Page 53 of Ring Rust

Fortunately, he had a plan. Well, he had part of a plan. Bits of one, like, if a plan was a human body, he’d have the whole skeleton and maybe the appendix, or gall bladder. But that was enough to get going, and he would just wing the rest.

The front door was unlocked, so Ryan let himself in. It wasn't trespassing if he technically owned the house, and besides, knocking felt weird. Knocking would make him a guest, and he wasn't ready for that. This house was still his home.

Stepping through the doorway with his suitcase in hand sent an unexpected feeling of familiarity through him. How many times had he done this exact thing? It was like he’d been out of town for two months, finally back home. His feet itched to carry him right to the home office or the bedroom, to drop a big kiss on Jasper before falling into bed together.

Stevie and Beni left for Blue Ridge in the morning, where they’d stay for a few nights visiting his parents before leaving for Australia for the bulk of their trip. He was trying not to be jealous. He missed home. He missed his folks. But if a little homesickness bought Beni some freedom—and left Ryan and Jasper alone together for more than two weeks—it was a trade he'd happily make.

The house was chaotic. Lists taped to cabinets and suitcases half-packed in the living room, an enormous pile of clean laundry in the middle of the couch. It was eerily quiet, though, until the sound of footsteps drew Ryan’s attention towards the hallway and Jasper emerged holding a coffee mug. He slowed when their eyes met, both staring at each other, silently.

"Hey," Jasper finally said.

Ryan took a deep breath. "Hey."

“Ready for this?”

“I am,” Ryan said, giving Jasper half a grin to prove how relaxed he was. “Are you?”

Jasper huffed a laugh into his cup. “I don’t think so. Two and a half weeks is a long time.”

“To be with the girls?”

Jasper shrugged. “Yeah. And other reasons.”

“We’ll be fine. I’m guessing we’ll barely see Winnie, and I brought plenty to entertain Nina.”

A tornado of activity barreled through the side door. Nina ran towards Ryan with a basket of muddy chicken eggs.

“Hi, Uncle Ryan!” Nina said. “I got eggs!”

The hens would have stopped laying weeks ago, and he was a little concerned about where the eggs had come from, but she looked so pleased he decided to go with it. “Oh, hell yeah, sister. Let me see.”

She held up the basket and grinned. “They pecked me when I looked under them.”

“Yeah, they’ll do that,” Ryan said, smiling back at her.

“I found these behind the coop.”

“Ah. Yum. You can help me cook those up in the morning if you want.”

“Okay!”

After thrusting the basket into Ryan’s hands, she took off towards the guest room where the girls were staying, much to the chagrin of Winnie, who was not looking forward to sharing a room with a five-year-old for two and a half weeks. If Jasper would just let Ryan stay in their bedroom, it wouldn’t be an issue, but he’d put his foot down.

“Go get washed up for dinner!” Beni called down the hall. “Use a lot of soap!”

“Hi,” Beni said, washing her hands in the kitchen. “Can you make a green salad?”

“Sure. Let me just, uh…” He peered down the hall before unceremoniously cracking the eggs into the compost bin. “She’s too short to see in there.”

Beni laughed. “I won’t tell.”

By the time everyone had gathered around the table, Ryan could almost pretend things were normal. Like they used to be. Beni talked enough for three people, filling the room with their trip plans and flight information. It gave him something to focus on besides Jasper. Besides the terrifying possibility that this was his one chance to win him back, and that he could still screw it up. That he would probably screw it up.

“Stevie says we have to be at the airport two hours early,” Beni said.

“Because we do! That’s what the airport website says,” Stevie replied.

“I don’t care what the website says. I’m not getting up at three o’clock in the morning just to have more time to sit before the flight.”