Charles
See you then.
Tad would have typed something like “cu” but he couldn’t bring himself to text in anything but full sentences.
About an hour later, when he was beginning to get worried, his phone rang, and it was Ryder.
“Uh, they—the security dude? He doesn’t seem to think I belong here, and your mini-strone is getting cold.”
Hadn’t he walked by with Ryder half a dozen times? Had they not seen Ryder leaving the building a couple of hours ago? “Is that Leonard? May I speak with him, please?”
“Surely. Are you Leonard? Mr. Martin would like to speak to you.”
“Apologies if I’ve made a mistake, Mr. Martin, but?—”
“It’s fine, Leonard. That’s Mr. Vales, my personal assistant. Ryder Vales. Make a note, please? He needs to come and go freely. I’m sure if you ask, you’ll find I’ve given him a key to my apartment.”
He heard the tinkling of a key on a chain, and he could see that bland look on Ryder’s face as clear as if he were down there.
“Ah. Yes, sir. I will put Mr. Uh?—”
“Vales. Ryder Vales,” he replied just as dryly.
“Mr. Vales. Thank you, sir.”
“Thank you, Leonard. Have a wonderful day.”
He really shouldn’t pick on Leonard, but he wasn’t sure what was really going on, and he intended for security to treat Ryder with respect.
“Good deal. I’m heading up.” There was a wealth of amusement in those few words.
“See you soon,” He chuckled outright, just because he could. Also, he was pleased with himself for thinking up a way to reward Ryder for his work and also learn a little more about the man at the same time.
There was a sharp knock at the door. “You close enough to let me in? I’m teetering!”
“I am! Hold on.” He hopped up and hurried to the door to open it. “Tea-tering? Hm? Very clever.”
“I’m a smart dog.” There was tea, soup, bags from a handful of shops—was that a huge baguette? Goodness.
“Oh. Here, let me help.” He took his tea and some of the packages and set them down. “It appears you had a busy morning. I apologize for Leonard.”
“It’s no big thing. I didn’t have on my good hat, just my cap.” Ryder started unpacking bags, putting out croissants, a baguette, some sort of butter and honey, a quart of soup, cheese. Then there were a couple of bags with different trinkets and T-shirts that Ryder put aside. “Here’s your receipts for the soup and the rest of the food.”
“Thank you.” He didn’t need receipts; he trusted Ryder, but the cowboy brought them dutifully every time he spent any money. He’d given up saying he didn’t need them. “The soup smells good. Where did you find it?”
“This deli down the street. It smelled good and had nice bread, and the man there had a good smile.” Ryder gathered up his bags. “I’ll get these out of the way.”
“Souvenirs?” He had to ask before Ryder whisked them all away.
“Yes, sir. For my brothers and folks, plus a couple friends. My baby brothers have never been here.”
The baby brothers must be the other set of twins he saw in that picture. He couldn’t ask, of course, because Ryder would know instantly that he’d been snooping on the internet. But now felt like a good time to hatch his little surprise. “Will your brother be riding in Connecticut?”
There went that head-tilt again. It was a sweet little tell. “He is. He’s riding good this year. He’s in the top ten.”
There were a number of ways to ask his next question, and Charles quickly weighed them, setting on one that would make it clear that he wanted to go, and that it wasn’t just a favor, or worse, meddling. “Would you be interested in taking me to see the rodeo?”
Tilt.