Roses POV
I closed the door and leaned my head against it. Wow. "Where've you been?" My mom hissed. I blinked."What?" I whispered."Your father got home twenty minutes ago and has been asking where you are." She whispered."What did you tell him?" I asked."I didn't tell him anything, I changed the subject and had him help me unglue myself from the chair. It's your decision whether you're telling him yet or not, I won't get in the middle of all of this. Now come on, he wants to have a family meeting." She grabbed my arm and dragged me to the living room.
Dad sat in his chair with a cup of coffee. "Ah, there're my girls." He said. We sat on the couch across from him."What's going on?" I asked. He set down his mug on the coffee table. "You know that once you graduate college, you're coming back here, correct?" He asked me. I nodded."Yes, Daddy.""You're gonna take over at Rose's and carry on the family legacy." I nodded."Yes, Daddy." Ever since my parents had founded Rose's restaurant when I was three, it had been decided that one day I would take over from them and run it myself.
"Well, I think you should have a backup plan for just in case that doesn't happen." He said. I coughed.
"What do you mean? That restaurant is everything to you guys and you know how much I love it. Why wouldn't that happen?" Dad rubbed his forehead."A new restaurant opened up right across the street from Rose's. They moved here from somewhere in California..." my face fell. "Do you know who owns it?" I squeaked. "Family owned, the Williams family." My blood froze. Ryan Williams, from California. Oh crap.
"And you're worried?" I asked. He nodded."They have good business where they're from. A seafood place called Fisher's Dock." I gulped."I wouldn't worry about it. It's Colorado, we aren't into seafood here." I said quietly."Why don't we just cross this bridge when it gets built." Mom said. I nodded. "Agreed." Dad sighed."Fine." he said, "So Rose, where were you tonight?" I asked for that, I'll admit it.
"I went out, on a date." I said. Dad nodded."And why was I not told about this?" He asked, eyeing Mom."Honey you weren't home, we were gonna tell you but then you started telling us about about the new place and stuff." Mom defended me.
"Rose Carmody, you know that I don't like you to go out with boys who I have not met yet. Now tell me, what's his name?" "Ryan, Ryan Williams." I whispered. A vein in his forehead popped out. "Williams?" He clarified. I nodded."I didn't know, Dad." "What's done is done, but we can prevent it from happening again." He said."What do you mean?" I asked."I don't want you seeing that boy again." He said. I stood up."I can't just not see him anymore. I won't do it." Bad idea, bad idea.
"Honey you can't make her stop seeing him because you're worried about his family." Mom said in my defense, "That isn't fair to her or the boy." Dad groaned."What if he tries to use her against us?" He asked."Oliver you're being ridiculous, and paranoid." Mom scolded him."He doesn't even know that I own Rose's." I said."Eventually he'll figure it out, the place is named after you." Dad had a point. "Give him a chance. Goodnight." I stalked out of the room.
Ryans POV
"The grand opening of Fisher's Dock is tomorrow, remember? You need to be there with us." Mom said as she tapped away on her phone. "Ok. I'll be there." "Oh, and watch out. There's a pretty popular place across the street from us, Rose's, I'm pretty sure that the owners will make an appearance." She said absently, as though it meant nothing. "Maybe you can ask that girl you like to come to the opening." Dad teased. I cleared my throat.
"I'm going to school, bye." I escaped before Mom could interject something about girls taking away my focus from Fisher's and all that. The drive to school was really short. Everything in this town is so close together, you could walk everywhere. "Ryan!" A voice yelled as I parked at the school. It took me a second to remember that was me and turn around. Amy was walking towards me, her bleach blonde hair reflecting the sunlight. With all the hair care products, tight clothes, and five inch heels, she reminded me so much of Sadie. The new Sadie, anyways.
"Hi Amy." I said. She bounded to my side."So, liking school?" She asked. I shrugged."You know I don't think I need a tour guide anymore, I know my way around." I said as we walked towards the building."Ok, well then I guess I'll see you at lunch." She said. "Actually I'm gonna sit with this girl I met." Uh oh, saying that to a girl that's into is like pulling the pin out of the grenade."What girl?" Amy asked, her voice like stone."Rose Carmody, you know, the one I ran into last week."
"Her? I'm so sorry." Amy scoffed."About?" Hm, maybe Amy should have tried out for Gossip Girl.
"Well, I really shouldn't tell you myself. You'd better ask Rose." Yup, dead ringer for Sadie."Ask Rose what, exactly?" Amy pulled out a little mirror and fixed the goop surrounding her raccoon eyes.
"Ask her about Owen, see what happens." With that cheerful goodbye, she left. Owen? Who's Owen?
At lunch I was still debating whether or not to mention it to Rose. I'd only started dating her. Besides, Owen was probably just an ex of hers. It didn't matter.
"Ryan! Hi." Night blue eyes bobbed in front of me. "Hey Rose." "Are you sitting with us today?" She asked as we walked into the cafeteria. I reached over and took her hand. "Sure." The opening came to mind, "Hey, are you doing anything tomorrow?" I asked."Not really, why?" She turned to look at me with those eyes. For a second I forgot what I was gonna ask her."Uh, my family is opening up a restaurant here and the big unveiling is tomorrow after school. I was wondering if you wanted to come with me." Her smile slipped from her face.
"I'm not sure..." she said slowly. "You said you weren't busy." I reminded her. "Right, but I... have to ask my parents before I go out on school days." She said. I narrowed my eyes."Ok, call me later and tell me." She bit her lip and nodded."Yeah, sure." Weird...
