Free Rydin' the Storm Out by Pj Fiala Page A

we work them out now.”
    “No, I’m good. I was just surprised that Molly was here yesterday. I didn’t know she was coming.”
    “Well, if you don’t fucking call her, you aren’t going to know what she’s doing and where she is, are you?” Gunnar sniped at him.
    Gunnar didn’t understand Ryder. He loved his brother with his whole heart, but he didn’t get it.
    “If you want Molly, you are going to have to show her that. You can’t be mad that she was here, or anywhere for that matter, if you don’t show her you’re interested.”
    Gunnar liked Molly. There was something about her that he couldn’t figure out. Sad? Wary? Something. He just really liked her and wanted Ryder to be good to her.
    “Fuck you, Gunnar.” Ryder walked off to go and do something. Right now, he needed to do something physical to get rid of this frustration. Sure, he should have called her this week, but he worked late every day and then stayed at the shop with his dad and brothers afterwards to go over the plans for this week. They made phone calls to volunteers and worked out who had what skills and where they could help out. They contacted the people who were donating items to settle on the delivery day and time, etc. By the time he got home, he was exhausted each night. He knew they had a date tonight, so he didn’t think any more of it. But, she was never far from his mind.
    Jeremiah walked over to Ryder and put his arm around Ryder’s shoulders. “Hey, your brothers are just teasing, that’s all.”
    “I know, Dad. See, this is what I meant. I don’t know what to do. How often I’m supposed to call her. We have a date tonight and I thought that was good enough. I’m gonna fuck this up.”
    “No, you aren’t. Talk to her. Let her know what you just told me. Honesty is the best policy. Yeah?”
    “Yeah,” Ryder mumbled as he walked over to a pile of boards needing to be moved. Physical activity, yep, that’s what he needed right now.
    ***
    Molly and Tammy pulled up the road around seven-fifty to see the street full of parked cars on both sides and a long way from the house. They got out of the car, grabbed Molly’s gear and hoisted the bags onto their shoulders as they walked up the street to the house. There was so much activity already. As they approached the yard, they could see the siding had already been removed from the side of Danny’s house. There were tables and stations set up everywhere for measuring, sawing, cutting, etc. They spotted Joci standing by a table that held food and big coffee pots. Molly waved and walked over to Joci. They hugged, and Molly reminded Joci who Tammy was.
    “I have coffee and hot chocolate. Which would you like?”
    “Coffee, please,” they said in unison.
    “I can get it, Joci,” Tammy said. As she was pouring their coffees Molly pulled her camera out.
    “We came by yesterday and I got ‘before’ pictures. Take a look.”
    They were scrolling through the pictures when Danny came walking over.
    “Good morning. How are you two doing this morning?”
    “Morning. Glad we came yesterday. With all of this stuff lying around, I wouldn’t have been able to get any good before pictures.”
    Danny nodded and looked around.
    “Yeah. I guess it’s true what they say, that it needs to get worse before it gets better.”
    They all nodded. Molly looked over and saw Ryder looking their way. She waved at him, but he just scowled and looked away. Molly furrowed her brows. What the fuck was that for? Molly looked at Tammy and Tammy shrugged.
    “He seemed a little pissed when I told him you were here taking pictures yesterday.”
    Molly looked at Danny with her brows still furrowed. “He’s mad? Because I took pictures?”
    Molly looked at Joci. Joci slowly shook her head. “I’m not aware of anyone being upset this morning. But, you can bet I’ll find out.”
    Molly shook her head. “Well, I didn’t do anything wrong, so, whatever. I’m going to snap a few pictures of the