“And suppose she really can’t stand this artificial limb? Then what?”
“I don’t lay much store by that, son. I have a feeling that’s in your head. Has she ever seen it in broad daylight? I mean is she aware that you can hardly distinguish that thing from your flesh unless you touch it?
“I want you to open your mind, sit her down in a quiet place, preferably your home, and talk with her. Choose a time when there isn’t a chance that you’ll be interrupted and when you have plenty of time. Nothing this important should be allowed to slide along unattended. Take matters in hand.”
“Thanks. Why aren’t you surprised?”
“Because her father and I always said that nothing would separate the two of you, that you loved each other and would eventually realize it.”
“You’re kidding.”
“When did I ever joke about something this serious?”
“I’d as soon you didn’t share this with Mom yet. She’d be calling Ruby and inviting her for every occasion she can think of.”
“I won’t. You said it was private, and I’ll treat it that way.”
He hung up, rubbed the back of his neck, and the dampness on his hand let him know that he’d been perspiring. Never before had he gone to his father with anything so personal; not even when he faced wearing a prosthesis for the remainder of his life had he shared his pain and trepidation with anyone. He’d smiled as if it didn’t matter as long as he could walk upright without a crutch of any kind, and he discouraged sympathy as being unwarranted. Yet, the hurt went deep each night when he pulled it off and each morning when he put it on.
He had avoided meaningful attachments to women because he couldn’t bring himself to share that part of his life. But after that fateful night when, at last, he’d held Ruby in his arms and buried himself in her body, the choice was no longer his. He had loved her, but from that moment on, he also needed her.
“I can’t go on this way, having her and not having her. I’m going for it, and if I lose, I lose.” He opened his bedroom window and let the frigid air shock him out of his dark mood. “It may take a while, but I’ll teach her to accept me as I am.”
Ruby sat on the deck of Paul and Amber’s modern home sipping a piña colada as the cool evening breeze kissed her face. She found the salty air refreshing and began to appreciate Amber’s affection for life near the Pacific Ocean.
“It’s more than the weather here,” Amber said. “We don’t live on top of each other as people do in big cities. I love the space and the privacy and, with this low crime rate, I think it’s a good place to raise a family.” She paused. “I’d better check on Joachim.”
Alone with Paul, Ruby asked him, “Uh…Paul, I need to ask you something in confidence.”
“Sure. What is it?”
“It’s about Luther and me.” She scrutinized his face for a reaction, saw none and continued. “We…uh…got together the night of Opal and D’marcus’s wedding reception. It was so sudden, and I precipitated it. Afterward, I was ashamed because I didn’t know what he thought of me. Next time I saw him, he froze me out. Then, he rescued me from that pool, and we became pretty tight, but after that night he, you and Amber were at my place, everything just went to pot.”
“Of course, there’s a lot more to it than that, Ruby,” Paul said. “I saw Luther kiss you that night at the reception, and yes, you invited it. I saw that, too. Luther is not a frivolous man. Far from it. And you’re not the person I knew two months earlier. You’ve bloomed into a beautiful and appealing woman, so whatever happened between you two was a good thing. Does he know you love him?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know how he feels about me, so I’ve never told him.”
“I see. Why were you annoyed when he kissed you as we were about to leave your house?”
“He was angry with me.”
“Angry because you didn’t want Amber and me to know what was going on? We already knew, Ruby. You can’t keep a thing like that a secret unless you avoid the company of other people. Let me tell you something. A man has to know that his woman is proud of him admires him, and wants the whole world to know that he’s her man. A man’s ego is in his woman, his kids and his work. I’ve known Luther as my commander, my friend, and I’ve seen him under fire, risking his life for others. There isn’t a finer human being. Amber has told me what you sacrificed for her and her sisters. I think you and Luther are well suited. Handle it with care.”
She wanted to ask him how to bridge the gap between them, but Amber floated back to the deck. “This is the perfect evening for a cookout, honey,” she said to Paul. “Why don’t I make some hamburgers and you grill ’em out here. I have some big, Spanish onions, mushrooms and green peppers. Ruby, stop drinking that highball. We’re going to have beer with supper, and I don’t want you to get a headache.”
Ruby stared at her sister. Since when had Amber become a take-charge woman? If marriage did this for a person…She raised her glass. “Here’s to Paul, the magician.” Amber stared at her, and Paul bubbled up with laughter.
He filled a glass with beer and raised it. “I’ll drink to that, Ruby.”
“Let me in on it,” Amber said. “I didn’t hear anything funny.”
Paul draped an arm around Amber’s shoulder. “Not to worry, love. That was Ruby’s way of saying you’ve grown into a mature woman, and I concur.”
“In that case, you should be toasting me with champagne. Who ever heard of a beer toast?” Amber asked him.
Can I have that with Luther? Ruby wondered. Is happiness with the man I love too much to ask for? She put her drink on the table and turned aside. If only she could talk with him, touch him. Did he have any idea how she hungered for the feel of him inside of her? She looked around and saw that Paul watched her, and she smiled when he gave her the thumbs-up sign.
“Let me see your dress for the party,” Amber said.
Ruby rose immediately, anxious to prevent a slide into melancholy, and went up to the guest room. She’d hung the lavender chiffon on the closet door to release the creases.
“It’s gorgeous,” Amber said. “I’m so glad you’re wearing colors these days. I was scared you’d bring something gray or navy. You looked so good in that red dress and later at Paige’s engagement weekend because you wore colors. Wear this for him. He’d love you in it.”
She hoped Amber noticed that she neither commented nor questioned the identification of “him.” As she thought back on it in bed later that night, she remembered Paul’s words, “A man has to know his woman is proud of him.” What was wrong with her that she couldn’t acknowledge to her sisters that she loved Luther Biggens? Would she do so if she knew he loved her?
I wish I could understand myself. In my work, I know who I am and where I’m headed, but when it comes to this love business, I’m in left field. Where was I all those years when I was supposed to be growing up?
Two evenings later, sitting in Opal’s kitchen sucking on a sparerib, Ruby said to her sister, “Now I understand what got into Amber. The garden party was at the home of one of her neighbors, and let me tell you, that sister laid it out. It was a catered affair with tuxedo-clad waiters, a band, caviar, smoked salmon, imported cheeses, lobster and any kind of liquor you cared to stone yourself with. The house was something out of Better Homes and Gardens.”
“Rich, huh?”
“Either rich or heavily in debt for the rest of their lives. The place was a shrine to conspicuous consumption. What’s more, everything looked as if it had never been used. I kept wondering what part of the house she and her husband lived in. But Paul and Amber have a lovely home, too, in a beautiful setting, and our little sister has become completely domesticated. It’s wonderful to see.”
Opal helped herself to a barbecued sparerib. “That’s wonderful. When she and Paul were here for Paige’s engagement party, I could see that they’re very happy. Now, dear sister, what about you?”
Ruby pitched the bone into the garbage can.
“Me? I’m fine. In a few days, I’ll be sole owner of Everyday Opportunities, Inc., and I’m expanding our services. Life is good.”
Opal was undeterred. “Seen Luther since you got back?”
Ruby did not want to discuss Luther. “Why would I? I just got back this morning. And since I took the red-eye flight back last night, I need to get home and go to bed.” She stood, signaling her intention to leave. “Thanks for those delicious spareribs.”
Opal hugged Ruby. “I’m glad you stopped by. When you feel like talking, I’m here.”
“You’re a peach,” Ruby said, dodging the issue. “I’ll call you.” As she drove home, she vowed not to discuss her relationship with Luther until she had talked with him. It wouldn’t be easy, she knew, because it seemed that her family had decided they were more than friends, or at least her sisters wanted them to be. It wouldn’t help to talk with them. Paul had given her all the advice she needed.
“I have to be patient,” she said to herself, “and I will be.”
The next morning at work, she had a call from her lawyer. He and Marva’s husband had come to a deal for the consulting firm. “I think it’s a good offer. You reimburse your partner for all of her capital investment and for the cost of her labor before the company earned money. After the company began earning, she was compensated as a part of the cost of doing business. Nonetheless, you have to buy her out, and we’ve estimated that as one half of the company’s net worth, or half of the company’s current bank account minus bills due. I think it’s fair.”
She had expected much worse, but didn’t tell him. “All right. Can I pay it monthly?”
“Wright suggested payment within six months. Can you manage that?”
“I think so, but I’ll have to check with my accountant. I’ll get back to you tomorrow morning. Thanks for a good job.”
After she called her accountant, she left her office and drove to Louvenia’s Books ’N Things. She wasn’t checking on LeRoy, but she needed to see precisely the effect of her plan for that store before she offered similar suggestions to another client.
When she pulled up in front of the shop Ruby observed the sparkling windows and inviting display. Inside, the store appeared organized and inviting.
“This is wonderful,” she said to LeRoy. “And so are you.” LeRoy had surpassed her expectations. Even in her plan for the store, she had not envisaged such a remarkable outcome.
Satisfied that her company could become the best of its kind in the region, she went on to her next appointment. But she didn’t have that sense of euphoria that she should have had after seeing those striking results of her company’s work, because she didn’t have Luther to share it with.
I’m going to get over it, dammit. My life is not going to revolve around a man who can go for days without saying a word to me.
Who was she fooling?
Chapter 11
“I tell you, Pearl, it’s no use. I couldn’t get a peep out of Ruby. As soon as I mentioned Luther, she folded up and went home. She was always so open, and you could talk to her about anything, no matter how personal.” Opal had called to discuss Pearl’s upcoming benefit concert at the Lakeview Baptist Church, but as usual the topic switched quickly to Ruby’s love life.
“Think about it, Opal. She willingly talked to us about our problems and affairs, but when did she ever discuss hers? Certainly not with me. She was smitten with that one guy—what’s his name—and she got into a blue funk about him and stayed in it for weeks. But whenever you asked her if anything was wrong, she grinned and said, ‘Nothing. Why do you ask?’ Don’t you remember?”
“You’re right, and she’s doing the same thing now. Pearl, I am not so stupid that I don’t know when a man and a woman have something going. You saw how they were after he got her out of that pool.”
“I saw how they were the night of your wedding reception, too,” Pearl said. “I don’t get it. They’re so much alike that they should get along beautifully.”
“Maybe that’s the problem. I never thought Luther was stubborn, but we may not know him as well as we think we do. You know what happens when Ruby finally puts her foot down.”
“Sure I do,” Pearl said, “but when Cupid gets to work, things change.”
The evening of the concert, Ruby sat in an aisle seat in the second row from the stage, fidgeting in turn with her coat, her hair and the concert program. She knew Pearl could sing, but what if the pianist didn’t show up. Or maybe her sister would get a sore throat. She just couldn’t seem to stop worrying.
When a man took the seat beside her, she turned to him.
“Oh, my goodness! Mr. Biggens! How are you?”
“How are you? You look…well, fantastic. It’s been a while since I saw you.” Luther’s father seemed to train his gaze and the focus of his concentration on her, and immediately she thought that the man did not seat himself beside her by accident.
“I didn’t see Luther anywhere,” he said. “Isn’t he coming?”
She looked him straight in the eye and made certain that nothing resembling a smile flashed across her face. “Mr. Biggens, I last saw Luther several days ago, and he didn’t mention his future plans.” She knew it was a smart aleck answer, and the censure in his eyes told her that he didn’t like it.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Biggens. I didn’t intend to be rude, but…well, life’s a mess right now.” Both of his eyebrows shot up, and she’d never been more grateful than when she saw Roger Perkins struggle on two crutches to the piano and sit down.
She was barely aware that Jack Biggens patted her hand in comfort when a hush descended over the crowded auditorium. Roger flexed his fingers and began to coax from that concert grand a medley of tunes by American composers. “That man can really play,” she said to Jack.
Roger positioned the microphone so that he could speak to the audience. “As you know, Duke Ellington wrote a lot of spiritual music and presented sacred concerts throughout the world. This is the theme from ‘New World A-Coming’ by Duke Ellington.”
“I didn’t know that,” she said to Luther’s father. “Did you?”
“I knew he wrote sacred music, particularly in his later years,” Jack said, “but I hadn’t heard this. It’s remarkable,” he said, speaking above the deafening applause.
“Yes, it is.” She looked around the vast auditorium hoping for a glimpse of Luther, but didn’t see him. The audience began to applaud again, and she looked toward the stage to see Pearl appear in a bright green evening dress. A few minutes later, her sultry, dulcet tones brought a hush to the room as she sang, “My Lord, What a Morning.” Ruby wiped the tears from her cheeks and marveled at the beauty of her sister’s voice.
“She has a wonderful gift,” Jack said. “What is it? What’s wrong, Ruby.”
“Nothing. I guess I’m overjoyed. I’m so happy for her.”
“Yes, I know,” Jack said. “This is the first time you’ve seen your sister in concert, and it’s one of those occasions that you want to share with someone you love. I wish Irma were here, but she has a terrible cold. You get my meaning, don’t you?”
Of course she got it, but she wasn’t taking any hints, just as she didn’t intend to discuss Luther. She looked at Jack, smiled and turned her attention to the concert. Later, she went backstage to her sister’s dressing room.
“You were wonderful,” she said. “If only our parents could have been here. You’re going to be as big a name as Sister Thorpe and Mahalia Jackson.” She looked at Opal who stood between D’marcus and Wade and the thought flashed through her mind that her three sisters had the men they loved and wanted and that, if she wasn’t careful, she’d have to settle for being sister and auntie. She prepared to leave, kissed her sisters and turned toward the door just as it opened and struck her.
“Hi, all,” Luther said. “Pearl, that was a fantastic debut.” He swung around. “Say, I’m sorry. I’m—Ruby! Good heavens, did I hit you with that door?”
“Hi, Luther. It’s
okay. I—I’m fine.” But she wasn’t, and she could barely avoid holding her right shoulder. She flinched when he grabbed her right arm.
“It isn’t all right, and you aren’t fine. The door hit your shoulder. Didn’t it?”
She looked into eyes filled with compassion, and worked hard at keeping her composure. “I’m all right. Honest.” But she knew he wouldn’t let it rest, and he didn’t.
“I’ll walk with you to your car,” he said and slung his arm around her waist. “I’ll see you all later.”
“I’m fine, Luther. You needn’t worry. I’m all right.”
“That may be, but I want to be sure you aren’t too sore to drive. The truth is, we probably ought to stop by the emergency room and make sure it isn’t dislocated.”
“You’re not serious,” she said. “I don’t need to go to a hospital.”
“Does it hurt still?” he asked, and she wanted to lean into him and soak up his tenderness, but she was tired of letting him fling her up on a cloud only to dangle there indefinitely.
“Thanks,” she said, “But it will be all right.” His arm tightened about her, and she didn’t know whether to respond to the Luther who had always looked after his little buddy or the man who drove her wild in bed.
He walked with her out into the bracing winter night, a night in which the still air heralded the coming of snow. He didn’t hold her and she had an urge to thank him for that. “I’m parked right around the corner,” she said. “You really don’t have to go with me.”
He stopped walking, and when he gazed down at her, she knew he had taken exception either to what she said or the way in which she said it. His next words confirmed the accuracy of her thoughts.
“I wanted to walk with you to see you safely to your car, but I’d be the last man to impose myself on a woman.” He wheeled around, evidently forgetting his prosthesis, for he nearly tripped.
“I didn’t say that. Luther, for goodness’ sake.”
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