Chapter Four

Ruby

The guy cooked me breakfast. Why? It couldn’t be because he wanted something from me. We had already established that wasn’t the case. I wasn’t his type, remember.

As I finished the last piece of perfect bacon, I glanced around the room for the first time. I was finally waking up to my surroundings and it was probably time I adjusted to this new world.

The kitchen opened up onto a small dining area and then into a large living room. A soft, comfortable looking couch with matching striped throw pillows along the left wall. A stone hearth and a fireplace along the right wall. And big bay windows that looked out on the front yard.

It reminded me of the showroom model I had seen when we went to the furniture store that one time. Perfect, clean, everything in its place.

Getting up, I felt myself drawn into the room like a vacuum sucking up lint. Something you’d never find in this house by the way.

Pretty pictures of ducks on a pond, and another painting of a mountain meadow hung above the couch. A TV stood in the corner with more pictures above it.

“Are these your grandparents,” I said, pointing to one of the pictures on the wall. A handsome, older, gray haired couple stood next to each other, smiling into the camera like their life couldn’t be more perfect.

“No, those are my parents,” Luke said with a deep frown.

I winced. Wow, they looked old.

He obviously saw my reaction and said, “They had me late. Mom was forty, dad was forty-five. I was the surprise they never thought they would have.”

“Were they pleased?” I asked, it seemed like an obvious question, but Luke frowned at me as if trying to understand the words coming out of my mouth.

“Of course,” he said as if there could be no other answer. But then the frown deepened. “However, they did have to make some adjustments. I learned a couple of years ago, that they had planned on retiring early and traveling the world. But I sort of put a damper on their dreams.”

Wow, and I thought I had burdens to bear.

Luke looked off into the distance for a moment. “That’s why I’m working at Sam’s. Every dollar I can get for college is one less dollar taken from their dreams.”

I studied him for a long moment. “So typical Luke,” I muttered under my breath. But he heard me.

“What do you mean by that?” he asked.

“Nothing, it’s just so typical of you.”

“Again, what do you mean?”

I sighed heavily. I’d stepped into this and there wasn’t an easy way out.

“It’s just that you are so darn perfect, it can be sickening at times.”

“Me? Perfect? I wish.”

I could only shake my head. Even the fact that he didn’t see it, made him perfect.

“So, what are you going to be when you grow up,” I asked.

He hesitated for a moment as if afraid to tell me, then reluctantly said, “An architect.”

“Why?” I asked.

He shrugged those wide shoulders of his and said, “I don’t know, it sounds interesting.”

I could only stare at him and shake my head.

“What?” he demanded.

I looked at him for a long moment, then said, “You’re going to be doing it for the next forty years and you don’t know why. Maybe you’re not as perfect as I thought.”

He laughed and turned to start clearing the dishes.

“Yeah, well, at least I’ve got a plan.”

“Yes you do,” I said. “A plan to waste your life doing something you don’t really want to do. But hey, it’s a plan.”

He grimaced and ignored me.

I watched him for a minute and started to wonder who was more right. He did have a plan after all. Who was I to be criticizing? what did I have? I was the one begging for a warm place to sleep.

Once he was done, he turned to me. “So, what do you want to do today. I’ve got to go shovel the driveway and stuff. But after that, I’m all yours.”

My cheeks grew a little warm at the idea of having Luke Sinclair all to myself. Fumbling for an answer I shrugged my shoulders. “I could give you a hand if you want?”

His brow narrowed for a moment then he excused himself and said he’d be right back.

I watched him leave the kitchen and head up the hall. Great, now I’d pissed him off. That whole ‘him having a plan’ thing. Once again, my mouth had gotten itself in trouble. Why couldn’t I learn to just be quiet? Obviously, the guy didn’t need life advice from me. In fact, no one on this entire planet should ever take life advice from me.

Pulling the quilt tight around my shoulders, I petted Mrs. Beasley and stared out the window at the snow on the ground. I was lost in a dozen different thoughts about the way life should have been when I heard him come back into the kitchen.

“Here,” he said as he laid a pile of clothes down on the dining table. “No way you’re going out in those clothes. These will keep you warm. And hey, at least they’re not mom jeans.”

I looked at the neatly folded clothes and then back at him. Completely unable to understand what was going on. A Green Day T-shirt, gray sweat pants, and a blue hoody that looked like it’d hang down around my knees.

He stared back at me, as if unable to understand my incomprehension. I’m sure to him, it was just clothes.

“I can’t wear your clothes,” I said.

“Why not, no one will see you. I swear, I won't take any secret pictures and blackmail you.”

“That’s not it,” I said, unable to look him in the eye.

“Then why not?” he asked with a bewildered frown.

How could I explain? The thought of burying myself into Luke Sinclair’s clothes sent a warm tingle down my back. How could I ever explain that to him?

Luke shrugged his shoulders. “It’s up to you, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“No,” I exclaimed without really thinking. “Give me a minute and I’ll help.”

Scooping the clothes up, I ran downstairs to get changed. Suddenly, spending the day playing in the snow seemed like the most awesome of possibilities.

I had to pull the draw string extra tight on the sweat pants and the T-shirt was about a dozen sizes too big. But it was the hoody that really buried me.

Pulling it on, I caught a brief whiff of Luke and his leather and pine cologne. I had to close my eyes and pull the fabric to my nose. I could just get lost in that scent and never come out.

Sighing heavily, I reminded myself that Luke was upstairs waiting and he wasn’t going to wait long. I reluctantly stopped myself from constantly sniffing at the hoody and rejoin him upstairs.

He smiled when he saw me and slowly shook his head.

“What?” I asked as my stomach fell to the ground. I knew I looked ridiculous but he didn’t have to make a thing about it.

“Nothing,” he said. “It’s just that you could make a burlap bag look sexy.”

“Oh,” I managed to say as the air rushed out of my lungs. That was rather unexpected.

“Come on, here, you can use my mom’s gloves. Let’s get this done so we can curl up with some video games,”

And with that, the moment was gone.

Once we were out front, I was reminded again about how grateful I should be that Luke had let me stay there for the night. The cold wind whipped at me, making me pull up my hood and huddle under the layers of clothes.

The sharp tang of wood smoke from a dozen different fireplaces filled the air with that warm welcoming scent. I’d always wished we’d had a fireplace, just for days like today.

Before my mind could wander too far, Luke handed me a shovel and began on the driveway. I stood there for a moment just to watch him work. Even in his jacket, I could see his strong back bending and twisting.

I liked watching, I’ll admit it. The boy had some seriously hot form. But, I reminded myself, I was there to help, not gawk. So I started shoveling.

We worked well together and within as few minute the driveway was clear and the sidewalk out front as well.

“I’m going to go do Mrs. Walker’ next door. She’ll try to do it herself and end up breaking a hip.” Luke said as he walked to the next door neighbors driveway.

I scurried to catch up, and again within minutes, the job was done.

He didn’t even ring the bell to tell her he had done it for her. Instead, he simply took the shovel from me and returned them to the garage.

“So, what now?” he asked.

My head whipped around to try and find somewhere else that needed shoveling. I was enjoying myself, I realized. I didn’t want to go inside. Not yet. I was like a little kid let out into this winter wonderland.

So, I shrugged my shoulders. What else could I do?

“Do you think we have enough to make a snowman?” he asked me as the garage door closed.

“Here? Now?” I asked. Who made a snowman? That was like a little kid thing wasn’t it.

“Sure, come on. Besides, I want to have one done before Jason does.”

“Do you Lakeland boys compete in everything?” I asked.

He smiled at me. “Yeah, pretty much.”

So Luke Sinclair and I made a snowman in his front yard. We did it all. Packed the snow into a ball. Rolled it around until it got big enough for the base. When we were bent over preparing the trunk. Luke hip checked me into next week. Out of nowhere, I found myself in the snow, looking up at him like he’d lost his mind.

“What was that for?” I yelled at him.

“You looked like you were having too much fun,” he answered innocently as he continued working on the ball of snow.

I got up, dusting off the seat of my pants and studied him for a long moment. This meant war, at some point, when he least expected it. I’d get him back.

We continued working on the snowman. After we got the three sections properly arranged, Luke said he’d be right back then returned from the back yard with sticks for the arms and rocks for the buttons.

“It looks sort of plain?” I said as we both stepped back to admire our work.

Luke nodded slowly then smiled. “Hold on, he said as he ran into the house.”

He came back out bending a wire coat hanger back and forth.

“What’s that for?” I asked.

“Hoop earring and a nose ring,” he said with a smile as he began to bend the wire into the appropriate shapes.

I had to smile, the boy was just too funny.

“There,” Luke said as he stepped back to admire his work. “What do you think?”

And that was my key. Before he could react, I dumped half a ton of snow down the inside of his shirt.

Hip check me into the snow, will he?

He squawked and jumped and twisted to get away from the cold snow as I pounded him on the back, making sure he got the full impact.

Then he stopped and slowly turned to stare at me. My insides turned to hard stone as my heart raced. He was now deadly serious. This was an affront to his manliness that could not be allowed to be forgiven.

He dove for me, I squealed, and began to run. If I could get inside, I’d be safe. We’d have to call it a draw which really meant I won.

But the boy was quicker than an angry leopard, he had me before I was halfway to the door. Those long, strong arms wrapped themselves around my middle and picked me up like I was a bag of laundry.

Twisting, he swung me around and around until my head got dizzy as I squirmed to get out of his grip. Of course, I didn’t try too hard. Being held by Luke Sinclair was right up there at one of my new favorite things.

Of course, it couldn’t last. New bright shiny things never last. He twisted to the left, I squirmed to the right and we went down into the snow like a bag of bricks.

I did notice that at the last moment, Luke shifted to make sure I was on top and he took the brunt of the fall with a heavy umph.

And there we were, Luke flat on his back, me on top of him, his arms wrapped around my lower back, our lips inches apart.

Our eyes locked onto each other like there was no tomorrow and this was all that existed in the universe. A thousand messages were sent, a thousand thoughts explored. All in the blink of an eye.

For the first time, we saw each other. Really delved into the other person’s soul. Shared something that was special and unique.

Of their own accord, almost like they had a mind of their own, my lips began to lower to his. He began to rise to meet me. My heart raced, the pounding inside my chest so hard I was certain It would burst. Nothing could stop us from kissing. Nothing would stop me from finally knowing what Luke Sinclair kissed like.

“Ruby?” A voice said from the sidewalk. “Ruby Miller, is that you?”

The universe crashed to a sudden halt as reality came streaming back into my awareness.

Oh my god, I’d almost kissed Luke Sinclair. Trapped him on the ground and forced myself on him. How dumb could I be?

Suddenly, the most important thing in the world was to get away. Get away and pretend it didn’t almost happen.

Pushing myself to my feet, I glanced at the sidewalk to see Amber and Jason. Their mouths agape as if they’d just seen a moose walking through the neighborhood.

“Hey Amber,” I said, trying desperately to sound like we’d just run into each other in the girl’s bathroom at school.

“What are you doing here?” Jason asked with a curious frown.

“We’re building a snowman,” Luke said as he got up. “What does it look like?”

I was surprised to hear a little anger in Luke’s voice, but I didn’t know who he was mad at, me? Or Jason?

Jason laughed. “I don’t know? That looks like an interesting way to make a snowman.”

Amber elbowed him in the ribs and turned to smile at me. “Everything okay Ruby?” she asked. That was the thing about Amber. She was just too nice. Always worried about other people. I swear, it got on a person’s nerves.

“I’m fine,” I said, probably a little more stringently than the situation required. “Luke was  … helping me with some homework and we decided to take a break and build a snowman. Nothing wrong with that.”

Jason stared up at the sun barely above the horizon and frowned, but he had the good sense to keep his opinion about the earliness to himself.

“um, yeah,” Luke said,

I glanced at him, he glanced at them, they glanced at us. Such an awkward, silly feeling, but I felt like a little girl who had been caught cutting my own hair, and all we were doing was making a snowman, I swear.

“Well, we should probably get back to doing it,” Luke said then suddenly blushed furiously, “I mean get back to the homework,”

I gulped and nodded and gave Amber a quick wave as I scurried back into the house.

If I live to be a hundred and three, I swear I will never forget that feeling of pure embarrassment and excitement, and worry, and hope, all wrapped up together like a snowball of pure emotion.