Chapter Six

Ruby

The next morning, I was up and in the kitchen long before he got up. The one thing I was sure of, I wasn’t going to let him see the impact he was having on me.

No way,

“Do you want coffee?” I asked as he stepped into the kitchen.

His eyes lit up with surprise as he took the cup.

“Thank you,” he said after that long first sip.

“Eggs and sausage?” I asked as I dished up his plate.

“Um, sure …” he answered as he slid onto a stool behind the counter.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I figured it was my turn to cook.”

“No, that’s great,” he said, as he took a bite of food. I held my breath until he looked up and smiled. “These are great, thanks”

I let out a long slow breath. Yes, life could be good at times.

Luke powered through his breakfast then asked for seconds. It was hard to hide my smile.

Once he was done, he asked what I was going to do for the day.

Was he asking me to leave? I wondered. Of course he was, his parents would be pissed if they knew he’d left me here all alone with their stuff.

“I don’t know?” I said, “I thought I’d call Jade, She might be able to take me in for a few days.”

He frowned and slowly nodded. “Well, there is no rush, my parents won’t be back until Tuesday, late. So it’s up to you.

Now it was my turn to frown, “You mean you want me to stay?”

“It’s totally up to you Ruby.” He said as he used his toast to wipe his plate clean.

My heart turned over, what did he want? What did I want? The fact that I didn’t know was disturbing, to say the least.

“I’m running late,” Luke said as he stood up from the counter. “Someone kept me up half the night playing video games,”

I laughed, pleased that we were avoiding the whole me sleeping in his arms subject.

Walking him to the front door, I suddenly had an overwhelming urge to kiss him goodbye, to rub his shoulder and tell him to have a nice day.

Come on, how ridiculous was that.

Luke, opened the front door, letting in a cold breeze. He stopped and turned to look at me and I realized that he was thinking the same thing.

We stared into each other’s eyes for a long moment and then we were kissing. I don’t know who started it. It really doesn’t matter. The important thing was that Luke Sinclair was kissing me and my universe was exploding.

After a long sultry kiss that made my knees weak and my body tingle all over, Luke pulled back and smiled at me.

“You have a nice, wonderful, beautiful day, Ruby Miller,” Luke said as he gave me a quick wink and left to return to his world.

All I could do was stare at the door and wonder what in the world had I gotten myself into.

It hit me like a bag of bricks from a great height.

I didn’t belong here. I would never belong here. This was his world. His perfect, beautiful world. And my world could only bring him pain and shame.

No, I wouldn’t do that. Luke was too special. The last thing he deserved was to be hurt. And I knew darn sure that my heart couldn’t handle it if my world caused him any pain.

.o0o.

Luke

I swear, the day was dragging slower than an afternoon at my Aunt Charlotte’s. All I could think about was that kiss at the door. I didn’t know who started it. All I knew was that it had changed everything.

But no, instead I was stuck there in that darn kitchen. Every time I turned around, there was another pile of dishes and a couple of dirty pots to clean.

Jimmy was hopping all day and both of the waitresses asked me to help bus tables.

But still, the day dragged. I needed to get home. A burning need tore at me. I needed to see Ruby’s face when I told her the news. Would she be happy, or want to stick a dagger into my heart. Only time would tell.

And unfortunately, that particular day. Time was slower than a new video game on an old computer.

Finally, I got out of there and headed home. As I pulled up, my heart dropped. The place looked dark. Maybe she was downstairs, I hoped, as I jumped out of the car and headed around back.

The dark basement sent my stomach to my knees. No way. She couldn’t have left.

“Ruby,” I yelled as I pulled the door open.

Nothing.

Maybe upstairs. Taking two stairs at a time I burst into the hallway and yelled for her again.

Nothing.

She really had left without a word. She had my number, why hadn’t she called to let me know. Or had someone taken her. The sudden thought sent a chill through me.

God, I hated this not knowing.

Storming through the house, I opened the door to each room without knocking.

Nope, she was gone.

Well, what did I expect, I told myself. She wasn’t yours to keep. She’s got her own life, and you’ve got yours. But of course, that didn’t change the deep disappointment sitting at the base of my guts.

Mrs. Beasley watched me from the back of Mom’s chair. Her eyes accusing me of losing the one good thing to happen for a while.

I gave her an evil glare back and headed for the kitchen. When I flipped on the lights. A note fluttered on the counter, catching my eye.

With a nervous hand, I reached out and snatched it up.

Dear Luke

I’ve decided to go home. I’m going to have to deal with my problems sometime. It might as well be now. Thank you for your help the last couple of days. You were a life saver, literally. I’ll get your clothes back to you next week. Thanks again.

Ruby

**PS** I fed Mrs. Beasley

I read the note for the second time. Searching for some kind of clue as to why she had left. Well, at least one thing was for sure. She hadn’t been taken against her will. That comment about the damn cat was her way of letting me know she was okay.

Carefully folding the note, My mind wandered to a dozen different thoughts in quick sequence. Should I call her? Should I drive out to the trailer park and make sure she was all right?

No, I told myself. Don’t forget, this was Ruby Miller we were talking about. The girl who hated people helping her. The last thing she would want would be to see me sticking my nose into her business.

Shaking my head, I got ready to take a shower and tried to put away the thought of Ruby Miller. When that proved to be impossible, I decided all I could do was to wait and talk to her on Monday at school. I’d give her my news and make sure she was okay.

Otherwise, it was one of those circumstances that I had to just  accept. I hated it, but there wasn’t much I could do. Not without making her life worse.

.o0o.

Luke

When I stepped into the school on Monday morning, my heart beat a little faster than normal.

Tank and Jason slapped me on the back and headed off to their classes. Amber, Jason’s girlfriend, gave me a quick smile, then hurried to join Jason, slipping her hand into his like it belonged there.

I knew she wanted to ask me about Ruby, but I think she could see this was not the time nor place. Instead, she’d corner me when I was alone and worm all the details out of me.

I had to smile to myself. That girl was good for Jason. He’d hit the jackpot with Amber.

Tank looked lost, as if something was bugging him. But I knew my friend. He wouldn’t share until he was ready and no amount of poking and prodding would get it out of him. Besides, I had problems of my own to deal with.

Thankfully, no one had seen Nick that morning. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d skipped school. And knowing him, it wouldn’t be the last. But right then, I didn’t need him being around. Nick had a habit of seeing the truth before anyone else. And right then, I didn’t want to have to deal with the truth.

Stalking down the hallway, I scanned left and right. Ducking to look into the classrooms in case she had gotten there before me. Nothing.

My heart continued to race until I caught a brief sight of bright purple at the far end of the hallway. Rushing, I got to her just before she stepped into her class.

She was wearing tight jeans and my blue hoody. The jeans hugged her hips like they were made for them. The hoody reminded me of what those long legs looked like.

My heart turned over. God, she was hot. I swear, she could have been dressed in a sleeping bag and she would have made it look sexy. 

Of course, she was still wearing her boots. It wouldn’t be Ruby without her boots.

“Ruby,” I said as I grabbed her shoulder.

She spun around, her eyes shooting fire like she wanted to bury a hammer in my head. But then, once she saw me, her shoulders slumped with relief.

“Luke,” she said with a small smile.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

She paused for a moment then nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

The girl was such a terrible liar. It was written all over her face. Her eyes were bloodshot and she looked like she hadn’t slept since last June.

“We need to talk,” I said just as the tardy bell rang. Mr. Jenson shot me a look of annoyance and indicated Ruby should get to her seat.

“Not now,” she said to me with a quick smile as she suddenly reached up and kissed me, a quick peck on the lips. “But thanks for all your help.”

And with that, she disappeared into the room like a soap bubble disappearing into thin air.

Shaking my head, I slumped off to my class. Not now, she said. That didn’t mean don’t talk to her. Just not now. Okay then. Lunch it was. I was going to find out what was going on and we were going to fix any problems she was having.

When I found her at lunch, she was sitting alone at one of the far tables. So like Ruby, she didn’t care what people thought and she wasn’t about to stoop to pretending to like people just so she could sit with them at lunch.

“Can I join you?” I asked as I sat down across from her before she could answer.

She glanced up at me and smiled. “No,” she said just before taking a bite from her muffin. But I could tell she was teasing. Like I said, she was a terrible liar.

“Oh well,” I said, “just give me a minute then I will leave you to your entourage.”

She smiled and put down the muffin she had been nibbling at and stared at me with a serious frown.

“What do you want Luke? I promise, everything is fine. Your super powers will not be needed. So thank you again, but you need to go back to your world and leave me in mine.”

“Super Powers?” I asked

She laughed. “Don’t pretend you don’t know what I am talking about. You’re Luke Sinclair, the fixer of problems. As long as I’ve known you, you have helped other people. You stood up for Mary Simpson in fifth grade. You helped Shelley Williams write her senior thesis in A.P. History last year. When Josh McDonald kept getting passed over for the school baseball team. You spent a month playing catch with him until he made the team.

“Face it, Luke, you like helping people and I don’t need help. So you’re out of luck.”

I stared at her and slowly shook my head. “So tell me, what happened when you got home. Humor me. I deserve at least that.”

She looked up from her muffin again and stared at me for a long moment, as if weighing her options. At last, she sighed and said, “It’s simple. I got home, walked in as if nothing was going on, and went straight to the kitchen. I grabbed the carving knife out of the rack and told him if he came anywhere near me, I’d cut out his liver. Then I would tell my mom who would castrate him for cheating on her.”

My mouth dropped open for a second. I was positive she was telling the truth. Like I said, she’s a bad liar. And it did sound like something Ruby Miller would do.

“So, how long do you think it will last,”

She scoffed, “Three, maybe four days. Until he gets stoned again. Or at least more stoned than usual.”

“What about the police,” I asked.

“He hasn’t done anything,” she said with a shoulder shrug. “They only get involved after things have gone bad.”

I nodded slowly. “Sounds to me like you need to move out.”

She blanched for a moment as she frantically looked into my eyes trying to figure out where I was going with this.

“If you think I’m hiding in your basement for the rest of my life, you’re crazy.”

Now it was my turn to shrug.

“Maybe, but you still have to deal with the issue of you moving out. It’s not safe for you there. You know it, and I know it. Not unless you want me to go over there and talk to him.”

“No!” she exclaimed. “No, please don’t. I don’t want you dealing with him. He’s not exactly a nice person. And some of his friends are even worse. You, Luke Sinclair, are to stay far away from the man. Do you hear me.”

My gut tightened up. Wow, she must not think much of me.

Taking a deep breath I decided to ignore her comment and move on. We could always come back to it at a later date. Nothing would give me more pleasure than teaching her step-father a lesson or two.

“Like I said, you need to move out. And to do that, you probably need to get a job.”

She laughed, “Yeah, like those grow on trees around here. I’ve applied to every fast food joint and retail shop in town. But, this town has a pine tree stuck up its butt. No way are they giving someone like me a job.”

Now it was my turn to smile at her. “Well, that was a waste of time. I’ve already got you a job. And a place to live.”

“What?

“But hey, if you don’t want me to fix things. I won’t.”

“Luke, stop messing around. What are you talking about.”

I paused for a second, just to watch her squirm. I think I needed a little payback, that comment about me keeping away from her step-father still burned a little.

“Allison, One of the waitress at the diner, put her notice in on Saturday. She’s moving to South Dakota with her boyfriend. He’s got a job in the new oil fields out there. I guess …”

“Luke,” she demanded. “what are you talking about.”

I smiled, “I talked to Jimmy, the job’s yours if you want it.

“Really, … Waitressing?” I could see a new doubt behind her eyes. Not something you saw in Ruby very often. But it was there for a brief moment until she pushed it aside and squared her shoulders.

“Cool,” she said with a smile. “Thanks.”

I had to smile in return, how could I not? Ruby’s smile had a way of pulling one out of me.

“Annnnnd,” I continued. “Allison was Meagan’s roommate. Meagan’s looking for a replacement. She’s willing to float you for the first month until you get on your feet.”

Ruby’s eyes narrowed as she stared at me with laser like focus. “You told her about me? You talked about me behind my back.”

I swear, the girl could start a forest fire with that glare. I quickly held up my hands in surrender and said, “I had to. I heard them talking and knew it was the perfect opportunity. Meagan balked at first until I told her about you and then she was all over the idea.”

“That still doesn’t …”

“Ruby,” I said, taking one of her hands in mine. “Forgive me, but I did what I thought needed to be done. You can be mad at me all you want. But don’t pass up this chance just because you’re pissed at me. You’re too smart for that.”

She studied me for a long moment then nodded. “When does he want me to start?”

“Today,” I said, “Jimmy wants Allison to train you before she takes off. And Meagan said you can crash on their couch until Allison moves out next weekend.”

She looked back at me as she tried to process all that I’d just said. I could see the wheels spinning and the cogs turning as she evaluated the situation.

I knew she would accept it. Like I said, Ruby was too smart not to. But still, I held my breath and waited.

At last, she sighed and nodded. “Thank you, Luke,” she said with a small smile. “I guess your super powers came in handy after all.”

I laughed. Probably with a little bit more relief than I should have. For some reason, it was important to me that this girl be all right.

And what she didn’t need to know was that if she had turned down the opportunity. Then her jerk step-father and I would have had a long and very physical talk.