Among them were the nephews, whom Ginny was interested to meet. When Lavender introduced them, Ginny was surprised to find they were ordinary middle-aged businessmen, putting on good faces but a little bored. Their wives were well-tended Portlanders, with healthy natural good looks and unfussy clothing. One wore a beautiful white scarf and gave Lavender a big armful of white roses. “You said no gifts,” the woman said, “but I couldn’t bear to come empty-handed.”
“They’re beautiful,” Lavender said, and kissed her cheek. She held the roses in front of her tutu and said, “Now, don’t I look like a ballerina?”
Ginny, never without her camera, shot the moment and dozens of others, feeling slightly antsy as the time crept closer to seven and there was no sign of Jack.
At seven, they gathered around the tables and held up champagne glasses filled with Bellinis, Lavender’s favorite. Ruby stood, holding a nonalcoholic version, and said, “I only hope to live half so well and shine a quarter as brightly as you do, Lavender. Thanks for inviting all of us!”
Lavender, looking fit and elegant in the silvery dress, held up her own glass. “This is one of the best nights of my life, and I thank you all for coming. Right now let’s sit down and eat!”
Ginny glanced over her shoulder one more time, but still no Jack. She shook it off and sat down next to Ruby. The Foodie Four sat on one side of the table, opposite Lavender’s nephews and their wives. Ginny saw Hannah snare a seat farther down the table, next to Noah, and smiled to herself as the girl sent a cat-with-the-canary glance over to Ruby, who lifted her glass in a toast to Hannah.
The evening was still and warm. Ginny sipped her Bellini and picked at the watermelon salad, nibbled a little roll, but she was deflated. It would be unkind to show it, so she made a point of laughing at the jokes. When Lavender told one of her stories about the glory days of the airlines, she tuned in, intrigued as ever by the spirit of those bygone times.
Ginny found herself chewing on her thumbnail. Maybe she should get her phone. He might have been delayed for some perfectly legitimate reason.
But if she got the phone, she’d have to listen to the message from Kansas, likely Matthew calling from some secondary phone to leave messages. Or her mother, telling her how she was ruining her life.
Hadn’t she just resolved to face her life the way it was instead of ducking things she didn’t want to see or deal with? She sighed. Where was the difference between facing things and setting boundaries? She didn’t really know.
Unable to sit there one more moment, she jumped up. “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she whispered to Ruby.
Ruby slapped a hand over hers. “Wait. Do you know that truck pulling in to the lot?”
Ginny heard it then, the enormous horsepower of a gigantic engine, and she turned to see Jack’s rig making the turn into the lot. It was designed to handle big trucks, though maybe not one as big as this, and he navigated into place, parked, and leapt down gracefully.
Willow barked a welcome and ran toward the man. Ginny followed behind more demurely, forgetting her flip-flops so that she was walking barefoot through damp grass, her eyes fixed on his lean, loose-limbed form. He’d dressed up a little, with a tie and a blue-striped shirt she liked very much and his usual jeans. He carried a black cowboy hat with a turquoise-studded band.
The first thing he said was, “Sorry. I borrowed a car and it had a flat and there wasn’t time to get it fixed, so I had to drive the rig. Kinda foolish, but I didn’t want to miss—”
Ginny rushed the last few feet and flew up on her tiptoes to kiss him. “I am so glad you’re here,” she said, and took his hand. “Come meet my friends.”
They’d already rearranged things at the head table, making room for him. Ruby had slid around to sit next to Noah, making Hannah glower a bit and Noah sit straighter. Still holding tight to Jack’s hand, Ginny said, “Everybody, this is Jack Gains, my friend from Colorado.”
He raised a hand. “How’re you all doing?” He pulled Ginny around the table with him as he greeted her friends individually, starting with Lavender. “Happy birthday, young lady,” he said, and offered the perfect white daisy he held in his hand. “I’m glad to meet you.”
Lavender tilted her head appraisingly, and the jewels in her crown sparkled. “You, too, son. We sure appreciated your care of Ginny when she was sick.”
“I was glad to be there.”
He paused before Ruby and bowed. “You have to be Ruby of ‘The Flavor of a Blue Moon.’ You look exactly like I pictured you.”
“You’ve read my blog?”
“Some of it. I liked your cherries post.” With a wicked glance at her pregnant belly, he added, “Looks like you swallowed a few of them.”
Laughing, Ruby put her hands on her tummy. “Maybe so.”
As they took their seats at the table, Ginny was aware of her bare feet against the grass, and Jack’s tight grip on her fingers, and the fragrance of him, which was enhanced by some kind of shaving lotion or cologne that she liked, slighty musky and oriental. She was aware, too, that her ears were hot with the speculation of the others, with the stark wickedness of her actions, and with the secret thrill she got from that.
But mostly what she felt as she sat next to him was starvation, a hunger for him, for his company and the sound of his voice as he talked to Ruby on one side and to the nephews who had seen his truck and asked about it. She ate watermelon that suddenly tasted a hundred times sweeter than it had five minutes ago, and she memorized the angle of his nose and the shape of his jaw. She noticed his fingernails and his hands. He didn’t eat very much. He kept taking her hand below the table, touching her thigh, crinkling the tulle beneath his fingers. With his other hand, he fed Willow tidbits of chicken. The dog loyally sat behind his chair, guarding him from all comers. Or something.
As the meal wound down, Lavender stood up, her glass in hand. Her color was high from the alcohol, her cheeks bright red, making her eyes beneath the white hair especially bright. “Hey, everybody, in a minute we’ll start dancing. There’s plenty more to eat, so don’t be shy, and we have plenty of sodas and microbrews and wine, and you’re free to sleep in the pasture with the chickens if you need to.”
A smattering of laughter danced from table to table.
“Now, I’m eighty-five today and I reckon I’ve earned the right to ramble a little bit, so bear with me.”
“We love listening!” Ruby cried, raising her empty glass.
“Thanks, sweetheart. All of you should meet Ruby Zarlingo, who writes an earthy blog called ‘The Flavor of a Blue Moon.’ She’s a vegan, but we forgive her because her writing is so terrific and because she’s a pretty spectacular cook.”
Ruby shone, standing to do a little bow, like the ballerina on a jewelry box.
“That brings me to the fact that this is a rare and magical day,” Lavender said, more seriously. “It’s the blue moon, a time when you can have second chances, and new hopes, and new starts.”
Ginny looked up at Jack at the very instant he looked at her. They shared a long moment, hands touching palm to palm beneath the table. Blue sparks shone between their hands, slipping out like tiny fireflies.
“Think about that, friends. What would you do, if you could do anything? Where would you go? What life would you live?” Like a goddess, Lavender shimmered in her silver dress, the rhinestones on her birthday crown sparkling. “That’s really something to think about, isn’t it?”
A wife looked at a husband. A mother glanced at her son. Hannah leaned forward intently. Next to Hannah, Valerie listened without betraying what she felt.
“I’ve had a lot of lives in eighty-five years. Some of you have lived a lifetime in one or two years, I know. Noah, my manager, is one of them. He served in the Army for four tours, and that’ll mark you. You see how the land has given him new life.”
Ginny looked at Noah, wondering if he minded, but he only nodded.
“Valerie and Hannah there: They have a chance to str
ike out and become whoever they want, and they’re traveling across the country to a new life away from the tragedy they survived.”
Valerie reached for her daughter’s hand.
“I’ve been a stewardess, an adventuress and a secretary, an accountant and an organic farmer and a perfumer. There are just times you know that a new life is calling. If you don’t listen, that’s when you get in trouble. If you’re brave and listen to that siren call”—she smiled at Ginny—“you might find something brand new.”
Ginny was glad that was all Lavender said. The words brought back some of her conflict over the situation. Jack’s hand landed on her shoulder, his fingers brushing along her neck, and she shivered ever so slightly.
“This farm called to me at a time in my life when most people would have been thinking about retiring, and although it was a tragedy that brought me back here, I’m forever grateful to”—she choked up momentarily and bent her head; one of the nephews wiped his eyes—“Glen, my dear, dear nephew, who also had big dreams for the place and made it prosperous for the first time in thirty years.
“Turns out my true work was right here. I brought everything with me, the secretary and the accountant and the stewardess who knew how to talk, all right back here to this farm. I made something beautiful, and I am very proud, and I do not want to see it pass into the hands of a mega-farm corporation that will not run it the right way.” She looked at her nephews without blinking. “I’m hoping to see it carried on when I leave, by people who love it.”
The nephews exchanged mild glances. Ginny noticed Ruby, however, glaring at them. Were they going to sell the land?
“And that’s that. I’ve got little presents for everybody, in a basket by the porch, to help you remember to do your own work and find a good life, so don’t forget to take one on the way home. Now, let’s get down to some dancing!”
Lavender sat. The band began to play. The nephews excused themselves, their wives with them.
Ruby ran after them, her skirt swishing bright in the gathering twilight.
“Do you want to dance?” Jack asked.
“I’m not very good,” Ginny replied, “but I’ll try.”
“Nothing to it. C’mon.”
Chapter 35
Ruby ran awkwardly, off balance thanks to the baby. “Gentlemen!” she cried. “Wait a minute, will you?”
They turned, the little army of four. Ruby stuck out her hand. “We met, you might remember, in McMinnville earlier this week?” She was out of breath and panted, touching her chest. The men looked, which had not been Ruby’s intention, but she straightened, unashamed, and met the eyes of one of them. “I have no doubt that Lavender is going to outlive all of us, but she is very worried about the farm.”
“That was uncalled for, making us look like fools. We’re here at her party, and she acts like that?”
“You don’t want the farm, though, do you?”
“We’re city people,” the other one said, shaking his head apologetically. “We don’t know anything about this place. We’d lose it in no time.”
“I get that. Why sell to that guy, though, the one she really really doesn’t want to have it? Why not find a better buyer, somebody who’ll respect what Lavender has built here?”
“Like you?” one of the wives said, dismissing Ruby with a head-to-toe glance. “What are you? Twenty-two?”
“Twenty-six,” Ruby corrected. “But, yes, me. I don’t know if I can get the loan I’d need, but I’d like to try. I want to tell Lavender that I’m trying. She invited us here, the Foodie Four, because she wants an heir, and this has felt like my true place since I got here.”
“You’re bamboozling my aunt, aren’t you?” said the first nephew.
“I don’t need to bamboozle anybody. That’s not who I am.” She shook her head, stepping back. “Just think about what she said, okay? Like exactly what would you need? Think about that.”
The first nephew’s wife took his arm and turned him away. They walked up the hill without speaking—stopping by the basket, though, to get their presents. Ruby grinned.
The second nephew said, “He’s offering a lot, Wade Markum is.”
Ruby’s heart plummeted. “Well, think about it, anyway. I’m going to stay here and work with Lavender, learn the business. There’s time.”
To Ruby’s surprise, the nephew stuck out his hand. “Thanks, Ruby. I can tell you love her.”
“I do.”
She watched them leave, then stood where she was, looking back over the scene, at the sparkling lights, the people dancing, including Ginny and the guy, who looked at Ginny in a way that made Ruby’s throat hurt. Also dancing was Lavender, with a man from town. As Ruby watched, Lavender waved a hand in front of her face and excused herself, going to the table to have a long drink of water. She sat down, hands on her knees, and smiled at the scene.
“Hi, Ruby.”
She spun around at the familiar voice, and for a long moment she simply gaped at the also-familiar face. He looked gaunt, too thin, but maybe that was because she’d been looking at the robust Noah. “Liam!” she cried. “What are you doing here?”
“I couldn’t stop thinking about what you said, about the baby.” He moved closer. Ruby took a step back. “I told Minna I had to talk to you in person. I flew out this morning. Jesus, that’s a long flight!”
“How did you know where I was? Oh, the blog.”
He nodded. Hands in his pockets, he looked over her shoulder to the dancing and the tables so prettily scattered over the grass. “It’s your friend’s birthday, huh?”
“Yeah.” Ruby spied Noah standing off to one side, Hannah swaying beside him, and she suddenly didn’t want to talk to Liam. “You know, this is not a good time for me. We’ll have to talk tomorrow.”
“I only have tonight. And I’ve come a long way to talk to you, Ruby.”
How had she never noticed how peevish he could sound, how small? “You can’t just fall into my life and fall back out. It doesn’t work that way.” She made a smoothing gesture over the baby, over her skirts, and started to turn away.
“Don’t do it, Ruby!” He grabbed her arm. “I’ve been flying for ten hours today, two stops, since I couldn’t get on any damned direct flight.”
“Take your hand off me right now.”
He froze and dropped her arm, backing up two steps with his hands in the air. “Come on. It’s my baby, too. You owe me that much.”
“No. I don’t think I owe you anything.” She turned away, then said over her shoulder, “If you want to come back tomorrow morning, we can talk then.”
She walked away, feeling the pull of him on the back of her neck, but she kept going, away and away and away, giddier with every step.
By the time she reached the table where Lavender sat, however, she was shaking all over. “Liam,” she managed to say, “is here.”
“Where?”
Ruby looked back up the hill, and there he stood, brooding, with his hands in his pockets, those baggy big chinos she always thought looked affected. From this distance, he was very ordinary and small. “There,” she said.
“Huh,” Lavender said. “What does he want?”
“To talk to me. But I don’t want to talk to him.”
Lavender gave her a long look. “You might as well get it over with.”
“No,” Ruby said, quite sure. “He doesn’t set this schedule. I do.” She jumped up and went through the milling people to find someone to dance with. When she looked later, he was gone.
They had their photo taken, the Foodie Four and Hannah, all in a row in their dresses, with their feet bare and the lights strung behind them. Noah took a bunch of shots, making sure there would be a lot for each of them to choose from, and Ginny kept breaking out of the lineup to see how they looked. From the sidelines, her man gobbled her up with his eyes, and Ginny was a floating star, the peach dress with its tiny crystal beads catching the light in winks and blinks, very subtle beneath the netting. Her dark hai
r had been piled up to start the night, but as it went on, tendrils fell down on her freckled shoulders. She looked sexy and at ease, and Ruby thought with wonder, How did that happen in a week?
But look at her own self! Instead of throwing up and crying, she was happy and getting more pregnant by the day, and she was going to stay on the farm and learn everything she could. At least that way she could be ready to help buy it if that came to pass. If not, maybe she could find other farmwork.
After Noah took the pictures, he came over to her. “It’s my turn to dance with you.”
“Okay. I’ve been dying for you to ask. You look like Antonio Banderas, only taller and younger.”
“And better looking.”
“Well, that goes without saying.”
They danced easily together, a two-step he led with expertise. Ruby yawned and let herself lean into him. She found herself falling into the music, into the starry night, into the dance. “I think my baby likes you,” she said dreamily. “She kicks me when she hears your voice.”
“I’m glad.” He swayed with her for a while, humming along with the music, his voice in her hair. “Ruby, can I ask you what you saw? When we kissed?”
“It’s not seeing, exactly.” She put her head on his shoulder, feeling very tired. “I just feel things about people sometimes, like things around them, energy or memories or ghosts, maybe.”
“Hmm.” His voice rumbled up through his chest. After a long moment he asked, “So what did you see or sense about me? Something bad?”
“No,” she said, trying to hang on to the thought. “More like … sad … I guess.” She yawned again. “You have to get something off your chest.”
They had slowed, were barely moving, but Ruby didn’t notice. Like a baby, like a safe and drowsy child, she’d fallen asleep on his shoulder. She was somewhat aware of him picking her up and carrying her off the platform, aware that she wanted to tell him something, but sleep was so overpowering that she fell with it to the other side. Far away, far away and safe.
The All You Can Dream Buffet Page 26