“Taryn, please don’t argue with me.” He looked back at his checkbook and continued writing.

“Pete, I’d appreciate if you would contact the security company and get a separate system added to the new doors. I’d like a sensor put on the roof door as well.”

“Okay, will do.” I presumed Pete could see the tension growing in the kitchen. He pulled the keys from his pocket. “I’m going to go get my tools.

I’ll see you downstairs.”

Frustration coated with anger started to well up inside me as I washed the dishes. Ryan stood behind me, placing his hands on the edge of the sink counter to keep me in place.

“I know you’re pissed at me,” he whispered in my ear. “But if I wasn’t here with you this fix wouldn’t be happening. It’s because of me that we’re doing this. And when I’m not here, I want to know that you’re safe. So please try not to be mad at me for long.” He nuzzled his face next to mine.

“Besides, I still owe you for the chocolate chip cookies.” He swept my hair to the side. “And the card you got for my mom… and all of the other stuff you bought for me.” He drifted his lips down my neck.

“And the cake I see you’re going to bake since all of the ingredients are laying out on the counter. I’m guessing that’s for my mom?” Ryan wrapped his arms around me. “I take care of you, you take care of me. That was the deal you signed last night.”

I leaned back on him and turned my head to look up into his eyes.

“I love you,” he said, softly kissing my lips before departing for the door.

An hour had gone by and after I took the cake out of the oven, I went to check on the guys to see how much progress they had made. The hammering had stopped so I presumed they were finished with the demolition.

I could not believe how different the view was from the top landing with one of the stairwell walls removed. Sandwiched between the layers of drywall was an old layer of plaster and thin strips of wood. I picked at a loose piece of drywall that hung from the corner, trying to even out the jagged line they had made at the top of the landing.

“Taryn amazes me,” I heard Ryan say. My body became rigid after hearing my name mentioned. I held my breath in my lungs so I wouldn’t make a sound.

“I can’t believe how obstinate she gets when I offer to do anything nice for her. I bought her earrings, but she refuses to wear them. She said I spent too much money. I guess I have to take them back to the jewelry store.” Ryan sighed. “I thought it was genetically impossible for women to turn down jewelry, but not her.”

“She’s one of a kind. But then again, I think you already know that,” Pete replied.

“I’ve never met anyone like her. First girl I’ve gone out with that hasn’t wanted anything from me. I’m not quite sure how to react. Has she always been like this?”

“Yeah,” Pete answered him. “As long as I’ve known her, she’s always been a giver, not a taker. Taryn has helped us out so many times over the years; that’s why I’m here whenever she needs me. I could do something nice for her every day and it wouldn’t be enough.”

Pete laughed lightly. “Just like tonight. I come here to try and do some work, pay her back somehow, and yet she’s up there cooking dinner to make sure we’re taken care of. And it’s not just me now - I’m talking about you too. She’d go out of her mind if you didn’t get a hot meal in your stomach.”

“I want to take care of her, believe me. But she fights me when I try. I’m not sure what to do.” Ryan sounded defeated.

“Here,” Pete said. I heard the hiss of a cap being twisted off a bottle of beer.

“I don’t know what to tell ya, Ryan. She just needs to be loved. You know, real love. She was hurt really bad a few months ago; I thought she’d never let another man touch her again.”

“What do you mean? What happened?”

“Ahh, don’t say anything to Taryn, but she was dating this guy… I couldn’t stand him actually,” Pete admitted. “He was an asshole. I used to think she put up with his crap because it took her mind off of dealing with the pain of losing her pop... I don’t know.

“We all suspected he was cheating on her, but when she’d confront him about it he’d always have an excuse. Then he’d turn it around on her, making her feel like shit for even saying something.

“I thought she had just about enough of him, and then one day out of the blue the son-of-a-bitch has an epiphany; tells her he loves her and wants to marry her – even got her a piece of shit ring.”

“Then what happened?” Ryan whispered.

I heard Pete clear his throat. He had lowered his voice to the point that it was almost hard to hear him. “She went over to his apartment one afternoon and caught him in bed screwing some girl. That was that. She finally saw it with her own eyes. Took all that I had within me not to go over there and crush his fucking skull.”

“She said something about some guy and how one woman wasn’t enough. Now I understand. She never told me she was engaged though.”

“Does it matter?” Pete questioned him.

“No. Not one bit. I just don’t know why she didn’t mention it to me.”

“Well, it’s pretty obvious to me. You’re not just some guy, Ryan! You’ve got girls lining up all around the world for you. You don’t think something like that isn’t going to make whatever girl you’re with a bit insecure?

“Taryn is up there just hanging on by a thread, waiting for you to bolt the minute you find someone else. Tell you the truth, we’re all kind of preparing for that day.”

“I can tell you that that isn’t gonna happen. That woman up there is mine. I’m never going to let her go. In my mind, there is no one else,” Ryan declared.

I felt a slight rush in my chest and gasped from hearing him say that.

“Well, I hope what you say is true. I mean you’ve only known her for a couple of weeks,” Pete stressed, a hint of doubt etched his voice.

I heard a glass bottle clink on the counter.

“You want to know why she’s fighting you?” Pete asked somewhat harshly. “Because she is smart enough to know that the day will come when you’re not here every day. You’ve got more opportunities than most men could ever dream of to meet women. You don’t even have to try to get laid - there’s a whole selection waiting and willing right out there on her sidewalk!