Ryatt (Hathaway House Book 18) Read online

  Ryatt

  Hathaway House, Book 18

  Dale Mayer

  Books in This Series:

  Aaron, Book 1

  Brock, Book 2

  Cole, Book 3

  Denton, Book 4

  Elliot, Book 5

  Finn, Book 6

  Gregory, Book 7

  Heath, Book 8

  Iain, Book 9

  Jaden, Book 10

  Keith, Book 11

  Lance, Book 12

  Melissa, Book 13

  Nash, Book 14

  Owen, Book 15

  Percy, Book 16

  Quinton, Book 17

  Ryatt, Book 18

  Spencer, Book 19

  Hathaway House, Books 1–3

  Hathaway House, Books 4–6

  Hathaway House, Books 7–9

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  About This Book

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Epilogue

  About Spencer

  Author’s Note

  Complimentary Download

  About the Author

  Copyright Page

  About This Book

  Welcome to Hathaway House. Rehab Center. Safe Haven. Second chance at life and love.

  After a rough start at Hathaway House and a major reboot in attitude, Ryatt still struggles to get his feet under him at the center. Seeing his sister back here hit him harder than he expected. He would like to think that, once here, he had a free pass for the rest of his life—but apparently not. Now he needs to see real progress, everlasting change, to make that future for himself that he’s rather desperate to have.

  Lana always looked at life with a happy, fun-loving attitude. She loves working at Hathaway and interacting with the patients and staff. It’s heartwarming and rewarding work. Every once in a while she finds a patient who is reticent and even grumpy. That fits Ryatt, but she’s attracted to the dark broken depths of him.

  But can she show him another way to live and to view the world? She hopes so, as he’s already helped her to see so much more in her own.

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  Prologue

  Ryatt stared at his sister. “Seriously? You’re getting married?”

  More change and mixed feelings slammed into him. But Quinton deserved this, and he was so happy for her. “I’m really delighted.” he said. “Yeah, it kind of shook me there for a moment. You know how I feel about change and all, but this is a good change. The family needs to grow, and this is something that I think would be really good for you. He obviously adores you.”

  She laughed. “I don’t know how that came to be, but, yes, I think you’re right.”

  “No thinking about it. That man is unbelievably hooked.”

  She smiled. “Well, it’s nice to know,” she murmured. “He’s a very special man.”

  “And I agree. Absolutely I would love to be part of your wedding,” he told her. “Don’t make it too soon, and I might even manage to walk down the aisle.”

  “I’m not making it too soon,” she agreed, “because you can bet I’m gonna walk down it too.”

  He laughed at that. “Well, now we have goals,” he stated. “I’m seriously delighted for you.”

  And, when she took off, a beaming smile took over his face. He sank down onto the bed, stunned at the turn of events. He didn’t even know why he was so shocked. It was obvious that the two of them were meant for each other; maybe it was just the speed of it that shook him. And, of course, he’d just said goodbye to somebody in his life—somebody he really had no business even hanging on to—and here his sister was now making more change happening.

  Ryatt wasn’t very good with change; he knew that. He was working on it, but he wasn’t there yet. However, he would get there. He definitely would get there. When a knock came on his doorframe, he looked up to see a small redhead, her single braid hanging down the front of her shirt. He smiled and asked, “Hi, what can I do for you?”

  “Well, if you’re up for it, I have paperwork for you to sign.”

  That was not what he wanted. He glared at her. “Great way to ruin the day.”

  She shrugged. “Yet it needs to be done. And I promise, afterward, I’ll get out of your hair.”

  Pinching the bridge of his nose, he tried to convince himself that it wasn’t her fault that his joy over his sister’s upcoming nuptials were now a distant memory, and that reality was hitting him with a bite. “What is the paperwork for?”

  “You asked for a transfer, I believe.” Her tone was innocent, but a wary look filled her gaze. She set the paperwork on the small table at his side. “I’ll leave these with you. When you’re done, you can contact anyone in the office or bring them down yourself.” And she quickly backed up to the door.

  “I’m not transferring,” he snapped, and his tone brooked no argument. “Yeah, I was pissed. Yeah, I was in an ugly mood, but I wasn’t serious.”

  She stared at him, nodded, and whispered, “Got it. I’ll let Dani know.” And, with that, she disappeared.

  Ryatt swore at his unruly bad temper, his lack of patience, and the situation that had stretched his new sense of calm to morph him into an angry bear.

  Dani had called his bluff.

  Good for her but not for him. He’d have to fix this.

  And fast.

  Chapter 1

  Days later, after profusely apologizing to Dani, again, Ryatt Metzner settled back onto his bed. He’d been at Hathaway House for two months now, maybe even longer; he’d lost track of time. And, ever since his arrival, Ryatt had been lashing out. That reaction to the changes in his life had only been exacerbated when his sister fell here, on the way to visit him, and subsequent medical tests had revealed a host of recurring medical problems for Quinton.

  Her becoming a repeat patient here—out of the blue, as it seemed to Ryatt—added to his angst, as if he’d lost his way. He was finding it again, at least he hoped he was, but it seemed almost impossible to understand what had gone on and why he’d been so difficult. One part of it was hating change. The other part was not seeing a future for himself, especially after he was here in a position to heal and then suffering a mental setback when Quinton’s visit required further rehab for her. It had been heartbreaking.

  Yet it had also put him more or less back on track again. At least he hoped so. As he stood on his crutches, here in his room, staring out the window, a knock came at his door.

  “Come in,” he called out. As he turned, he saw one of the staff members, and he was pretty sure that he had sent her away in tears one day recently.

  She stared hesitantly, looking at him.

  “Hi.” He smiled. “I’ll try not to bite off your head today.”

  She flushed. “Hey, I should be used to it, but I get it. You were having a bad day.”

  “I was,” he admitted. “Been having a lot of bad days since I got here. Still no excuse for making you pay the penalty.”

  “And I’d appreciate it if doesn’t happen again,” she noted. “I did go home at the end of my day feeling as if I’d pretty well ruined everything in your world.”

  “No, you had nothing to do with it.” He again smiled tentatively. “I was an absolute jerk, and I’m so sorry.”

  She nodded. “Apology accepted. Now I’m here on Dani’s request.”

  “Did she have to bribe you to come back here?”

  At that, she burst out laughing. “Not so much. … You do have a bad rep though.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said instantly. “I think it’s taken my sister’s presence here to see the error of my ways.”

  She frowned, staring at him. “Your sister’s here?”

  He raised both eyebrows. “And here I thought everybody knew and thought everyone had already gossiped about us.”

  “I don’t know anything about it.” She frowned still. “I’ve been off for a few days though.”

  “It certainly didn’t happen just over the last few days, but maybe not everybody cares.”

  She laughed. “Most of us have dealt with some pretty cranky patients over time, so I’m pretty sure a lot of it’s been forgotten.”

  “Maybe,” he muttered. “I don’t even know how often I’ve seen you.”

  “Quite a bit,” she replied cheerfully. “It breaks my heart you didn’t remember.” However, her bright smile belied her words.

  He smirked, shaking his head. “Most people think I’m memorable, and for all the wrong reasons.”

  “Now you have a chance to change that,” she stated firmly.

  He nodded absentmindedly. “If I care, that is.”

  “You should care.”

  He tilted his head. “Why?” he asked. “When I leave here, nobody will remember me. Or, if they do, it will be for more of the wrong reasons.”

  “Is that how you want to be remembered?” she asked curiously. “I mean, if tomorrow were to be the last day of your life, is that how you’d want others to remember you?”

  “No.” He stared at her. “And I’ll hardly spend every day as if it were my last.”

  “And yet that’s what they tell us to do.” She gave him an odd smile. �
�Make every day, … live every day as if it were your last because you never really know. It could be.”

  “That’s kind of a maudlin way to go through life,” he noted. She looked young for such an attitude.

  “Maybe.” She shrugged. “Something my mother always tried to teach me. Of course I failed.”

  “You failed because it’s a depressing thing to remember.”

  “And that could be true,” she agreed. “Admittedly that could be true. I don’t know. I don’t have all the answers.”

  “Why did she tell you that?”

  “Because she was dying of breast cancer. Yet she struggled, and she fought, and she did the best she could to survive. Still, I think it was a battle that she knew, right from the beginning, that she couldn’t win. So she finally gave in. And I say, gave in, in an odd way, because obviously she didn’t give in-give in. Cancer was just one of those things that she could no longer fight against. Her body was decaying faster than she could do anything about it.” A lopsided smile peeked out. “It always made me feel bad to see somebody so beautiful and so, … so gifted being taken from us in such a senseless way.”

  “I think breast cancer is one of the worst diseases in the world.” He shook his head, wondering at her sense of calm. “And I’m so sorry for you.”

  She shook her head. “Don’t be, because one of the things that I did get to do was watch her go through some of the most courageous months of her life, with a grace that I know I could never even possibly equal. She was incredibly beautiful right up to the end. No, not outside of course. Her body had completely succumbed to the disease, but the person she was inside was just so beautiful that, if I hadn’t had that experience, I don’t know that I would be as good a person as I am today.”

  He continued to stare at her.

  She brushed imaginary lint off her pants. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get maudlin.”

  “It’s not even maudlin, but it’s an interesting take on life. Most people aren’t grateful for the horrible experiences or even realize the growth potential therein because they became a better person through it.”

  She nodded. “I think more people would benefit by taking another look at why this happens in their life and how they can learn from it, or maybe that’s just my marketing background kicking in.” She shrugged.

  “From marketing to Hathaway House? How did that happen?”

  “Market downturn. Layoffs. But that’s not why I came to see you.”

  “Yeah, you never did really tell me why you are here. So, why did Dani send you?”

  “Because I’m going on a shopping trip into town tomorrow. Do you need any personal supplies?”

  He frowned, as he looked around. “I don’t really require much. I’m okay to use whatever is available.”

  She nodded. “But some people want, you know, chocolate bars or a particular brand of licorice or puzzles or something to work on.”

  “Oh,” he replied, surprised. “I never even considered that.”

  She shrugged. “If you think of anything, you can always call me.”

  “And how would I call you?” he asked curiously.

  She flushed. “See? I keep forgetting that, even though you’ve been here for a few weeks, maybe you’re not aware of how all the systems work.”

  “I can tell you that I’m definitely not aware of how the systems work, and I’ve been here for a couple months so far. I’m still finding my way in so many areas.”

  “Got it.” She walked over to his tablet, brought it up, and pointed. “These are all the admins. If you need anything from any of us, you just contact us this way.” She showed him a messaging system. Then tapped her picture. “That’s me. I’m Lana.”

  He nodded. “Cool, I didn’t know about that.”

  She smiled. “There. That’s my good deed for the day.” And she dashed off.

  Lana wondered about Ryatt. He’d definitely changed. Weeks ago she’d been warned, when she had to deal with him, that he had not adapted and was one of their crankiest patients. He’d certainly lived up to his name, as he’d been angry and turning his immeasurable pain and anguish against anybody who came around him. She hadn’t had the same issue necessarily, but, as she wasn’t somebody who was here all the time, it made her job of popping in and popping out that much easier. Yet he was definitely nicer now.

  As she walked back to her desk, Dani asked, “Do you have a grocery list for tomorrow?”

  “I do. Plus I just stopped in and talked to Ryatt to see if he needed or wanted anything.”

  “And?” Dani asked, with interest.

  Lana shook her head. “He said he’s fine to use whatever and doesn’t have any specific personal needs. Although he did seem surprised when I mentioned things, like puzzles and, you know, specific brands of licorice.”

  “How was he?”

  “A very different person than I met originally.” She flashed a grin. “In the week that I’ve been off, he seems to have improved quite a bit.”

  “Since his sister came around.” Dani nodded. “I don’t know if you know much about her, but Quinton is one of our newer patients here. She’s a former patient who’s back again.”

  “How does that work?” Lana murmured.

  “For Quinton, it’s a good thing, but, for her brother, I think it was a better thing.” And she quickly explained about how Quinton fell here, while on the way to visit her brother.

  “Ouch, that must have been hard to face that all again. Even harder to come back here, knowing how much is required to rehab. It must have seemed like going backward.”

  “And I think that’s the good thing—in the sense that her brother may have had a wake-up call, realizing that, just because he’ll do whatever he can do here, it still may not be enough.”

  “Interesting, but at least he’s seen the light in some ways.” Lana shrugged. “I know he seemed to be more thoughtful, as if thinking deeply about life.”

  “The more pondering he does is better for us all.” Dani smiled. “So good. I’m glad you went and talked to him.”

  Chapter 2

  Lana quite liked Ryatt. It had been tough hearing him so angry and so upset days before. But then she’d understood it because people reacted differently to the same set of problems. Before her mother had found a way to be graceful under her circumstances, she had also railed at life. Lana’s father, on the other hand, had been a whole different story. He had railed and railed and railed. Even when Lana wasn’t around, he kept it up.

  It had been tough, watching him come apart at the seams, not dealing with his grief of losing his wife. It had been hard for all who loved them because they could do nothing for him or for her mother. Even now it was something that he didn’t handle well, and it had been years since her mother had passed away. Friends and family had expected him to make at least some attempt to pick up and to move his life forward, but he hadn’t. And that had been even harder to watch.

  How did any parent expect their children to move on if the parents themselves couldn’t? And yet that was something that she knew her dad wasn’t capable of doing, at least not yet. At one point in time she had hoped it would happen, but she also had to understand where he was coming from and let it go. He was a good man, and she had worked hard to find patience and tolerance and sympathy and empathy.

  But it was also hard when he didn’t seem to understand that Lana also suffered in the loss of her mother and needed her father’s support as well. She’d finally sought some professional help for her own grief and had come to the realization that her father would deal with his grief in his own time. All she could do was be there in a supporting role for him for as long as he needed.

  Yet even her therapist reminded Lana that there was a difference between a supporting role and an enabling one.

  As she worked away at her desk, she got a text message from Ryatt.

  You mentioned licorice …

  She picked up the phone and called him on her cell.

  As soon as he answered, he asked, “Oh, we can call?”

  She laughed. “You can do pretty much anything you want—as long as it’s within reason and you don’t hurt anybody.”

  “I knew there would be a catch somewhere,” he replied, with a note of humor.

  She laughed. “So what kind of licorice?”