Ruby's Choice (Ditch Lane Diaries Book 1)

by D. F. Jones

  Ruby climbed onto Jerry’s lap and began to kiss him gently—at first. But she couldn’t get Reed and Brent out of her mind. She covered Jerry’s mouth with her lips, increasing the pressure, lingering for a deeper taste. Ruby glided her tongue over his teeth. She probed inside his mouth, her tongue circling his tongue. She wanted to drown in the warmth and comfort of his kiss. Ruby was safe with Jerry and knew he would never hurt her. Her hands traveled down his arms, across his muscled chest and around to his back. She wanted Jerry to kiss away the emptiness and longing she felt inside.

  Jerry stopped and pulled away from Ruby, looking a bit perplexed. He stared into her half-lidded eyes, so full of desire. “What the heck is the matter with you, Ruby Jane? You’ve never kissed me this way before. But I’m ready to give you more than kissing if that’s what you really want.”

  Ruby snapped back to reality. She didn’t want to hurt Jerry’s feelings by telling him the truth—her skin blazed from the flirtatious duo in the store. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I did that. I kinda got carried away.”

  Jerry squeezed her bottom. “No need to apologize. Just let me know when you want me to give you something more than kissing. I’m ready, been ready for a long time now.”

  “Hardy, har, har, Steve Martin. I can go home right now if you want me to.” Ruby jumped off his lap and grabbed another handful of M&M’s.

  Ruby noticed Jerry’s expression had changed from lighthearted to one of pain. She had told him repeatedly they would never be together sexually. But she had pushed him too far tonight.

  He brushed her hair off her shoulder and kissed her forehead. “I’m not trying to push you away, Ruby Jane, but you turn from hot to cold quicker than my shower faucet. Sometimes you act like you really love me, and then other times, I feel like we’re brother and sister. It’s driving me freaking nuts!”

  She had hurt him. “Geez, Jerry. I should have realized this thing between us could only go so far. I never want to hurt you, ever, but I can’t have sex with you. Sex would ruin our friendship and I won’t risk it. I love you, but as a friend, not a lover. You understand? There are so many pretty girls who like you.”

  Jerry eyes lit up and he tilted his head as he locked her in a death-grip hug. “What pretty girls? Who?”

  Ruby didn’t exactly know for sure, but she had a hunch. “Anna, for one.”

  Jerry let go of Ruby and reached for the bowl of candy. “Anna, really? I never even thought she knew I existed.” He grabbed a handful of M&M’s, tipped his head back and filled his mouth with candy.

  Ruby pulled her hair back off her shoulders and then she stretched out across the couch. “Well, for god sakes, don’t tell her I said it. Better yet, don’t say anything. Just ask her out.”

  They watched the rest of The Tonight Show and then Ruby stood to leave. “Jerry, I’ve got to go. I’m going swimming tomorrow.”

  He caught her hand and smiled at her with soft, dreamy eyes. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

  “Okay, Romeo,” she said. He walked with her outside to her car holding her hand.

  Ruby placed her hand on his cheek and brushed his jawline with the back of her fingers. “Sweetie, I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

  Jerry pulled her against his chest, not wanting to let her go. “Aw, Ruby Jane. Sure you can’t stay just a little longer?”

  Ruby had turned him on in ways she hadn’t done before tonight, and she knew better. This was Jerry, for crying out loud. She kissed and hugged him again tightly, then got into her car, and rolled her window down to wish him a goodnight. “Bye, sweet boy.”

  Jerry smiled as he watched her pull out of the driveway, then turned and walked back inside the house.

  On her drive home to Everglade Farms, Ruby’s mind drifted back to Reed and Brent again. Out of the two, she had been drawn the most to Reed. He gave her a look like she was moonshine and he was Eliot Ness, which should’ve been against the law.

  When her eyes had locked with Reed’s, it had sent a jolt of electricity straight to her stomach, but when Brent had said he wanted to kiss her, and ran his thumb across her hand, white-hot lightning shot down her spine, shaking the ground she stood on.

  Why couldn’t she be in love with Jerry? They had been friends since they were kids. They were so comfortable with each other. It would have made everything easier. If only she could look at Jerry and feel the raw desire she had when she looked at Brent or Reed, she could be happy for the rest of her life. But, she didn’t.

  That was it. She realized Jerry was her comfort zone—nothing scary there. Just looking at Reed and Brent scared the daylights out of her.

  Chapter 2

  Hot Fun In The Summer Time

  Ruby’s family on her mom’s side had owned Everglade Farms since 1802. Growing up on their 200-acre farm, with its rolling hills and wide-open pastures, had been idyllic. The family’s two-story, three-bedroom brick house sat on a hill overlooking a pond. Ruby’s mother had red, pink, and yellow rose bushes sprinkled throughout their five-acre yard, and her father had planted Japanese elm trees in the early sixties, because they reminded him of his time in the Navy. The fencerow next to their yard was covered with honeysuckle and wild roses.

  Ruby had lived here her whole life. Everglade Farms was in her blood. She had learned to ride a bike down the hill of her driveway. She had hundreds of sleepovers with Anna and Sandy. The Glenns and her mom’s family, the Campbells, would come to Everglade Farms to celebrate Christmas and Easter. And they would host a huge picnic on Fourth of July with homemade ice cream and fireworks. Ruby would be moving out of Everglade Farms to live with Anna and Sandy in August. Life was changing for Ruby. She could feel it in the air.

  Her Grandmother Campbell had passed away before she was born. Ruby had been the only one in the family who had inherited her grandmother’s red hair. Her brother, George, was born with dark brown hair and used to tease her growing up, saying she had been adopted. She had her daddy’s small, but straight nose with a smattering of freckles, while George had the Campbell button nose.

  Ruby had always been a bit of a tomboy, preferring to hang out with her brother, George, and his buddies. George would let her tag along and play backyard baseball or climb up the water tower. The only exception to hanging out with her brother was her best buds, Anna and Sandy.

  Ruby languidly stretched out across her four-poster bed, as her mom yelled up the stairs, “Ruby Jane, honey, are you up yet? You know Lizzie will be here any minute. Y’all still going swimming, aren’t you?”

  Ruby yelled downstairs, “Yes, Mother dear, I’m up.”

  Before Ruby’s feet hit the floor, she heard the telephone ringing. Since it was probably Sandy calling, she jumped up and flew down the steps to answer the phone before her mother could reach for it.

  “Hello?” Ruby said.

  Sandy’s voice came through loud and clear on the other side of the line. “It’s me.”

  “Oh, hey, Sandy.” Ruby yawned, trying to wake up. She stretched the phone cord from the den to the front door and looked outside for signs of Lizzie.

  “Are you up yet?” Sandy asked.

  Ruby rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m talking to you, aren’t I?”

  “Don’t be a smartass. Lizzie will be over any minute.”

  “Yeah, I know, tell me something I don’t know. Hey, Sandy, I gotta go.” Ruby fidgeted back and forth, trying to wrap up the phone call.

  “I’m heading to your house right now so you don’t have to come over and pick me up. I know you’re not ready, so get the lead out!” Sandy hung up before Ruby could reply.

  * * *

  Ruby’s mother, Lee, had poured her a glass of OJ and made her cinnamon toast and placed it on the table when Ruby sat down for breakfast. Ruby’s granddaddy read his newspaper, while her mama sipped her coffee.

  “How was work yesterday? Is Mr. Burns working you to death?” Her granddaddy, Joseph Campbell, loved to tease her.

  Ruby drank a little OJ to wash do
wn a bite of toast before replying, “You know I love working at the store. Mr. Burns is handing over a couple of the main food vendors for me to negotiate goods for the store.” She beamed up at him with pride. “I can’t wait!”

  He smiled at her with a twinkle in his eyes. “Well, he knows a good thing when he sees it, dumpling.” He turned the page and resumed reading the daily paper.

  Lee walked over to the kitchen counter to pour another cup of coffee and glanced out the window over the sink. “Sweetie, that’ll be a very good experience for you. It’ll be one more thing to add to your resume.” She walked back to the table and sat down. “Ruby, honey, you can accomplish anything in this life if you are willing to work hard enough for it. I’m so proud of you.”

  Lee had given up her own career with South Central Bell to raise her children. Ruby didn’t think her mother ever regretted it but felt she lived vicariously through her. Her mother had always been Ruby’s biggest cheerleader and filled her with confidence.

  Ruby rose from the table, cleaned up her dishes, and then kissed them both on the cheeks. Knowing Lizzie should arrive in a few minutes, she ran up to her room to get ready for the pool. Ruby was looking forward to spending some time with Lizzie, whom she loved like a sister. Lizzie and George had gotten married three years ago in a quiet ceremony at the First Baptist Church in Eagleville.

  George had noticed the talkative Lizzie his first day of ninth grade algebra and asked her out. They had dated through most of high school. Lizzie had been the lead cheerleader, and George had been the captain of the basketball team. They both had been voted “best looking” in the school annual superlatives.

  George, with his darker features, was very different from the blue-eyed, fair-haired, petite and feisty Lizzie. They now lived in Granddaddy’s old log cabin next to the main house, which everyone called “The Big House.”

  Ruby stepped into the shower to quickly shave her legs. She brushed the tangles out of her long hair. She decided to wear her neon pink halter top bikini because it showed off her tan, and gave the illusion that she actually had boobs.

  Ruby heard Lizzie pulling into the driveway as she threw on her Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers T-shirt, shimmied into her Levi cut-offs, and then grabbed her beach towel and bag. Ruby had just made the last step when Lizzie came inside the back door.

  Lizzie said, “Hi y’all! Ruby, are you ready to go, sweet pea?”

  Ruby looked at Lizzie’s hot, new tiger-print shorts and tube top. The tube top and shorts had tan bands around the legs, waist and chest. “Lizzie, love the outfit.” Ruby playfully roared like a tiger and struck out with her “claws.”

  Lizzie blushed, turning several shades of red. “George bought it and a new bikini for me last weekend when we were in Panama City Beach.”

  Sandy came into the house bellowing, “Hello, Glenn Family! It’s another glorious day in Tennessee. Just perfect weather for swimming and catching some rays.”

  Ruby walked over and gave Sandy a tight hug and then teasingly pushed her friend away. Sandy Cothran and her family had moved to Everglade from Ohio about ten years earlier. They had bought a house a couple of miles from Everglade Farms, and Sandy and Ruby had been fast friends ever since. Sandy had long, shiny chestnut hair that hung to the middle of her back. She stood taller than Ruby at five foot eight, with beautiful wide-set hazel eyes with specks of gold. Going to the pool with Sandy was always a plus. Her vivacious personality and stunning looks always broke the ice for meeting new and interesting people.

  Sandy had her beach bag slung over her shoulder and tapped her foot on the linoleum floor. “Come on, guys. Let’s get this show on the road. We’re wasting valuable sunlight.”

  The three girls jumped into Lizzie’s 1974 black Dodge Charger with a red pinstripe down the entire length of the car. Ruby had called shotgun, so Sandy crawled into the backseat. Ruby wanted to freeze-frame this exact moment in time as they started driving down the road, with their windows rolled down, the radio blasting, and singing at the top of their lungs. Ruby’s arm was out of the window, bopping up and down to the music, while the warm summer breeze flowed over her like honey on hot homemade biscuits.

  Lizzie broke Ruby’s concentration. “How was Ditch Lane after we left?”

  Sandy placed one forearm on the side of each front seat and leaned forward. “It was fun. Ruby didn’t stay long. She had a date.”

  Ruby whipped her head around to Sandy. “What date? Are you talking about Jerry?”

  Lizzie glanced over to Ruby and then back to the road. “You had a date with Jerry?” Lizzie let up on the gas pedal as they drove through the small town of Eagleville before turning right onto the main highway, which would take them to Henry Horton State Park. The park was situated on the Duck River and offered visitors and locals alike a variety of activities, like swimming, golf, and tennis. The park had a lodge and cabins with a huge playground area where families could picnic and the kids could romp.

  Ruby let out a deep sigh. “No, you know better than that. Jerry and I are just friends, although he does come with the added benefit of making out sometimes. I ran into him at Ditch Lane last night and went back to his house to watch The Tonight Show.”

  Sandy nudged Ruby’s shoulder, egging her on. “So, who was on Johnny last night?”

  Ruby turned around, pulled her shades down over her nose and narrowed her eyes at Sandy. “Angie Dickinson,” Ruby said, and stuck her tongue out at Sandy. Ruby didn’t share the fact she practically attacked Jerry last night while she daydreamed about Reed and Brent.

  Ruby changed the subject abruptly, saying, “Lizzie, I think I’m ready to get on birth control.”

  Lizzie nearly ran off the road. She looked in her rearview mirror and then pulled onto an old tractor lane. The state road to Henry Horton was always busy. The vast farmlands and Tennessee Walking Horse farms had big horse trailers or tractors coming in and out of the road at all times.

  Lizzie placed the car in park and turned to her sister-in-law. With a look of concern, she said, “Honey, I told you I would take you to the doctor when you were ready for the pill. Do you want to have sex with Jerry?”

  Ruby crinkled up her nose. “Good god, no! I love him, but I’m not in love with him. It’s just…I turn twenty in another week. I mean, come on, how many twenty-year-olds do you know who are still virgins? I just want to be prepared.”

  Sandy pulled out her lip gloss and applied it to her lips. “You’re not the only one. Anna is still a virgin.”

  “Okay, Anna and I are probably the only twenty-year-old virgins left in the county.”

  Lizzie’s hands tightened on the steering wheel, and then she twisted in her seat to face Ruby. “I’ll set up an appointment next week with my doctor, unless you would feel more comfortable with your family doctor.”

  Ruby swore under her breath. “Heck no, I don’t want to see my family doctor. He’s too good of a friend with Mama. I would feel weird. I think I want my own gynecologist, anyway.”

  “Okay, I’ll call on Monday. Ruby, please take your time to think about your decision carefully.” Lizzie turned her head to check for cars before she pulled back onto the highway.

  “I have thought about it. It seems here lately that’s all I think about. My hormones are out of control. I’ll be careful on my choice.” Ruby knew having sex was inevitable, and she’d rather be safe than sorry.

  A few minutes later, Lizzie pulled into the pool parking lot and circled around twice looking for a parking spot. “I knew we should have left earlier on a Saturday.” The pool was packed today.

  “Lizzie, don’t sweat it. The mommies and kiddies will be heading out for lunch and naps soon and then the pool will be all ours.” Ruby grabbed up her beach bag and towel with one hand, and with the other one she held onto the door handle because she was ready to hop out.

  The girls walked down the sidewalk of the Olympic-sized pool, which sported three diving boards and two slides. They made quite a team, one blonde, one
brunette and a redhead. Ruby felt like they were Charlie’s Angels, except Charlie didn’t have a redhead. Ruby could feel the heat rising and not just from the sun. She could feel eyes on them until they finally made it to their favorite spot, the grassy area in the corner near the deep end of the pool. They laid out their beach blanket and towels and liberally applied Hawaiian Tropic suntan oil.

  Oh, how Ruby loved summer! People going off the diving boards, playing Marco Polo, chicken fights in the water, and people laughing—life was truly sweet. Ruby pulled out her battery-operated transistor radio and cranked up WKDF’s Rock FM.

  Ruby was propped up by her elbows, lying out on her back and taking in the scenery when she saw Reed and Brent with one other dude. Ruby stopped breathing. She tried hard to concentrate on what Lizzie was telling Sandy about decorating the old cabin, but her mind raced. What were the odds Ruby would see Reed and Brent today? Ruby wondered if George or Lizzie had mentioned the pool last night.

  Seeing Reed for the first time without a shirt made Ruby unconsciously lick her lips. His muscular chest tapered to his waist in a perfect V-shape, surrounded by bands of muscle. The Southern sun had tanned his skin to perfection. His swim trunks dipped slightly lower on one side to reveal just a slice of paler skin. Reed dripped nothing but pure sin as he walked toward them.

  Sandy leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Good grief, Ruby Jane, what the heck is the matter with you? If you don’t close your mouth you’re going to swallow flies.”

  Sandy made Ruby laugh, because she consistently tried to sound “Southern” and was always saying something funny. Ruby glanced at her anxiously. “It’s Reed and Brent, Sandy. The guys we talked about last night.”

  Before she could say anything else, Reed stopped and dropped down, twenty feet in front of her, beside a woman whom Ruby assumed was his girlfriend. The strawberry blonde had a Dorothy Hamill haircut and her boobs were practically falling out of her orange strapless bikini. The girl reached up and linked her arms around Reed’s neck, kissing him. Ruby felt a stab of jealousy.