Shades of Summer (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 1)

by Joy Elbel

  I stared at the sky in awe. “Wow. I’ve never heard that story before—it’s beautiful.”

  “It reminds me of you.” With what moonlight there was, I could see that he was not looking at the stars but straight at me instead.

  “It does?”

  “I was yours the second I laid eyes on you, Ruby. I have to fight the beast for you, there’s no other choice. Life will never be the same now that I’ve found you.”

  He was right—I couldn’t imagine ever being happy without him. “I’ll bet Perseus wasn’t even half as handsome as you are. Or as brave.”

  “And you’re even more beautiful than Andromeda. But one thing stays the same—we still get our happy ending.”

  “I hope so,” I said.

  “I know so,” he countered.

  We lay there the rest of the time in silence just watching the stars. Reinventing our relationship wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

  26. Dreams Do Come True

  The following morning at the shelter we discussed our plans for the night. Rachel was back to normal and ready to help us fight the paranormal. I told her about the leads we found at the library and how we planned to start searching for the cemetery first.

  “Sweet! Can I come with you guys? After what happened the other night, I’m determined to get to the bottom of this. That is, if you’re not too mad at me for making things worse. I feel really bad about what happened to Mimi.” I already told her that I didn’t hold her responsible for Mimi’s death, but I could see that it still haunted her.

  “I was never mad at you. Of course you can come. This ghost has hurt you too—you have as much right to want to kick its ass as we do.”

  She twirled a lock of hair between her fingers. It seemed to help her think. “I wonder how old this cemetery is—they didn’t always use headstones. I hope we can find it.”

  “I hope so, too. We have a lot of ground to cover so Zach said he would meet me at Rosewood as soon as he eats dinner. The woods are pretty thick so make sure you wear sneaks, okay?”

  “Okay. Hey are we driving you home tonight or not? I thought I overheard you tell Zach that Shelly was coming instead. What’s up?”

  “My dress for the fundraiser is ready. I have to go for one last fitting to make sure it’s good. Shelly’s taking me because I don’t want Zach to see it yet. I want it to be a surprise.”

  “You have to let me see it, though. I can’t believe you guys are going to that dinner! It’s the social event of the season in Charlotte’s Grove. I do have to warn you—Misty Landrum will probably be there.”

  “Great, thanks for the warning. But I guess I should get used to jealous girls if I’m going to date your brother.” One night with Misty would probably be nothing compared to what it would be like once school actually started. I figured the We Hate Ruby Club was probably well under way already.

  “Yeah, but don’t worry about it. They’re just stupid bitches anyway. Zach wouldn’t be dating any of them even if he hadn’t met you.”

  I was happy to hear her say that and glad she was my friend and not theirs. Zach was still in the back with Andy when Shelly arrived. I was super excited to pick up my dress, so I asked Rachel to tell him goodbye for me. She waved to Shelly and yelled “see you later” as we drove away.

  The dress was even more perfect than I remembered. They did a great job on the alteration so I got to take it home with me. I still had to practice walking in those shoes, but other than that, I was ready to go. The dinner—and Zach’s birthday—was less than two weeks away. We had to get rid of the ghost before then so we didn’t have to worry about getting too close to each other. It would really suck to see my Norse god looking hotter than ever and not be able to touch him. Plus, it probably wouldn’t hurt to let Misty get an eyeful of us together. Once she saw the firestorm of chemistry we had, she would have no other choice but to back off.

  We stopped for takeout first before returning to Rosewood. As we passed the fountain, I remembered the dream I had about Zach and me kissing in the fountain. It would be mind-blowing if that fountain was working and we could recreate that scene.

  “Do you and Dad plan on getting that fountain fixed? It would be really pretty, you know.” Shelly didn’t need to know why I was actually interested in it.

  “I don’t know—we haven’t discussed renovations yet. We’ll probably do that after I finish my book.”

  “Oh.”

  She gave me one of those ‘I can see right through you’ looks. “It would be nice to see it how it was meant to be seen. I bet it would be a romantic spot to sit and talk. And kiss,” she added with a giggle.

  I took the steps two at a time to avoid her gaze. I mumbled, “Yeah, maybe,” and just kept going. I didn’t want to share that dream with anyone but Zach.

  I inhaled my food and ran upstairs to admire my dress. The blessed salt seemed to be working—the atmosphere in the attic was as normal as could be. I barely had the dress off the hanger when I saw his car pulling down the lane. I sent a text for Rachel to come upstairs but for Zach to wait below. Quickly, I slipped into my dress and shoes and waited for her.

  The look on her face when she opened the door and found me there in the dress was priceless.

  “OMG, Ruby! It’s gorgeous! It looks so beautiful on you. And those shoes—simply to die for!”

  I twirled so she could get the full effect and nearly fell over. I really needed to work on mastering those heels.

  “Do you think Zach will like it?” I really thought he would but I needed a little reassurance.

  “Do you even have to ask that question? The boy would think you were amazing in a burlap sack. When he sees you in this….” She gave an exaggerated wolf whistle and flopped onto the futon laughing.

  I laughed, too. “If you say so.”

  “Please say I can come over and do your hair and makeup for you!”

  “Totally. I can use all the help I can get. I want everything to be perfect that night.” I went into the bathroom to change back into my regular clothes. When I came back out, she had a serious look on her face. What happened while I was in there?

  “Is everything okay?”

  She snapped back into her normal self. “Yeah, I was just thinking that we need to hurry up and get rid of whatever’s haunting you before the dinner. It would be a shame to let that dress go to waste.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Picture it. You in that dress, my brother in a tux—and you can’t even hold hands! That’s the kind of dress you wear when you want to be kissed…and then some. Not to mention dancing—you’re gonna need him to steady you in those heels!”

  She was right. Sure we kissed a couple of times, but lightly on the lips. I was ready for a pulse pounding, earth shattering kiss. One you never wanted to end. One that made you want more. And Zach had to be wanting the same thing—he just had to be. I plopped down beside her dejectedly. “I know. What if we can’t figure it out in time? What if we never find the answers? How can I expect him to wait for me like that?”

  “Oh, Ruby! I didn’t mean it that way. I’m sure we’ll figure it out in time. You know that’s not the only reason Zach’s with you!”

  “I know…but I can’t exactly expect him to live like a monk for the rest of his life either, you know.” Why couldn’t I just be normal?

  “That’s it—no more feeling sorry for yourself. Zach’s downstairs waiting for you and we have a cemetery to find.” She grabbed my arm and hauled me to the door. Seriously, why did the girl insist on dragging me along behind her like that? “And besides, look at it this way—the longer you can’t have each other, the sweeter it will be when you can.”

  She was right again. I survived way worse than this. Zach was swept up in the romance of it all—all he wanted was to be my hero. I just needed to calm down and focus on the task at hand. I regained my will to fight and raced her down the stairs.

  I found Zach in the rose garden talking to Shelly. Their conversation s
topped when they saw us and she slipped inside quietly. “So how did she look, Rachel?”

  “A-MA-ZING! Your eyes are going to literally pop right out of your head when you see her. I already know how I’m going to do your hair. Of course, we need to get you to the salon soon. Your highlights are not so high anymore.” She flicked the lock of hair that used to be a vibrant red but had since faded to an ugly shade of brownish pink.

  “You know it. You have to come with me though. We need to make an appointment fast. You should get some highlights, too. They would really look awesome against your blond hair.”

  “I’m thinking hot pink, what do you think?”

  “I agree. Pink’s your color.” Then it hit me. The dinner was less than two weeks away and Zach still needed to get fitted for his tux. I instantly went into panic mode.

  “Zach! You need to get ready too. You can’t just wait until the last minute to get your tux!” Boys! They always put things off as long as they could get away with it.

  He gave a sneaky smile. “You should know me better than that Ruby. It’s already taken care of.”

  “It is?” How could it be? We’d only been back together for a few days and I spent a great deal of that time with him. Where did he find the time?

  “Yep. I got fitted the day after we…the day after I foolishly broke up with you.” He had a smug “so there” look on his face.

  “You did? But why?” Did he ask someone else and then back out when we got back together? Misty would hate me even more if he asked her and then backed out.

  “Because I was hoping I could win you back. Even if I had to show up here the night of the dinner dressed and prepared to beg.”

  Now I felt like the fool. He was right. I should know him better than that by now. Any boy who would take a girl stargazing was the same kind of boy who would get fitted for a tux when he wasn’t even sure he would have a date.

  “It’s true. He did. And he asked me about a million times whether or not I thought you would take him back. He wanted an answer, but he wouldn’t let me actually ask you.” She sighed heavily. “I remember when I had Boone twisted that tightly around my little finger. Those were the good old days.”

  “Really? And when was that exactly? Yesterday? You have that boy whipped and you know it.” Zach teased her.

  Rachel was about to fling a witty reply at him when I intervened. “Come on guys—we have work to do. We don’t want to get caught out in those woods after dark, do we?”

  Zach suddenly turned serious. “Ruby’s right. I better grab the flashlight out of the car just in case.”

  We decided the woods behind the house were the best place to start. There were clearly no graves visible in the oak grove out front, so if we were going to find anything, it would be in the forest, deeper than Zach and I ventured in the other day.

  We marched in together with Zach in the middle between us. Neither Rachel nor I were outdoorsy kind of girls so we stayed close to him. Who knew what we would run on to out there. It would be just my luck to lie about being chased by a bear in my dreams and then come face to face with one for real.

  We walked for about a half mile finding nothing out of the ordinary. I was starting to get the feeling we were looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack when something caught my eye. A large crow was perched on a tree branch and I could swear it was looking straight at me. I turned to face it and it cocked its head to the side. I stopped in my tracks. The bird flexed its wings and flew to a tree about twenty yards away. When it came to rest, it sat there staring at me again. Was it possible that this crow could be leading us to where we needed to go? I didn’t know, but I was willing to find out.

  “Over here guys.” I pointed into the forest. “I think we should go this direction.”

  I didn’t want to explain my theory that the crow was helping us, so I just said I had a feeling that we should change direction. They didn’t argue or ask for an explanation—they simply followed me without question. We walked for about five minutes when Zach noticed something.

  “Hey—it’s really overgrown, but if you look closely, you can see that we’re walking on what used to be a road or a path of some sort. You may have found what we’re looking for, Ruby.”

  I stared at the ground and saw what he meant. He was right—we were definitely on an old path. A path that reminded me of…could it be? Could this be the path I’d seen in my dreams—or nightmares to be more exact? If it was, I knew exactly what we would find at the end of it.

  I started to run. I ran along the path as fast as I could go with the branches tearing at my legs and rocks sliding beneath my feet. I heard Rachel and Zach call my name in the distance, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop until I got there. And then I saw it. The stone statue from my dreams. The beautiful woman with her arms outstretched, inviting me to her embrace. And there behind her stood the stone building with the curved staircases. I knew what it was now. It was a mausoleum.

  The thundering sound of footsteps pounded behind me but I kept going. I had to keep going.

  “Ruby, wait!” Zach had finally caught up with me. We came to a stop in front of the statue. “How could you see it from so far away? I didn’t see anything until I was almost on top of it.” He was panting from the run, trying to catch his breath.

  “I didn’t. I didn’t see it.” I fought to catch my breath, too.

  Rachel collapsed against my shoulder. “I didn’t know you could run so fast. You should go out for track with me in the spring.”

  “If you couldn’t see it, how did you know it was there then?” Zach had a puzzled look on his face.

  I never told them about my dreams. I thought they were just normal nightmares. Or at least normal for someone who was being haunted. It never occurred to me that they could actually be a clue to the mystery. Until now. Now that my nightmare was staring me straight in the face.

  “I know this is going to sound crazy, but I saw it my dreams. It looked a little different—the path was clear and the forest wasn’t quite as thick—but it was essentially the same. When you noticed the path, I started to wonder, wonder if it was real.” A look of concern crossed his face. Was this the point where he decided I really was crazy? And maybe he would be right. I wasn’t so sure of my sanity either.

  “You should have waited for us. You could have fallen and really hurt yourself. Or worse yet, run into a bear or something.”

  A bear—how ironic that he seemed to read my mind every now and again. But it was a relief to hear that he was more concerned for my safety than my sanity. “I’m sorry—you’re right. I just had to see for myself.”

  “I don’t get it. What is it?” Rachel’s curiosity overcame her exertion and she took a step forward toward the statue.

  “It’s a mausoleum,” I answered.

  “It’s what we’ve been looking for.” Zach finished my thought for me.

  Rachel stepped back to where we stood. She nudged her brother on the arm. “You first, big guy.”

  Before he even had a chance to act, I walked up to the statue. The base of it was moss covered and showed some signs of age but it was essentially the same as I remembered it. I reached up to touch the woman’s cheek. It was cold and smooth beneath my fingers. I never reached her in my dreams but I’m sure that’s how I would have greeted her if I had.

  Zach came to my side. “What happened in these dreams?”

  “I was always running on the path, running toward the statue. I somehow felt that I would be safe if I could only get to her. But there was always a shadow or something watching me. One time it was even Lee taunting me. I tried to reach the mausoleum, but I never could. The blood always held me back.” Even now in the daylight with Zach and Rachel here with me, remembering the dreams gave me the cold chills.

  “It’s okay, Ruby. I can go check it out for you if you want. You can just stay here.” Ever the hero, Zach placed his hand on my shoulder to comfort me. A jolt of energy blasted from his hand and straight into my che
st. It was just like the day we met. Suddenly the cold chills were replaced by a warm tingle that started at the point where his flesh touched mine and traveled quickly through my entire body.

  He pulled his hand away. “Did you feel that?”

  I nodded my head. “I wasn’t sure if you did, though. That must be the kind of energy Rita was talking about.”

  He smiled. “I guess so. I’ve known from the start that we had something special, something rare. I just wish you didn’t have to get hurt because of it.”

  “It won’t always be like that though. Let’s see if we can find anything in that mausoleum to help us.” Optimism poured through me. I would do whatever it took to be able to enjoy our chemistry instead of fear it.

  I approached the building cautiously. It was just like in my dreams. It was two stories high and set into the side of a small hillside so that the top floor was at ground level in the rear. There were glass doors framed in wrought iron situated in the middle between the steps on both levels. Two stone benches sat on the bottom landing. I stepped up to the bottom door and peered inside. No light entered the room so I motioned for Zach. He shone the flashlight inside and cast it around the room. There was nothing inside. Stone crypts along the walls sat empty. Gaping holes in the cement lay anxiously waiting to swallow the dead—the dead that never came.

  “Nothing. I was positive there would be something in there.” I was disappointed to say the least.