I took him for a quick tour of my apartment. “This is the laundry room here and then these are the stairs that lead up to the roof.” He followed me back down the hall to the kitchen.

“Wow, this is a really nice place you have! This kitchen is beautiful! I love the granite countertops and the cherry cabinets. Wine fridge and everything.”

“Thanks. I just had it re-done a few months ago. It used to be a horrible green color with white cabinets. It was really depressing. The bathroom is going to be my next project. Would you like some water?” I pulled glasses out of the cabinet for both of us.

While I was filling our glasses, I mentally questioned why he was so willing to hang out with some girl who just threw up. Surely he had better things to do. But then he did intend to hang out with me all evening anyway to play poker, so I guess it didn’t make a difference to him how he spent those hours. I was just relieved that I had him here with me where he was protected from the insanity.

“Do you want to watch some TV?” he asked while kicking his sneakers off. My insides warmed, knowing he wanted to stay with me. He removed the throw pillow and nestled his body into the corner of the couch. “Here, why don’t you lay down,” he instructed as he placed the pillow next to his leg.

“No, that’s okay. I’m fine.” I sat down on the opposite end of the couch and curled my feet underneath me. I was afraid I might feel nauseous again if I lay down. His lips pulled together and he gave me a disappointed look.

Ryan wiggled his phone out of his pocket to listen to his voice mail. It sounded like he deleted thirty messages. Considering how in-demand he was, I was surprised that he didn’t take any calls while we were fishing. Come to think of it, he hadn’t taken any calls at all while he was with me.

His fingers tapped two more times before he held the phone up to his ear. “Hi Dad,” he said cheerfully. “What are you up to?”

I looked over at him and smiled. I was glad that he was the type of man who thought enough of his parents to call them. Ryan smiled back at me.

It was impossible not to listen to his conversation since he was sitting three feet away but I tried to appear distracted. While he talked, I flipped through the channels looking for something to watch.

“You’ll never guess what I did yesterday and today. I was fishing!”

He told his father all about the lake and the cabin and how relaxed he felt. It secretly delighted me to know he was happy and content.

“Taryn, where’s my bag?”

“They’re still down in the kitchen.”

He slipped out the apartment door and trotted down the steps. When he left, I figured he would have continued his conversation in private, but he just ran downstairs, grabbed our bags, and came back instantly to resume his position on the couch.

“Did you book a flight yet? I have to check my calendar.” He started tapping the screen on his phone.

“Dad, just hang on a second. Okay,” he said while touching through a calendar. “Mom’s birthday is Friday the thirty-first. No, I’m scheduled to be on set. If you fly in Wednesday night then you can stay for the weekend.” It was apparent by his tone that he was looking forward to seeing his parents.

While he talked, I wondered what his parents looked like. Did Ryan look like his mother or did he take after his father? The way he spoke to his dad made it clear that they had a great relationship.

“I have to work on the seventeenth. It’s no big deal. We can celebrate my birthday when I come home for Thanksgiving. Okay, let me talk to mom…”

I looked over at him when he indicated his birthday was coming up, apparently in November since he mentioned Thanksgiving. He’d be turning twenty-seven this year too.

“Hi Mom. How are you? I’m at a friend’s place. Her name is Taryn.” He winked at me. “It’s a long story; I’ll tell you later… because she’s sitting right next to me, Mom. She’s a sweetheart! You are going to love her.”

I thought he might like some privacy and I was kind of hoping he might say more if I wasn’t in the room, so I uncovered my legs quickly and went to the kitchen. I filled my glass up with water and searched through the pantry for something bland to eat. I had just found a box of crackers when Ryan came into the kitchen, still on his phone.

He started to rub his forehead. “It’s getting worse, Mom. I can’t go anywhere.” I didn’t need to hear her questions to know what they were.

I leaned my elbows on the counter and rested my head in my hands. I had a slight headache from being sick and not having any food in my system. The cabinet closest to the refrigerator was where I kept most of my medicine. I found the aspirin but Ryan snatched the bottle right out of my hand.

“You shouldn’t take these now. Mom, Taryn was going to take some aspirin but she shouldn’t take them on an empty stomach.”

I looked at him, puzzled.

“It could upset your stomach even worse,” he said.

“We’ve both been sick, Mom. I think we had food poisoning last night but Taryn still isn’t able to keep anything down. Can she take aspirin on an empty stomach? I didn’t think so.” He smirked.

I dropped my shoulders; I was doomed to deal with the pain. Ryan stepped closer and felt my forehead again. I guess my temperature was acceptable; he opened the box of crackers and tore open a sleeve for me. I was perfectly capable of opening the cracker box, but at the same time I loved that he was taking care of me. And here I thought that he was the one who needed taking care of.

“My mom says you should try and eat some toast and we should drink lots of water.” He swept my hair off my shoulder with his finger, gazing at me again. “I’m sure you’ll get to meet her when you visit, Mom.” He smiled, appearing so happy. “I’ll tell you all about her… later,” he whispered.

Toast sounded good, but hearing him telling his mother that we’d get to meet each other one day completely stunned me.

“All right Mom, I love you too. I’ll call you later tonight.” He ended his call and popped a cracker in his mouth.

“Do you have a toaster?”

I opened the lower cabinet where it was stored.

“Why don’t you go relax? I’ve got this.” Ryan took hold of my shoulders and guided me towards the hall. I smiled on my way back to my living room. I could not believe that Ryan wanted to make toast for me. My heart suddenly felt very full.

“So what do your parents think of all this attention you’ve been getting?” I asked while we both munched on toast out on the couch.