I nodded silently.
He was right.
“After Griffin’s death, and all the fighting and pain, I realized that being around me was bad for you, Ruby. I put you in danger just being me.”
“I had a part in it too, Tom.”
Tom reached up, wiped a tear from my cheek with his thumb, and smiled sadly. “I was holding you back, Ruby. You didn’t belong at Dresden.”
“I thought you blamed me. I thought you decided I was too much trouble.”
“No, Ruby, walking away from you was the hardest thing I ever did. But, I believed it was the right thing to do. I wanted you to have a future.”
“It wasn’t just your decision,” I said quietly, tears streaming. “What if you decide that again? Don’t I get a say in my future?”
Sighing, Tom nodded. He came around and pulled my door open. I didn’t want to get out. “Come with me.”
“Can’t we just talk here?” I whispered.
“Nope.” He put his hand out.
I climbed out of the car, stomach flopping. “What’s going on, Tom?”
He limped with his cane, pulling me to the school. Huge trees towered over the buildings, Mulberry, I thought.
We walked up to the entrance and Tom pushed in a code, the gate slid open on its track.
“Tom, what are we doing?”
He stopped, turned to me, and ran a finger down the bridge of my nose. “Shh.”
I blinked back tears, but nodded.
“Go, Brad,” Tom shouted to the darkness.
A weird sort of strained music wound up and then lights exploded overhead, bright yellow spokes in a wheel. I gasped. A Ferris wheel blinked to life behind the school’s building. I put my hands to my mouth, unable to speak. Tom pulled me to the ride.
“The carnival is packing up tonight. They head out in the morning, but Brad owed me a favor, so…” Tom trailed off, his eyes resting on mine. “Want a ride?”
I nodded, dumbfounded, and he helped me into one of the painted metal benches dangling from the Ferris wheel. He pulled the bar across our laps and nodded to Brad, who appeared from nowhere to push the red button.
“At the top?” he asked Tom.
“Yeah,” Tom said and smiled at me.
I sat in stunned silence, listening to the calliope music whir through the old speakers. The seat lurched a little and then we were moving, pulling back and then up, climbing towards the sky. Brad let us go to the top, and then stopped the ride, walking away.
“I’ve been offered a job, Ruby,” Tom began, his face tense. “Not with the task force, though.”
“Oh.”
He was leaving.
“It’s a teaching position; with the DEA. They want me to run new recruits through an undercover tactics program.” He looked at me expectantly.
“Tom, I don’t understand…” I sat next to him, trembling. “Is it far?”
“No…it’s here, in San Diego. I didn’t want to tell you until I knew for sure.”
“What are you saying? You’re not going to be a field agent anymore?”
“Nope.”
“W-Why?”
“Well, I’ll need time to help rebuild your clinic. Those kids need you, Ruby. What you’re doing out here…it’s amazing.”
“Tom I-I don’t know what to say.” I looked at him amazed. “You want to help me?”
“But there is one thing,” he said.
“What?”
Tom took my hand, his gaze serious, and kissed the palm of my hand. “Ruby Dawn McKinney,” he whispered, his hand trembling. “I have to ask you something.”
My heart fluttered. I couldn’t speak. I watched him pull a small box out of his pocket, red velvet with a bow; he opened it.
I gasped.
Two golden hearts, intertwined, encircled a perfect round diamond.
“It’s beautiful,” I whispered. “I thought…”
“I know what you thought, Ruby,” he murmured.
Hands shaking, he took the ring out of the velvet. The Ferris wheel lights reflected off the inscription.
Forever Love.
I looked up into his gorgeous eyes, astounded. “You…mean it?”
Tom nodded. Leaning forward, he brushed his lips against mine, the softest whisper of a kiss that left me reeling.
“You’re the only one I’ve ever loved, Ruby. I loved you before I even really knew what that meant,” he breathed. “I can’t…I can’t imagine walking through this life without you.”
My heart soared and I threw my arms around Tom’s neck, crushing him, barely containing the elation that washed over me. I kissed his cheeks, his nose, his eyelids…tears streaming down my face.
Tom laughed and held my face in his hands. “Is that a yes?”
“Yes,” I gasped my soul singing with joy. “A thousand times, yes.”
He slipped the ring on my finger and held me to his chest. “I love you, Ruby Dawn.”
“I love you back,” I whispered.
Breathless, I looked out over the edge of the Ferris wheel at the sky. The clouds blushed crimson as the final slivers of sun set below the city. Closing my eyes, I whispered a silent prayer for Tom, for this home, for blessings beyond anything I’d dared to dream.
Thank you, Father.
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Ruby Dawn Page 28