Crossroad To Love (Fab Five Series) (24 page)

Marianne would be returning home to get her life back on
track with Jon and was looking forward to a romantic getaway in San Antonio.
Feeling slightly sorry for herself, Katy wondered when she would get a romantic
getaway.

They had all promised to stay in touch with Chloe and to
include her in their next get-together. That might be difficult. Katy would be
the fifth wheel, so to speak. When those plans had been made, Katy thought Ryan
would be at her side for all the future get-togethers.

What a week it had been, with each one of them at a
crossroad in their lives. Marianne, Lizzie, and Angie had all chosen the turn
in their road and were happy. Now that the week was winding down and they only
had one more night together before heading back to their lives, it would be a
special night for each of them. They savored their times together and looked
forward to the next. They each had their own private thoughts and favorite
times to remember. But this time, Katy would be going home with a heavy heart.
She was still at her crossroad, unsure of which turn to take.

She finally forced herself to get out of bed, showered,
dressed, and, bracing herself for the onslaught of questions from her friends,
walked into the kitchenette. She helped herself to the coffee and rolls and sat
down on a barstool to eat, looking around for the others. Lizzie must have left
already for her meeting. Angie was on the phone. Marianne rose from the couch
and joined Katy at the bar. Marianne patted her hand and asked quietly, “Did
you get any sleep at all, honey?”

“A little, I think I dreamed a lot, but they were all mixed
up,” Katy replied.

“If you want to talk, know that I’m here. But if you’re not
ready, I won’t push. We’re going shopping at the mall later. Do you feel like
going?”

“Not really, but I’ll go anyway. I want to pick up something
for Alex from Texas. I can’t sit around moping forever. I might as well get on
with my life. I met a man and it didn’t work out. No big deal.”

“Oh, I think it was more than that, don’t you, Katy? I think
this was a very big deal for you. Don’t underplay it.”

“Let’s head to the mall, or are we waiting for Liz to get
back?” Katy asked, changing the subject abruptly.

“No, I think we can go without Liz. She may be gone for a
while.” Angie walked in. She had finished her phone call to her secretary,
Lynne, and had heard part of the conversation between Mari and Katy.

The three women walked through the mall, window shopping,
and just enjoying their time together. Katy picked up a Texas tee shirt and a
keychain for Alex, bought herself some jasmine-scented bath beads and watched
as Angie scoured the entire Victoria’s Secret store for the perfect negligee
for her honeymoon. Katy realized that evidently the wedding was going to be sooner
rather than later from the sounds of it. That was wise. Those two had wasted
enough time.
Grab the golden ring while you can. You may never get the
chance
again
, she thought wryly. They lunched in the food court at
the mall, deciding to go back early to the suite and wait for Liz. Katy was
anxious to hear about Ryan.

As they were walked into the lobby, Michael was entering
from the direction of the elevators.

“Hi there, girls, are you enjoying the Texas sunshine?” he
asked as he approached them. He leaned over and gave Angie a peck on the cheek
and smiled at Marianne and Katy.

He certainly is a happy
man these last few days
,
Katy thought enviously. Normally she would have been happy for him, but her
senses were dulled by all that had taken place in her own life recently.

“We thought we had better check on Liz and see if she’s back
yet.”

“I just came from the restaurant. I had some things to go
over with the O’Gradys before I leave town. Rex and Liz were still there. I
don’t know what was wrong with Ryan this morning. He looked pretty rough. I
asked him if he wanted to talk about it, but he said he’d rather not.”

“That would be my fault, Michael. I told him some news last
night that pretty much ended us before we began,” Katy explained and walked to
the elevator. She got on and went ahead to the suite, leaving the others in the
lobby.

“Do you think they’ll ever be able to work through this?”
Angie asked with concern in her voice.

“Look at us, Baby, if we can do it, anyone can do it.  Just
give them some time. Ryan seems like a good guy. I got good vibes from him from
the start.”

“I hope you’re right. It took Katy so long to find someone
special. I just hate that it’s not working out for her.”

“They have to deal with it on their own. It would be a
pretty bitter pill to swallow, finding out the connection they had in the
past.”

“I still think it was fate that brought them together,”
Marianne ventured. “But for what reason is the mystery.”

“You and your fate, I swear, Marianne.” Angie and Michael
both laughed as they hugged their friend.

“Well, you girls had better go check on Katy. I may go back
and see if I can buy Ryan a drink and get him to open up to me after his
meeting with Lizzie and Rex this afternoon. He might welcome a friendly ear
about now,” Michael offered. He wanted to help Katy in any way he could. She’d
been a sympathetic listener and a good friend to him throughout the years.

“That would be so sweet of you, Michael.” Angie blew him a
kiss as she headed for the elevator, trying in vain to hide her purchases from
him. He pointed to the Victoria’s Secret package and gave her the thumbs up,
causing her to blush again.

“Well, ma’am, I aim to please.” He winked at her as she got
on the elevator to meet her friends. “And looks like you do, too. Honeymoon
shopping is a good sign.” He smiled as he walked out into the autumn sunshine,
whistling as he put on his sunglasses.

At a corner table in the private dining room of ‘Chloe’s
Place,’ Lizzie, Rex, Chloe, and Shane were busily going over all the ads and
the contracts, when Ryan sauntered in to join them. “Sorry I’m late.”

“Quite all right, Ryan.” Lizzie glanced at him as she spoke.
He looked a little rough around the edges, like he had not slept well and maybe
had one too many drinks the night before. Even so, he was still a very handsome
creature. She could see why Katy was so drawn to him.

Chloe exchanged glances with Lizzie and rose to pour Ryan a
mug of hot, black coffee from the server. She handed it to her brother-in-law
and said, “Drink it, bro, you look like you could use it this morning.” It was
not like Ryan to drink too much, but if Chloe did not know better, she would
swear he was nursing one heck of a hangover this morning.
He must have tied
one on after he got back to the condo last night
.

Ryan was silent for most of the meeting, letting Chloe and
Shane handle much of the details. He gave his opinion when asked and signed his
name on the contract, then excused himself politely, apologizing again for his
tardiness. He had met with Michael earlier and had gone for a walk to clear his
head, resulting in his being late for this meeting. He was not normally a
drinker and he was not normally late for meetings, but last night and this
morning were an exception to both rules.

“Ryan, if you need to talk…”  Rex offered politely.

“Thank you, Rex. Actually, Michael sent me a text a few
minutes ago. We’re meeting for drinks later. If you’d like to join us, you’re
more than welcome. I am meeting him at the hotel bar. He said the girls have a
big evening planned for their last night in town together and he was at loose
ends for the evening. I could really use the distraction, myself. We’re meeting
at seven.”

“I’ll plan on it, then. See you later.” Rex looked at Lizzie
and shook his head after Ryan had left the room.

Lizzie had managed to grab a few minutes alone with Chloe
while Rex was talking to Ryan. She learned that Ryan had confided in Shane and
Chloe a little last night. He had stopped by their place after dropping Katy at
the hotel. He was, just as Katy had said, very confused and very torn. Chloe
felt that in time, Ryan would be able to overcome his guilty feelings. She only
hoped he would not wait too long. Katy was very special and Chloe would hate to
see him lose her needlessly. Lizzie reassured Chloe that Katy was not the type
to rush into things and maybe it would just be a matter of time before the two
realized what they could have. She related that she knew Katy had strong
feelings for Ryan, just in the short time that she had known him. The two
friends said goodbye with a pact to see Katy and Ryan through this. Lizzie
would be flying back to Dallas in a month to work on ads, so maybe things would
be better by then.    

As Lizzie and Rex headed back to the hotel, they discussed
their friends’ situation.

“Do you think you can get Ryan to open up tonight?” Lizzie
asked her husband.

“I don’t know. I’m sure that’s what Michael had in mind when
he suggested they meet. But we don’t know Ryan all that well, yet. We’ll just
have to let him make the first move, if he wants to talk. It will nice just to
have a guy’s night out, anyway. Do you think Jon would want to join us?”

“Maybe, I can have Marianne call him when I get back to the
hotel.”

They drove the rest of the way back to the hotel, enjoying
their last day in the beautiful Texas sunshine. When they returned to Ohio, it
would be to crisp, cool autumn weather.

When Lizzie entered the suite, she immediately told the
girls about the men’s plan and asked Marianne if she thought Jon would want to
join them. “I’ll give him a call right now. It’ll be nice for all the guys to
get together.”

She called Jon. He was delighted to hear from her and agreed
to meet the others at the hotel bar at seven. “And Mari,” Jon said as she was
about to hang up the phone, “I love you. Thank you for including me.”

“Love you, too,” she said softly as she hung up. The words
had come out much more easily than she would have imagined. Maybe they did have
a chance to repair the damage that had been done to their marriage after all.

“It’s all set,” she said as she entered the living room of
the suite. “Jon will join the others.”

“That’s good,” Angie said.

“Marianne, we were just wondering if we should invite Chloe
over tonight. Do you think she could get away from the restaurant?” Lizzie
asked.

“Well, that is what they have managers for, isn’t it? I
think it’s a splendid idea, since she is an honorary member of the ‘Fab Four’…
‘Fab Five’ now. It would make her feel like she really is one of us.”

“I’ll call her right now.” Lizzie picked up the phone and
began dialing.

“What about Shane? Should we tell her to send him with
Ryan?” Angie asked as she remembered Chloe’s handsome hubby.

“We wouldn’t want him to feel left out,” Katy agreed.

Chloe was touched to be included in the girls’ last night in
Dallas. She quickly agreed to meet them at the suite. They had explained to her
that it was going to be girl’s night in, with room service, lots of
conversation, and maybe a chick flick.

“I’ll bring the dessert. See you later.” Chloe turned to
find Shane and fill him in on the evening’s plans.

Now that everything was in place for the evening, the girls
sat down to relax while waiting for Chloe to arrive. They would order dinner
when she got to the suite and then the fun could begin.

At seven o’clock, the five men met at the hotel bar and
found a table. They ordered a round of drinks. 

Shane was the first to speak, “Thank you all so much. This
is great. I haven’t had a guys’ night out for a long time. It feels good to get
away from the restaurant for a while, right, Ryan?”

“Sure, bro. I really needed this male bonding, even though
I’m not in the most talkative of moods tonight,” Ryan replied with a sigh.

“Ryan, whatever you need, we’re here for you. You’re one of
us now, man,” Michael offered with a smile.

“Yeah, we know what you’re dealing with. It’s tough, but
you’ll get through it. We’ll see to that,” Rex replied.

“We have all had a rough week, Ryan, but the ‘Fab Four’…
‘Five’ is worth it,” Jon said. “Rex, Michael, and I have known that for a long
time.”

“I appreciate it more than you know, guys, but this is just
something I never imagined in a million years. It’ll take me some time to come
to grips with it.”

“Understood, just know that we’re here for you. You and
Shane are welcome members to our group and we don’t include just anyone. You’re
one of us now.”

The men spent the better part of the next few hours getting
to know Ryan and Shane, and discussing the past week and all of its high and
low points. They gave each other advice and shared a few laughs. Ryan actually
felt much better when the evening had ended. He and Shane both felt like part
of the crowd by the time the last round of drinks had been downed. He had Katy
to thank for introducing him to such a great group of friends. They certainly
had each had their share of problems with their lady loves this week. It felt
good to be able to share with them. He and Shane discussed the other fellows on
the ride home.

“Great group, aren’t they? And they’re all so close, for not
seeing each other all that much,” Shane ventured. He hoped the evening had been
good for Ryan. His brother deserved to be happy. And he deserved to have Katy
in his life. If only he would see that.

“Yes, they are. The men in that group are just as special as
the women. They are all just wonderful people.”

“Are you feeling any better about things, bro?”

“I know Katy thinks she wants to have a relationship with
me. I’m just afraid that she will change her mind after she has had time to
think about it all. It’s better to give us both some space than to rush
headlong into something that might not last, because if we decide to move
forward, I definitely want it to last. She is the woman I have been waiting
for. I want us both to be sure. We have to see if this accident is going to
come between us or not before we start anything.”