by Tamara Blake
Ruby searched his face for traces of condescension, but he seemed relaxed and happy in their shabby environment, comfortably leaning back in the hard chair and asking her mother about the weather and if she was glad the tourists had finally cleared out from the beaches.
“Don’t keep our guest waiting for his drink, Ruby,” Mom said.
“Oh, of course not,” Ruby replied with extreme courtesy. Tam’s lips quirked.
Shelley ran in with her drawing of two fishes and laid it on Tam’s knee. “I drew Nemo and Dory,” she explained seriously, “because they’re friends.”
“Friends are important,” Tam agreed. “Is that the Little Mermaid?”
“No. That’s a rock.”
Ruby went into the kitchen and poured the last of their orange juice into a glass for him. He was smooth alright. She heard him asking Shelley to draw another picture and her mother about her ordeal at the hospital.
But…did he know she could hear him? Where was the line between being a smooth operator and just a really nice guy? Tam seemed to constantly waver over it, back and forth.
The necklace around her neck began to prickle. In her discomfort over having Tam here, she’d almost forgotten it. If she could just get the thing off, she could be free of Tam, too. Then she could try to forget that she been reduced to stealing to save her mother. A clean break. She tucked the wire cutters in the pocket of her hoodie.
Back in the living room, Ruby handed Tam his drink. “Here you go. Will you excuse me for a moment?”
“Sure.” Tam took the glass and downed the juice in a couple of pulls. “Thanks, that was just what I needed.”
“Good to know.” Ruby took the empty glass and dropped it off in the kitchen on her way to the bathroom. Once she’d locked the door behind her, she unzipped the hoodie and drew the necklace out from under her t-shirt. The gold gleamed dully, and the ruby pendant glittered. She slipped the links into the cutter’s jaws, careful to keep the sharp blades away from her jugular.
“I’m getting rid of you for good,” she muttered, clamping down hard on the handle…
Nothing happened.
She squeezed again, this time with all her might, until her hand couldn’t take it anymore. The gold chain didn’t budge. She examined it in the mirror to see if the soft gold had given way at all. The wire cutter didn’t even leave a mark. Ruby groaned.
She let go of the pendant, but it didn’t fall as far down from her throat as it should have.
Oh holy shit. The gold chain was now clearly shorter. The ruby pendant was almost up to her collarbone, instead of hanging over her heart. She wasn’t imagining it. The chain was shrinking! What the hell was happening? Was this some horrible trick of Violet’s? Or was she going nuts?
A burst of laughter from the living room broke through her panic. She tucked the necklace inside her t-shirt. Oh God, now the necklace was clearly visible under the collar! If Tam ever found out…Maybe he wouldn’t turn her in to the cops, but Violet sure would.
Another burst of laughter. “Ruby, you have to see this!” Shelley yelled from the living room.
“Are you alright honey?” her mother called.
“I’m fine, Mom. Just…give me a minute.” Ruby knew she couldn’t stay in the bathroom forever. Mind scrambling, she hastily shrugged back into her hoodie and zipped it up to the top. She looked like a repressed nun, but whatever. At least now the necklace was hidden.
She emerged from the bathroom to find Shelley rolling on the floor with laughter and the tattered Fairy Tales From Around the World book open on Tam’s knee. “Tam’s a magician!” Shelley said, and let out another gurgle of laughter.
“Really?” Ruby raised an eyebrow.
“I’m a man of many talents,” Tam said, grinning. “Bet you had no idea.”
“Oh, I know you have talents. But I never thought that magic was one of them.”
Shelley jiggled the book on Tam’s knee. “She doesn’t believe you, Tam. Do it again and prove it to her. Watch, Ruby!”
Even her mother leaned forward, eyes shining with interest while Tam passed his hand over the book’s cover with a vaguely mysterious waggling of his fingers. “Hocus pocus! Okay, Shelley, open the book.”
Shelley eagerly complied. A pretty red silk rose lay between the pages. Shelley snatched it up with a crow of triumph. Mom clapped and said, “Well, well, would you look at that?”
Despite herself, Ruby was impressed. “How did you make that happen?”
“I told you. Magic.” He lifted his hand to her cheek. She reared back at the intimate touch but then gasped when he seemed to have plucked another silk rose from behind her ear.
“For you,” he said. He handed it to her with a flourish, but it was the look in his dark eyes that socked her all the way down to her toes.
The spell between them broke when Shelley announced she was hungry. “Are you staying for dinner, Tam? Please say yes.”
Ruby and her mother exchanged glances. Dried pasta and hot dogs hardly constituted actual food, let alone a meal for a guy like Tam, who’d surely be used to the finest cuisine money could buy. And Ruby decided she didn’t like the way he was slotting so easily into their lives.
It was going to make the moment when he bailed on them that much harder to take.
“Thanks, I’d love to,” Tam said. “And you have to let me help out. Except…” He hesitated and looked down at his glossy white sneakers. “I don’t know how to cook.”
Ruby gave her mother a tiny shrug. Maybe this wouldn’t be a major embarrassment after all.
“I can show you how to boil water for mac ’n’ cheese,” she said. “Should take all of thirty seconds.”
Tam’s face lit up with another one of his weirdly earnest smiles. “That’ll be cool, thanks.” He followed her to their tiny kitchen. “I know you’ll say that I’m a spoiled brat, but honestly, I’ve never even boiled water.” He reached out and touched the propane stove as if it might bite him.
“That’s pretty sad, Tam. I’m not sure having the maids wait on you hand and foot is doing you any favors.”
“I can make a mean coffee though.”
“True. But nobody can live forever on coffee.” She lowered her voice a little. “Or endless bottles of champagne. Or lines of coke.”
Tam’s amusement faded. “I know. I fully admit that we’re fucked up at Cottingley. Maybe that’s why I’m so into you. You’re…real.”
“Maybe a little too real,” Ruby muttered. His expression was almost painfully sincere expression and she turned away.
“Hey.” He caught her wrist. “Being real is a good thing. You’re beautiful and fun and you don’t put up with my bullshit, and…I dunno, there’s just something about you that’s got me hooked.”
“Is this is one of your better pick-up lines?”
“Is it working?”
She laughed uncomfortably. It kind of was working.
He shifted a tiny bit closer, and lowered his voice, saying almost shyly: “Would you come back to Cottingley Heights with me? Not as a housecleaner, but as my guest.”
And just like that, temptation ended. “You know that Cottingley isn’t my scene, Tam. I actually kind of hate it there.”
“Then come with me to the city, to my buddy’s art gallery opening. It’ll be fun! You can give me a crash course in Kentaro’s art so I don’t make a fool of myself. I’d…I’d consider it an honor if you’d let me take you.”
Ruby couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing. Tam was a total catch for anyone, and after seeing where she lived, what her life was like, he was still interested in her? “Are you seriously asking me out?”
He cracked another great big smile. “Yes, Ruby! I want to go out with you.”
Ruby hesitated. Did she really want to get mixed up with a guy who lived in a world where orgies and drugs and out-of-control parties were part of everyday life? Her head told her it’d be better to end it now, while th
ey were still friends.
While her heart was still unbroken.
She opened her mouth intending to turn him down, but Tam reached out. With a gentle touch he brushed a strand of hair away from her forehead. “Ruby,” he murmured, gazing intently, almost sorrowfully into her eyes. “Please say yes.”
Her defenses broke. What the hell, she thought, it’ll just be for one night. Why not give him a chance?
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll go out with you.”
He leaned forward and pressed a kiss on her forehead. “That’s so great, Ruby. We’ll have a good time, you’ll see.”
The kiss practically burned her skin. Ruby knew she was still blinking stupidly at him when Shelley ran in the kitchen. “Is dinner ready yet?”
They broke apart. “Not yet. It’s my fault,” Tam said. “I’ve been distracting your sister.”
“Could you stop doing that? ’Cause I’m hungry.”
“Shelley,” Ruby said warningly but on a laugh. She opened the refrigerator, intending to take out the milk to make the mac ’n’ cheese sauce. A two-pound package of hamburger sat on the bottom shelf. She stared at it. When did Mom buy that?
“I guess we’ll be feasting tonight after all,” she said, suddenly in a very good mood.
Dinner was actually a lot of fun. Tam was a good sport, letting her boss him around the kitchen while she browned the hamburger and added it to the mac ’n’ cheese. Shelley ran back and forth between the kitchen and the living room in general high spirits, and even Mom looked better, Ruby noticed, her pallor gone, and her energy level higher than it had been in long a time. And the kiss Tam had pressed on her forehead lingered; she felt its heat warming her almost as much as the answering glow in his eyes when their glances met across the table.
After dinner, Tam reluctantly announced he had to go. Ruby walked him outside to his car. The stars twinkled in the night sky, and a gentle breeze from the coast brought in the shush of the surf, which seemed to mask the sounds of game shows and canned laugh tracks that usually blared from the neighbors’ television sets.
“See you tomorrow night,” Tam said. “I’m really looking forward to it.”
Ruby dipped her head shyly. “Me too.”
He trailed a finger down her cheek. She thought he was going to kiss her again, but he seemed to change his mind at the last moment, giving her his trademark grin instead.
“Tomorrow,” he said softly and slid into the leather seat of the Mercedes.
When Ruby headed back inside, she found her mother at the sink, washing the dishes. “So, you’re going to the city with Tam,” Mom said.
The walls in this place were too thin. “Is that alright? I don’t have to go if you’re not feeling well enough.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, sweetie. I’ll be fine. I won’t have you turning down a boy like Tam for my sake. He seems like a nice young man, so thoughtful, so polite. He’s got his head on straight too.”
If her mother knew about what really went on at Cottingley, she probably wouldn’t be so fond of Tam. Ruby toyed with mentioning some of the goings-on she’d seen, then decided against it. Her mother would only worry. Besides, he was taking her to a party in the city, an art gallery opening, not a Cottingley rager.
Ruby reached for the hook where the dishtowel hung. Something caught against her collarbone and she gasped, clutching a hand to her throat. What could that…
The necklace.
How could she have forgotten it so completely?
Chapter Eight
Ruby never thought Great-Aunt Matilda’s funeral would be her salvation, but the high-necked black dress she’d found in a thrift shop a couple years ago was the perfect solution to her wardrobe dilemma. The collar covered the necklace, while the simple lines evoked an understated elegance. At least that’s what she told herself. She lopped three inches off the hem, which Mom stitched up for her, pinned the silk rose at her throat to camouflage the bump left by the ruby pendant, and hoped she wouldn’t be an embarrassment to Tam.
Ruby suppressed a gasp of admiration when he emerged from a private limo in a designer suit straight off the Paris runways, tailored flawlessly to his slim frame. His gold hair was swept back from his forehead to show his incredibly-cut cheekbones to full advantage, his dark eyes large and unfathomable, like an exotic Russian prince.
He came up the steps and stopped at their kitchen doorway, gazing at her like he was blown away by her beauty. “You look gorgeous,” he said. Ruby reminded herself that making a girl feel like she was the only person in the world was probably the numero uno trick in Tam’s charm bag. Still, she could feel herself blushing under his unconcealed appreciation.
“So do you,” Ruby replied a little shyly.
“Is that my rose you’re wearing?”
Ruby touched her collar self-consciously, reassured that the necklace remained hidden. “Yeah. It’s not too cheesy, is it?”
“It’s not cheesy at all. I’m flattered. Hi, Mrs. Benson, Shelley,” he said when they came into the kitchen behind Ruby. Mom obviously had been holding Shelley back for a moment to let her greet Tam privately.
“Took you long enough, Tam,” Shelley announced without preamble. “Ruby’s been hogging the bathroom all night.”
“Shelley!” Mom let out a gasp of horror. “Apologize at once!”
“Why? Ruby looks good, doesn’t she?”
Ruby nudged Shelley playfully. “Thanks loads, kiddo.”
“Your sister looks great,” Tam told Shelley. “And I doubt she takes longer than me to get ready for a special occasion. I’m pretty high-maintenance,” he stage-whispered to her confidentially.
“Maybe you both should go before Shelley reveals any more family secrets,” Mom said.
Ruby encircled her mother in a hug. She still felt frail in Ruby’s arms. “Are you sure about this?” she whispered into her mother’s ear.
“I’m fine, hon. Really,” Mom whispered back. “Enjoy every second of tonight. Times like these are rare.”
Ruby tamped down a niggle of worry. Her mother seemed to have much more energy now. Maybe the expensive meds were finally kicking in.
“Make sure you come home before midnight,” Shelley said seriously when Ruby reached for the evening bag she’d borrowed from her mother. “So you don’t turn into a pumpkin.”
“Silly, it’s the coach that becomes the pumpkin, not Cinderella.”
Tam put his hand on the small of Ruby’s back and ushered her to the door. “I made sure to have a no-pumpkin clause added to the contract when I booked the limo.”
Mom and Shelley’s goodbyes followed them outside into the dusky light. Ruby paused before climbing into the limo’s back seat. Shelley and Mom stood on the top steps of the trailer, waving to her.
For some reason, she had to swallow down a lump in her throat. She felt like she really was living in a fairy tale, even if it was only for one night.
“Are you okay?” Tam asked when they settled into the limo’s luxurious upholstery.
“It’s just…I know Shelley was joking, but I do feel a little like Cinderella.”
“Then I guess that makes me Prince Charming.”
“Don’t go getting a swelled head over it.”
“You’ll keep me in line if I do. But we’re gonna have a great time. You’ll see.” He gave the driver an address before pushing a button on the armrest. Overhead, the moon roof slid back to reveal the darkening sky. He pressed another button and a partition opened to reveal a fully-stocked minibar. He fiddled with another button and a screen dropped down from the roof, a music video flickering to life.
“Holy cow!” Ruby exclaimed. “What’s it going to do next, launch a space shuttle?”
“It’s pretty cool, isn’t it?” he said. “What’s your pleasure?”
“Um, champagne, I guess?”
“Perfect.” He pulled a bottle out of an ice bucket. She squealed when he popped the cork, and
they both laughed.
The limo moved smoothly in and out of the traffic streaming into Manhattan and over the Williamsburg Bridge, which afforded a spectacular view of the skyline glittering against both the East River and the deep purple sky. Like a crown of jewels or field of stars, Ruby thought, sipping the chilled champagne.
Though she hadn’t been able to go to Manhattan for a couple of years, as soon as the limo came off the bridge she remembered why she loved the city so much. Bright marquees advertising shows, concerts, and luxury goods. Sidewalks full of people rushing. Stop and go traffic. Horns beeping. Manhattan on a Saturday night throbbed with the energy of a city getting its party on. The night also cloaked the city’s grungier aspects: homeless people shuffling with their stuff piled into stolen grocery carts, garbage bags heaped on street corners, a police bust going down. Despite all that, Ruby thought nothing could top the excitement, the sheer possibility offered by New York City. She’d give anything to be part of the scene as an actor. Off-Broadway. Maybe even Broadway itself.
“One day,” she murmured.
“Did you say something?” Tam was watching her peer out the window, a fond smile curling his lips.
She shook her head. Tam didn’t need to know everything. Her dreams belonged to her.
The limo headed into the Lower East Side, known for trendy boutiques and upscale restaurants, a neighborhood on the cutting edge of everything cool—sides of brick buildings splashed with graffiti art, people wearing outrageous clothes. Ruby’s pulse quickened when the limo pulled curbside in front of a renovated co-op with wide windows illuminating the beautifully-dressed people milling on the sidewalk. They all turned to stare when the driver jumped out to open their door. Tam emerged first, then courteously held out his hand to assist Ruby. She felt like a socialite or a celebrity as Tam ushered her to the gallery’s entrance, all eyes on her, some even admiringly.
Inside, the art gallery was just as she imagined. Bare walls hung with Kentaro’s stunning work, a genius fusion of traditional Japanese techniques with modern pop art. Ruby wanted to examine them all. Glamorous people with glasses of wine or cocktails drifted from exhibit to exhibit, discussing the paintings in quiet voices, while at one end of the room, a tuxedoed duo played the piano and violin in a sophisticated duet of classical music.