Love Unscripted

“Every time someone yells ‘Honey’ I turn around!”

I asked for it. I was bombarded with repeated “Honeys” from all three of them.

Ryan started our first Thanksgiving di

our legs were resting together.

“Did you guys have fun last night?” Bill asked, passing the bowl of stuffing to me.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Nick was quicker.

“It was all right, up until Ryan’s fans showed up in the suite,” Nick interjected curtly, poking his butter knife at Ryan. “Superstar had to sign his

autograph and pose for pictures and everything with his little girlfriends.” His snide tone was evident. “Ooh, I want a picture. No, pose with me!” Nick

teased in a forced high-pitch voice.

Ryan slapped some mashed potatoes on his plate. The serving spoon clanged loudly when it made contact with the china; the noise made me

flinch. The scowl on Ryan’s face was evident. Instead of Nick being thankful that Ryan provided an entire evening of first class entertainment - free

of charge to him and his wife – he saw the opportunity to give Ryan a cheap shot and took it.

“How the heck did that happen?” Bill questioned. He looked over at Ryan. “I thought you had a private suite?”

Ryan shrugged. “It was a private suite Dad, but there were still eight other ticket holders. One of the girl’s fathers was some senior VP at the

bank that has it rented for the season. She brought friends.”

Bill’s face pulled down in a frown.

“It’s humbling, you know. I mean most actors would kill to have my problems. This is what all actors strive for. A-list movies, A-list parts… not

having to go to audition after audition only to be turned down or passed over. I should count my blessings, after all it is Thanksgiving.” Ryan took a

moment to eat some food.

“Besides, I’m getting used to all of the unwanted attention.” He looked right over at Nick when he said it. “It used to really bother me but I’m

finding that I can just tune it out and ignore it.”

I picked up on his little dig back to his own brother. Sibling rivalry was alive and well right here at this di

“Fleury made some incredible saves last night and Crosby scored two of the three goals,” I said to their father, hoping to break the tension that

was starting to build between the two brothers. Ryan’s left hand slipped over my shoulder and he smiled at me.

“I’ve been a Pens fan all my life and that was the first time I got to see them play live on home ice. I had so much fun! Thank you again for taking

me,” I gushed, hoping Nick would get the message to appreciate his brother.

“Mom, this turkey is really delicious,” Nick complimented. “Everything is really tasty this year.”

“Don’t thank me, thank your brother,” Ellen stated between bites. She paused to chew.

Nick quickly tossed his next jab. “Why? Did Ryan open his fat wallet and hire a professional chef to cook for us this year?”

I noticed Janelle smacked him in the leg under the table. I was wondering if this was Nick’s normal behavior or if he was going above and

beyond to be an asshole.

“No, Nicholas.” Ellen broke out her corrective mother tone. “But your brother did bring Taryn home with him. She’s the one who cooked most of

this delicious food, including the turkey you’re enjoying.”

Ryan set the gravy boat down. “Who knows, Nick. Maybe next year we could have Thanksgiving at my multi-million dollar completely pretentious

house,” Ryan snarled. “I’m sure Taryn will be gracious enough to spend an entire day cooking for my family again. And, by the way, the next time you

feel inclined to dry-hump your ‘Charles’ pillow, imagine ten percent of all the royalties going into your daughter’s trust fund before you get yourself

off. By the time she’s two, she’ll be worth ten times more than you.”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Bill reprimanded, trying to tell his sons to knock it off.

“I’m just teasing him, Dad. I don’t know why the superstar is getting all sensitive,” Nick defended.

Ryan set his di

need some air. I’ll be back.”

“Son, sit back down,” Bill somberly requested, but Ryan didn’t listen. He grabbed his coat and keys and stormed out the kitchen door.

I folded my hands on my lap when I heard the Shelby squeal out of the garage.

“Taryn, I’m sorry,” Nick uttered, trying to sound sincere.

I stared at him for a moment. “Thank you, Nick. But I’m not the one you should be apologizing to.”

“I can’t help it if he can’t take a joke!” Nick laughed uncomfortably, stuffing more food in his mouth like his insults were no big deal.

I sat there in shock. I couldn’t believe how a member of Ryan’s own immediate family, his only brother that he looked up to, could be so callous

and cruel. After all the crap that Ryan has to put up with being an actor, coming home to his family should be a relief for him, not another source of

pain. I looked at their parents before I turned my attention back to Nick. I couldn’t hold my thoughts any longer.

“Before you chastise your brother, Nick, you should know how much he envies you.”

“Envies me?” Nick scoffed.

“Yes, you,” I stated calmly. “You have things in your life that you take for granted every day - freedom, anonymity, privacy, security. Things your

brother no longer has. His success that you tease him about comes at a very steep price, but I thought you knew that already.” I glared at him.

“You also have things he desires - a home, a wife, a child - normalcy. You know what your brother has?” I tilted my head, making sure to hold his

eye contact.

“He has acute paranoia from deranged stalkers and fans coming after him, public humiliation on a global scale when they print lies about him in

forty different languages, negative criticism about everything he tries to do, and constant scrutiny by everyone – even from his big brother that he

adores.” I counted them off on my fingers. “But surely you must know that already. So if you feel inclined to let him know how remorseful you are,

perhaps you should think of that before you apologize.”

Nick looked completely dumbfounded. He was sitting there with his mouth hanging open.

“Would you excuse me, please,” I whispered at Ryan’s mother before rising from the di

grabbed my coat from the closet and called Ryan’s cell.

“Honey, come back for me. I want to go for a ride too. I’ll be waiting outside.”

Chapter 26 - Tests

“Call me once you’re in the limo, okay?” Ryan sighed. “Just so I know you made it home safely.”

I could see the sadness clearly in his expression. It matched my own. We both knew it would be almost three weeks until we saw each other

again, and the last minutes we had together were flying by. He turned his Shelby onto the main road that led into the airport.

“I will.” I sniffed, trying not to cry. I didn’t want to leave but I had to get back to ru

time away with his friends, Matt and Scott, and his brother before leaving for Scotland. The four men were going hunting. He and his brother also

had some making-up to do.

“You know you really didn’t need to do this… Marie or Pete could have picked me up,” I muttered.

“Taryn,” he groaned, looking over at me. “You know why. I don’t like that you’re flying home alone either.”

I stared out my window, thinking that he worried too much. Our stalker was incarcerated and most of the Seaside fans left town once the filming

wrapped. The reasons to be frightened and paranoid were gone.