He had been working away on the other side of the library, trying to busy himself, trying to convince Ruby that he was doing anything other than simply wanting to be around her, as long as he could see her, as long as she was here, in front of him, she was real, terrified of her leaving, or that this was all some cruel trick, and he would return to a life of solitude the last fifteen years blurring into the next fifteen, he couldn't let that happen. Wolfe knew he had to tell Ruby the truth, he just had to, before she saw anything behind that door, he had to tell her what happened all those years ago, and just hope she would stay.
She had managed to get through half of the books that had covered the floor, she would leave the others for the morning.
"I'll show you to your room if you like?" Wolfe asked, he had been sitting across from her for over an hour, trying to look as busy as possible without really achieving anything. Ruby looked at her watch, taken back by how late it was and how long she had been working, suddenly realising how tired she was.
"That would be great thanks" Ruby replied, stretching her arms above her head and letting out an enormous yawn, Wolfe smiled, he had never come across anyone so comfortable in their own skin and yet so unaware of how beautiful they are. He had contemplated offering her a drink before bed, it would give them a chance to talk, but he decided against it, noting how tired Ruby was, she had already said she was happy to take the day tomorrow, and perhaps the weather would be so bad she wouldn't be able to go home then either...he would find a way to tell her tomorrow.
"Follow me, you look tired" he said, his voice gentle and caring, Ruby felt a rush that excited her and unsettled her all at once, she wanted to know more about Wolfe but had no idea how to ask anything, unable to gauge what his reaction would be. She was pleased that she had tomorrow here, she felt a million miles away from Warrendale in this house, locked away in Wolfe's library it was easy to forget there was anyone else nearby at all, it made a welcome and exciting change from her usual evenings spent at home with her dad watching repeats on the history channel. She did hope her dad wasn't worrying although she knew he would be, she had told a white lie and said that his assistant was here too, as she knew the fact that she was spending the night alone in an old mansion with a man 15 years her senior would instantly bring him racing through the woods regardless of the weather or his health.
Wolfe led her up the sweeping staircase that dominated the entrance and hallway, the ageing floor boards creaking underneath the worn carpet that lined the centre of each step, like the passageway before she had no idea where Wolfe was leading her, he led her across the landing at the top of the stairs and opened the door to what was to be her bedroom for the night.
"I hope this is OK, it's all clean, in fact it has been unused for years now, with it just being me around and never really having company..." his voice trailed off, Ruby felt a pang of sadness, the thought of Wolfe alone in this house all these years seemed such a waste, he was clearly troubled and whatever happened all those years ago clearly still haunted him, she felt an urge to comfort him but didn't know how.
"It must get quite lonely here all by yourself" She said, trying to sound as casual as she could in an attempt not to indicate her urge to help him.
Wolfe took a moment just to look at Ruby, her face looking up at him, he could see the care in her eyes, it was all he could do not to kiss her right then and there, how he wanted to hold her, tell her everything, but he was so afraid she would think he was mad, he had to think carefully about what he would say, he couldn't risk ruining everything after waiting 15 years for her to arrive.
"Yes, it has been, it's been nice, having you here today, even if we were just sorting out old books" he replied, his eyes hinting at a smile.
"I've enjoyed it too" Ruby said, her eyes meeting Wolfe's, his look was intense and unapologetic, Ruby's hand as if of its own accord reached up and stroked the side of his face, her finger running down his scar gently, Wolfe's breath caught in his throat, his heart raced underneath her touch, this time there was no reason other than her wanting to touch him, not like earlier when she was helping him, Ruby felt something too, Wolfe knew it.
"Well, goodnight then" Ruby steadied herself, pulling her hand away quickly as if she had woken from a trance and realised what she was doing, her mind and heart racing, unsure of what was doing or how she felt, she wanted to be alone in her room, she needed time to think clearly, his presence took away her clarity somehow, they had spoken very little and when they had it had been nothing but small talk really, but there was something between them that Ruby couldn't deny, and she wasn't sure she wanted to.
"Good night Ruby" Wolfe felt wounded, why did she pull away so quickly? It must be his scars, he thought, he knew she could never love him, not the way he looked now, how could she? She was young and beautiful, and he was, well he was Nathaniel Wolfe, and Wolfe began to feel the hope he had felt all day scatter, he had never felt vulnerable before, always being the one in control of situations, he found himself at a loss as to what to do. Ruby, although completely unaware, held all the cards, he knew she was the girl he had waited for all these years, his feelings for her were overpowering him, and yet he had no way to tell what she was thinking, too afraid now after her pulling away so quickly to ask how she felt. He decided to spend the night thinking up a way to talk to her in the morning. He couldn't let her go not without at least knowing how he came to have these scars, Wolfe knew he had to at least try.
Ruby couldn't sleep, the bed was perfectly comfortable, king size and laden with thick cotton sheets and cashmere blankets how could she not be comfortable, it was her mind that was keeping her awake. Lying there in the dark it was as though she felt Wolfe's eyes upon her. She had a million questions she wanted to ask but none she felt able to, why had he spent so long by himself? How had he come to have those scars? What happened to his work? His career? Why did he look at Ruby like he recognised her? She sat up in bed, taking a sip of water that Wolfe had left on the bed side table, wrapping the blanket around herself she walked over to the window, the snow still falling, it had been snowing for so long now Ruby wondered if it would ever stop or were they destined to remain in this perpetual winter? Watching the snow cover the snow that had already fallen she let her mind run over the events of the day, it felt like she had been here much longer than just one day, it was as though time was no concept in this house, either that or she simply didn't want it to be, a part of her didn't want the morning to come, she wasn't ready to leave yet. It hit her suddenly, remembering how oddly Wolfe had acted when mentioning the door in the library and how she wasn't to go in. That must be where he keeps his work, or at least something that would give her some insight into Wolfe's life here, into what happened, but how could she get in there, it wouldn't be right, would it?
Pacing the room up and down, Ruby was weighing up the pros and cons, should she or shouldn't she, of course she knew she had absolutely no right to go down there, it was Wolfe's house and Ruby was purely here as hired help to work in the library, but why did he look at her the way he did? Why had she touched him like that? Why was it since walking through his door 12 hours ago could she now think of no one else. Without giving her mind chance to think she found herself reaching for the handle of her bedroom door, turning it as slowly and quietly as possible, praying that unlike everything else in this house that seemed to groan when touched, this handle would remain silent, slowly opening the door, scanning the landing for any sign of Wolfe, she crept out, her bare feet treading as softly and silently as they could over the ageing floorboards she slipped slowly down the stairs, her heart was racing. She felt like everything in the house was watching her, as though the house itself knew what she was doing, Wolfe's eyes were everywhere.
As she came to the bottom of the stairs she took a moment to steady herself, checking behind her ensuring she had gone unnoticed by Wolfe, despite their moment of tenderness earlier the thought of him catching her filled her with an overwhelming sense of dre
ad, she was intimidated by his past, what ever it was that had kept him shut up here all these years, you could see the pain of what happened in his eyes, it had become him, Ruby wanted to help him, or at least try to understand him.
The passageway was dark, the lights had been turned off and she couldn't see where the switch was, not wanting to accidentally switch the wrong one on she headed down the passageway in the dark, feeling the walls alongside her as she went. It seemed to take longer than it had earlier, the total darkness that seemed to now engulf her as the passageway swallowed her up, if Wolfe caught her now there would be no where for her to run, the only door was the library at the end of here, in the darkest corner of the whole house. Her hands fumbled for the handle of the library door, finally feeling it beneath her fingertips she turned it, and entered the library, relieved to be released from the endless darkness of the hallway. Half of the library still littered with piles of books, she weaved her way across the room, heading straight for the door Wolfe had forbidden her from going through, there was no time to think now, she had come this far, if Wolfe caught her now it would be impossible for her to deny what she was doing anyway so she she thought she had nothing to lose, boldly she turned the handle, taking a breath, she pushed the door and entered the hidden room.
Her mouth went dry, and her blood ran cold, every single one of the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, it was her, everywhere, Ruby, paintings of Ruby everywhere, covering every inch of the room, hung on the wall, on canvases, on easels, sketch pads strewn across tables where old paint pots, pencils and brushes lay. It wasn't even just the likeness of her, it was her, she had never been painted before, never seen herself through someone else's eyes, there was no doubt the paintings were beautiful, but the reason for their being there was terrifying, Ruby had never met Wolfe, never spoken to him, and prior to being offered this small job had only heard of him through passing gossip at The Angel Inn, but these paintings showed that Wolfe knew Ruby, knew how her eyes looked when she smiled, when she frowned, knew the freckles around her nose that she tried to hide, knew the shade of her skin, the tone of her hair, everything, Wolfe knew her. Her feet felt frozen to the spot, wrapped in the cashmere blanket that had been draped over her bed she held it tightly around her, hugging herself, her body almost trembling. She heard the wind outside pick up, the storm had worsened, she knew the tree stood between her and her way out, but she had to try, before Wolfe woke up, she didn't want to know, there was no explanation she could think of that would make sense, that would take away her fear of him, so she ran. Her bare feet pounding the floor, the blanket left lying in a heap in the gallery, she charged back through the library and sped as fast as she could back down the passageway, when she made it to the entranceway she dove across the rug and flung herself out of the door, out of the house, away from Wolfe and into the storm.
Wolfe couldn't sleep, he hadn't even attempted to really, his room was far enough away from Ruby's that she wouldn't hear him walking around, restless, torn between telling her the truth and yet terrified of her reaction, she'd never believe him, he knew how crazy he would look, he could barely believe it himself, until yesterday Wolfe thought his paintings of Ruby were just the stuff of dreams. Then she came, Ruby, she actually came, and was real, stood right there in front of him, in her waterproof parka jacket and her black boots, she was there, he couldn't explain it to himself, never mind anyone else.
He poured himself a whisky from his cabinet, taking a sip, listening to the storm grow more aggressive with every minute, he hoped Ruby was OK, wasn't frightened, he wanted to go and check on her, ask if she was OK, but thought better of it. He decided to just walk down the hall and see if he could hear if she was awake, if he could hear her he would offer her an extra blanket, anything so that the last moment they were together tonight wasn't her recoiling from his touch.
He made his way across the landing, his nerves building as he was coming upon Ruby's room, where he saw her door ajar, her room was an en-suite so he knew she hadn't gone to the bathroom, perhaps she had gone to the kitchen for something to eat. He gingerly put his head round the door, seeing that her bed hadn't been slept in, the blanket however was gone, her boots and sweater lay on the floor next to her bed.
As Wolfe headed back out on the landing, he heard the front door bashing against the wall, the wind and snow uncaring and abusive.
"Ruby!" he shouted, his voice laced with fear, she'd gone, he threw himself down the stairs, knowing in his mind she must have found the gallery, he never had a lock put on it, there was no one he needed to hide it from before. Wolfe raced for the door, the storm was worse than earlier, the skies were foreboding and the snow was almost blinding. She couldn't have got over the tree, then he remembered her boots were still upstairs, she was out there in bare feet. Wolfe's heart convulsed in his chest, she must have been terrified, how could she not have been? She had no idea who he was and yet found a gallery devoted entirely to her in the corner of his house, of course she ran.
"RUBY!, RUBY WHERE ARE YOU?" He bellowed, praying his voice would carry over the roars of the wind. There was no reply, he bolted down the pathway that lead to the blocked gate, he himself couldn't have scaled this tree, so he knew Ruby, in her bare feet and smaller frame wouldn't have tried to. She had to be somewhere in the grounds.
"RUBY PLEASE! LET ME EXPLAIN, LET ME HELP YOU! I WON'T HURT YOU I
PROMISE!" He yelled, his voice desperate, he wished he could go back to earlier in the evening and just tell her, if he hadn't been such a coward, so afraid of rejection this could have maybe been avoided, she could still have run, but at least he could have helped her leave, if that was what she wanted to do. If anything had happened to her he would never forgive himself.
He headed for the other side of the house, the gardens round there were vast, it would be easy for her to get lost if she didn't know her way round, the wind pounding against the side of the house, the snow now mixed with rain that was sharp, freezing, blasting the side of this face, cutting into his scars like broken glass. He heard the skies become thunderous above him, he had heard of winter thunder but never experienced it first hand, the roars rolling threateningly across the skies, the sound engulfing the house. Wolfe felt frightened for Ruby, alone out there,
"RUBY PLEASE, I PROMISE I WILL TAKE YOU HOME, YOU NEVER HAVE TO SEE ME AGAIN JUST LET ME KNOW YOU'RE SAFE" He cried, his voice despairing, filled with anguish. His boots pounding the frozen ground beneath him he made his way across the gardens, his eyes, squinting to protect themselves from the rain and snow, were scanning the area as best they could to try and find her, he couldn't see her anywhere, breathless, he stopped still for a moment to catch his breath, turning 360 degrees to see if he had missed her,
"RUBY!" He called out, his voice sounding more hopeless than before, fearing the worst.
He heard a scream ahead, the other side of the garden, he darted across the grounds, trampling everything insight, even the wind wasn't strong enough to slow him down,
"RUBY I'M COMING!" her screams were growing louder, and louder. When he found her his guilt compounded, Ruby was trapped on the top of the railings that lined the walls, she had obviously tried to climb over and got stuck and was hanging over the other side, clinging on with one hand as the other tried to grab on but was slipping,
"HELP! WOLFE PLEASE HELP ME" She screamed, the walls were over 12 feet high, he couldn't imagine how she had managed to get up there in the first place,
"I'M HERE, JUST HOLD ON, I'M COMING" He dove against the wall, his feet latching on to any grip they could, his hands grasping the crumbling bricks that were breaking beneath his desperate fingers as they crushed the snow deeper into the wall, the sound of Ruby's screams blocking out any of his own thoughts or fears for his own safety. He reached the top, seeing that Ruby' grips was weakening, knowing that on the other side of the wall it was a sheer drop onto rocks that lined the grounds,
"Wolfe! Please! Hurry!" She cried, her voice thick with fear
, in one movement he reached his arm out towards her, his hand wrapping as firmly as it could around her wrist, her fingers clinging to him, wrapping around his like the ivy that lined the house. Wolfe heaved her back over the wall, balancing her carefully on the edge, the wind was battering them, he was finding his footing trying to find the best place for them to climb down. There was no where that looked safe enough for him to carry both of them.
"STAY RIGHT THERE!" He shouted, and in a moment he had climbed back down the wall and raced to stand directly underneath Ruby,
"OK YOU NEED TO JUMP – I WILL CATCH YOU I PROMISE" He called up to her, a look of fear spread across her face.
"NO I CAN'T!" She cried in response, clinging onto the side of the wall as the wind threatened to throw her off the edge whether she wanted to or not.
"RUBY YOU HAVE TO THERE ISN'T ANOTHER WAY DOWN, I PROMISE I WILL CATCH YOU" He replied
She looked around her, checking herself for another way down, her feet were covered in blood from her previous attempt at climbing the wall, and she had hurt her arm from hanging on for so long, Wolfe was right, she had to jump. She closed her eyes, trying to block out what was happening and just let herself fall, if she thought about it too long she wouldn't do it. Taking a deep breath, her eyes pressed as tightly together as they could be she took her hands away from the wall and pushed herself forward, her body falling, all the air escaped from her lungs, for a moment she forgot Wolfe was even there and felt like the fall would never end. Then he caught her, his grip strong, his arms enveloping her,pressing her to his chest, he let out a breath of relief.
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