Good Years | Ryan Blaney Book 7

11 | the search

n o a h
b l a n e y

"Hey J, any updates for me?" I questioned as I walked into BMS. Jordyn swings around on her chair, behind the front desk, shaking her head. She pushed a pile of paperwork to the side, cautiously searching around making sure nobody was around.

"She's been in meetings with dad all morning, I haven't seen her." She shrugged. "But I think dad senses something off too."

"When is she out of meetings?" I questioned. Jordyn typed something into the computer, her eyes scanning the screen carefully.

"At least another twenty minutes, why?"

"Better for me to keep you out of it. Thanks Jord." I excused myself, and continued to walk into the office section of the building.

As I walked down, I got an occasional "Hey Noah" from employees as I passed by, perks of having full access to the building, is nobody suspects a thing. I slipped into my mom's office, taking a seat on her chair, searching through her desk. As bad as it seemed, I know when mom was hiding something and this was one of those times. If dad, didn't even know she wouldn't hide it at the house, she would hide it here, at the office.

"Very funny-"

"Shit-" I whispered, jumping up racing around the desk and sitting down in a chair across the desk.

"Oh, Noah, what a nice surprise." She notices me. "I thought would would be at Penske by now?"

"Eh, they can wait. Just wanted to check in."

"Noah, dear, if this was about my fall the other weekend, I promise you I'm fine I'm getting old, I'm clumsy."

"Would you tell me if you weren't?" I questioned.

"Of course dear. I got nothing to hide from you kids. Even if I did, you guys have been little spy's from the day you were born. I can't get anything past you guys." She chuckles. "But if you're insinuating that something is wrong, I can fully assure you nothing is wrong, promise."

"Why is trouble here?" Dad jokes walking in from behind.

"Trouble, me? Never." I joked back.

"Thought you'd be at Penske by now?"

"Had to quickly stop by here for something, but I should start heading over now or else Joey will have my head on a stick."

t h e o
m u r p h y

I could not, despite my best efforts, get Summerlyn's confession out of my head. It was a whole new version I saw of Summer. She came to me willingly, and poured out every little bit of emotion she had. I rarely saw that side of her. She became so reserved after our first few years of marriage, but everything she told me, it all connected, it all made perfect sense. Even though I was still mad about the abortion that I never knew about, it made me understand a tiny bit more  her reason behind it.

I never knew Peyton, that was before I ever knew Summerlyn or Noah. What I did know is the stories of Peyton and the impact she had on a lot of people. I'd never had to experience anyone with cancer in my life, I didn't know how that felt. I couldn't imagine it was an easy process. But I have heard stories, after Summerlyn admitted she had the same cancer genes, I dove myself into almost too much research trying to understand.

Summerlyn captivated me from the moment I first saw her. I still loved her even if I did not want to admit it out loud, but this whole situation put everything into perspective. I knew she had a difficult time expressing her emotions, I knew that from the beginning but I was extremely selfish of me to expect her to change in that way and be open twenty-four seven. I made a commitment to her when we got married, I left when things got hard which was out of character for me. That costed me a lot. Life without Summerlyn was unbearable...

"Murphy." Keelan said, smacking his hand on my shoulder.

"Huh, what?"

"Dude, you completely zoned out during our meeting. What's up?"

"I just got brought back to reality, and I know what I need to do about my situation."

"Go get her tiger-"

"How do you know what I picked?"

"You get a certain look in your eyes when you think about Summer, I can put the pieces together." Keelan smiled. "Get her before she's gone for good brother."

"Can I ask you a strange question?"

"Shoot."

"How are you so close to Summer?"

"Well, despite growing up at the track together, I was really close with her older sister, Peyton. And when Peyton died, Summer and Noah was all I had left of Peyton. So, I took it upon myself to be as close as I could to them." Keelan said standing up. "And if it weren't for cancer, I'd probably be married Peyton right now. My little self was in love with her. Ryan and McKayla know how to raise them good, anyone would be lucky enough to even be in the presence of a Blaney kid."

"Wow-"

"Life if too short not to make things work. Things can be taken instantly from us, so as I said get Summer back before you regret it for the rest of your life."