Chapter 3

Jarrod Dye had a broken nose, seven stitches in his head, twenty-two in his arm, and he’d never made it home for ribs. He’d used his free call from jail to ask his girlfriend to contact a lawyer, but when she found out what he’d done, she freaked out and hung up on him. He should have called his brother.

Still, in the long run, it didn’t matter. He didn’t have money to pay a lawyer and was going to have to rely on a court-appointed one, although he didn’t have a chance in hell of escaping his fate.

He’d crossed state lines and assaulted, robbed, and kidnapped his ex-wife. Without a doubt, it was the dumbest thing he’d ever done. He hadn’t counted on Ruby fighting him. She never had before. And he sure hadn’t counted on her escaping. If there was any kind of positive to be had from where he was at, it was that her escape had kept his charges to robbery, assault, and kidnapping. If she hadn’t escaped, he would have had a murder on his conscience too.

The upside of spending what was left of his tomcat years in jail was that the collection agencies weren’t going to be hounding him anymore. He’d have a roof over his head and three meals a day, compliments of the State of Georgia.

As for his damn ex-wife, he never wanted to see her face again. He liked her better the way she used to be, before she turned into the bitch from hell.

* * *

The pain pills Peanut gave Ruby eased the pain, but they also put her to sleep, and then to dream, resurrecting memories of every abuse she’d suffered at her ex-husband’s hands—things she never talked about, things she’d spent years trying to forget.

She woke up twice in the night, once bathed in sweat with tears on her face, and the second time in mute panic, thinking Jarrod was throwing her bound-and-gagged body over the side of a bridge.

She threw back the covers and hobbled into the bathroom. When she came out, she sat down on the side of the bed, eyeing the wounds on her hands. She wanted the blood washed out of her hair. She could go to her shop and have one of the twins do it for her, but that would mean revealing the extent of what had happened to her, and she wasn’t sure she was ready to endure that kind of inspection.

Still, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that what she was dreading had nothing to do with the way she looked, and everything to do with having to talk about the abusive ex. No one knew why she’d divorced him and ran, and now everyone would know.

Her shoulders slumped. Damn Jarrod Dye to hell and back. She’d tried so hard to escape her past, and just when she thought she was home free, he’d dragged his sorry ass back into her life and broken the fragile wall behind which she’d been living.

Then she thought of Peanut asleep in the bed across the hall. He was so dear to her, and the knowledge that he loved her was the best gift she’d ever received. Still, there was something she had to tell him, something she had to confess that might end her happily ever after.

Finally, she lay down and pulled the covers up over her shoulders. The sheets were smooth and soft and smelled of a rain-washed morning. She shifted slightly, trying to find a comfortable place to lay her head, and drifted off to sleep again, dreaming this time that she was standing in a doorway looking down the aisle of her church. The pews were full of people she knew, but she was looking for Peanut. She was supposed to have dinner with him at Granny’s, and she was certain he hadn’t forgotten.

The organist began to play, which was the signal for the services to begin. Now she didn’t know where to sit because all the seats were taken and people were frowning at her. She wasn’t in her proper place.

All of a sudden, Peanut was down at the end of the aisle, in front of the pulpit. He beckoned to her. She knew if she took that first step, she was accepting way more than a seat at church, but there was no hesitation when she started toward him.

She was halfway down the aisle when something woke her.

To her surprise, it was morning and someone was knocking on her door.

* * *

Peanut hadn’t slept worth a damn and was up before daylight. He’d sent a text to his secretary to reschedule all of his appointments for the next two days and told her not to call him unless it was a big-ass emergency. He knew she’d laugh at his phrasing, but he didn’t care. He was a man in love, and soon everyone in Blessings would know it was Ruby he loved.

Then the sun came up and the morning was passing, and Ruby hadn’t let out a peep. He ate a bowl of cereal, drank two cups of coffee, and couldn’t stand it any longer. He had to know if she was okay, or if she needed any help. He poured her a cup of coffee, stirring in the two spoonfuls of sugar she liked, then took it to the guest room and knocked.

“Come in,” she said.

Thank God, he thought, and entered. He tried not to react to the darkening bruises and smiled.

“The swelling has gone down in your eye. Does it feel better, baby?”

He called me baby. This is real. This is really real.

“Yes, better,” she said.

“I brought coffee the way you like it, and I let it cool enough so that it won’t melt the straw.”

She held out her hands. He leaned over and kissed her cheek, then put the cup in both hands.

Ruby took a quick sip, grateful for the sweet, warm liquid running down her throat.

“Sit with me?” she asked.

He pulled up a chair near her bed and then leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, watching as she took a few more sips before setting the cup aside.

She glanced up at him again, and he thought he saw panic come and go in her expression. He was suddenly afraid she was going to tell him she couldn’t possibly love him after all.

“Talk in shorthand,” she said, pointing to her swollen lips.

He couldn’t bear the distance between them and abandoned the chair for the side of her bed. When he held out his hand, she grasped it like a lifeline.

“Have secrets to tell,” she said.

“You don’t have to do this until you feel better,” he said.

She shook her head. “If we work, no secrets.”

His gut knotted, but he understood what she was trying to say. “Okay then. I’m listening.”

She looked at him then, seeing him as a man to love instead of just a friend.

“Before Blessings…lived Sparta, Tennessee. Born there. Knew Jarrod since kids,” she said, and then drew a deep, shaky breath. “Married him because pregnant.”

“Happens to lots of people,” Peanut said. “Doesn’t change a thing about how much I love you.”

She glanced at him again and then looked down. “He drank. Sometimes get mad and slap me.”

Peanut stifled a curse.

“Then with his fist…a lot. Lost baby. I can’t have more. So sorry.”

Tears were running down her face now, and Peanut had heard enough. “Look at me, Ruby.”

She wiped away tears and looked up.

“Those aren’t secrets, they’re tragedies, and I wish to God you’d never experienced them. But if you think any of that matters to me, or what I hope for our future, you are mistaken. I’m forty-five years old. I cannot imagine being a fifty-year-old man with a kid in first grade, okay?”

The heaviness within her lifted. “Really?”

“Hell yes, really,” he said.

She’d heard that tone in his voice too often to doubt the authenticity.

“Is that it?” Peanut said.

She nodded.

“And it’s still okay that I’m crazy in love with you?” he asked.

“Dumb question,” she said, and cupped his cheek.

He sighed. “Probably won’t be the last dumb thing you hear me say. However, I have another question. What can I make for you to eat? You can’t just drink coffee. I have ice cream. I can make a vanilla shake.”

“Yum,” she said, and gave him a thumbs-up.

He grinned. “What else can I do for you?”

“Need clothes from home. Need to go to the shop.”

He looked horrified. “You can’t work.”

She frowned. “Not work. Wash out blood. His blood,” she said, pointing to her hair.

“Oh, hell yes, I’ll take you,” he muttered. “Can you get dressed in the scrubs on your own okay?”

“Yes.”

“Then you dress. I’ll make the shake. You can drink it on the way,” he said, and stood up.

“Thank you,” Ruby said.

He shook his head. “You saved your own life. The least I can do is help you put it all back together, especially since you’re saving a place in it for me.”

He winked at her as he left, closing the door behind him.

Ruby took a few more sips of coffee, then picked up the house phone and called Vera and Vesta.

Vera answered. “Hello.”

“It’s me,” Ruby said.

Vera squealed, and then started to cry. “Lord, lord, Sister, it is a blessing just to hear your voice. Vesta and I prayed so hard for you to be okay. Finding out that you were safe and on the way home was the best news ever.”

Ruby sighed. This is how love feels.

“Peanut bringing me to shop. Blood in my hair. Will you meet me there to wash?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

“Can’t talk much. Mouth stitches…swollen. Look awful. Be prepared.”

“None of that matters. The only thing that matters to your friends is that you’re back.”

“Thank you. Be an hour or so. Need clothes. Going home to pack.”

“Your spare house key is back under the mat.”

“Okay. See you,” Ruby said, and then hung up.

She shook the wrinkles out of the scrubs she’d worn home and carried them and her coffee into the bathroom. A few minutes later, she made her way to the kitchen with the empty cup, following the sounds.

“Hey, honey!” Peanut said, as he turned off the blender and poured the shake into a large red Solo cup. “My best to-go crystal,” he said, as he popped a straw into the shake.

“Trade you,” Ruby said, and gave him the empty coffee cup as he handed her the shake.

She took it with both hands and took her first sip. Besides water and coffee, it was the first thing she’d had in her stomach in over twenty-four hours.

“So good, Peanut!” she said.

“Just one of my more complicated gourmet meals.”

She laughed and then moaned. “Ow…no laughing…no fair.”

“Right. Turning on my lawyer face. No grinning. No jokes. Hard, steely gaze and stern jaw.”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “Sexy lawyer. Not scary one.”

A big grin spread across his face. “Really?”

“Your Eastwood look,” Ruby said.

Peanut frowned. “My what?”

“Everyone says Clint Eastwood. Don’t worry…younger version, not old, gray one. Ready to go. I have no shoes or coat.”

Peanut lost his train of thought. People think I look like Clint Eastwood? Really? Is that good, or is that bad?

“Peanut!”

“Huh… What, honey? Sorry. What did you say?”

She pointed at her feet.

“Oh right! You have no shoes. I’ll carry you to the car, and then you can get shoes at your house, okay? I’ll get you something for a coat.”

He strode out of the kitchen with haste and returned carrying both his coat and a lined flannel shirt that wound up hanging six inches past her knees.

“Feels good,” Ruby said, as he buttoned her up in it.

He paused, then slowly cupped her face and brushed a kiss on her forehead, then on her cheeks. “Forgive me for repeating myself, but being able to say that I love you is quite a heady feeling. I just had to say it again.”

Ruby shivered with sudden longing. “I dream of making love to you,” she admitted, then blushed.

Peanut sighed. “So do I, sweetheart, so do I, but when you’re well. Now, let’s get you and your breakfast in the car.”

He put on his coat, then she followed him through the house to the front door.

“Wait here a minute,” Peanut said.

Ruby stood at the window, watching as he opened the passenger side door and headed back to the house.

“It’s so cold,” he said, as he came back inside. “One more thing,” and he left the room on the run. He came back carrying a pair of white tube socks. “This is better than barefoot. Sit there.”

She sat down and held out a foot. When he knelt at her feet and began pulling one sock up her foot and leg, her gaze fell on his hair—thick sandy-brown hair that she’d run her fingers through for years, washing and cutting it without any thought for him beyond being a customer. Never dreaming it could be more.

“One more sock,” he said, and then looked up at her and grinned. “Are you my Cinderella? Is the glass slipper going to fit?” He pulled the last sock over her foot and up her leg, then looked up. “It fits! Where have you been all my life?”

“At the Curl Up and Dye, waiting for my prince,” she said.

He laughed out loud.

“Forgive me, Cinderella. Your prince was sort of slow on the uptake. Now let’s get going. Grab that milkshake, and hang on.”

He carried her out of the house and into the car, buckled her up, then drove them back to the scene of the crime. As he pulled up in her yard, the sight of that yellow plastic tape flapping in the wind made the hair rise on Ruby’s neck.

“Lord. Crime scene tape. Around my yard.”

Peanut sighed. “It’s worse inside.”

Rage swept through Ruby so fast that she hit her hands on her knees in frustration before she thought, breaking open newly healing scabs.

“He intruded in my world. Didn’t belong here. He was the past. Why didn’t he stay in the past?”

Peanut grabbed her hands. “Look what you’ve done, love. You’re bleeding again. Come on now… We’ll get your clothes and be gone from here.”

Ruby looked down at the knees of her scrubs, now splattered with tiny specks of blood. She shuddered.

“Yes. Out of here,” she mumbled, and opened the door without waiting for him to help.

Peanut jumped out and caught up with her at the steps. He took her elbow to steady her.

“Key’s under the mat,” Ruby said.

He lifted the mat and picked up the key, then unlocked the door.

Ruby stepped in front of him, entering first with her head up. It seemed to Peanut that she entered with purpose, facing the waiting demons.

The disarray hit Ruby like a kick in the gut. The dark smears of fingerprint powder, the chairs pushed slightly out of place, a muddy footprint near the sideboard, the window shades hanging at awkward angles looked as bad as Jarrod made her feel.

She shook off the shock and started walking, unaware Peanut was watching her every move through the house, touching the back of a sofa, feeling the smooth surface of the dining room table, giving the ruby glass candy dish in the center of it a telling look—a kind of recognition that the giver was no longer a secret.

She moved to the kitchen without hesitation and then barely glanced at the blood and the knives as she turned and went down the hall to her bedroom. Her heart was pounding now, and she was sick to her stomach as she stepped inside her room.

The horror was still real, the pain too fresh to ignore. She touched her face, then her mouth, remembering the blows, the cursing, and the blood. It was all over him, and on her, and now her sanctuary had been tainted by his presence. Would it ever feel right again?

“I should have cut his throat instead of his arm,” she said, and sank to her knees.

Peanut picked her up, then held her close, rocking her where she stood.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. You’re breaking my heart. Tell me where I can find a bag. You tell me what you want, and I’ll do it for you. Anything…just let me make something better for you.”

Ruby wrapped her arms around his waist to keep from running. She’d tried so hard to run away the first time and thought she’d been successful, but it had all been veneer. Distance hadn’t made her safe. Jarrod had still found her.

“He’ll be in jail for a long, long time,” Peanut said.

“Maybe he’ll die there. It’s something to hope for,” Ruby said.

Peanut frowned. He’d never heard Ruby talk like this. This was hard for her, and he couldn’t blame her for feeling this way, but he felt her shutting down and didn’t know how to fix this.

He gripped her by the arms. “Ruby…look at me.”

She looked up and then blinked, as if she’d just realized he was still here.

“I need a bag. Where are they? The sooner we’re out of here, the better.”

“The closet,” she said, and went into the walk-in closet. “Top shelf.”

Peanut took the bag down and set it beside the bed, then removed all the items scattered on it, pulled off the stained sheets and threw them on the floor before opening the bag on the bed. But Ruby was swaying on her feet and getting paler by the minute.

She’s crashing. Coming back here was a big mistake.

“You sit right here by the bag. I’ll bring what you want and you can pack it in, okay?”

She nodded.

“What first?” he asked.

“Shoes. Ones I wear, and my house slippers. Floor of the closet. Underwear in top two drawers of the dresser. Nightgowns and socks in the third drawer,” she said.

He ran from one spot to another, moving as fast as he could, then into the bathroom for toiletries until she had what she wanted. She’d chosen pull-up sweat pants and a pull-over sweatshirt for warmth. They’d traded his oversized tube socks for her own and chosen slip-on loafers for her to wear.

Peanut gathered up the loose items and put them back in her purse, dropped her cell phone inside, and unplugged the charger and dropped it in as well.

“He took my money,” Ruby said. “He always took my money. I’m ready to leave now.”

“I’ll get you more money. Stand up, darlin’. You need to wear your coat.”

She stood up, so ready to be out of this house, away from the turmoil in her home. Once her coat was on, Peanut buttoned it for her, then gathered her things and led her through the house. He locked it back up and replaced the spare key back under the mat before he took her to the car. When he leaned in to buckle her up, she moved toward him just enough that their foreheads touched.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

He brushed a kiss on the side of her cheek. “Stay with me, love. Don’t shut down, okay? This is a hard day, but I promise it will get better.”

She held onto the seat belt as he shut her in. A chilly blast of wind came into the car as he slid behind the wheel and then reached across the console and patted her knee.

“Off we go to the Curl Up and Dye, where the best haircuts, the latest news, and a whole lot of love are offered on a daily basis.”

Ruby looked a little startled. “Is that what you think of my shop?”

“Not just me, love. Everyone in Blessings brings you bad hair and troubles, and you find a way to fix them all. We leave looking and feeling better than when we arrived.”

“I like knowing that,” she said softly.

He backed out of the drive and then drove away.

Ruby sank back into the seat every time he stopped at a stop sign or for a red light. She didn’t want people seeing her like this.

Peanut knew she was uncomfortable with her appearance. He understood but had no way to reassure her. She would have to witness all that for herself. The people of Blessings might cry with her, but surely they would never judge her as anything but heroic for seriously wounding her kidnapper and then finding a way to escape.

When he finally pulled up in front of the shop, Ruby was trembling.

“I’ll get the door,” he said, so she waited for him to help her out, then ducked her head as they walked toward the shop.

The bell over the door jingled their arrival, and within seconds, Ruby was surrounded.

Mabel Jean was crying as she hugged and kissed her.

The twins hugged Ruby together, one on either side, both talking at once as they removed her coat, handed it to Peanut without a word, and led her back to the work area.

Peanut grinned as he hung up their coats. This was exactly what she needed. He followed the chatter back to the work area, then walked up to Ruby and gently touched her shoulder.

“Darlin’, if you’ll hand me your phone and charger, I’ll plug it in for you while you’re getting all prettied up.”

Ruby dug them out of her purse, and Peanut took them to her empty station, plugged in the charger, and then sat in her styling chair and turned to face the room.

The twins were eyeing him and then Ruby, then him and then Ruby, until finally Vera spoke up.

“What’s with you two?” she asked.

Ruby blushed. “I have been getting presents and flowers from a secret admirer for several months.”

“Who turned out to be me,” Peanut said. “Everyone in Blessings is going to know it, but I’m telling it here first. I love Ruby Dye…deeply…madly.”

Ruby shivered with sudden longing as she turned to him. “It’s mutual.”

Peanut just sat there grinning.

The twins squealed. Mabel Jean cried some more.

It took several minutes before they all calmed down.

“My hair… Get that man’s blood out of my hair,” Ruby begged.

The twins gasped. “That’s his?”

“She sliced him and diced him for what he did to her, and then escaped her own kidnapper. She is amazing,” Peanut said.

Ruby rolled her eyes. “Just wash it out, please.”

Peanut let their chatter and the joy that always abounded in this place wash over him. Ruby might have dreaded coming, but the love and acceptance here was turning out to be the medicine she needed most.