by Joy Elbel
The menu was extensive but each one of us in turn ordered steak. As we waited for our meals to arrive, the hidden agenda I feared came to light.
“We haven’t had a chance to talk much, how have you guys been?” Of course, my dad directed the question more to Zach than to me. Zach always knew the right thing to say in any situation which worked out perfectly for me.
“Good, Dr. Matthews. We had a great summer but I can’t wait for school to start. Math is the only class I was dreading, but Ruby’s going to help me with that. I’m just lucky she’s as smart as she is beautiful.”
Mr. Charm strikes again. Shelly drank in every word as though she were imagining that she was seventeen and he was talking about her. Dad nodded his head approvingly.
“That she is, Zach. And I’m not at the hospital so please call me Jason.” Lee tried calling him Jason once—it didn’t end well.
“Okay, Dr….Jason.” He smiled as he corrected himself. “How are things at the hospital?”
My dad leaned back in his seat. “Great. And actually that’s part of the reason we’re here tonight. We’re celebrating the fact that we are now fully staffed so I don’t have to work insane hours anymore. Shelly, I’ll let you tell them your good news.”
Shelly took a sip of her wine before speaking. “I am officially finished with my book! My editor gave the final approval on it today. We’re going to get started on the murder mystery bed and breakfast project in a few weeks. I’m going to write the scripts, of course, but I hired someone today to help me with the décor. She’s very excited to start and I know you’ll love having her around, Ruby.”
No! We couldn’t have a stranger spending that much time in the mansion! What if she were to see or hear something? The last thing I needed was for word to spread around town that Rosewood was haunted.
Zach stopped me before I could say something stupid. “Who did you hire Shelly?”
“Rachel! She has such an eye for fashion that I thought interior design would come naturally for her too. She came over yesterday and talked about what she would do if it were her house. I was so impressed that I didn’t even look for anyone else.”
What a relief! When I was done being happy that it was someone who already knew my secrets, I started getting excited for Rachel. Giving her notice at the Chicken Shack was one thing I knew she looked forward to. And me too—I would never have to hear her complain about smelling like a deep fryer again.
“Sweet! Rosewood will look amazing when she’s done with it.” If telling us this news was the hidden agenda for the night, then I could relax.
My father cleared his throat and I got a lump in mine. Here it came—the real reason we were there. I looked under the table wistfully, wishing I were still small enough to crawl under it and hide.
“There’s one other thing we wanted to discuss with you—both of you.” Dad finished off his wine before going on. There was only one thing that could have him speaking in such a serious tone. Were they really going to talk to us about sex right here in City Lights? I scanned the crowd for our waitress petrified that she would arrive with our meals at exactly the wrong moment.
Zach held his composure but I felt his leg start to bounce nervously next to mine. “What is it, Jason?” His voice cracked ever so slightly as he uttered my father’s name.
“Shelly and I would like to take another overnight trip to the casino and we’ve invited your parents to join us.”
The bouncing under the table stopped abruptly. “That’s great! They’ve always talked about going there. When are you going?”
“We have reservations for this Saturday. We leave early that morning and we’ll be back around noon on Sunday. Andy will be around if you need anything.”
“Have a good time,” I said, nervously pushing a cucumber around on my salad plate. That couldn’t be the end of the conversation but I could do my best to pretend that it was.
“So what we wanted to talk to you about was what we expect from you while we’re gone,” Shelly said after two more sips of her wine. It felt like she was the executioner and Zach and I were the ones in the guillotine. No, that wasn’t quite right—a certain part of Zach’s anatomy was the one wearing the blindfold.
The nervous bouncing started again and my cucumber became the most fascinating thing in the room. I hated cucumbers but I stared blankly at the vile vegetable like I was staring straight into the face of God. I prayed that Shelly would be the one doing the talking and not my dad. Anyone who says prayers never go unanswered clearly wasn’t sitting at our table.
“So number one, no parties. Number two, no alcohol or drugs of any kind. And number three…” Dad paused to find the right words. Alfred Hitchcock may have been the master of suspense, but my dad just stole the title. I mentally counted the seeds in the cucumber like they were the most important things on the face of the earth—slowly and deliberately. The shaking under the table increased its rhythm until I thought the entire booth might hurtle like a rocket through the roof.
Shelly brought down the razor sharp blade and ended the suffering. “What Jason’s trying to say is that you’re both mature and intelligent. Don’t do anything stupid. Right, Jason?”
My father opened his mouth like he wanted to add something to what Shelly said, but she interrupted him firmly. “Right, Jason?” The sound of a shoe hitting a shin came from their end of the table.
“Ouch, right. Intelligent and mature,” he grunted. She must have kicked him hard because his face contorted into a whole buffet of pain.
The rocket under the table fell out of orbit and back down to earth. “We won’t, I promise. When you get back, everything will be in the same condition it was in when you left—including Ruby.” Did he just reference my virginity to my father? Bold move, very bold move indeed.
But it worked. The veil of tension that was hanging over the table sunk like a rock. “Okay then, let’s eat!” Plates full of the best looking steaks ever were suddenly at our table and Dad poured some more wine for Shelly and himself. When our salad plates were cleared, I was glad to see that wretched cucumber go.
36. Under the Weather
We kept our mouths shut until we were nearly a mile away from the restaurant. As soon as we were confident that there was no possible way that Dad or Shelly could hear us, we exploded into a frantic chatter concerning the dinner conversation.
“OMG! Your leg was practically vibrating under the table! Can you believe my dad trying to talk to us about sex in a restaurant? At least Shelly kept it to the bare minimum! I’m pretty sure she even kicked him to get him to shut up!” Once the initial mortification passed, it was actually pretty funny—funnier still considering that we hadn’t even shared a real kiss yet.
“I know, right? And you weren’t much help either—I never knew you loved cucumbers so much!”
We both cracked up laughing at how uncomfortable the conversation was. When the laughter died, however, we both got awkwardly quiet. I knew what we wouldn’t be doing that night, but the real question was what would we do?
“So…can I ask you a question?” Zach’s leg started to bounce up and down slightly like it did earlier.
Finally, we were going to talk about it. “Sure—you can ask me anything.”
His usual cool exterior was gone, replaced with obvious nervousness. “So, will you stay with me Saturday night? I don’t want you to be alone at Rosewood and with my parents gone too.…”
I blurted out the answer before he could finish. “Yes. Of course I want to stay with you.”
He exhaled deeply. “Good. I hoped you’d say yes. We both know we won’t be technically breaking any of your parents’ rules, but I still thought you might be afraid of getting caught.”
“I’m more afraid of staying at Rosewood alone than I am of getting caught doing nothing we you.” Not that anyone would believe us if we did get caught.
“Cool. So what do you want to do then? I think Rachel works that day so we’ll have the house to ourselve
s, at least for a while anyway.”
How ironic. Most teenagers kept a detailed list tucked away somewhere private of all the things they would do with no parents for the night. We had their wish come true but no clue of what to do with it.
We bounced ideas back and forth finally deciding to rent some movies and make dinner together.
“I’m actually a pretty good cook, you know. Mom taught me how. She thinks all boys should be able to take care of themselves. Wives are partners not slaves—it’s like her motto or something. I’ll make you something special.”
“Is there anything you’re not good at?” I pondered the possibility that maybe that one thing would be kissing. As disappointing as that would be, I still wouldn’t care. He was the one I wanted to be with, regardless.
“Lots of things—math being at the top of that list.”
I watched his mouth move as he spoke. There was no way lips like that could be inefficient. “Not when I get done with you.”
“I was hoping you’d never get done with me,” he said kissing the back of my hand as he dropped me off at the mansion.
A girly giggle erupted from my chest as I said, “How can I be done with you when I haven’t even started yet?”
“Now you’re just teasing me! You’re such a heartbreaker!” he said clutching his chest playfully.
Bouncing up the front steps, I turned to blow him a kiss before disappearing behind the heavy oak doors.
I counted down the days until Saturday like I used to count down the days until Christmas. Rachel and I went shopping Friday night so I could buy something new to wear that day. And something new to wear that night. I didn’t want anything skanky, just something pretty. Rachel helped me pick out a red satin tank and matching shorts. They weren’t that much different than other things I owned, but I felt the need to sneak into the house with my bags anyway. As soon as I was upstairs, I cut off the tags and folded them neatly under my mattress where they would never be found by accident.
Sleep evaded me for hours. All I could think about was Zach and how I would be lying in his arms the next night. When I finally drifted off, it was nearly three. I fell asleep happy, but the nightmare still came. I was in the tunnel again, walking through the darkened passage toward the inky black shadows that lay at the end. I was searching for something while something searched for me. I could feel it closing in on me but every time I turned around, all I could see was the dirt wall as it shifted behind me, sealing me in. I was almost to the end of the passage when I awoke.
Opening my eyes slowly, I scanned the room. Nothing. Not a single paranormal entity. Was it possible that they were gone? Was I free of the horrors that paralyzed me all summer? If all I had to deal with was nightmares, I would be happy and I could be with Zach without fear. Rolling over happily, I fell asleep smiling.
We waited for about an hour after our parents left before Zach came to pick me up just in case they forgot something and had to turn around. Rain clouds dominated the sky as we headed into town. Heavy thunderstorms were in the forecast for the day. Hurricane Erica made landfall on the east coast that morning, pounding the shoreline mercilessly, and we were scheduled to feel her effects later that afternoon and into the night. The only thing I wanted was to get to the Mason house before the sky opened up. My hair straightened perfectly that morning and I didn’t want to lose it to the rain.
We stopped at the supermarket to pick up what we needed for dinner. Zach chose to make beef stew because he remembered me saying that it was my favorite the day his mom made it for us. He seemed to remember everything I said—unlike most boys. We picked up two new movie releases from the machine out front and headed to his house. It was Rachel’s last night at the Chicken Shack and she was scheduled to close. This meant we had the house to ourselves until ten o’clock. Eight full hours alone during a thunderstorm—what could possibly be more romantic?
Watching Zach cook was a real treat. Cooking never happened in our house when I was young and that didn’t change after Shelly came into the picture. He wasn’t lying when he said he was good at it, either. The knife practically flew over the vegetables as he cut them. If it were me doing the cutting, there would be a finger floating somewhere in the pot with them.
“It’s a good thing you know how to cook because I certainly don’t,” I said as I washed the carrots for him. “At least I know we won’t starve when we get that apartment together next summer.”
“I see. You’re only using me for my sweet culinary skills—the truth finally comes out,” he said throwing the last of the ingredients into the pot. “I’m not letting you off the hook that easy though. I fully intend to teach you how to cook, too.”
Thinking about all of the things we would be able to do together next summer made me want to find us a cave we could hibernate in until he turned eighteen. Time couldn’t move fast enough for me. Once everything was in the pot, we had some time to kill until our meal was ready. We sat in our favorite chair in the living room and talked about our plans for next summer. It was a good thing we set a timer for the food because we almost forgot about it.
Rain beat in a steady rhythm off of the porch roof signaling that the promised storm had arrived. Zach said he had one more thing to do before we ate so I set the table while I waited for him. When he returned, he had two candles in his hands.
“I thought it would be nice to eat by candlelight—since we really didn’t get to enjoy the romantic atmosphere last night,” he said as he placed them in the center of the table and lit both of them. He turned out the lights and their small kitchen was suddenly as romantic as the French Riviera.
It was the best meal ever. The food was delicious, the ambience was perfect, and my dinner partner was as charming as always. Something about the sound of the rain and the flickering candlelight made me feel like we were far removed from the rest of the world—almost like we somehow found a way to stop time. Knowing that I would be spending the entire night with him certainly added to the whole experience. We stayed at the table talking long after our plates were empty.
When we finally decided to put in one of the movies, we made a discovery. The power got knocked out sometime while we were eating. We now noticed the ferocity of the wind howling around the corner of the house. Sadie and Sequoia pranced around on the kitchen floor while we ate but I just thought they were hoping for scraps. Zach had a different answer.
“They both used to really hate storms but I haven’t seen them react like this in a long time.” His tone was one of concern as he watched them paw at the basement door whimpering. “There you go,” he said as he opened the door for them. Both dogs were a blur as they ran down the stairs together. “For some reason, they always felt safer down there.”
Since we couldn’t watch the movies, I decided to take my bag to Zach’s room so I could unpack my essentials. As I dug to the bottom to retrieve a much needed toothbrush, I noticed something. I didn’t pack my new satin pajamas—they were still tucked under my mattress where I hid them the night before. I knew I could borrow something from Rachel, but I bought them specifically to wear that night. We would have to make a trip to Rosewood before the storm got any worse.
I walked into the living room and put my arm around his shoulders. Bringing out the best eyelash batting routine I was capable of, I purred, “Zach, can you do me a really big favor? I forgot something important at home and I really need to go get it. Will you drive me to Rosewood?”
He peeked around the curtain as thunder boomed through the house. “Do you really need to go? The weather’s getting really nasty out there. Whatever it is, you can probably borrow it from my sister.”
“Well, it’s something I bought to wear to bed tonight. I bought it just for you.” I didn’t want to spoil the surprise, but if I had to, I would.
His head snapped back from the window and his eyes were wide. “You did? What is it?”
I had him. “It’s red and it’s satin—that’s all I’m going to say.” And it was appa
rently all I needed to say.
“Okay, let’s make it quick though—the wind is really kicking up out there.” He grabbed his keys and an umbrella. “You sure know how to change a guy’s mind.”
He hoisted the umbrella and we made a run for it. I didn’t look at the sky until then, but I saw that he was right. To the south, the sky was dark and ominous, but in the opposite direction it was a sick greenish yellow tint. I’d never seen clouds that color before in my life. It’s a good thing we didn’t have far to drive.
Wind whipped the trees in all directions sending leaves and small branches directly into the windshield. Zach drove slowly and remarked that it was strange to be the only car on the road. His small car rocked in the gusts and I started to panic inside. If we weren’t already so close to the mansion, I would have asked him to turn around and go back to his house. But Rosewood wasn’t far so we continued to plunge ahead.
The road to the house was strewn with leaves and chunks of dead bark from the oak trees. All I needed to do was run in and grab my pajamas and run back out. We would be back in the safety of the Mason house in no time at all. Zach offered to come in with me, but I declined figuring it would be quicker if I just did it myself. He parked as close to the porch as he could and I jumped out with the umbrella in one hand and his flashlight in the other.
As I sprinted up the stairs, I thought about joining Rachel on the track team in the spring. I would definitely have to start running and get myself into better shape before then. I reached one hand under the mattress and snatched the pajamas while the other hand petted Coco who was circling my ankles anxiously. I remembered what happened to Mimi and Andy’s conclusion that she could have been afraid of the storm. How would Zach feel about taking Coco with us? He was an animal lover—he probably wouldn’t mind. I was about to tuck her into her carrier when the door to my room flew open and Zach burst in.
“Ruby! There’s a tornado coming! We have to get to the basement quick!” He grabbed my hand and pulled me through the door behind him.