“Your son… he has a lovely girl here! Look, look, how pretty! Oh, makes my heart happy!” Jimmy patted his chest. “She not like those others.”

He waived a crooked finger in the air. “She’s very nice.”

“Thank you, sir. That’s very kind.” I smiled at him.

“See? She call me sir. No other one call me sir. They all say ‘Jimmy you go away.’ ”

I noticed how Jimmy’s pants seemed to be two sizes too big. The front of his pants puckered where his belt cinched up the extra fabric. He was looking malnourished.

“Jimmy, are you hungry? I have a half of a sandwich here that I didn’t touch. Would you like it?” I handed him the Styrofoam box.

“You give me food?” He looked inside to see the other half of my chicken club wrap and a new bag of chips that I didn’t eat.

I nodded my head. “You put that in your belly. I’m going to take Ryan’s parents in now. They’ve had a long trip.”

“Bless you, Miss Taryn. Bless you!”

I quickly moved my car to the lot and noticed the old, blue Plymouth parked on the opposite corner of Mulberry Street. Angelica was sitting in her car again. Just seeing her, knowing that she was doing nothing with her life other than stalking us, sent a chill of fright down my spine. I hurried down the alley to my back door to flee psycho girl’s view.

“I’m sorry for the disarray, but I’m remodeling. Please come in.” I walked them into the main bar area and turned on the dimmer lights. I turned the billiard room light on too so they could see the entire pub.

Bill walked over to the pool table. “So this is where it happened?” He tapped his fingers on the felt, looking at me for confirmation.

My cheeks suddenly became flushed and a wave of panic coursed through my chest. How much did Ryan share with his father? Did he tell his dad about ripping my panties off and bending me over the pool table? Bill was standing in almost the same exact spot.

I looked at him like a deer caught in headlights.

“Where he met you?” his father continued.

Oh, thank God.

“Yes!” I breathed out. “He came through that door and…” I opened my hands.

“Ryan told us how the girls were chasing him,” Ellen added. She knew I was keeping the details out.

“Speaking of girls…” I walked over to my front door and retrieved today’s pile of love letters. There were at least thirty today.

“You get a lot of mail,” Ellen commented.

“It’s not my mail. These are all for your son. His admirers have started to leave their love notes in my mail slot. They cover my car with letters too.

These girls must think he has a real open-minded girlfriend or something.”

“Let me see, please.” Bill reached for a sample. I willingly handed him the pile.

He tore one of the envelopes open. This one happened to have a picture of a naked girl in it. I could tell by the way his eyes bugged out in his face.

“They know no boundaries,” I muttered. “A few days ago I caught two of them trying to break into my apartment to see him.”

“Ellen, it’s getting worse. We have to talk to him.” His father was very displeased with whatever he saw in the next few envelopes.

I helped carry their luggage upstairs to my apartment. Bill and Ellen appeared amazed when they saw the lovely conditions their son was living in. They showered me with compliments. I had spent extra time cleaning and preparing for their arrival last night to make sure they would be pleased.

“Can I interest you in a glass of wine from one of our wineries?” I took them into the kitchen. His mother’s eyes lit up and a huge smile appeared on her face as she entered. I did have a cool kitchen.

“Taryn, this is magnificent! Bill, look at this stove. I want this stove,” she insisted.

I pulled out a new bottle of Chablis and uncorked it. I was in the mood for white wine. Just then I heard Ryan run up the steps.

Ryan dropped his keys off on the entry table by the door and he had a box under his arm when he came into the kitchen. He hugged his father first since he was still standing. His mom stood up from the table and gave her son a big squeeze and a kiss.

“Oh, it’s so good to see you,” His mother gushed, rocking him back and forth where he stood. It was such a heart-warming reunion.

As soon as she released him, Ryan came over to me and pulled me in for a nice, respectful hello kiss.

“Hi Honey. How’s everyone doing?” He looked around at all of us to make sure we were getting along. His mother told him about the nice restaurant where we had lunch and how she enjoyed the view of the ocean. I poured four glasses of wine and handed them out.

“Taryn, this is delicious,” his father commented, swirling the wine around in his glass.

“Here, check these out.” Ryan handed the box over to me. Inside were all different styles of sunglasses. “Some sunglass company wants me to wear their shades. They sent a whole box for me and my lady.”

I rolled my eyes at him.

“For real! Look at the letter. See! ‘Mr. Christensen, we are honored to provide you with our Fall collection of Sun Jammer Eyewear. We have provided you with styles to suit men as well as a selection of women’s eyewear for your favorite lady.’ See? Favorite lady right there in black type.”

He poked me in the belly on his way to the pantry. Ryan opened the door and removed the bag of chocolate chip cookies.

“Oh no, you have her feeding your fix now?” Ellen scolded.

We took his parents on a tour of the apartment and we put our coats back on to visit the roof patio. Bill and Ellen appeared speechless – up until the point that Ellen stated she wanted to re-do their entire backyard to look like my roof.

I knew Ryan was starving; he was starting to pick at anything he could readily shove in his mouth when we returned to the kitchen. I turned the oven on and pulled out the ingredients I had set aside to make Chicken Cordon Bleu. I pounded the chicken breasts flat while Ryan took down a few layers of the sliced cheese. He was too hungry to be of any use.

“So what do you say, Son? Want to lose to your old man in a game of pool?” His father gave him a nudge.

While the men played downstairs, I prepared dinner. His mother watched over what I was doing.

“I never thought to put that in with the bread crumbs,” she stated. She helped coat the rolled chicken and was amazed by my deviations from the normal recipe. I liked to be creative when I cooked.