f-ing clue."

"Me either. I'm going home to my baby. Enjoy my pool."

Ryan called his mother to let her know she would have a houseguest for a week.