The Players (TP4)

40 - No f-ing clue

Ryan

He had walked over to Jack's for dinner. It was easy to get an invitation, and he had taken advantage of Maddie's cooking many times over the summer. He dominated the dinner conversation with the news of his new cottage, Cam's return, and Lana's forgiveness.

Jack seemed genuinely happy he would be around more. The summer had been great for Ryan in so many ways. He thought about his mother learning about Aidan and stared out the window to push those thoughts away. He turned back to the table and smiled.

"Okay let's celebrate. I'll buy the ice cream!"

Rory said, "Yes! Can we see your new place too?"

Jack said, "Rory, you already know what it looks like. You're over on Osprey all the time." Jack must have noticed Ryan looked confused and clarified. "Sam's on Osprey."

"Oh, so kid, the best news is I plan to put in a pool for us."

"Sweet!" she exclaimed and ran up to him to put her arms around him. He hugged her back and could only smile. "I don't care what Dad says, I think you're a great uncle."

Ryan looked at Jack who was looking at his shoes."I said it in May."

"Yeah well, I was a pretty sh... bad uncle in May."

"You mean shitty. You can say shitty."

"Rory!" Jack jerked his head towards Emma.

"Hey if the rugrat says words like that don't blame me." Ryan quickly defended himself.

Maddie said, "No it will be Rory or Jack!"

Ryan just laughed as Maddie forced Jack to go on the defensive. After his brother suffered enough, he changed the subject. "Hey how about those Sox, there's no stopping them. I really think they can go all the way!"

Maddie walked through the new cottage. She stopped and slowly turned to take in the whole kitchen. "Sorry Ryan, but this place is ugly."

"I know. I've already hired Alex to save it from itself."

Jen pulled into his driveway at exactly eight-thirty. He slid into the passenger seat. "I hope you don't mind Eliza goes everywhere with me, except to my clients. My mom watches her those days. She's a trooper."

"No, it's fine. I was at Jack's yesterday. I showed them my cottage."

"Just wait until we're done. I have some great ideas."

"Remember my brother is the rich one."

Jen laughed. "You know I didn't believe it when rumors started to fly around The Point."

"That doesn't happen." Ryan deadpanned his remark.

"Never! Seriously I had to google it to believe it. I was used to the super-rich in New York, but your brother is one of a kind."

"Growing up with a perfect brother sucked, but Jack wasn't so perfect when he got Maddie pregnant."

"Ryan! Actually, you're right, but it was the best thing for them. They belong together. I remember Jack when he first showed up. Rory too. Maddie saved them."

"So did Alex really lure you back from living among the rich and famous in Manhattan?"

"Yup, I came to work on the new house down by the river and hated him for building it. The rest is history."

"Somehow I think you're leaving out a lot of details."

"Maybe one or two, now what style do you think you might want?"