A Very Merry Mess (Cider Cove Sweet Southern RomComs #3)

Elliott

ELLIOTT

I flop onto my couch, exhaustion seeping into my bones after the whirlwind holiday weekend with Ryanne and her family. Oh, and the sleepless night after I chickened out and didn’t tell Ry about my eyes.

Peppermint, my fluffy gray and white cat, immediately jumps up and settles on my chest, purring contentedly. I scratch behind her ears, grateful for the familiar comfort of home.

“You missed me, didn’t you girl?” I murmur. Peppermint responds by kneading my shirt with her paws.

My mind drifts back to the past few days—the laughter, the chaos, the warmth of being included in Ryanne’s family traditions. It felt so natural, like I belonged there. Her parents and siblings sure seemed to like me, and it was all Ry could talk about on the drive home from Charleston.

Anna says your glasses are sexy.

Cosette thinks you’re smart and funny.

My mom has never taken to one of my brothers-in-law the way she did you.

And Ryanne…my heart swells two sizes just thinking about her. I sigh, something the Mars rovers can’t do, but I think of that Pixar robot movie with the robots, and Eva an WALL-E sure do seem to have feelings. So maybe I’ve been a robot for a lot of my life—at least the past six years since I got my diagnosis. It really has made things easier.

The buzz of my phone interrupts my robot-thoughts. It’s an email from Paws For a Cause with more details about Luna, my soon-to-be guide dog. I skim the message, excitement and nervousness battling for space in my brain. This is really happening. Just next week, if I confirm, I’ll be partnered with a dog specially trained to help me navigate the world as my vision continues to deteriorate.

I need to tell Ryanne. The thought sends a jolt of panic through me. “I need to put in for time off.”

I can imagine how that conversation will go.

“How about this? ‘So, hey, Ry, funny story, I’m going blind, but don’t worry! I won a guide dog for Christmas and surprise! I need more time off. Want to go steady?’” I say sarcastically to my feline companion. Peppermint blinks at me slowly, unimpressed. In fact, her eyes squinch shut in the next moment, and she circles, turning her back on me.

How very diva-cat.

I can only pray Ry won’t do the same when I tell her. I sigh and reach for my phone again. I can start with something easy and maybe just type out the blindness issue as a test. My thumbs hover over the screen as I contemplate what to say.

Me: Hey beautiful. I need to make reservations for New Year’s Eve. I want to take you to one of your favorite places, so a list of your favorite places would be much appreciated.

I hit send before I can erase the “much appreciated.” I mean, I’m not seventy-four years old.

Her response comes almost immediately. My favorite places. That’s awfully generous of you, Mr. Huston.

Me: What can I say? I’m a giver.

Ryanne: Hmm… this sounds suspiciously like what you do when you’re going to break-up with someone. Take a woman exactly where she wants to go right before you “break the bad news.”

The air whooshes out of my lungs as if Peppermint’s punctured it with her claws. But Ry’s not wrong about my past behavior with women. But what she doesn’t know if that that’s what I do with women I’m not serious about.

As I type that out, my phone rings and Ry’s name sits there.

“Hey,” I answer, unable to keep the smile out of my voice.

“Hey?” she repeats. “I…politely asked you to take today to detox.” She sounds mad, but it’s a restrained anger I usually only see when we’re at work. Maybe there are people around. “I didn’t realize part of that was going to be you planning your exit strategy.”

…And there’s the familiar bite I’m used to.

I want to chuckle, but my chest is still leaking air. “I’m not planning my exit strategy.”

“No?”

“I mean, if I have to try any popcorn flavor Danny makes again…but I think we’re safe for another year.”

She says nothing, which means she’s feeling silly for jumping to conclusions. I hope. “Just a minute,” she says to someone on her end of the line. “Yeah, I’m coming.”

“I really did just want a list of your favorite places.” It’s getting pretty late to make reservations for New Year’s Eve, but I have to try.

“You should see this place,” Ry says, and I recognize her ranty-tone. “Barry-House-the-Temporary-Manager rearranged the whole thing. Cardstock is on aisle six, and I’ve been running around all day, trying to locate the sticky notes. Do you know how many people want sticky notes to write their New Year’s resolutions on?”

She’s grumpy, and I should hang up. Or better yet, get dressed and get into work to help her. “I can?—”

“You’re not coming in,” she says. “I just need to vent.” Something scratches on her end of the line. “Yes, Jimmy, I want everything that used to be in this aisle returned. Fans, printers, shredders, please. Joey! All desk chairs back on the floor.”

“It’s that bad?” I ask. “He moved the desk chairs out of the furniture section?”

“His note said, and I quote, ‘A line of desk chairs down the middle of the floor looks cheap. Put them against the back wall.’”

“He realizes he was there for four days, right?”

“Apparently it was pretty bad.” She sighs. “I’ve spoken to every employee today, either in person or on the phone, and while I thought we might have the very merry mess in New York, it turns out, it was here.”

“Let me come in then.”

“No way,” she says. “You’ll have to deal with this crazy tomorrow. I’ll leave you a note.”

I sit up, the word vomit that needs to come out choking me. I certainly can’t be lying down while I say it all. “Listen, Ryanne, I need to talk to you about something important.” I said the same things in the car while we were leaving her parents’ house, but we’d been interrupted.

“Go on,” she says, but something doesn’t feel right, and I hesitate.

“Oh, pink pixie dust,” she swears. “Hold on a sec.” Her voice goes muffled as she covers her phone, but I still hear her talking to someone in the background, something about how we can’t leave small appliances outside overnight. “Sorry, Ell,” she says. “This is a nightmare.”

“Then I’ll talk to you tonight.”

“I’m sorry.”

I force a smile to my face. “It’s fine. Go.”

“Mindy!” she yells right over me. “There’s water leaking back here!”

Instead of making her talk to me some more, I simply hang up. She has plenty to do, and I don’t need to burden her with an about-to-be-blind boyfriend on top of it.

Peppermint meows at me, and I reach over and pat her. “Yeah, I know. Massive fail.”

And that about sums up everything that’s happened since Ry and started dating. At the same time, it’s been three of the best weeks of my life. Nothing makes sense.

My phone chirps, and I reach for it, because it’s my momma. I know what she wants before I read her message. Have you put in for time off at work?

Yes , I tell her, though I haven’t. It’s just one more thing I need to do on a long list of things that are going to cause me to crash and burn with my boss, best friend, and girlfriend. So sue me if I don’t want to do it.

Good , Momma says. Have you confirmed the pick-up of Luna?

Not yet, Momm a, I say. I need to wait for my approved time off. They said they’ll keep her until I can come.

Okay , she says. I’m stopping by the store on the way home from work. Requests?

“Yeah,” I mutter. “Can you stop by Paper Trail and explain to Ryanne Luckson that the reason I can’t be with her is because I’m going blind?”

Because that would be great.

Oh, and some hazelnut cream for my coffee would be nice , I text to my mother.