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“It’s the truth!” he shouts, but he’s backing away, heading for his prissy little rich boy sports car.
“And sell your car. Use the money to get yourself set up. You have responsibilities now.”
With that, I grunt, turn, and head back inside.
CHAPTER9
Ruby
Everything is perfect.
I have it all. I have Eli, I get to live here on the farm and be happy for the rest of my life. What more could I wish for?
As he comes in through the door, kicking off his muddy work boots, I just stare and take him in, wondering what I did right in a past life to be given all this.
“What?” he grunts, smoothing back his unruly hair and frowning. “Do I have a pimple?”
I shake my head on a grin, my teeth digging just a little into the corner of my lower lip. “No. You’re just so… You.”
“Who else would I be?”
I shrug. “I made sandwiches. I thought we could maybe go eat them by the duck pond?”
“You made sandwiches?”
“Ham and mustard. Your favorite.” I point to the little hamper I’ve put together. Sandwiches, freshly baked biscuits, a flask with hot tea. “Just because you always do everything, doesn’t mean I don’t know how.”
For at least right now, I don’t mention the biscuits that ended up in the trash because I left them in the oven too long.
He grunts, which is about as close to a compliment as I’m going to get. “I’ll go wash up, then we’ll have lunch.”
“Okay. Need some company?”
“Yes, but then we’ll never get lunch. Maybe later.”
I giggle and settle into my seat at the kitchen table, looking through the classified ads in the local newspaper. We need a tow hitch for the tractor, to replace the one Eli has to jimmy into place every time he wants to use it, and there’s no way we can afford to buy new.
I’m running my finger down the page when there’s a knock at the door.
For a second I don’t move.
Nobody ever comes here unexpectedly, and Eli has always told me not to answer the door. That he’ll get it.
But that was a rule for the little girl I was when I arrived here, right? Not the young woman I am now.
I can hardly go the rest of my life never answering the door.
“Just a second!” I call out, putting the newspaper aside and starting for the front of the house. But before I get there, someone is already making their way inside. I stop instantly and back away. He looks… vaguely familiar somehow. But I’m sure I don’t know him. “What are you doing? Who are you?”
“Ruby? God, it is, isn’t it?” He pushes the door closed behind him and stands there staring at me.
And I hear the bathroom door.
I glare at the intruder, standing a little straighter now that I know backup is on the way. “I said, who are you and what are you doing barging into our house?”
“Don’t you recognize me?”
“No.” I huff. “Who. Are. You?”
