Crossroad To Love (Fab Five Series) (11 page)

“I’d better get a move on, wouldn’t want to keep the ex
waiting, you know.” Angie headed for the bathroom. It was her turn now to
become ravishing for her special evening. 

When Angie emerged from the bathroom a little while later,
she was every bit as beautiful as Katy was, in her own way. Angie was taller
than Katy and more athletic. She had long, brown hair and her eyes danced when
she smiled. Always slim, she generally looked as good in sweats and jeans as
she did when she wore her business suits. Tonight’s outfit was slightly more
feminine than her usual business apparel.

The filmy skirt was flared, instead of her usual straight
style, in a pink paisley print. She wore a little crocheted jacket in the same
shade of pink with a cream-colored shell underneath.

A simple gold chain adorned her neck and she wore matching
gold earrings. She had left her long hair down with combs holding back the
sides. She looked good. She looked like a woman in love.

“Wow!” Lizzie gasped as Angie entered the room.

“Sensational.” Marianne winked at Angie. Angie’s cheeks
reddened again.

“You look great, Ang. We had better get down to the lobby.
Have a wonderful time tonight.” Katy picked up her small evening purse and
headed for the door.

“You go on ahead, Kate, Michael won’t be there for a little
while yet. You have a great time too. Good luck.”

Katy was smiling as she left the suite. She had high hopes
for her evening with Mr. Ryan O’Grady. She had no idea where he was taking her
for dinner. She only knew it would be somewhere other than his own restaurant.
Since he was not working tonight, he had told her he would be taking her
someplace special. He had laughed when he told her she could check out the
competition. Katy did not care where they ate, as long as she could get to know
the handsome Irishman a little better.
I hope I can get him to talk about
his
wife’s death and her deception
. Katy had always been a good
listener. Hopefully, that would prove to be beneficial tonight.

She stepped out of the elevator and walked into the
brightly-lit lobby. She looked up to see Ryan entering the front door of the
hotel. He was punctual. That was a good sign that he really did want to spend
time with her. He looked relaxed and happy. His black suit looked expensive and
fit him well. He wore a white shirt with it and a gold silk tie that brought
out the flecks in his eyes.
And he is mine for the entire evening
, Katy
thought to herself happily. He was a sight to behold and she was proud that she
would be the lady on his arm tonight.

“Hello, Katy, you look ravishing.” Ryan smiled at her in
obvious approval. “That color looks really good on you.”

“Why, thank you, Mr. O’Grady, you don’t look half bad
yourself.”

Ryan chuckled as he said, “Right this way, ma’am. Your
chariot awaits.”

And with that, their enchanted, never-to-be-forgotten
evening began. Ryan walked Katy to his car, a sleek, black beauty, opened the
passenger door for her and made sure she was comfortably seated before closing
the door and walking around to the driver’s side. As they pulled away from the
curb, he looked over and smiled at her.
To hell with
resolution,
he thought.
It is time for me to get on with my life. And this is the little
lady I
intend to do it with. The past is over.
I think I could
really fall hard for this one
,
my yellow rose
. And for the first
time in ten years, the thought of falling in love again did not scare Ryan
O’Grady.

“We are going to dine at a little restaurant a friend of
mine owns. It’s not in the busy downtown area. It is out a little ways, but I
thought you would enjoy seeing something different while you’re in town,” Ryan
explained as he drove down the expressway, expertly weaving in and out of the
busy Dallas traffic.

“I’m game for new experiences.” Katy laughed easily in
response.         

“So, how did the sight-seeing go this afternoon? I think
it’s remarkable that you four have been friends for so long and still make time
to get together,” he observed, trying to keep the conversation light.

“We had so much fun. I wish we could get together more
often, but you know, life has a way of keeping people busy. Now that most of
our children are older, maybe it will be easier for us to see each other more
often. I certainly hope so, anyway. The fact that we all settled in different
cities doesn’t help matters any.”

“You have a son, is that right? You mentioned yesterday he
had started college.”

“Yes, Alex. He was quite the basketball player in high
school, but decided not to play in college. I spoke with him on the phone last
night. He was very excited for me when I told him about my interior design
business.”

“I am glad he approves.”

“He has been after me for years to pursue my dreams, but I
felt as if I needed to devote my time and energy to him while he was growing
up. After he lost his father, I didn’t want him to feel any more alone than he
already did. And Bill left me financially able to stay at home, so I saw no
reason to make our lives any more stressful than they needed to be. But now it’s
time for me to start a new chapter or two in my life.” She looked at Ryan and
smiled.

They pulled into the parking lot of a charming, old
Victorian-styled house, much larger than the one Katy lived in, and obviously
renovated to become a restaurant. The parking lot was full, so this must also
be a good place for dinner. She could not wait to get inside and see the
interior. This would be a designer’s dream, she thought as Ryan opened her door
for her and helped her out of the car. He held her hand tightly as they entered
the restaurant and walked toward the reservation desk.

“We have reservations for two. O’Grady,” Ryan informed the
hostess as she looked up from the desk.

“Ah, yes. Jarrett has a special table for you, Mr. O’Grady.
Follow me.”

Katy looked questioningly at Ryan and he answered her
unspoken question, “Jarrett is an old friend. I met him right after I moved to
Dallas. He and his wife, Michelle, own this little place,” he explained as they
followed the hostess.

They were led to a corner in the back of the restaurant. The
décor of the room was all Katy had hoped it would be. The true Victorian charm
was displayed throughout the room. Antiques and old pictures were plentiful.
The table they were being seated at was in a secluded corner. She was glad.
This would be perfect for talking about serious matters and getting to know
each other better.
Not to mention gazing into those sexy eyes
of his.

“I love it already, Ryan. This place is wonderful,” she
remarked as she looked around the room, drinking in the exquisite atmosphere.

“I figured it would be your cup of tea, with you being into
designing and all,” he grinned.

He took the liberty of ordering the wine while Katy studied
the menu.

After they had placed their orders, with Ryan helping her
decide, Katy wondered when and how to approach the subject of his painful past.
She decided to wait until after dinner.

She did not want to ruin the evening, and bringing up the
subject might do just that. So they spent a relaxing evening looking at the
antiques around the room and discussing them.

They also discussed Katy’s plans for the restaurant’s party
room and the chain of new restaurants that Ryan and his family were planning to
open. He was very excited at the possibilities ahead of them. Apparently these
plans had been in the works for some time.

“Do you know what locations yet?” Katy ventured to ask.

“We haven’t gotten that far yet. We originally thought we
would open a few more locally, but now we’re thinking of maybe branching out a
little. There may possibly be one in the Midwest, one in Florida, and one in
New England, to start. The problem will be finding quality people to run them,
since obviously, Shane, Chloe and I can’t be in four places at once. It would
also be a lot of jetting around the country for a while, getting everything
organized, but that could be fun.” He glanced at her as the thought came to him
that it would be fun if she were jetting around the country with him.

“Well, you can always open one in Chicago, that way you
could visit me while you’re there,”  Katy invited with a suggestive smile.
I
can’t believe I just said that
, she thought to herself.
What a flirt I
have become since meeting this man
.

“Not a bad idea, little lady, not a bad idea. I might just
have to have to take you up on that.” Ryan smiled back at her as the waiter
brought their dinner to the table. The food was out of this world. He had made
all the right selections.

“Ryan, this food is delicious,” Katy said in awe.

“I told you that you would like it,” he answered as he took
a bite of his own dinner.

“It is almost as good as ‘Chloe’s Place,’” she laughed as
she looked up at her dinner partner.

“I am just glad Jarrett is not close to our place or we
might have some serious competition on our hands,” he answered as he looked
into her eyes, the gold flecks in his twinkling in the light.

“Am I going to get to meet your friend, Jarrett?”

“Unfortunately, not tonight. When I phoned him, he told me that
he and Michelle would be out of town tonight to a family gathering of some
sort. He arranged for our table and said he hoped to meet you another time. I
think he was a little shocked when I told him that I was bringing a special
lady with me tonight.”

“You told him that? Why would that shock him? Surely you’ve
brought dates here before.”

“But I said
special lady
, Katy.” He hesitated before
adding, “Jarrett is not used to me referring to one of my dates as special.”

Katy blushed happily at the knowledge that he indeed thought
she was special.

“We need to talk later, Katy. There are some things you need
to know about me.”

“You read my mind. I was thinking the same thing.”

****

They finished their dinner, laughing together at Ryan’s
restaurant stories and Katy’s tales of some of the ‘Fab Four’ past experiences.
Dinner was topped off with a scrumptious dessert that was to die for.

As Katy was sipping a fresh cup of coffee, Ryan began in a
more serious tone, “Katy, when I told you that we needed to talk, I was very
serious. I was more serious than I have been in a long time. I feel a real
connection with you and that is something new for me. But there are things you
need to know about my past.” He took her hand and continued. “As you probably
have heard, I lost my wife several years ago. That’s when I moved from
Indianapolis to Dallas.”

Katy nodded and replied, “I did know that.”

He went on, “Since coming to Dallas, I have earned quite the
reputation of a so-called playboy. I admit that I’ve dated many women during
the years I’ve been here, but I made a pact with myself that I would never let
myself become seriously involved again. It was all fun and games. Anytime a
woman started becoming serious, I immediately broke it off with her. Up until
now, that has worked just fine.”

“What do you mean, up until now, Ryan?” Katy held her
breath, waiting for an answer. 

“Do you believe in love at first sight?” he asked her and,
without waiting for an answer, continued with, “I never did until you walked
into ‘Chloe’s Place’ the other evening. I have been fighting this for the two
days that I have known you. This is crazy, I told myself. Ryan O’Grady, of all
people, does not fall in love, let alone at first sight. I decided on the way
here tonight, I’m not going to fight it anymore. Maybe it’s finally time for me
to put the past behind me and move on with my life like you said you’re doing.
We both seem to be at a crossroad in our lives.”

Katy looked at Ryan with tears shining in her eyes. “Oh,
Ryan, I feel exactly the same way, but I thought you would think I was nuts, or
that I was just another one of those women trying to get you to commit. Since I
lost my husband, I haven’t had any more than an occasional social date. I was
never really interested. For ten years, I have been waiting for you to enter my
life, I guess. I never believed in love at first sight either, but there
definitely is something happening here. But before we move on, there is
something that we have to do, Ryan.”

He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it softly before
he asked, “And what is that, my love?”

He called me his love
. Her heart skipped a beat. But
she needed to calm down and get him to talk about what had happened all those
years ago.
Here goes
… she thought.

“Ryan, we have to discuss what happened with your wife. I
know part of the story, but you need to talk about it. You need to get it all
out, the bitterness, the anger, the grief. Just one last time, you need to talk
about it, to me. Then I will believe that you are truly ready to move on.
Please do this for us and for our future.” She pleaded with her eyes as she
went on, “We have a long way to go from here, and that is the first step. We
may have fallen in love at first sight, but we have to do this the right way if
it’s going to last forever. And I do want us to last forever. But I think maybe
we need to slow down, take things one step at a time. We need to talk about the
past as well as the future. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”

“Yes, I think I do. And you are probably right, although
talking about her is the last thing I want to do right now. I hate to ruin a
wonderful evening.”

“This will be the last time I ask you to talk about it.
There will be no need to after tonight,” she answered with an encouraging
smile.