by Nina Milne
‘Come on,’ he said. ‘I’ll make you a cheese toastie and a cup of tea.’
‘We’ve just had lunch.’
‘No. You just made everybody else lunch. You didn’t actually eat. No protests.’
‘Okay. I am hungry. Thank you.’
Twenty minutes later he made his way to the lounge, to find her curled up on an overstuffed armchair, dark head bent over her phone as she texted.
‘Hey...’ she said, looking up as he deposited the tray on a small table next to her. ‘I’m texting Tara. To tell her I meant it when I said I’d keep in touch.’
Her expression was serious, her brow creased, as she picked up the sandwich.
He eased onto the sofa opposite and stretched his legs out. ‘You bonded with her, didn’t you?’
‘Hard not to bond with someone who scares the bejesus out of you!’
Ethan shook his head; he could still feel the cold glug of panic that had hit his gut two days earlier.
Everything had been going so well. Nearly all the kids had wanted to have a go at the bake off, and had gathered in the kitchen with no more than some minor banter. Ruby had set up each person with a station with all the ingredients set out. There were recipes and she was at the front to demonstrate the technique. There had been a few flour-bomb incidents but after a couple of interventions by the social worker they settled down and soon everyone had been absorbed in the tasks at hand. The scent of cinnamon and ginger pervaded the kitchen and Ethan had relaxed enough to start a conversation about the following day’s surf trip.
It had all happened so fast.
A dark-haired boy had been in discussion with his neighbour a blonde petite teenager. Ethan clocked the violent shake of her head and just as his antennae alerted him that there was trouble, the youth stepped too close. Uttered a profanity so crude Ruby’s head whipped round from where she’d been helping someone else. As Ethan headed over, the girl whipped out a flick knife.
Ethan’s lips straightened to grim as he strode forward but before he could get there Ruby had put herself directly in the girl’s path and Ethan’s gut froze. The girl looked feral, her pupils wide and he could only hope that she wasn’t doped up on anything.
The knife glinted in her hand. Behind Ruby, the dark-haired boy had tensed and Ethan knew any second now the situation would blow. No way would that boy be able to keep face if he backed down to a girl—the only reason he hadn’t launched yet was the fact that Ruby was in the middle.
She held her hand out to the girl. ‘Tara, give me the knife. No one is going to hurt you. Not now and not later. Not Max, not anyone.’ Ruby’s voice betrayed not a flicker of fear. She swept a glance at Ethan and gave a small shake of head and he slowed his stride. Ruby clearly didn’t want him to spook the girl. Instead Ethan ducked round so that he could manoeuvre Max out of the equation, saw the boy open his mouth and moved straight in.
‘Quiet.’ Max took one look and kept his mouth shut.
‘Come on, Tara,’ Ruby said. ‘It’s OK. Look round. You’re safe. Look at me. You have my word. Now give me the knife and it will all be fine.’
Tara had shaken her head. ‘It’ll never be fine,’ she stated with a flat despair that chilled Ethan’s blood. Then the knife fell to the floor, the clatter as it hit the tiles released some of the tension in the room. Ruby put her foot over the weapon, then stooped to pick it up.
‘You want to keep going?’ she asked Tara. ‘It’s OK. No repercussions.’ She turned to Max and there was something in her stance that meant business. ‘No repercussions,’ she repeated.
Next to him Ethan saw the social worker open his mouth as if to intervene and he stepped into action. ‘I second that. No repercussions from anyone. This is not what this all about. You guys want to make a difference to your lives. It starts here. And this incident ends here.’
‘Now back to baking,’ Ruby said.
Looking back now, it occurred to Ethan how seamlessly he and Ruby had acted together, so attuned to the nuances of the scene, the risks, the threat, the best way to defuse the tension.
Ruby picked up her mug and cradled it. ‘You know what she told me?’
Ethan shook his head. His chest panged at the pain sketched on Ruby’s features.
‘She told me she wished there had been repercussions. That if she’d ended up inside it would have been better for her than her life now.’
Ruby’s voice was sad and heavy with knowledge.
‘I don’t blame her for having that knife. Her home life makes mine look like a picnic in the park. Her dad is a violent loser and she is so damaged no carer can cope. That’s why she’s in a residential home. That’s why she reacted to Max like that—he was in her space and she panicked. Oddly enough after the incident Max tried to befriend her.’ She glanced at him. ‘Your doing?’
‘I did talk to him.’ He had tried to tell him there were other ways—told him that there were consequences to actions.
‘That’s fab, Ethan. Maybe they can help each other. I hope they’ll all come back in September. Once they let their guard down they were all so full of potential—I mean, did you see them after surfing? They had a blast.’
So had he. All the teenagers had been stoked to be in the water and he’d watched them—some of them carbon copies of himself and Rafael. Tough...so tough...and always out to prove it. Because if they didn’t there was the fear of being taken down. All swagger, all bravado—but up against the waves, up against the spray and the sea salt, they had met an element stronger than themselves that they could challenge with impunity. And they’d loved it. Enough, he hoped, to incentivise them to keep out of trouble until September.
A soft sigh escaped her lips. ‘I wish... I wish I could help. Take them all in and house the lot of them.’ She placed her empty plate down with a thunk. ‘Maybe one day I will. No—not maybe. Definitely.’
‘How are you going to do that?’
Her chin tilted. ‘I’m going to adopt,’ she said. ‘That’s my single parenthood plan.’
Maybe it shouldn’t surprise him—after all, Ruby had been in care and he understood why she would want to help children like the child she had been. Hey, he wanted to do that. But adoption by herself...
Her eyes narrowed. ‘You don’t think it’s a good plan?’
‘I didn’t say that.’
‘Then what? You think I can’t hack it?’
‘I didn’t say that either.’
‘Then say something. What do you think?’
‘I think it’s a very, very big thing to take on.’ He raised a hand. ‘I’m not saying you couldn’t do it. I think you would be a fantastic person for any kid to have in their lives.’ And he meant that—he’d seen the way she’d interacted with all the kids, seen her capacity for care and love. ‘But taking on older children... It’s a huge commitment—especially on your own.’
‘I know that.’
There was no uncertainty in her voice and he couldn’t help but wonder at the depth of her need to do this even as he admired her confidence in herself. The idea of anybody—let alone a child...let alone a child who had already been through the system—being dependent on him for their well-being made his veins freeze over. To those kids Ruby would be their salvation, and he knew that saving wasn’t part of his make-up.
But concern still niggled. ‘You said you’d decided on single parenthood because you can’t pick good father material. Don’t you think you should rethink that strategy?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean why not open yourself up to the idea of a relationship? Find a man who will support you emotionally and be a great father to your family. You’re too young to give up on having love and a family.’
‘You have,’ she pointed out.
‘That’s because I don’t want love or a family. You
can’t give up on something you’ve never wanted in the first place. You do want love—you’d never have been sucked in by Hugh or those other two losers otherwise.’
‘See?’ Tucking her legs beneath her, she jabbed her finger at him. ‘That’s exactly it. Three out of three losers. That’s a one hundred per cent miss rate. I can’t risk what is most important to me—having a family—by taking a side quest for love. Plus, if I pick wrong it could have a terrible effect on any children. I need to stay focused on my ultimate goal. I thought you of all people would get that. You want Caversham world domination and I want children. I won’t be sidelined by anything else.’
Well, what could he say to that?
‘I can see the “but” written all over your face, Ethan. I know it will be tough but it will be incredibly worthwhile.’ The finality in her tone suggested that any argument would be futile. ‘Like these past two days have been.’
‘Two days is one thing. A lifetime is another.’
He pressed his lips together. Ruby was right—she had her goal and he had his, and hers was none of his business. What did he know? It was not as if he thought love was a good idea, so why push Ruby towards it? He didn’t want the bright light of hope to be extinguished from those eyes by some idiot. But that wasn’t his problem or his decision to make—it was Ruby’s. So...
‘You’re right I think the past two days were a success—and a lot of that is thanks to you. The tree, the gifts, the food...and the karaoke carols were superb. You did a great job.’
Relief touched her face at the change of subject and he wondered if she regretted telling him of her plans.
‘So did you. Thanks muchly. And thanks for letting me be part of it.’ A glance at her watch and she straightened up in the chair. ‘Right. I’ll start the clear-up procedure and then I’ll be on my way. Leave you to your Christmas plans.’
Her voice was a smidge too breezy, and her eyes flicked away from his as she rose to her feet.
‘Don’t worry about clearing up,’ he said as he stood, his eyes fixed on her expression. ‘You’ve already spent so much time and effort on this—I want you to start your break as soon as possible.’
Deliberately casual, he stepped towards her.
‘Where did you say you were going, again?’
‘Um...’ For a heartbeat she twisted her finger into a stray curl, then met his gaze with cool aplomb. ‘I didn’t.’ As she moved towards the door she gave him a small smile. ‘Any more than you shared your plans.’
Her pace increased to escape speed and instantly he moved to bar her path.
‘That’s easily remedied. My plan is to stay here.’
Surprise skittered across her face. ‘Alone?’
‘Yup. My original plan was to host the teens over Christmas—when that changed I didn’t bother making different plans for Christmas Day. It’s just another day, after all. But I know you don’t agree with that. So what are your plans, Ruby?’
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she realised she’d walked straight into that. ‘I... Look, why does it matter to you?’
‘Because you have worked so hard, and made such a difference to those teenagers—I don’t want to think that doing that has ruined your plans.’
‘Oh. It hasn’t. Truly.’ A gust escaped her lips as he raised his eyebrows. ‘You aren’t going to let up, are you? Look, I haven’t got any specific plans. I never did.’
A slight look of surprise tilted her features.
‘It’s odd, actually. My original plan was to shut myself away with some weepie movies and a vat of ice cream. But now I don’t want to do that. In fact if I wanted to I could go out and paint the town red. Since your press release lots of people who had dropped me like the proverbial hot root vegetable are now keen to be my friend again. Or I could probably even rustle up an invite from a real friend. But I don’t really want to do any of that either. So I think I’ll just head home and use the time to relax. Read a book. Watch some sappy Christmas movies.’
Ever so slowly she started to edge around him for the door.
‘Not so fast.’ The idea flashed into his mind like a lightning bolt, zigzagged around and sparked a mad impulse. ‘I have a better idea.’
‘What?’
‘Let’s go away for Christmas.’
‘Who? You and me?’ Incredulity widened her eyes—clearly the idea was risible.
‘Yup. We’ve worked incredibly hard and we deserve a break. You said you wanted snow—how about the Alps?’
The realisation that he was making this up as he went along triggered a ring tone of alarm.
‘Are you serious?’
For a second excitement lit her blue eyes and Ethan ignored the warning blare of instinct—the reminder that mad impulses never ended well.
‘Of course I’m serious. Why wouldn’t I be?’
‘Because... Well... We can’t just up and leave.’
‘Last time I looked I was the boss and I say we can.’
The idea gave him a sudden surge of exhilaration—the kind he usually felt on a surfboard. It morphed into a mad desire to take her hands and twirl her round the room. Which was every kind of nutty—from peanuts to Brazil. Rein it in, Ethan. What exactly was he suggesting, here?
Welcome rationalisation kicked in. ‘I’d like to check out the Alps anyway—as a possible Caversham location.’
‘But you haven’t even opened the castle yet.’
Ethan shrugged. ‘Gotta keep on moving, Ruby. I told you I want to make it big, and momentum is key.’
Plus, it made sense—it would make this a business trip and not a mad impulse at all. With any luck he’d get there, feel the buzz of a new venture—and the odd, unwanted emotions that Ruby stirred within him would dissipate. Come to that, once the ball was over—which was a few scant days away—he wouldn’t need to spend as much time here. He’d see Ruby less, and his life would regain its status quo.
‘So what do you think? Shall we go and get a feel for the place?’
Ruby wasn’t sure she could think. Or at least think straight. His idea had conjured up cosy warm scenes. Snow, mountain peaks, magical Christmas card scenery... Ethan and Ruby walking hand in hand...
As if.
Ruby hauled in a breath and instructed her brain to think, to oust the temptation that had slunk to the table—a late and uninvited guest at negotiations. Ethan had probably never held hands with anyone in his life, and the very fact that the picture had formed in her mind meant she needed to be on her guard.
In fact... ‘It’s a crazy idea.’
‘Why? We both deserve a break. I have a good gut feeling about the Alps as a Caversham location, you’ve done a lot of research into the Caversham ethos, and I’d value a second opinion from you.’
It all sounded so reasonable. His words slipped into her consciousness like honey. From a professional viewpoint her boss had asked her to go on a business trip. It was a no-brainer.
Plus, if she said no would he take someone else? A sudden vision of gorgeous blondes and curvy brunettes paraded in her brain and her nails scored into her palm in instinctive recoil.
‘I think it sounds fabulous. Let’s do it.’
Temptation gave a smug smile of victory and panic assailed her nerves. Because all of a sudden thrills of anticipation shot through her veins. Chill, Ruby. Who wouldn’t look forward to Christmas in the Alps? Obviously those little pulse-buzzes had zilch to do with the prospect of one-on-one time with Ethan. Because that would be personal. To say nothing of certifiably stupid.
Ethan nodded, his expression inscrutable. ‘Okay. I’ll check flights and we’ll take the first available one.’
‘Fantastic.’
Though it occurred to Ruby that this whole idea could be better filed under ‘Terminally Stupid’.
CHAPTER TEN
RUBY GLANCED ACROSS at Ethan and tried to stop her tummy from a launch into cartwheels. Tried to tell herself that her stomach’s antics were a Braxton-Hicks-type reaction to non-existent air turbulence. Why on earth had she consented to this? Why in this universe had he suggested it?
Because it was work. That was why. Ethan wanted to scout out the French Alps and had decided that this was an ideal time. Plus he was a generous man, and this was his way of showing appreciation for all her hard work.
Work, Ruby. That was what this was and she had best remember that. After all it was Christmas Day, and apart from a perfunctory ‘Merry Christmas’ Ethan hadn’t so much as referred to the fact.
Though she could hardly blame him. Organising their departure had been his priority, and she could only admire the efficiency that had achieved a super-early trip to her London apartment to pick up her passport, followed by a trip to the airport that had given her sufficient time to pick up the extra cold-weather clothes she needed as well as time for a spirited argument over who would pay for said clothing.
Now here they were, on board a flight to Geneva, where they would pick up a car. So who could blame Ethan for not making a hue and cry about it being Christmas—he was taking her to a magical Christmas place after all.
On a business trip.
What else did she want it to be?
Yet as she studied the strength of his profile, the potent force of his jaw, an obscure yearning banded her chest—as if she were a girl with her nose pressed against the glass pane of a sweet shop. Gazing, coveting, but unable to touch.
As if he sensed her gaze he turned to look at her and the breath hitched in her throat. The man was so gorgeous—but it was more than that. The way he had been with those teenagers had filled her with admiration. He’d shown them respect and invited respect in return—the fact that he’d cared about them had shone through, and it had triggered this ridiculous gooeyness inside her.
Enough. Say something. Before you embarrass yourself.
To her relief panic mobilised her vocal cords and she burst into speech. ‘I was wondering—where are we staying?’