Ruby Island

by Anita Rodriguez

  "Here you are," Bill said, taking a small card out of his jacket pocket and handing it to Matt.

  Matt looked at the card and it took him a second to realize that it was his credit card. The last time Matt had seen it was when he'd rented the small airplane on Eleuthera Island. Matt turned the card around in his hand and looked at Bill.

  "Now we are square. The charges have been reversed and you'll see a credit on your statement. I took care of the airplane, and no one knows it was you, so you don't have to worry about your pilot‘s license. Your flight plan and insurance card and all of the documents have been destroyed, and we're done here."

  "Then, thank you," Matt said. He was hesitant. Bill Ruby had just done an enormous kindness by paying for the aircraft, and Matt was in the clear. He should have been relieved, but he wondered why instead he felt like he had just stuck his head into a lion's mouth.

  "Please, Matt. It was my pleasure. I owed you one for landing Amy and those boys safely on my island. It's the least I could do."

  Reynolds appeared from the lobby and Matt almost waved to her, but she spotted Ruby and he smiled wide and nodded at her.

  "Where's your fiancé gone off to?" Bill asked. Matt looked at the movie star in his perfect tuxedo made out of some fabric he'd never seen. His hair was perfect, his teeth were perfect, and his skin was perfect. There was no way Matt could ever write that article because he hated Bill Ruby.

  Reynolds was weaving her way through the crowd toward them, and Ruby patted Matt on the right shoulder in the exact spot that was sore, and Matt grit his teeth.

  "So, your business with Amy is concluded," he said with a wide grin. "Have a good year."

  "A moment, please," Amy growled as she met the two men in her life. She was looking at Matt, and he was actually grateful when Bill replied.

  "You can have more than a moment, Amy." He put his hand on the small of her back to escort her away, but he could see that she wasn't going to let it go, so Bill cleared his throat. "I'll go bid Liam and the others adieu."

  Bill turned and walked away, and Amy stared at Matt, her eyes boring into his.

  "Adieu?" Matt asked sarcastically. "Who says that?"

  "A gentleman says that," Amy raged, and she took a champagne glass from a passing tray.

  "I'm a gentleman," Matt said. He lightly tugged at the ends of his bowtie, careful not to undo the knot because Sarah had to tie it for him. He gawked at Amy for a moment and then a soft smile crossed his face. She was beautiful. A knockout really, in this gorgeous yellow dress with her curly hair pulled up like that.

  "You, a gentleman?" Amy retorted. "A gentleman wouldn't have badgered a girl into taking an unsafe flight. A gentleman would have finished the trip via boat with her. And he sure as heck wouldn't have left her on that island alone with those three boys. With our three boys!" she corrected herself.

  Matt looked around uncomfortably and his head jerked quick, like a bird. Sarah always took a long time in the ladies room, but he knew she would be back any second. And Charley was here, too. He knew that he was starting to crumble, and he hoped he didn't look crazy.

  "You were hardly alone," he said, and he pulled at his collar. The room was suddenly hot.

  "He was being gracious," Amy said of Bill Ruby.

  "Gracious?" Matt disagreed. "He was neurotic with his staff buzzing about him and his shirt opened to show his perfectly tanned six pack abs."

  "A great body is neurotic?" Amy asked.

  "He was all aloof and cool. I mean, we had just told him that we didn't even know where those boys came from, and he acted like it was perfectly normal!"

  "Well, you may be prone to lying, but Bill trusts me," she retorted.

  "Sarah was too good for me. That's what he said on the island, right?" Matt laughed out loud, but Amy was too angry to be hurt.

  "Listen, Matt. I don't think I originally came over here to argue with you."

  "Then why are you?"

  "I guess you just bring out the best in me," Amy said sarcastically. "When are you going to come over to see the boys?"

  Matt looked at her dumbfounded, and Amy almost cried. He really didn't care at all about any of them.

  "Don't you have good old Bill to take care of you?"

  Amy bit her lip and allowed the anger to run over her because she was worried she might start crying right then and there. "That's right, because Bill is a gentleman and already a better father than you."

  Matt gulped down his bourbon. He'd wanted an interview with Bill Ruby for a long time. He’d tried to get onto Ruby Island for three years, and he hated the three hours that he'd spent there.

  "For your information, he's been nothing but decent to William, Steven and Benji.” Amy's chin quivered, and she thought that she might cry. It bothered her. They stared at each other in silence for a long moment until Amy turned her chin up and walked away. Matt turned in the other direction and walked straight to the nearest bar.

  Chapter 12

  Amy woke on the small twin bed that was in the corner of her dark room. The red light glowed dimly in the room, and it had allowed her to sleep soundly until she'd had a dream about Matt. She'd been enjoying herself until she heard the voices of children, and that had woken her up.

  She listened for the sounds of the house, but no one was calling her, and Amy realized that the voices had been in her dream. She sat up, and when she saw the yellow dress hung over the back of the desk chair, she covered her eyes with her fingertips.

  It should have been a wonderful evening, and there were parts that were really nice, but Amy was drowning in an overall sadness. She didn't want to be attracted to Matt, but seeing him in his tuxedo made her hold her breath, and she felt a bit of shame because he was engaged. On top of which, she knew that the improbable was true and she somehow had three sons with Matt.

  There had been no romance that either of them could remember, but she'd seen the photos and heard the stories from the boys, and there was a world inside the Bermuda Triangle where they had been in love with each other. Her feelings for Matt had morphed in less than a month from silent crush to outright anger at him for ignoring her and the boys. It was exhausting.

  Amy heard the boys laughing and she wondered what they were up to. She pulled on her sweatpants and left the darkroom, switching on the overhead lights and ignoring the photos hung on the strings all around her.

  "Who was that on Bill Ruby's arm last night? She doesn't look happy. Doesn't she realize she's with Bill Ruby?" Amy heard a voice on the television mocking her. She rounded the corner to the family room and saw a photo on TV of her and Bill after they'd gotten out of the limousine. As much as Amy didn't love getting decked out like Mabel did, she thought that she looked good.

  Amy looked at her mom and the faces of her three boys and she tried to smile, but she felt as though she'd been caught with another man, and she was horrified.

  "Mabel, turn that off!" Amy said when she saw the old photos of her and Bill begin to scroll on the screen.

  The morning talk show host gushed over the photos. "We tracked her down, and it looks like she's his old flame, Amy Reynolds."

  "What's an old flame, Auntie Mabel?" Benji asked.

  "Auntie Mabel, still?" Amy asked as she turned the TV off.

  "Yes, like the movie Auntie Mame with Rosalind Russell. I always loved that movie."

  Amy noticed that Mabel had two tablets open to photos of her and Bill, and her face turned red.

  "Old flame is like an old friend," Amy told Benji.

  "I doubt that," William answered.

  Amy closed the tablets. "Those tabloids are vultures, you shouldn't be looking at this!"

  William said, "That's what Auntie Mabel said, too, but it was already on when I turned on the TV."

  "And the tablets?" Amy asked Mabel with a direct stare. Mabel shrugged and hugged Benji, giving him a kiss on the head.

  Amy wanted to scream at her mother, but she sat down and took a deep breath. "I don't want to upset
you boys."

  "We're not upset," Steven said. He was writing in a notebook with a pencil, and he was always doing that now. Amy could see that his letters and words had grown tenfold since they’d met.

  "Mabel said that you went out to this place so that you could talk to Dad," William said hopefully.

  "I did see your father last night," Amy said.

  "Is Daddy coming over today?" Benji asked as he played with Mabel's earring.

  "Your Dad is busy right now," she said, trying to keep the tremor from her voice. She was heartbroken for these kids. It was the same worn-out excuse Amy had been giving the boys for three weeks since Matt had left them on Ruby Island. Amy moved in front of the couch and sat on the antique coffee table, but Mabel didn't comment.

  Benji said, “Mom, I miss the island. Dad was there and we had a lot of fun. Like that time we did the long jump contest on the beach and Dad threw me to the end and I won!”

  Amy tried to remember, but she shook her head in defeat.

  "William, Steven, Benji," Amy said in all seriousness, "you know how I couldn't remember anything about our lives together? Well, your dad can't remember either. Those pictures of Uncle Bill and myself, they are from my past before your father and I fell in love and made a family." Amy looked at their faces hardly able to comprehend what she was even saying, because in truth it would have all been happening at the same time.

  "I know it's really difficult for you, but he's just going to need some time to come around."

  William and Steven stared at Amy but didn't say a word. It was Benji who broke her heart. He started to cry and threw himself at Amy. She caught him in her arms and moved over to the couch.

  "Daddy always tells me a story before bed, and now I'm never going to see him again!" Benji cried. Amy hugged him tightly, but she didn't know what to say.

  Steven started to cry too, but he silently wiped his tears away and ran upstairs. Amy looked to William, but he shrugged and turned the TV back on, changing the channel. Amy watched him for a minute. He had a serious and faraway look on his face. It was Matt's look, and she too had to fight back tears.

  Mabel moved to the kitchen and when Benji had been consoled enough to settle down and become interested in the planetary documentary that William was watching, Amy went to talk to her mom.

  "Poor kids," Mabel said offering Amy a cup of coffee. Amy took the cup and then pushed it away to put her head down on the table and cry. She hated herself for the tears and instantly wiped them away.

  "I don't know what's wrong with me," Amy said wiping her face on a napkin.

  "You're tough, Amy, but give yourself a break," Mabel told her. Amy couldn't remember the last time she had cried in front of her mom. Mabel never approved of it when Amy was young, so she had toughened up. She was surprised at the concession Mabel had given her today, but Amy had noticed a change in her mom since the boys had arrived.

  Amy tried to grin and sipped her coffee.

  "Why don't you fight for him? Go find their dad and stake your claim."

  "He's engaged."

  "I don't care," Mabel said patting her hand on the table. "It's not the right thing to say, but really, Amy, I don't care that he's engaged. Fight for him. You have three children together."

  "We can't remember, Mabel. We can't remember falling in love and having three sons. Thirteen years that never existed don't make us a couple. I mean, if people who remember falling in love separate, how are we supposed to have a relationship when we don't even have the memories?“

  "Arranged marriages last a lifetime. How do you explain that?"

  Amy smiled. "How do you think of these things, Mom?"

  Mabel sighed at the 'mom' reference but let it go.

  "I know you were hurt when your engagement ended. The scoundrel cheated on you and you were devastated, but this is different. Matt's fiancé is engaged to a man who by the grace of God has three wonderful sons, and she has no idea. Is that fair to her to be lied to?"

  "I don't know," Amy said, and it was the most honest answer she'd given in weeks. She didn't seem to know anything anymore.

  Last night Matt loved having Sarah on his arm, but today it just didn't seem like it was enough. Her voice grated on him this morning. He'd woken up in her spacious hi-rise apartment in midtown with floor to ceiling windows. He usually found this place exciting with the beautiful white light playing off the white furniture and the shined hard wood floors. Today he was hung over though, and even with the pillow on his head, Matt could hear the click, click, click of Sarah's shoes.

  He knew it was after eight because each morning Sarah exercised for an hour, then showered and primped for another hour, and she always had her skirt-bottomed business suit with high heels on by eight. Matt didn't know why she wore her shoes in her apartment, and he'd always loved the way she looked, but this morning the click, click amplified his headache, and he growled into the pillow before rising.

  Matt cursed himself for getting drunk. He never drank that much anymore. He’d started the evening drunk at the fundraiser because of Reynolds, and the night had gone downhill from there. When they had returned to Sarah's apartment and he couldn’t be intimate with her, Sarah had snapped at him and it was annoying. Not being able to perform was terrifying for Matt, and he had written it off to the alcohol. But truth be told, if he would admit it to himself, it opened up criticism for all of the things that Sarah did that had gotten under his skin. They’d been going along so good until Matt went to that darn, cursed Ruby island.

  Matt pulled the pillow off his face and let his eyes adjust to the white light. He loved Sarah. He wouldn't have proposed to her if he didn't, but lately it grated on him when she snapped at him. She had always been the same since he met her, and he had tried to ignore his changing feelings, but he couldn't any longer. She had been the same person down to her precise daily routine, but something was changing in Matt.

  He heard the click, click, click of Sarah's heels, and he knew that she was waiting for him to get dressed. They had fought, and she had locked him out of the bedroom, and Matt had slept on the couch until Sarah came out to exercise. His head pounded when he heard the yelling voices of her video exercise instructors. Now Matt wanted to lay in bed and let the hangover wear off, but Sarah would be going to work and she never let him stay in her apartment when she left for the day.

  Sarah let him kiss her on the cheek and he left. Matt remembered his reinstated credit card that Bill Ruby had returned to him last night, and he splurged on an Uber because his head couldn’t deal with the subway today. Matt lived in a small two-bedroom apartment on the lower east side. It was more than he could afford. He'd had a roommate, but when his year on the sublet of the second bedroom had expired, his roommate was forced to move out. Sarah was his new girlfriend and she didn't like Matt having a roommate.

  Matt knew now it had been a mistake. She'd only come over about five times, preferring that Matt always meet her at her luxury apartment. It didn't bother Matt because she was living the lifestyle he had intended to live, but he could have used a roommate to pay half of the rent.

  Matt had worked less and less over the year. Years ago he had given up his early dreams of being a travel journalist for the draw of New York. He’d worked for magazines the last few years, but he just couldn't get inspired to interview celebrities anymore. Most of his freelance contacts had dried up because he'd said 'no' to opportunity too many times, but he couldn't say no to Charley. The Bill Ruby story could be a big payday for Matt in cash and contacts, and collateral with the future father-in-law.

  When he got home, he sat on the couch and looked at the wall for three hours. Deep depression had rolled over him on the ride home, and it scared Matt because it had never happened before. He had always had a plan. He always knew where his life was taking him, but thinking about it, he realized that he hadn't written or sold an article in six months, and he couldn't find the old spark within himself. He hadn't written even one word on Bill Ruby, and thou
gh it might be career suicide, he had no intention of doing it.

  Matt actually felt like crying. He didn't know where his life was taking him, and he had no aim anymore. He let his thoughts take him where they would and tried to meditate on his future, but there was nothing. He ignored his cell phone and he ignored the television. After three hours, Matt tried to picture himself as an old man, even older than his father was, and he tried to figure out what kind of life he would have by the time he was that age. That only made him think of his father who was a stand up world-class businessman, but there was no emotion there. Matt needed to feel energy in his work, and he couldn't keep doing a job day in and day out. He needed a spark, and that made him think of the crazy flash of white light that had come upon Reynolds and him.

  Reynolds had been so infuriating, confronting him like that last night, but she had looked beautiful in that yellow dress. He couldn't believe that he hadn't even recognized her. She'd made him so mad at one point that he'd wanted to slap that smug smile right off of her face. There was no way he would write an article about Bill Ruby because he hated Bill Ruby.

  He felt the pang of guilt that had been coming over him when he remembered the faces of the three boys. He hadn't seen them in weeks after only being with them for a couple of hours, yet he couldn't get their faces out of his mind. The oldest boy, William, looked exactly how Matt had looked in middle school. Matt let the depression wash through him, unable to reconcile that he might actually have three sons.

  It was unfathomable, yet Reynolds had accepted it. Matt touched his shoulder and felt the sore spot. He was sure Reynolds would show up with the results at any moment, and he was positive that the results would be positive.

  Matt moved to his desk and opened a document on his laptop that he hadn't opened in three years. It was the book that he told people he was working on, and he had it half written before giving up. This was the answer he had found at the edge of his angst-laden hangover, and as the day passed away, Matt plucked at the keys as though his life depended on it.