The Players (TP4)

21 - Perpetual house guest

Ryan

Ryan was growing tired of his weekend house guest. Adam left mid-afternoon on Sunday. "See you next weekend."

Ryan opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it. Adam was a client, so he had to be agreeable. He had a fleeting thought Adam was taking advantage of him like Isobel. Squatting on weekends in a house Ryan himself was borrowing was not even close to stealing from him. Who was he to keep the poor sap from seeing his girlfriend?

Ryan was used to looking out and seeing Lana floating in the tube. More often teenagers filled the pool. He swam at the end of the day regardless of who was in the pool. His quitting time usually coincided with family dinner hour, so the pool cleared out quickly.

Sam called out. "Hey Will catch!"

The new boy was Lana's brother. When Rory missed the football, Ryan picked it up and threw it to Will. It had been years since he held a football.

"Nice!" Will smiled.

They included him in the game of pass. When Rory and Sam left for dinner, he and Will kept passing.

"Do you play?" Ryan was curious.

"Yeah, running back. You ever play?"

"Quarterback, about your lifetime ago."

"Cool! I need to practice this summer. We should go to the beach... I mean if you want."

Ryan surprised himself just how much the idea interested him. "Okay, sure. You don't need to rush home to eat?"

"Nah, Lana's working tonight. I'll just make a few peanut butter and jellies later."

"I can grill you a burger," Ryan heard himself. What was wrong with him? He didn't like his adult houseguest, but he would hang with a kid.

"Really?"

"Yeah, but you get to clean up. Your sister cleans tomorrow."

"Okay. I'll go change."

Ryan started the grill and changed out of his wet swimsuit. When the kid came back he had a container.

"Cookies. Lana made them." He smiled.

Fairtrade, Ryan thought to himself. Will followed him into the house and Ryan watched as he looked around. He saw the office. "Do you work here?" Ryan nodded. "Lit! What do you do?"

"Investments... stocks and bonds."

"Yeah, I made the most money in my econ class. We had to pick stock. It was pretend, but I liked it. I want to have money and buy stock."

"You will. I invest other people's money for them."

"Do you make them rich?" Will's face was bright with awe.

"I try, but they're already rich."

"Like Heidi. I heard my mother say she married a rich guy. She said it like Lana's a disappointment."

Ryan didn't tell Will his sister may end up richer than Heidi if she married Adam. By the time Will finally walked across the street, they had made plans to toss the football the next day.

Ryan sat in front of the game and ate five cookies. They were incredible. He left the empty container on the kitchen counter for Lana to find when she came to clean.

Lana normally kept to herself when she cleaned, but she rapped on the open office door. He was on his call with Don and pointed to his headset. She nodded and walked away.

Curious he went to find her after his call had ended. She was standing in the tub wiping it down. "Hey! Thanks for feeding Will."

"No problem. He's a good kid. Polite too. He brought dessert."