“She must have had a stroke in bed last night. Gary’s dad couldn’t wake her. And we just saw them a few weeks ago.”

“How’s Gary?”

“He’s a mess.” She sniffed. “First time I’ve ever seen him cry. He’s already called off work and well, it’s the other reason I’m calling. Please

don’t be mad…” she pleaded, “but he got us tickets to fly to Tampa tomorrow. He wants to be there – help make arrangements with his dad. We’re

flying out at eight twenty in the morning.”

“No, I completely understand. Don’t worry at all.”

“Tar, we’re going to be gone for a couple of days. I don’t think we’ll be back until Monday or Tuesday. I hate to do this to you.”

“Marie, don’t worry about it. Family is first, always first. Is there anything I can do? Do you need anything?”

“No. Just your understanding and love, that’s all we need. I really hate this. I know you wanted to spend the weekend with his family; I feel like I’m

sticking you. I feel horrible. I’m so sorry.”

“Marie! Please! It’s okay! I’ll figure something out. Just give Gary and his family our condolences.”

I turned the washing machine on and added the soap. Shit. What was I going to do now? I had just unloaded the dryer when my phone rang

again. All of a sudden I was popular.

“Hi Pete,” I answered glumly.

“You okay?” Pete asked.

“Yeah. No. I just got off the phone with Marie. Gary’s mom passed away this morning.”

After a few minutes of filling him in on what little information I had he got to the reason for his call. He had calculated the cost of the materials to

do the stairwell remodel. The steel door alone was several hundred combined with drywall and wood studs came to almost two thousand dollars.

That didn’t include his labor.

Pete figured once he got the work permit Thursday morning he could start later that day, but it would be loud with all the banging and he’d have

to cut through the brick wall to make the new outside door.

“I can start the demo of the drywall tonight and get that out of the way. Tammy is going to be busy making food for a luncheon she’s catering

tomorrow anyway. Oh, and before I forget to tell you, she booked a party for Saturday, so she can’t work Friday and Saturday nights,” he said.

That put the icing on my cake. I was hoping that Tammy would be able to lend a hand to manage the crowd but now that option was gone too.

I snapped my phone shut and sat for a while. I couldn’t handle the crowds on my own. I was already looking forward to a weekend off with Ryan

and his parents. Ryan had just made diner reservations for Friday. His parents already cancelled their hotel stay. Damn.

I let out a big sigh. I couldn’t cancel on Ryan nor jeopardize meeting his parents for the first time. I wandered around the apartment, trying to

figure out what to do.

I was leaning on the washing machine when I thought I heard someone scream, instantly grabbing my attention.

“No freaking way,” I groaned, looking out my front window. I could clearly see the line of girls forming on my sidewalk. They were waiting for me

to open, and it was obvious that they weren’t here to drink. The line was so long, there must have been forty or more of them.

I hurried down my steps to get a better look at the situation. I peeked through the blinds, shocked at what I saw. Girls were leaning on my walls;

some were sitting on the sidewalk. I looked in the other direction to confirm that the line started at my door. Un-freaking believable!

Right then I made my final decision. I walked to the kitchen to get a piece of cardboard. In my office, I grabbed a fat, black magic marker and

wrote in big letters:

I could hear the anger from the waiting crowd when I put the sign in my window. They certainly left me know how they felt about it, but I ignored

them and went back upstairs. I had phone calls to make and bands to cancel. There went my Halloween weekend income.

“I’m on my way,” Ryan said when he called from his car. “How’s the crowd? Everything all right there?”

“There is no crowd. Most of the girls left after I put the closed sign in the window, although a couple of them pounded on my door,” I sighed.

“Closed? Taryn, what’s-”

“I had no choice,” I muttered. “Gary’s mom died this morning. He and Marie are leaving for Tampa tomorrow morning to be with his dad. Marie

is staying home with him tonight; he is pretty distraught.”

“Jeez, why didn’t you call me?”

“For what, Ryan? To give you bad news while you’re having a stressful day as so as it is? I figured I’d fill you in when you got here.”

“What about Cory? Isn’t he supposed to work tonight?”

“I cancelled him. I cancelled the bands I had scheduled to play this weekend too. Actually I’ve been on the phone most of the afternoon it seems.

Oh and Pete called. He’s coming here tonight to start tearing down the drywall on the steps. That was another reason – Tammy has catering jobs

this weekend so she can’t work either.”

“We just turned into the alley. I guess I get to try out my new keys. I’ll see you in a minute.”

A few minutes later he sprinted up the steps and through the apartment door. “Tar?” he yelled down the hallway.

“Kitchen.”

“Hey you.” Ryan hugged and kissed me. “Are you okay?” His fingers drifted down my cheek.

“Yeah, just a bit out of sorts I guess.” He kissed my forehead when I looked down at his feet.

“I’m sorry you had a crappy day.” Ryan hugged me so tightly it kind of hurt.

Deep inside I was marveling that he actually cared what kind of day I had. He was the first in my history of dating for that emotion.

He sniffed the air. “What smells so good?”

“Pork chops?” I pointed a finger at the glass dish that I just took out of the oven. “Pete is on his way; I figured I’d make him some supper too,

since Tammy is busy baking for tomorrow.”

“Tar, what’s wrong? I can tell you’re sad.”

“I’m thinking about Gary. I just have a lot on my mind.” I set out three dinner plates on the kitchen table, trying to suppress the memory of my own

mother’s funeral by trying to figure out what account I was going to move money from to cover Pete’s costs.

Ryan filled three glasses with ice and water. “Did Pete call you with an estimate today?”

“Yeah.”

“And?” He sounded perturbed.

“He said two grand for the materials; that didn’t include his labor.”

“That’s not bad. I thought it would be more.”

Easy for him to say... I was trying to figure out how I was going to manage taking a thirteen thousand dollar hit this weekend. If I put off the

stairwell remodel, then I’ll only be down ten thousand in income, minus having to pay for two bands that weren’t going to play. It made me edgy to

lose that much income from the bar. Halloween was one of my biggest cash nights.

Pete was starving. “That was delicious Taryn!” he complimented. He scraped his plate with his fork. “I’ve forgotten what it’s like to eat homecooked

meals. Tammy only cooks for other people now.”

“It was delicious. Thanks for cooking, Honey.” Ryan smiled and gave me a quick kiss. He put his dirty plate in the sink and rinsed it off. “Are you

ready to tear down some drywall, Pete?”

“What? You helping?”

“Hell yeah! I’m hoping you have an extra sledge hammer ‘cause I have some pent-up Suzanne aggression to get rid of. Oh, and before I

forget...”

Ryan trotted back to the bedroom and returned with his checkbook. He dug in the junk drawer for a pen.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Writing Pete a check.”

“For what?”

“The renovations.” He looked at me like I was missing the obvious.

“No, I can’t let you do that,” I stated directly. “My building… it’s my responsibility.”

“Who said anything about you paying for it? I’m paying Pete.” He wrinkled his nose at me.