Ruby
All I want is to look nice.
I lamented over this simple fact the following day because I knew Jett was taking me out to a waterfront restaurant, and I really didn’t want to wear jeans.
Seattle was Jett’s city, and he obviously knew a lot of people here. The last thing I wanted was to run into somebody influential with Jett while I still looked like a homeless woman.
Yeah, I didn’t smell bad now, and my body and clothes were clean, but I wasn’t the type of woman who would normally be seen with a billionaire.
Not that I was putting myself down, because I was learning how not to feel inferior to people who had more money than I did—which had been pretty much everybody before I’d learned about my inheritance.
But sometimes, I just wanted to feel normal. I wanted to look good just for myself. Okay, and maybe for Jett.
Because of my sessions with Annette, I was starting to believe that I was worthy of self-care and doing things just because I wanted to do them.
I might be hesitant to reach out and grab what I wanted, but I was starting to think that I deserved the things I’d never had.
I stepped off the elevator at the ground floor and looked around for Jett’s driver.
He ended up finding me.
“Ms. Kent?”
I turned around and saw the face connected to the voice that was calling my name.
He was a very distinguished looking, silver-haired gentleman in an elegant suit and tie.
“Please call me Ruby,” I requested as I put my hand out to him. “I really appreciate this.”
I’d spent the morning helping Jett get his office organized after so much time away. Then, I’d asked him if I could use his car and driver since I didn’t have a valid license yet.
I think he’d assumed I wanted to see the sights, and he offered to go with me, but I’d told him I’d really like some time alone.
He’d capitulated immediately, and though he’d looked disappointed, Jett had hooked me up to meet his driver in the lobby.
I didn’t plan on sightseeing, but the afternoon was for me.
I’d debated over what outfit to wear, but I’d finally admitted to myself none of them were really my style. They were way too fussy, and I hadn’t felt comfortable in any of the garments even though I’d tried on every single dress in the wardrobe Jett had given me.
I told myself it was a waste to buy another dress, but my self-talk hadn’t worked. I wanted a dress that was me, and I wanted to choose it myself.
“You can call me Pete,” the gentleman said as he shook my hand politely. “You have no reason to appreciate the fact that I’m doing my job,” he said genially.
I shrugged. “Sorry, but I still do appreciate it,” I answered with a smile. “You’re paid to haul Jett around.”
I frowned as I pulled my hand back, noticing how ragged and torn up my hands and nails looked.
“And anyone he tells me to haul around,” Pete added with a smile. “Where are we going today?”
I searched in my cross-body purse, and finally found what I was looking for. “I need to get to one of these banks, if you know where they have one.” I flipped the savings book for him to see. “I don’t have the right dress, and Jett is going to take me to a restaurant on the water tonight. I have to take some money out.”
He nodded. “There’s one not far from here. I’ll take you there.”
I followed him as we went outside and he opened the back door of a luxury sedan.
The vehicle had to be custom. The back was outfitted with a huge space where you could do almost anything in the vehicle, from having a drink to taking a nap.
“Can I sit in the front with you?” I asked hesitantly. “I’m not really used to all this. I just wanted a ride.”
“That’s not usually done,” he mused.
I folded my arms and gave him a skeptical look. “Are you trying to tell me that Jett doesn’t sit in the front? He’s not exactly a guy who always follows the rules.”
Pete cracked a little smile. “Sometimes he does keep me company up front,” he admitted as he closed the back door and opened the front passenger side.
I hopped in with a sigh of relief. For me, there was just something wrong with having a driver and sitting alone in the backseat.
As Pete took his place behind the wheel, he said, “You seem to know Mr. Lawson quite well.”
“Well enough to figure out that he wouldn’t leave you alone up here unless he had urgent things to accomplish. He’s fairly down-to-earth for a rich guy.”
“To be honest, he usually prefers to drive himself unless his leg is bothering him.”
I nodded. “That sounds like him.”
We pulled into the parking lot of the bank soon after we’d left Jett’s penthouse.
After promising Pete I’d try to hurry and hearing him tell me that I had to do no such thing, I jogged into the bank and stood in line for a teller.
When it was my turn, I stepped up to speak with the cheerful blonde woman who was smiling at me.
“I need to make a withdrawal please,” I said breathlessly.
She took my account book from my hand and entered the account number.
“How much would you like to withdraw?” she asked politely while she appeared to wait for the account information to come up.
“Do you know how much it would be for a good haircut, manicure, a little bit of makeup, and a dress that’s appropriate for a waterfront dinner?” I asked. Okay, so maybe it was an odd question to ask, but it was better to be weird than completely ignorant. If I wanted to get around in Seattle and make a new life for myself, I had to acclimate to my environment. I wasn’t living on the streets anymore, and my situation was far from hopeless now—thanks to my parents.
“I know a great place for makeovers where they let you try the makeup first before you buy,” she said with animated enthusiasm. “And they do hair, pedicures, and manicures. You can have an entire makeover for one fairly reasonable price.”
The thought of reinventing myself to some extent was appealing.
I hadn’t really wanted to use the emergency money that Jett had deposited, but I definitely hadn’t wanted to ask him for money, even though I knew he’d happily give it to me.
I figured if I used some money from the savings account, I could just replace it once I got my inheritance and started working. There was no way Jett was going to take his money back out of my account anyway. Not unless I had something there that was mine.
“Do I have enough in my account to cover the makeover?” I asked hopefully.
The woman finally focused on the screen. Her eyes kept assessing the account, and I was starting to fear that something was wrong.
Maybe there was nothing in the account.
Maybe the bank had screwed up Jett’s deposit.
Maybe there would be no makeover for me.
My shoulders slumped in disappointment. It wasn’t the end of the world, but it was the first bold step I’d taken in my life, and it looked like it was about to blow up in my face.
“Would you like your balance?” she asked.
“Yes, please,” I answered.
“Can I see your ID? It says here that you’ll probably have an expired Ohio driver’s license until you obtain a valid driver’s license for Washington.”
I rifled through my bag and took out my ID. “It’s still Ohio.”
Jett must have given the bank instructions and information, so he’d obviously intended to leave some money in the account.
He’d already done so much for me that it didn’t matter whether or not I could buy a dress. I’d just hoped for some kind of change, a symbolic gesture that I was going to get a normal life, and come out of counseling as a healthier person.
I’d never had a real haircut, much less a makeover to see how I would look when I went to the effort of looking my best. My mother had always trimmed my thick, dark hair when I was younger, and I’d had far more important things to worry about when I was alone and on the streets.
I’d never owned a nice dress, or something that was in style. I knew I had a closet full of them now thanks to Jett, but I hadn’t chosen them. And I finally wanted to be exactly who I was, and embrace my new life.
Once I paid Jett back for the money he’d spent on the auction, I knew I wasn’t going to be wealthy. But I’d have enough to make sure I was never homeless again.
Nobody would ever look at me and call me beautiful.
But maybe I was hoping that Jett would look at me with lust in his eyes, the same kind of desire I felt when I looked at him.
The teller took a pen and a small piece of blank paper to write down my balance and slide it across the counter as she said, “You can get as many makeovers as you want,” she said.
I looked down at the balance. My stomach lurched and my knees threatened to give out as I saw all of those zeros.
Jett truly had wanted me to be taken care of if anything ever happened to him.
He’d given me more than just emergency money.
The account that had been drawn down to nothing when I’d left Ohio now had a balance of just over two million dollars.
My fairy tale was getting a whole lot crazier, and my Cinderella moniker was starting to fit me perfectly.
I didn’t know if I should feel horrified or happy, but I pushed that to the back of my mind to ponder later.
I drew out enough money to cover what I needed, and some extra so I could pick up the things I needed to make Jett a ton of pastries.
My body was still shaking as I hopped back into the car.
“Are you all right, Ms. Ruby?” Pete asked as I fumbled with my seat belt.
I was way too flustered to tell him he didn’t need to be formal with my name. It took all I had just to fasten the buckle of the belt.
“No, I’m not really okay,” I blurted out. “I was homeless, and now I have more money in my bank account than I’d probably see there after a lifetime of working several jobs. Not to mention that my parents set me up to be okay after they died, so I have more money coming in.”
“And that’s a bad thing?” Pete asked, sounding confused.
“It’s not my money in the bank right now, Pete. I didn’t earn it. It’s Jett’s.”
He turned his head, not yet moving the vehicle as he looked at me. “If it’s in your account, it’s now yours,” he mused.
“I can never take the money. Jett has already helped me so much. You have no idea,” I said frantically.
“I think I might have a very good idea,” he contradicted. “Mr. Lawson has helped many people, me included,” he confided.
I turned my head sharply to look at him. “What do you mean?”
“You said you were homeless?”
I nodded slowly.
“So was I at one time,” he shared. “Years ago, I lost my wife and my three children in an accident. I went from a man who had everything to a man who had nothing to live for. I didn’t care what happened to me. I drank to kill the pain, and I eventually ended up on the streets.”
“Oh, my God,” I gasped. “I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you, Ms. Ruby, but I’m better now. I met Mr. Lawson at a bar. I’d gotten some money begging, and I went straight into a pub to get a drink since I was withdrawal. And even though I looked like a derelict, Mr. Lawson still struck up a conversation with me. To this day, I couldn’t tell you why I dumped all of my woes on a man I’d just met, but he listened carefully before he made me a deal.”
“What?” I asked, so fascinated by his story that I couldn’t say anything else.
“If I got myself together and went through rehab successfully, he’d make sure that I had a job, a roof over my head again, and enough money to survive the rest of my life. Only a fool would refuse an offer like that. And even though I’d done some stupid things, I was no fool.”
“And you obviously made it,” I commented.
“That I did, and then some. I think I was ready to deal with my grief, but by that time, there was nobody there except for Mr. Lawson. So I worked hard to get clean, and then I worked hard for him. He helped me sort through all of the legal things that had to be worked out with life insurance and settlements from the trucking company that had killed my family. I was well beyond set for life, but Mr. Lawson refused any kind of repayment for my rehab and all my other expenses that I racked up until all the legal issues were done.”
“Is that why you’re still working?” I asked, knowing how stubborn Jett could be about getting paid back.
Pete shook his head. “Not at all. Do you really think Mr. Lawson would ever let me work without drawing a paycheck?”
“Then why are you still working?”
“Maybe I’m just hoping that someday, in some way, I’ll get the opportunity to help him out like he helped me. Maybe not with money because Lord knows he has more money than almost anybody else in the world. But money isn’t everything. He wants me to retire and enjoy my life. But I’m fine with waiting for a chance to help him, and keeping busy. My lovely wife of one year is still working, so I’d be bored if I retired anyway.”
I smiled at him. “You got married again?”
“I did. And she’s a good woman. Life goes on, even when we don’t necessarily want it to, and sometimes we just have to catch up with it when we’re done grieving.”
I nodded hard. I remembered the day I’d lost my own family, and wondering why everything stayed the same when my world was falling apart. “So I’m not Jett’s only stray that he’s rescued?” I asked.
“No, Ms. Ruby. And he doesn’t see us as anything less than he is. He just considers it his way of giving back because he has so much.”
“I know,” I acknowledged. Jett had never made me feel like less than because I needed help. “But I’ve always had a difficult time taking anything from him.”
“Because you’re a good person,” Pete observed. “But let him take care of you right now while you’re fragile. You can give back later, once you have everything together. I’m personally involved with helping some homeless projects with fundraising and volunteer work.”
“Can I help?” I asked, eager to help others who were still in my former position.
He beamed at me. “Not now. But I’d welcome your help in the future. You have to look to yourself first. You can’t help somebody else unless you can take care of yourself first.”
“In that case, can you help me find an inexpensive place to buy a dress? Jett is taking me out to eat on the waterfront tonight. And I’d like to not look like a vagabond,” I joked.
He winked at me. “I know a place. I’m one of the few people who actually grew up in this city. I have lots of connections.”
I laughed, feeling better than I had since the day Jett had rescued me.
Pete was right. I did need to get myself together, and that needed to be my focus for now. I was progressing slowly with counseling. I had an appointment to get my driver’s license and my GED so I could decide what I wanted to do in the future.
Because of Jett, I was going to succeed.
If nothing else, I was going to let him know that I’d been worth saving.