Staying True - A Contemporary Romance Novel (14 page)

“How did it catch fire?” I asked.

“Spark from the chimney. I ran inside
and told my parents, and no one believed me.”

“How could they not believe you?”
Shawna asked, hanging on this man’s every word. I wondered if she had ever
known someone as sweet and adoring in her life who she could look up to and
admire. The way she had clung to his words since church, I highly doubted it.

“I joked all the time,” he said,
straightening his lips.

“So, what happened?” I leaned in.

“Our house burned to the ground. We
tried to save our furniture, but the snow buried it and ruined it. We had to
just watch it all burn.”

“Where did you go?” Shawna asked.

“We had nowhere to go. Some neighbors
took us in and fed us scrumptious pies and spaghetti with meatballs and the
yummiest garlic bread I’ve ever eaten. My parents didn’t want to be known as
moochers, so we moved. We moved to Massachusetts to a place called The
Rafters.”

“That’s where I grew up,” Ruby said.
Her smile sat perkily on her pretty face.

“We ran a small farm and sold our
grain and chicken and beef to local markets,” he continued. “And when my
parents died, I took over. I hated farming. Hard work, you know?”

I didn’t want to disagree. “I bet.”

“So I decided to turn The Rafters
into a bed and breakfast. My wife and I ran that place like a couple of expert
tour guides. By day I’d take the guests out on adventures—fishing, hiking, typical
tourist stuff—and by night, my wife would bake them homemade dinners and pies.
One of us would end up playing the piano and singing songs to the guests while
they read and relaxed by the roaring fire and ate cookies.”

“Heaven,” Ruby said. “It was heaven.”
Her eyes glowed.

“What happened to The Rafters?” I
asked.

Ruby shook her head, urging me to
cease. So I did.

“Or better yet,” I jumped back in.
“Tell me something else interesting about your life. Ruby tells me you’re quite
the story teller.”

“Oh, I’ve got stories. I used to
write them as often as I could. But my eyesight.” He shook his head. “I like to
tell them to the kids at the library. You know they sit there and listen like
little angels. I love telling them the story of when I saw my first airplane
because they scoot up really close and giggle when I tell them I almost shot
the plane down with a shotgun!”

Shawna scooted up like one of those
kids. Ruby ducked back and slung an arm around my shoulder. I leaned into her.

“I heard a high-pitched whining. I
looked up and saw this thing flying above. It looked like a big bird. I headed
towards my front door to get my big rifle. The mailman had been approaching and
said, ‘That’s a plane.’ Turned out he was right, and the plane landed in a big
farm over to the right from us. Eventually, they started flying from that farm
offering people flights for $1.50. The pilot would take people all around town.
Fascinating stuff,” he said sipping on his tea thoughtfully.

We ended our fun afternoon by
bringing him back to his apartment in Ruby’s yellow Camaro. He turned to me and
Shawna with tired eyes. “You will come back again, I hope?”

We both nodded.

“I’d love to,” I said.

He placed his hand on my forearm.
“You thought I was going to be some old, cranky guy who farts and blows his
nose every two minutes, didn’t you?”

I laughed out loud at this. I pinched
his cheek. “You’re even cuter than your granddaughter. Shh. Don’t tell her.”

When we walked back down the walkway,
Shawna said, “I wish I had someone like him in my life.”

“Well, now you do,” Ruby said,
clutching her hand.

When we arrived back at the parking
lot of Saint Mary’s where Shawna’s car was parked, I didn’t want the day to
end. “Why don’t we all go and grab a bite to eat?”

“I’ve got all the fixings for a
spaghetti dinner if you girls want to take a drive to Jamestown,” Ruby said.

I looked to Shawna and sent her my
best plea.

She nodded. “Why not?” Then, she
further accommodated my plea by suggesting she follow us in her car.

I had Ruby all to myself in the front
seat of her yellow Camaro.

* *

Ruby drove with one hand on the
steering wheel the other one draped on the console between us. I draped my arm,
too, so they brushed up against each other. An electric current buzzed between
us, connecting us.

“Nice set of wheels.”

“My grampa bought this for me for my
high school graduation.”

“He’s such a sweet man.” I nudged her
arm to keep the current alive.

“I begged him for it. I researched
this car, dreamt of this car, talked nonstop about this car for like a year.
And then, he had his friend deliver it to the driveway, and when I stepped out
to head over to the field for graduation exercises, it sat there with a big bow
on it. I thought I had died and gone to heaven.”

“I see you take very good care of it.”
There was not a speck of dust anywhere.

I glanced at her profile. She pulled
in her lower lip. “He sacrificed a lot for me to have this.”

“I’m sure he did.”

“He’s always sacrificed in his life.
Especially with his girlfriend. He fell madly in love with Grace, and she left
him. She broke his heart. He couldn’t even stand to live at The Rafters
anymore. So, he sold it, and he’s never been the same since.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I just
held her hand.

“I am still angry and devastated. He
moved from this beautiful home with rolling fields, streams, and endless
activities to his apartment at the senior housing complex. A part of him died
that day we moved. It’s like his spirit wilted, like his purpose erased, and
left him only with a bunch of empty years ahead of him with nothing more to do
than play Wii with a bunch of old people.”

“Do you hate Grace for it?”

“Grace just wanted her freedom. She
couldn’t be caged into a relationship. How can I hate a person who is just like
me?”

I squeezed her hand, offering my
respect. “So you aren’t the relationship type?”

“Not at all. I will never end up like
Grampa.”

How could I argue with that logic? I
envied her freedom. “So, your Grampa sounds like he needs to have some fun.”

“I don’t think Sunday church and brunch
are quite working that well anymore. I sometimes worry that he’s bored with the
routine of it all.”

“Well, let’s change it for him then.”

“So you’re willing to do this all
over again?” Ruby teased.

“Maybe I am,” I said.

Ruby graced me with a sweet,
lingering smile. “I’m going to miss you when Jessica gets out of that prison.
Do you think she’ll let us stay friends?”

Dread fell over me. “Probably not.”

“Well, we’ll just have to be creative
then.”

Ten minutes later, we arrived at Ruby’s
condo. She lived right on the water in Jamestown. We stepped into a pristine
white space accented with red window treatments, pillows and frames. “I rent a
room from my friends. They’re away this weekend visiting friends in Miami.”

“I need to use the little girls’
room,” Shawna said.

“Down at the far end of the hall.”

“Might be a few minutes.” She ducked
past us and ran down the hall.

“She’s so sweet. We’ve got to set her
up with someone.”

I wagged my finger. “She’s already
warned me to stay clear of that.”

I sat on the arm of the recliner.
Ruby snaked around me and wrapped her hands around my shoulders and kneaded
them, relaxing me in an instant. “Close your eyes, darling.”

I did. I sank into her touch like I
was sinking into a warm bath drizzled with soothing oil.

“You were so sweet today,” she
whispered. “So very sweet.” She teased me with a light touch, tickling my
senses and bringing my skin to life.

I needed to touch her, to cuddle, to
be in her arms. I reached up and tugged on her fingertips. She stopped massaging
and leaned her chin against my shoulder. I pulled her fingers to my lips and
kissed them, one at a time. Her chest rose and fell against my back. My insides
quivered.

“You’re a sweet friend,” she said
before drawing her hand back from my lips. She traced my shoulder, slowly,
sensually, staring into my eyes.

Shawna emerged from the bathroom,
catching us in this provocative stare. “Listen, we need to go. I’m not feeling
well. My stomach is a little queasy.”

“I can make you some tea,” Ruby
offered.

“No, we should go.”

I wanted to punch her. I didn’t want
to leave. “Come on, let us make you some tea.”

“Please,” Shawna said. “I need to get
back to Providence.”

What could I do? Look like a total
bitch by forcing her to sit and enjoy tea that could quite possibly send her
flying back to the bathroom again? “Fine. We shall go, then.”

Ruby and I shared a lingering gaze.

When we stepped out into the fresh
sea air, I turned to Ruby and waved at her beautiful silhouette. Her hair blew
around her, and she looked just like a sea goddess.

“I’ll drive,” I said. “Give me the
keys.”

“I’m fine,” Shawna said.

“You’re fine?”

“Trust me. You’ll thank me later for
this.”

I grabbed her wrist. “You’re the one
who dragged me to church today.”

“That had nothing to do with trying
to set you up with her. I wanted to meet her grampa.”

“Bullshit.”

She stopped walking. “Just be
careful. That’s all.”

“Of course.” I nodded and pressed on
towards the car.

* *

Two nights later, Ruby called me.
“What do you say we play Monopoly?”

“Monopoly?”

“I just saw it in the gift shop and I
bought it. What do you say?”

“Do you want to come up to my room to
play?” I asked.

“I’ll be up in five minutes.”

It’s just Monopoly,
I said to myself as I spritzed the
air with perfume, fluffed the pillows, and squirted breath freshener in my
mouth.

Moments later, Ruby entered my room,
and filled it with her light fragrance. Her hair fell loosely in long waves,
and she wore pink lip gloss. I could handle this.

“See?” She lifted the box. “They have
the Providence version of it.”

“Cute.” I followed her towards the
living area of the suite. I had already set up a blanket on the floor. “Some
wine?”

“Do you even have to ask?” She
smiled. She set up the board while I filled our wine glasses.

A few minutes later, we were curled
up on the floor flipping dice and getting a little drunk on Merlot.

“So my grampa adored you and Shawna.”

I moved my toy car three spaces and
landed on the Roll Again square. “He’s fascinating.” I picked up the dice and
rolled again. This time I landed on Go Directly to Jail. “How appropriate.”

Ruby picked up the dice. “Sorry about
that, darling. We’ll get you out soon.” She scooted up on her knees and tossed
the dice.

“I hope so. I don’t ever want to stay
long in jail.”

Ruby relaxed back down on her folded
legs. “How did you react when she first landed in jail?”

I never talked about this. People
judged. They sat back on their security blankets with smug faces like I was
suddenly beneath them. But not Ruby. Her eyes softened. Her beautiful aura
shone brightly. Sweet innocence cascaded around her.

“Do you want to know the first thing
I thought about?”

She moved in closer to me, knocking over
her growing pile of hundreds. “Tell me.”

“I worried that she didn’t have hair
gel.”

Ruby chuckled and tilted her head
towards her shoulder. “What else?”

“I remember thinking this poor girl
isn’t going to be able to use her cellphone to check her Facebook. She lived
for updating her Facebook status and checking to see who liked her updates and
photos.”

She smiled.

“I also worried that she had no
pillow to rest her head on at night. She had this favorite pillow she always
called True Blue because it never failed her. As long as she could ball it
under head at night, she could sleep. The thing was ten years old.”

“You couldn’t take it in to her?”

“I threw it out in the trash one
night. That and all of her clothes, and her shoe collection.”

Ruby reached out and touched my
cheek. “Remind me never to get on your bad side.”

I cupped my hand over hers and closed
my eyes. I was pushing the line, but I couldn’t resist. Her hand comforted me.

“Tell me more,” she said.