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I could practically feel Mom trying to assess the situation, but lucky me, she didn’t have too much time.
After walking Mom to the departures terminal, Ryker grabbed Avery’s bag, and we all headed toward the exit.
“How was your week?” Ryker asked her while we fought our way through the crowd.
“Amazing. My pony isn’t tiny anymore, Mom. He grew up.”
“I know. Gran sent us pictures, remember?” I said.
“Yeah, but he’s even bigger than in the pictures.”
“You have a pony?” Ryker asked. “What’s his name?”
“Tony.”
“Tony the pony?” Ryker asked on a laugh. I smiled to myself. Avery nodded proudly.
“Do you have other animals too?”
“Yes. A chicken and a rabbit. And Gran said she’ll buy me a goose this summer.”
“My mom is basically luring her to Arizona with animals to make sure she spends every vacation there,” I explained.
Ryker nodded. “Sounds like something Mom would do if she had grandkids living in another state.”
We flagged a cab, and after we loaded Avery’s luggage in the back, we all slid onto the back seat. Avery was in the middle. Ryker kept asking her about her vacation, and my girl sure didn’t keep anything back.
“And then we went to the mall, and Gran bought me everything I wanted.”
She loved talking to Ryker even more than she loved talking to me.
“Avery, I want to take you and your mom to dinner tonight. What would you like to eat?”
Avery squealed again. The cabbie glared at us in the rearview mirror.
“Can I have ice cream?”
“Real food,” I answered, voice firm.
Avery pouted. “But Gran gave me ice cream whenever I wanted.”
Right... factory settings were definitely back on. Truthfully, I’d eat ice cream all day long too, but eh... I had to be responsible for her sake.
“How about steak?” Ryker asked.
Avery sat up straighter, nodding. Interesting... if I had suggested this, she wouldn’t have been so keen.
I looked at Ryker suspiciously, asking, “Did you conspire with her again?”
“No, I guess I’m awesome enough that she wants to spend more time with me.”
I laughed but didn’t give him any shit, because he had a point. He reached out over Avery’s shoulders, touching my arm. That euphoric feeling was back in full force, just threatening to spill out of me.
Ryker took us to a restaurant on the Upper West side that looked like one of those fancy wine cellars, with red brick arches and diffuse lighting.
We stopped in front of the sign that said Wait to be Seated, but there was no one behind it.
“I’m going to ask a waiter for a table. It’ll be quicker this way,” Ryker said.
