Love Unscripted

“We give it a chance,” I whispered his line back to him.

Chapter 35 – Answers

“My arm feels strange,” I muttered, rubbing my hand over the skin on my left arm for the first time in six weeks. “It looks smaller too.” I pulled my

shirt and coat sleeve back down to stifle the chill I got from the cold weather.

Marie took her eyes off the road for a second and smiled at me.

After the nightmarish last few days, I was finally able to start seeing things clearly.

“So tell me – how did you know where Ryan was pla

answering. Marie had been very careful with her answers last night, skirting around subjects and giving me cryptic replies.

She was quiet for a moment. I could tell she was thinking about what to say before she said it.

“Ryan told me so we’d cover the bar while you were gone,” she replied easily.

“Oh.” I nodded.

Her reply seemed almost rehearsed. I sensed there was more to it than what she was willing to share, so, while we were on the subject, I tossed

out my next question.

“And how did you and Tammy know about the evening gowns?” I stared at her while she drove.

She sighed heavily. “Ryan asked me to verify your shoe size because he wasn’t sure if you wore a seven or a seven and a half. Considering

how banged up you were, he wanted you to feel glamorous on your birthday.”

Marie nudged me in the leg. “Do you have any idea how freaking lucky you are?”

I thought about her statement. Several reasons for me to feel lucky came to mind. First and foremost was the fact that the SUV didn’t kill me.

She glanced over when I didn’t answer.

“Do you know what Gary got me for my birthday?”

“I know he took you to di

“That was for our wedding a

for my car. I got a cheeseburger and an air filter, Taryn!”

“Did he at least change your oil too?” I teased.

“No! And it took him almost two weeks to put the damn filter in my car!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her.

“I tell ya, that Ryan Christensen is one hell of a romantic guy," Marie blurted, but then, very suddenly, she appeared to have said too much.

“What do you mean – romantic?” I asked, hoping she’d explain her interpretation of the word.

“Nah,” she muttered. “Just the dresses and stuff.”

I felt terrible – Ryan never got to see his pla

reasons not to share them.

“I really blew it, huh?” I muttered the obvious.

Marie shrugged and shook her head. “If you would have only stayed in his suite for fifteen more minutes.”

“Oh, now what?” I groaned, wondering what else I screwed up.

“You don’t want to know,” she dismissed.

She glanced over at me quickly, observing my “just tell me already before I kill you” facial expression.

“Masseuse, makeup artist, hair stylist… Ryan hired a team to pamper you,” Marie uttered.

“Oh… fuck…” The word slipped through my lips.

“Yep!” Marie concurred. “Taryn, if you want a marriage to survive, you have to be willing to fight for it,” she counseled.

“I think I’ve learned my lesson,” I admitted. “Marie, you know I’ve been really worried. After the accident and with losing the baby, I knew he was

blaming himself. Part of me still wonders how long we’ll last before he moves on to a relationship that doesn’t cause him pain.”

Marie rolled her eyes and groaned.

“I wish I could be so sure about things as you all appear to be,” I defended my current level of insecurity.

“If you only knew,” she muttered under her breath.

“Okay! What the hell is that supposed to mean? I heard you mumble over there, so tell me already. What is it that I obviously don’t know?”

“Come on, lady! Gas is on the right!” Marie complained about the slow car in front of us.

“Marie!” I shouted.

“What?” she shouted back at me.

“Thirteen years we’ve been best friends. Thirteen!”

Marie’s phone chimed, saving her from having to answer my question.

“Hey, what’s up?” she said happily.

“I’m telling you, Ryan, I’m willing to bet she told Kyle about your di

Taryn; she ran into the store for bread.” Marie covered her lips with her finger so I’d stay quiet.

“She just had her cast cut off at the doctor’s and now I’m going to take her for a new cell phone.”

Marie held the phone away from her ear again. Ryan was apparently upset about something.

“Sorry! I didn’t know this required a security escort! Okay, okay…” she said sarcastically. “I’ll make sure she calls that big refrigerator-sized

Jamaal guy from now on. But it’s too late now - we’re already out. You know she won’t go for that. Fine. Fine! I’ll see what I can do. Okay! Jeez!”

Marie dropped her cell phone back in her purse. “He can be a real pain in the ass sometimes,” she mumbled.

Things were not making sense to me. Why would Kyle get pissed if Ryan took me out to di

restaurant, which of course he would have, why would that set Kyle off?

“Marie - what the hell is going on?” I said in a tone demanding an explanation.

She took a deep breath. She was silent for a long time before she answered. “Kyle was poking his nose around down in Florida.”

“I know that,” I admitted.

“Well, the part you probably don’t know is that Kyle told a few people that you asked him to go down there. Word got back to Ryan that you sent

Kyle to see if Ryan was cheating on you.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I groaned and rubbed my face. “You know I didn’t do that, right? I swear I had nothing to do with him being there.”

“I know. Ryan and I had a long talk about it too,” she admitted. “Mike checked with his boss at Protection Services. Kyle was reassigned

immediately, but instead of going on the new assignment he took two weeks of personal vacation time. That’s when he stayed in Florida. Kyle knew

you were coming.”

“I can’t believe Kyle would do all of this! What did he think? That I wouldn’t find out?” I shouted. “How convenient that he was in the airport at the

right time. He was probably following me.”

“Ryan said he saw Kyle going in and out of Lauren’s trailer a lot. I wonder if she was doing him?” Marie mused.

“No wonder Ryan was so mad the other day when I talked to him… Kyle was going after all of his women.” Anxiety started to take me down

again. “Marie, you know what… just take me home, please.”

“No, I’m taking you for a new phone. You and Ryan need to keep in touch and work this out,” she stated emphatically.

“Why? I haven’t spoken to him since last night. You’ve talked to him more than I have. You keep saying stuff to me about marriage, heck, I’ll be

lucky if this relationship lasts another week.”

“That’s it! I’ve had enough of your negativity. God! Arg!” she groaned at me. “And you wonder why I slapped you last night. I want to slap you

again right now! Taryn, just TRUST me!” she shouted as she turned the car ignition off.

“When we go in there I think you should get a log of all the calls made to your number. We’re going to find out just who the hell called you that

day in Florida,” Marie said as we walked towards the store. “Oh, and Ryan asked me to try and convince you to use his credit card to pay for the

new cell. He wants to replace it for you.”

I huffed as I opened the door. “I don’t think so.”

“Don’t fight it. You need to get used to spending your husband’s millions,” Marie kidded me.