Chapter 6

Melissa Dean was getting ready to clock out at Bloomer’s Hardware when her boss, Fred Bloomer, called her into his office.

“I’ll be right there,” she said.

She hung up her canvas work apron and headed for the office.

“What’s up?” she asked, smiling at him as she walked in.

“Shut the door, please,” Fred said.

The hair stood up on the back of Melissa’s arms as she watched him taking an envelope from a desk drawer.

Fred barely looked at her as he dropped the envelope into her hand.

“I’m sorry, Melissa. I didn’t want this to happen, but times are hard and business has been falling off. I’m going to have to let you go. I’ve given you an extra month’s salary to tide you over until you find another job.”

Melissa stared at the envelope he’d dropped into her hand and then looked up.

“Since I count out the drawer and make the deposit every night, I happen to know you just lied to me,” she said, trying desperately not to cry. “I should have known when your nephew showed up last month that I was going to be fired.”

“Now, I didn’t fire you, I—”

Melissa raised her hand.

“Don’t lie on top of it. I’ve worked here nineteen years. One more year, and I would have qualified for retirement. How fortunate for you that good old Tommy showed up in time. I thought better of you, Fred, and will not be using you for a reference, and I will tell people in town why I was let go.”

“Now see here… You can’t—”

“Yes, I can and will. It’s to protect my reputation, you know. I can’t have people thinking I did something awful to get fired after all these years. Oh…and just so you know…Tommy slips twenties out of the till. You’d better start paying attention to sales receipts and counting out your own money. I’ve been making him put it back, but now you’re on your own.”

Fred paled. “Why didn’t you tell—”

“Because he’s your nephew,” Melissa said, then turned around and walked out.

She made it all the way to her car before she burst into tears, then took off out of town, driving aimlessly as she gathered her thoughts. It was after eight p.m. before she got home, but she’d come to terms with this day.

She was at a crossroads.

It wasn’t the first time she’d had that experience. The day her husband, Andy, died had been the worst day of her life, so putting things into perspective, this was just another crossroads, not the end of the world.

Right now, the truth was that she was sad about losing Elmer Mathis and worried about her financial situation. The Mathis estate had always paid her for keeping Elmer’s house clean. Now she was about to lose that monthly deposit into her checking account that helped pay her rent. She didn’t want to become homeless as well as out of work.

There weren’t a lot of jobs in Blessings for women her age. Forty-seven wasn’t old, but after Andy’s death, Melissa had let the gray in her hair take over, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d bought a tube of lipstick.

Back in her house, she dropped her purse and car keys on the hall table and went to her room to change out of her work clothes, then went back to the kitchen in a bathrobe to fix some supper.

The events of the day had taken away her appetite, but she needed to stay busy, and making herself an omelet was the only thing she had the energy left to do.

She began breaking eggs in a bowl, then turned on the burner to heat up a pan. As she prepared the food, she thought again of Peanut Butterman’s phone call requesting her presence at the reading of Elmer’s will. She’d watched Elmer take his last breath before daylight this morning and had cried all the way home from Savannah, then changed into her work clothes and clocked in on time at the store. She hadn’t talked about it, and now she was glad she hadn’t. The last thing she wanted was having someone feel sorry for her.

She tilted the omelet out onto a plate, peppered it, and ate it standing up at the sink, then chased it with a longneck bottle of beer that she kept for the nights when missing Andy was too painful to ignore.

After cleaning up the kitchen, she went back to her bedroom and ran herself a bubble bath. She clipped her ponytail on top of her head, then stepped into the bubbles and sank into the old claw-foot tub until they were at her chin, and closed her eyes.

Almost instantly, Andy’s face appeared.

“Yes, my feelings are hurt, but I’m okay. Because I had you, I will always be okay.”

And then she cried until the water cooled and her fingertips were wrinkled.

* * *

Ruby was asleep, but her legs were jerking and her feet were kicking. She was once again locked in a nightmare that wouldn’t go away.

Jarrod hadn’t come home from work, and it was just after midnight. Ruby was sitting in the living room in the dark, afraid to go to bed, when she heard a car in the driveway. She leaped up and peered through a curtain. She could see from the porch light that it was Jarrod. When she saw him stagger as he got out of his truck, she knew he was drunk. Then she saw the pistol in his hand.

“Oh my God, oh my God,” Ruby moaned.

She unlocked the door to keep him from kicking it in and then ran. She had to hide until he passed out or she would die, but where? There was nowhere to hide in this house without him finding her. Her only chance was to get out of the house, so she headed for the back door in the kitchen, praying she could get out before he came in.

But she wasn’t fast enough. Jarrod bolted into the house, slamming the door behind him. Despite the lack of lights, he caught a glimpse of her running toward the kitchen.

“Come back here, you bitch!” Jarrod roared as he staggered after her, waving the .22 pistol in his hand.

Ruby’s heart was hammering so hard she could barely breathe, but she didn’t dare stop. Even when his footsteps followed her exit, she kept running.

Her hand was on the doorknob when he caught her, grabbing her by her hair.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he shouted, and threw her to the floor.

Ruby rolled onto her back and started begging.

“No, Jarrod, no. Don’t hurt me. Please, don’t hurt me.”

He waved the pistol in her face, and then to prove it was loaded, fired into the floor near her head.

Ruby screamed aloud in her sleep, just as she had that night, and then kept on screaming.

Peanut heard Ruby scream and was out of bed within seconds and running. She was still screaming and begging in a voice he didn’t recognize when he turned on the lights and called out her name.

“Ruby!”

She sat up with a gasp, saw Peanut coming toward her, and flew out of bed and into his arms.

“I’ve got you. I’ve got you,” he said.

Ruby’s arms went around his neck, her feet dangling off the floor.

“You’re safe, baby, you’re safe,” Peanut said. He backed them up and sat in the easy chair beside the window.

Ruby curled up in his arms, shaking.

“Talk to me,” Peanut said. “Don’t keep it inside. Let it go.”

“Ugly, so ugly,” Ruby said.

Peanut pushed her back enough that she could see his face.

“Look at me! Do you see disgust? Do you see judgment? You matter to me. I love you. I am so angry right now at whoever caused this dream that I would be hard-pressed not to take a whip to him, so let me guess. Jarrod Dye?”

She nodded.

Peanut pulled her close again. “Now talk to me, and remember I am your safe place to fall.”

Ruby took a deep breath and then shuddered. “Oh my God, Peanut.”

He kissed the top of her head, then looked down at his long, bare legs and realized that all he had on were gym shorts. But since it didn’t seem to bother Ruby, he wasn’t going to let it bother him.

Ruby reached for his arm, needing to hold onto him, as if saying it aloud gave power to the horror.

Peanut heard her take a deep breath, and then the words came tumbling out.

“Jarrod didn’t come home after work, which scared me. I knew he would come home drunk, so I was afraid to sleep. I sat up in the dark waiting, and when I heard him drive up, I looked out. I saw him stagger, then I saw the gun in his hand and I ran.”

Peanut was reeling. He would never have imagined she’d endured such a life.

“He caught me before I could get out the back door. He shot the gun into the floor beside my head to prove he was in charge and then started shouting. A neighbor heard the gunshot, me screaming, and then Jarrod shouting that he was going to kill me. If the neighbor hadn’t called the police, I probably wouldn’t be here. I filed for divorce while Jarrod was in jail on assault charges, and I hid. He didn’t know where I was, but I showed up in court to testify against him. He went to prison.

“The divorce was granted, and I left Nashville in the dark of night. It was an accident that I wound up in Georgia, but I say to myself every day that it was God Who led me to Blessings. I never saw Jarrod again until the other day, and I’ve never told this to anyone…until you.”

Peanut was so enraged for her that it was all he could do to talk in a calm, rational voice. But he did, because she needed calm and rational.

He tilted her face to meet a very brief and gentle kiss. He needed that more than she probably did.

“First, know that everything between us stays between us. Second, remember that he’ll likely be in prison for most, if not all, of the rest of his life for the charges on this stunt, okay?”

Despite his calm voice, Ruby’s gaze was locked on the fury in his eyes, and she felt a sense of satisfaction that the man who loved her was this enraged on her behalf.

“Yes, okay,” she said.

Peanut glanced at the clock. It was after two a.m. “Do you think you can go back to sleep?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I had nightmares last night too. I think it’s going to take time to get past this.”

“Well, hell, Ruby. That is not okay with me.”

He stood up as if she weighed nothing in his arms and laid her back down in bed, then went to turn out the light.

Ruby had a glimpse of his long, bare body and the tight buns beneath the gym shorts before the lights went out. When he crawled into bed behind her, she shivered.

“It’s just me, and I’m not going to make a move beyond holding you in my arms. You have demons, Ruby. Sometimes my job requires me to slay demons for people, even the ones disguised in human form. I am good at my job.” He pulled the covers up over the both of them and spooned himself against her backside. “I’m here. I’ll know if you start dreaming again, and I’ll whisper the magic words in your ear that will drive those demons away.”

“What are the magic words?” Ruby whispered.

“I love you.”

“Oh, Peanut, I love you too. So much.”

“Good for me to know,” he said, and kissed the side of her neck. “Now we sleep.”

She closed her eyes, but the tears still found their way out. The last thing she remembered was the steady rise and fall of Peanut’s chest against her back and the warmth of his body.

When she woke, it was morning and she was alone. She threw back the covers and, as she was heading into the bathroom, smelled coffee brewing in the kitchen.

She dressed quickly, then paused in front of the mirror. The swelling in her lips was almost gone, but the stitches were still evident. The swelling was down in her eye, while the bruises on her face were turning brilliant shades of green and purple. She ran a brush through her hair and then looked down at her hands. A couple more days, and she’d be healed enough to get back to work. But was she willing to let the world see her like this?

Shrugging it off, she followed her nose to the kitchen and found Peanut frying bacon, barefoot, in a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. Her heart did a little flip. How could she not have noticed what a hunk he was all these years? But then she realized she hadn’t been ready to look.

“Good morning, Peanut,” she said.

He turned toward her with a smile.

“Good morning, sweetheart. Hey! The swelling is really going down in your face, especially your lips. Want to try a bite of solid food and see how that works?”

“Yes, if it’s bacon,” she said.

He leaned over and kissed her square on the mouth, but so gently that if she hadn’t gotten an up-close sniff of some wonderful aftershave cologne, she might not have known that he’d done it.

“Bacon is the boss, right? I knew you were the woman for me. Help yourself to bacon and coffee. As soon as I get these last pieces out of the pan, I’ll scramble some eggs.”

“Yum,” Ruby said, and rolled her eyes at the deliciousness of that first bite of bacon.

“Okay?” he asked. “Doesn’t hurt your mouth?”

“Not enough to make me stop eating,” she said, and poured herself a cup of coffee.

“The paper is on the table. Sit and relax while I finish up here.”

Ruby slid into a seat at the table, opened up the paper with one hand while she finished off the bacon with the other. She glanced through the pages without reading, saving all of that for later, and was about to set the paper aside when she noticed a story on the inside back page. She read it all the way through, frowning, then folded the paper back up and pushed it aside as Peanut carried their plates to the table.

“Looks so good. I can’t thank you enough for all of this,” Ruby said.

“I wouldn’t have had it any other way,” Peanut said. “Do you want to try any toast?”

“Not today,” she said. “I’ll see how this goes first.”

He began buttering a piece of toast for himself. “See anything interesting in the paper?” he asked.

She frowned. “I saw a story about child abuse buried on the inside of the last page. Why wasn’t that the lead headline? Physical and sexual abuse is an epidemic in this country.”

Peanut watched her take a bite of her eggs before he spoke.

“Maybe for the same reason you don’t want people to see you like this,” he said.

Ruby blinked, then swallowed her bite of eggs. She sat there for so long Peanut was afraid that he’d hurt her feelings, and just when he was about to apologize, she started talking.

“You’re right! You’re absolutely right! It’s shame. That’s why! Victims shame themselves subconsciously, while others shame them outright.”

She poked another bite of eggs in her mouth, but she was still frowning.

Peanut didn’t know for sure what to say, but something told him that what he’d said had just lit another fire under Ruby Dye.

“What are you going to do today?” Ruby asked.

“Oh, just stick around here with you.”

“Well, I think I’ll go shopping, and I don’t want you along for moral support.”

His mouth dropped. “But are you—”

She pointed her fork at him. “Yes.”

He grinned. “I am so going to love spending the rest of my life with you.”

“I would hope so,” she said, and then forked up another bite of eggs. “These are good, by the way. I’m a good cook too.”

“Ruby, I already know that. I’ve been eating at your house off and on for the last six months, remember?”

She grinned. “Poor Peanut. All those committee meetings,” she said, laughed, and then winced. “Ouch. Eating is good. Laughing still hurts.”

“Where are you going?” Peanut asked.

“I’m starting off at the shop. They always need supplies. I can run errands. And then I would love to meet you for lunch at Granny’s. That should take care of my first public outing, and I’m not going to shy away from the stares or the likely rude questions, but I will make people ashamed they asked if their questions are ugly.”

Peanut was watching the way her eyes flashed and her jaw set when she got angry. He couldn’t wait to see the expression on her face when they finally made love.

“Just let me know when it’s time to arrive at Granny’s, and I’ll be there.”

“Thank you for understanding,” she said.

“I will always ‘get you’ Ruby. You are my heart,” he said, and laid a hand over hers.

Ruby got up, slid into his lap long enough to hug him. “I love you. I’ve never said that to a man before.”

Peanut’s heart swelled. “Then thank you for trusting me enough to take a chance.”

“Easy peasy,” she said, and grinned. “Now finish your breakfast before it gets cold,” she ordered, and slid back into her chair.

“Yes, ma’am,” Peanut said, and dug into his food.

* * *

While Ruby woke up to a new kind of joy, Melissa Dean was waking up to the reality of her crossroads. She’d gone to bed last night feeling a little defeated.

And then she woke up.

Today was the day she took her first step on a new path. But she wasn’t going to take the old Melissa with her on this journey, and to get rid of her, she needed to pay a visit to the Curl Up and Dye.

It was just after eight a.m. when she sat down with her first cup of coffee and picked up her phone to Google the number, then called it. As she was listening to it ring, she wondered if she had called too early, but then someone answered the phone.

“Curl Up and Dye, Vera speaking.”

“Good morning, Vera. This is Melissa Dean.”

“Hi, honey. What can I do for you?”

“I need to be fixed. My hair’s a mess. I’m a mess. Can you help?”

Vera heard way more than the need for an appointment in Melissa’s voice.

“As it happens, Vesta’s nine o’clock just called to cancel. If you can get here by then, you’ve got the appointment.”

“Oh my gosh! That’s wonderful! I didn’t dream it would be this soon. Yes, yes, thank you. I’ll be there.”

“Good. See you soon,” Vera said, and hung up.

Melissa disconnected, then slapped the table with delight just as her toast popped up from the toaster. She jumped up to get it, buttered it, and gulped it down without tasting it, too anxious about the upcoming appointment.

She dressed quickly, then realized as she was about to leave that she hadn’t even looked at herself in a mirror, so she turned around and went back to her bathroom. She stared a moment, then jammed her finger against her own reflection.

“You are part of my past. I appreciate your participation, but you are about to be put to rest.”

Minutes later, she was out the door.

* * *

Because of the cool day, Ruby chose jeans, a soft blue cable-knit sweater, and a little black leather jacket to go with her black leather half-boots.

She fixed her hair, still eyeing the strawberry blonde color, and wondered if she should think about changing that sometime in the future. She didn’t own enough makeup to cover the bruises, so she chose to let them shine. Adding some clear lip gloss to her mouth to keep the skin soft, she stood back to get a look at the entire outfit just as Peanut walked in.

“You look gorgeous,” he said.

She shook her head. “You always say the right thing at the right time.”

“I speak my truth,” he said.

Ruby turned back around to the mirror. “What do you think about this hair color?” she asked. “I know I change it a lot. Does that bother you? Is there a color you like better than another?”

Peanut walked up behind her. He stood a moment, towering over her, then reached over her shoulders and pulled her hair away from her face.

“That’s what I love. That face. You. You are the color of love to me, Ruby. I don’t care what you do to your hair.”

Ruby was suddenly in tears. “Oh, Peanut. You did it again. Thank you for waiting for me to find you.”

Peanut put his arms around her, his hands resting lightly on the tops of her breasts.

“Love you. Whatever you do today, you’ll do what you do best, which is make waves, pretty girl.”

Ruby was dabbing at tears. “Okay, I’m ready for you to take me home so I can get my car. The keys are in my purse. I don’t need to go inside.”

“I’m ready,” he said, and grabbed his jacket as he followed her out.

A few minutes later, he let her out at the curb, then watched her go straight to her car without a hitch in her step. As soon as her car started, he drove away.

Ruby buckled her seat belt and then adjusted the rearview mirror before she backed out of the drive and headed for her shop. It felt good to be in control of her life again.

* * *

Melissa walked into the salon, smiling as the little bell over the door signaled her arrival.

Vesta came hurrying up front.

“Melissa! So glad to see you,” Vesta said. “You can hang your jacket up there, and then follow me back.”

Melissa was already getting excited as she followed Vesta back to her station.

“Have a seat here, and let’s talk about what you’re wanting before we go to the shampoo station, okay?”

Melissa sat, eyeing all that was going on as Vesta put a cape over her clothes and snapped it at the neck.

Vera was blow-drying LilyAnn Dalton’s hair and listening to her talk about her husband, Mike, with such love in her voice it made Melissa ache, remembering that’s how she’d been about Andy.

Then Vesta took the ponytail holder out of Melissa’s hair, tossed it on the station, and began finger-combing Melissa’s hair to get a feel for the length and texture.

“So what are we doing today?” Vesta asked.

“We are changing me,” Melissa said. “Cut it, color it, and make me look younger than my forty-seven years because I’m gonna need a new job.”

The workroom momentarily went silent as that statement sank in.

“What happened?” Vesta cried.

“Fred let me go.”

“Oh my lord!” LilyAnn said. “Has he gone and lost his mind?”

Melissa shrugged. “Nephew needed a job, and Fred didn’t need two clerks.”

Vera rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry, honey.”

Melissa shrugged. “I was sorry for myself last night. That was the end of one thing, but today is a beginning of another.”

“Do you have a hairstyle in mind?” Vesta asked.

“Just not this,” Melissa said. “Cut it to fit my face. Color it to fit my complexion.”

And on that, Ruby walked in the back door.

“Good morning, ladies. A little chilly out today. Hello, LilyAnn. How’s that hunky husband of yours? Why, Melissa Dean, it’s good to see you. Are we cutting, coloring, or both?”

There was a brief moment of shocked silence, and then LilyAnn took a deep breath.

“I am so glad to see you upright and talking,” she said, and started to cry.

“No crying allowed,” Ruby said. “I’m alive.”

Melissa held out a hand and Ruby clasped it, revealing the healing cuts and spreading bruises on her hands.

“Just want you to know that you are my new favorite super-heroine. Kicked ass and saved yourself, I hear. I need tips on saving myself. I got fired yesterday, so keep me informed if you hear of any local jobs. Not in the mood to drive out of town to work.”

And just like that, the shock passed and everyone went back to work, talking over each other, laughing or shrieking in dismay, whatever the story demanded.

Ruby let the energy of their voices flow through her, helping to heal her wounded spirit. She sat in the chair at her station, watching Vesta shampoo Melissa’s hair, then eyeing the chin-length bob she began to cut. When Ruby saw the hair color Melissa had chosen, she gave her a thumbs-up.

“That dark brown is going to look gorgeous with your big, green eyes.”

“It’s my natural hair color,” Melissa said.

Ruby heard the excitement in her voice.

“Change is good,” she said, then stood up. “Girls, are there any errands that need running? How are we on toilet paper and paper towels? Do you need anything? I’m here to work.”

Vesta grinned. “Good for you. We do need toilet paper, but when do we not? Mabel Jean isn’t coming in until afternoon, but we’re completely out of paper towels for her. You can check the till. We might need change.”

Vera turned off the dryer long enough to be heard. “I meant to bring some sodas for the client refrigerator and forgot.”

Ruby waved an okay and ran up to the front to check the till. She pulled out a hundred dollars in twenties, then came back with a lift in her step.

“I’ve got you covered,” she said. “I’ll be back soon. Ladies, if you’re gone before I return, enjoy your hairdos.”

“Thank you, Ruby!” said LilyAnn.

Ruby waved and walked out the back door as abruptly as she had entered.

The twins looked at each other, then grinned.

“I don’t know what happened, but she’s done a one-eighty from the woman who was in here before,” Vesta said.

Vera shrugged.

“Ruby is just finding her spirit again. Now, Melissa, let’s get this color on and see what mischief we can stir up for you.”