Ruby Island

by Anita Rodriguez

  Mabel pulled an old photo album off of the shelf and had the boys sit next to her on the twin bed that Amy had slept on.

  "This is your mom when she was your age, and I swear you are the spitting image." Mabel tapped Steven's nose and turned the page, showing more photos of Amy as a child.

  Amy's phone chimed and she saw a text from Bill. It was a photo of a vintage car he owned, and he said that he wanted to give it to William. He'd parked it in "Amy's garage" and it was ready whenever William wanted to take a spin. Amy grunted and bit her lip, and she texted back that she would be over in a bit if he was home. Bill said he would be home for the next two hours.

  Amy took a deep breath to calm herself. She knew that Bill was trying to be nice, and this is just what he did. Bill Ruby marched in and took care of things. He spoiled everyone and it was charming, until it was overwhelming. Amy remembered how many gifts Bill had tried to give her when they dated and even in the time that they'd just been friends, and it was a bit too much.

  He had once paid a food cart to sit outside her house for a week just in case Amy had wanted another taco, because she'd commented how much she'd liked their food. Another time, Bill had hired a personal assistant to travel to Chicago with her for a photo shoot, just to make sure Amy had everything she needed. She was pretty sure that the "assistant" had been a bodyguard because Amy was going to photograph a well-known rapper and "gansta" in the neighborhood he'd grown up in. It was endearing that Bill had wanted to take care of her, until it felt like she was being smothered.

  "This is a photo of your mother at the Mount Everest base camp. Do you boys know what that is?" Mabel asked.

  "Yes," William said, and Mabel gave an approving nod to Amy.

  "They seem to be well-educated, Mabel, but Bill told them about Mount Everest," Amy admitted. The boys could read at least, and they were respectful. She wondered how she could have pulled that off while stranded on an island.

  "That's Mom with Uncle Bill," Benji said, pointing to a picture in the back of the album.

  Amy knew that they were seeing the magazine cutouts of her with Bill Ruby at celebrity events. Her mother had kept the file, and commented profusely that it was only so she could remember seeing her daughter dressed properly for once in her life. Amy didn't like to get decked out like Mabel did. It seemed like a chore, one that she'd done while in the jet-setter scene in her past. Amy groaned because she would be repeating the task tomorrow.

  "Look how gorgeous she is, boys," Mabel commented. "They dated a couple of years ago," Mabel said and then cleared her throat. "Well now, I mean a couple of years before William was born."

  Mabel smiled at the boys and Amy could tell that her mother's stomach was turning. Served her right, Amy thought. Mabel might have just gotten a glimpse of the turmoil Amy was feeling. How could one reconcile time when there seemed to be two different time lines at the same time? It was impossible, and Amy had been horrible at physics, so she would never figure it out. Before she could interject, Mabel simply closed the photo album.

  "Who wants to hear what a record player sounds like?" Mabel asked.

  "Me," the boys chimed in unison, although they most likely had no idea what that was. They followed Mabel upstairs.

  "I'm jumping in the shower if there's any hot water left," Amy said as she went up behind them. Now that the boys had been introduced to indoor plumbing and discovered hot showers, it was impossible to get into either of the bathrooms.

  When Amy was dressed, she heard the doorbell ring, so she went downstairs to answer, still in her bare feet.

  "Amy!" her friend Lucy called, as her two young boys raced past into the townhouse. Lucy stepped in and gave Amy an airy kiss on the cheek. "Boys, be on your best behavior," Lucy yelled.

  "Come in," Amy said and closed the door. Lucy stepped into the front room and turned dramatically, her fashionable scarf floating in the breeze behind her.

  "Amy, you little minx. You are going with Bill Ruby to the gala tomorrow night?"

  Amy's mouth dropped open. It had been less than two hours since Bill had asked her to the gala, and although she knew Lucy was part of New York society, she couldn't believe how fast her friend had found that out.

  There was a crash in the kitchen.

  "Boys!" Lucy yelled. She flipped her silky brown hair and then tugged on Amy's arm, pulling her down on the sofa so Amy could tell her all about Bill Ruby.

  "How could you know that?" Amy asked, less concerned with what the boys might be breaking in the kitchen.

  "Well," Lucy said and leaned in, "Susan told Janice that she ran into Monica, and Monica said that Trish had to move her appointment up a couple of hours, and we all know that Trish only does that for one client."

  "Okay," Amy said baffled at her friend's conclusion. "But how could you know that it meant me?"

  "Oh, honey," Lucy said, pulling her mammoth-sized cell phone from her purse. "This was tweeted out yesterday. You were seen getting off of Bill's private jet with some kids."

  Amy leaned in and looked at the picture. The photo wasn't great and it must have been taken with a very long lens, but sure enough, it was her and the boys walking from the plane to the car at the airport.

  "Oh, God," Amy moaned, dropping her head to her hand. There was another crash and Lucy stood up.

  "Boys," she called, disappearing down the hallway.

  Amy groaned and flopped back on the couch, unable to believe how fast everything was moving.

  "What’s this?" Lucy yelled down the hall to Amy who was still flopped back on the couch.

  "What broke?" Amy called back.

  "What are these photos?"

  Amy gasped and sat straight up. She would have told Lucy everything eventually, but she really didn't have the energy to get into it today.

  "Mom! Aunt Mabel showed us how to use a record player," Benji called from upstairs. Amy could hear the rumble of footsteps trampling downstairs, and she stood up quickly to make her way down the hall toward Lucy before her boys could get there first. When she rounded the corner, Lucy had popped her head back out of the darkroom with her mouth wide open.

  "Who was just yelling ‘mom’, because it wasn't my boys?"

  As if on cue, Benji, William, and Steven appeared behind Amy.

  "We heard big band jazz, Mom," Benji said as he wrapped his arms around Amy's waist.

  Lucy pulled her wrist up to her face to look at her wristwatch. "I just saw you like a month ago, right?" she asked Amy, who tried to smile. Lucy looked at Benji and then stepped into the dark room and looked more closely at the photos. Most of the ones that were hanging up were the boys and Bill on Ruby Island. Amy had stacked the older ones on the desk because they both confused her and infuriated her. She didn't need to see photos of her and Matt creating a romance that neither of them could remember.

  A chair knocked over in the kitchen and Lucy's boys began to fight.

  "William, can you keep an eye on them?" Amy asked. Lucy's boys always found a way to break something when they popped over, and today they were doing their best to set a record.

  "I know, I know," William huffed as though he'd been asked to do this a thousand times already.

  "Oh my God," Lucy said, and Amy moved into the dark room behind her. "Bill Ruby had your test tube babies and they look just like you." Lucy pointed at a picture of William. "This one’s too old, though. He's definitely before your 'friendship'," Lucy did air quotes with her hands, "with Bill Ruby."

  Amy heard Mabel laugh from the hallway. "I thought the same thing, dear," she said to Lucy.

  Amy said defensively, "Bill did not clone me." In fact, Bill had been nothing but kind to her and the boys, and she was getting tired of everyone picking on him.

  "Ooh, I didn't think of that," Lucy said. "Wasn't he obsessed with you?" Lucy asked.

  "Head over heels," Mabel called from the kitchen.

  "Enough, Mabel," Amy said, and she closed the door to the dark room.

  "Lucy, I have to tell
you something, and you are going to think I'm insane, but just hear me out."

  "We both know you are," Lucy said with a wink. Amy was glad to have her oldest friend in on the secret because she needed someone to talk to.

  Amy grabbed the folder that held the pictures of her and Matt and opened it on the counter next to Lucy. They both looked at a photo of Amy and Matt sitting on the sand, Amy in her bikini leaning back into Matt as he smiled at her. The photo held all of Amy's fantasies about her and Matt when she'd had a crush on him back before the island.

  "Sexy mama!" Lucy said and nudged her friend with her elbow. Then she leaned in closer and asked, "Hey, isn't that the guy dating the news anchor? What's her name?" Lucy pondered this while Amy wondered how her friend could place people so quickly. Really, it was a gift.

  "That's Matt Cole," Amy said.

  "That’s Matt Cole!" Lucy repeated, and then she made a cat purring sound. "When you told me about him, I can’t believe I didn’t cyber-stalk him. I must be losing my touch. He's delicious, Amy. What is this photo shoot? You don't ever pose in front of the camera."

  Amy didn't answer, but she slid through the photos of them before she was pregnant, during, with baby William, and then baby Steven, and Lucy's comments ended as soon as she'd seen the first photo of her friend's bulging belly.

  "Amy, what is this?" she whispered.

  Amy let Lucy shuffle through the photos as she explained everything as well as she could. Lucy knew about Amy’s crush on Matt, although she knew it as a small casual crush and not the looming aching secret love she now realized it had been.

  Amy talked about the flash of light, the boys materializing in the back of the airplane, and through her time with Bill Ruby.

  "Oh my God. It’s unbelievable," Lucy said. They were silent for a few minutes while Lucy strolled around the dark room and looked at more photos of Bill and the boys that were still hung up.

  "It looks like the boys have really taken to Bill," Lucy said. "You know, there are a lot of photos of the first boy, but barely any of the other two. But, that’s how it is with children. The first is doted on, and then life happens."

  "Well, I was stranded on an island and there really wasn't anywhere to pick up more film," Amy said defensively, while she made a mental note to take a lot of photos of Steven and Benji.

  "So, where is this Matt Cole? I want to meet him."

  Amy stood and put the folder back on the desk. "Well, as you said, he's engaged to Sarah Robinson, and so this is all a bit much for him."

  "That's right, Sarah Robinson. I've seen them at some parties. They are a very good-looking couple."

  "Lucy, you're not helping."

  "I'm sorry, Ames," Lucy said. She hugged Amy. "Listen, you are going to a gala with Bill Ruby. You look like you had some fun on the island with him, and the boys get along with him. So if you were looking for my advice, I'd say go in that direction. Heck, if you were with Bill you wouldn't even have to think about child support from this Matt Cole."

  Amy's hand went up to her face as there was another crash outside the door. "William!" she called.

  "Boys!" Lucy yelled at the same time as she grabbed her purse and left the room.

  Amy didn't bother to look at what was happening. She was in a haze and hadn't even thought about having to ask Matt for child support.

  "I’ll call you after the gala!" Lucy said, and Amy could hear the boy's trampling feet heading for the front door.

  Amy looked at the photos of her boys and Bill again. He was a good man and she really liked him a lot, but the thought of Bill made her remember the car. She took a deep breath and headed down the hall. "Mabel, boys, I'm going to run an errand!"

  Chapter 10

  Matt stepped out of the car and looked up at the brownstone. He'd been here only once before to pick up film for an article that was at deadline when Reynolds was sick. He hesitated on the sidewalk this time remembering the three boys’ faces as they looked at him from the backseat of the airplane. He hadn’t thought about seeing them again. He'd been so angry at the aggressive, surprise DNA test that he'd come here in a fit of anger.

  He pulled out his phone to call another Uber and turned to leave, but then he reconsidered. He could face the boys if just to let Reynolds know that she couldn't assault him with a DNA test. It was outrageous!

  "No, no, no," Matt said to himself and turned back to the building, almost bowling Reynolds over as she came down the stairs.

  "Great," she said, and she walked right past him.

  Matt grunted and jogged to catch up. "Reynolds, wait up.”

  "Oh, now you want to talk to me?" she asked sarcastically under her breath, but loud enough for Matt to hear. "Did you finally come here to see the boys? William and Steven are holding it together, but Benji not so much." She glanced back at him and he didn't respond, so she moved on.

  Matt walked behind Amy for a full block because he didn't really know what to say to her. When she got to the corner, she looked back and saw him, and in a huff she turned the corner and walked another block.

  "Will you be following me around all day today, Matt? Or did you have something to say?"

  "I have a lot of something to say to you," he said. His blood boiled when he thought of Blondie stabbing him with a staple gun, but he got distracted when Amy stepped up to the brown garage door that was built into the front of a new townhome. Private garages were impossible to find in New York City, and Matt was stunned. Reynolds punched some numbers into the keypad, and the door started to open.

  "What is this place?" he asked.

  "This is my garage," she said.

  "You keep a car?" he asked, and she thought he sounded impressed.

  "I know, it's not practical in New York City. I keep a space in a garage, and there is a car in it," she answered. Amy didn't know how to tell Matt that Bill had rented a space in this two-car garage on a ten year contract when they'd been dating, and he'd apparently not dissolved the contract, because he'd said the code was still set as her birthday. Amy didn’t want to think about the millions of dollars this garage must have cost Bill over a ten year period.

  She shook her head when she saw the small green car with a blue racing stripe down the middle.

  "Wow, nice car," Matt said, and Amy nodded. She had always loved this car, but it wasn't practical to drive in the city, and she was afraid that it would get scratched.

  "It's William's car, or at least it was for a minute."

  "William doesn't even drive!" Matt complained. Then he reconsidered because he really didn't know the boy at all, but he seemed too young to have a license. "Does he?"

  "A little. Bill showed him how on the island."

  "Wait a minute," Matt said moving around the car. "Is this the…"

  Amy cut him off. "Yes, this is the 1978 Mini Cooper from Last Road to Nowhere, and no, I won't let William accept this gift, so you don't have to worry."

  "I'm not worried," Matt said. It struck him how easy Reynolds talked about the boy. It was like he was really hers, and she'd been parenting him all these years.

  "He's going to be mad at you," Matt commented.

  "He'll get over it,” Amy said, stopping and giving Matt a warning stare. “And I'm sure Bill will let William drive it any time he wants."

  Matt put his hands up in surrender. "I was talking about the boy."

  "Really? You were talking about one of the boys that you ditched and haven't called or come to visit even once?" she said sarcastically.

  "You know, Reynolds? I used to think you were nothing like regular women, but I was wrong."

  "Gee, thanks," she said opening a lockbox on the wall with another code and pulling the keys out of the box.

  "You just grabbed onto this like it’s some kind of fairy tale with these kids, and I don't know what you're trying to push me into."

  "Push you into!" Amy yelled. "I don't know what happened on that plane, Matt, but I'm not a witch or a sorcerer who can just conjure up three boys. You
were with me, for God's sake. You tell me what happened."

  "You had some guy jump me with a DNA test, that's what happened! He stabbed me in the arm with a needle and ruined my tuxedo jacket."

  She stared at him for a minute and bit her lip because she had no idea what he was talking about. "Well you look just fine to me." Amy moved around the car toward the driver's side, but Matt blocked her.

  "You've got to let this go, Amy. I mean we're both losing our minds, right?" Amy glanced at his dimpled chin and looked up into Matt's eyes. His arms were outstretched in question, but it looked like he might hug her, and for a moment, Amy imagined herself in his arms pressed up to his chest. She hated Matt right now with his beautiful sideways smile and his ignoring their children.

  Amy mumbled. "I don't even know what to say to you right now." She tried to sidestep him to get in the car, but Matt snatched the keys from her hands.

  "I'll drive," Amy said through clenched teeth while trying to squash the animalistic rage welling up inside.

  "I can drive. You don't want to scratch this baby," Matt told her as he swung his tall body lithely into the driver's seat.

  "You're going to start picking on my driving now?"

  "I've got this, just relax."

  "I hate it when people tell me to relax," Amy said. "Get out of the car, Matt, I've got things to do today."

  Matt had inserted the key and he tried to turn the ignition, but nothing happened. "Dammit!" Matt said as he pounded the steering wheel.

  "Take it easy, I need to return this in one piece," Amy complained.

  Matt stood up and walked around the front of the car, seating himself in the passenger seat.

  Amy looked at Matt wryly. "Really? You fly airplanes, but you can't drive stick?"

  Amy slid into the driver’s seat and buckled up before engaging the clutch and starting the car. She eased out of the garage and pressed the garage remote that was clipped to the floor mat.