A Ruby Glows (Cutter's Creek Book 15) Read online

  Beau nodded. “So, if you’re so smart, how do I let her know I’m not a hunter?”

  May leaned into him and whispered. “That’s the whole problem, Beau. You are.”

  Beau shook his head. “I was in that cabin. I’m nothing like that man. Even after months of neglect, that cabin had a smell and feel…” He closed his eyes and swallowed the anger rising in him. “I can’t let her go back to that.”

  “I doubt she wants to. But if her father’s as bad as you said he is, and her husband, who actually wasn’t her husband at all, was as bad as her father is, it only stands to reason she’d question your every action and every word from your mouth.”

  “I haven’t even said anything!” He shot to his feet and strode over to the fireplace.

  “Now that doesn’t surprise me a bit. How about you go over and just talk to her. Find out what her favorite color is. What does she like? Instead of bringing up all the things she doesn’t want to talk about and re-live. Who wants to sit with someone they like and spend that time talking about things they don’t like? Stop bringing up unpleasant things, it’ll make her lose interest. Just enjoy a few minutes with her. If you like her, that shouldn’t be hard.”

  “I don’t just sit and talk, May. You know that.” He rested his arm against the mantle and let the warmth seep into his arm. Even thinking about things to say terrified him. He’d rather volunteer to go on another midnight delivery with Josiah Williams than to have to sit and talk to a woman, even Ruby.

  “You can be the silent type once you win her. Now is the time for action!” May stood up and approached him, laying her hand on his shoulder.

  “If I agree to go see her will you go to your party and leave me be?” He wouldn’t turn to look at her.

  “You don’t want to listen to me, but you must. You’ll lose her if you don’t. As much as I love you, brother, it has to be said, there is no other woman who will put up with your wanderlust. And what other woman will put up with your long, brooding silences?”

  He turned away from her and grabbed his coat from the hook by the door. “Fine. I have nothing to give her, but if you insist, I’ll go out and see her.”

  May smiled at him and clasped her hands. “Good. You can walk me to the law office on the way.”

  He cocked his head and looked at her with new eyes, he’d just played right into her hand and she’d come out with a full house. “You could have just asked. You didn’t need to trick me into leaving the house.”

  “Yes, but this was so much more fun, and now I know how you really feel about Ruby.” She laughed.

  “Why do I get the feeling you really wanted to be a lawyer?”

  May wrapped her coat around her, careful not to ruin her hair or squish her dress. “I refuse to incriminate myself.”

  He opened the door for May and was immediately happy the night was cold, clear, and calm. He offered his arm and May took it, walking beside him.

  “So, now that you know how I feel about Ruby, why don’t you tell me the truth about Caruso?”

  May smiled up at him. “He’s a wonderful man, but I can’t get too attached. As I told you, he’s received word that Ivy’s husband has died and the Masters family needs him to return to be the executor of his will. He’d like to stay and bring Ivy back, as he knows she stands to inherit a large sum of money, but it could also be dangerous for her. Her husband’s family isn’t one to be questioned. Just defying them to stay here the winter will make them angry. Even if he gains enough clients to stay here permanently, he will always have to watch over his shoulder.”

  “So, if he stays, he’ll be inviting some nasty people to Cutter’s Creek?” He slowed their pace to hear May’s answer.

  “Yes, and Ivy isn’t enough reason to risk his job and his life. If he doesn’t get enough clients, there won’t be anything else here to keep him.”

  Even in the faint light of the gas lamps along the boardwalk, he could see her normally smiling face fall and her body stiffen.

  “It sounds like you need to take a little of your own advice, May.” He whispered, opening the door to Caruso’s office. It had a short hallway that led to an indoor stairway up to the second floor with the office door to the left.

  “I don’t have enough sway over him to keep him here, Beau. Unlike Ruby’s interest in you, Mr. Caruso doesn’t return my feelings.” She patted his hand. “I’ll ask him to walk me home, though.”

  Beau nodded but his thoughts were already elsewhere. Ruby’s small apartment was only a few buildings away, but visiting her there was objectionable, especially since he knew she’d be there alone. He’d only been there the once before and Lily had been there. But, she’d be celebrating Christmas with James. Beau had heard word they’d marry in the spring. There was nowhere in town he could take Ruby. Everywhere was closed for the evening.

  He stopped in the middle of the cold, empty street and peered up at her window. There was a weak light coming from inside, so she was home. If he went up there, did that make him a hunter? It certainly made him a cad. He grimaced. He’d have to ring her bell and have her come down, but then what? They couldn’t just stand in the street.

  “Are you gonna just stand there and stare up at her window, or are ya gonna invite her down for pie?” came an old, cracked voice from the shadows.

  “Mrs. Cahill?” He squinted into the darkness along the boardwalk. Mrs. Cahill lived right on Main Street and didn’t have a porch like others, but the boardwalk went right by her house.

  “Who else’d be sitting in front of my house? Go on. I ain’t gonna sit here all night in the cold.” She tapped her cane impatiently on the boardwalk planks.

  Beau jogged over to the stairs and glanced heavenward. “Thank you, Lord,” he said as he passed the bell and ran straight up to Ruby’s apartment. He knocked and heard shuffling on the other side of the door. Ruby opened it as she wrapped a shawl around her shoulders.

  “Oh, Beau. I wasn’t expecting anyone.”

  She wore a simple day dress, not something she would’ve worn to a party. Her hair was down and flowed over her shoulders in tempting, deep red curls. She gathered her hair and pushed it over her shoulder, a sweet pink tinge crept up her face.

  “Mrs. Cahill invited us over for pie. Would you care to join me?” He stepped forward to block her from the cold air and she backed away.

  “I was just about to get ready to turn in for the night. I…” she turned from him and her body tensed.

  “Please, Ruby?”

  “I thought Mrs. Cahill was over celebrating with her family. She was going to walk Lily back in the evening, but Lily isn’t back yet.”

  “You could come down and ask her. If Lily is too tired or James can’t, I can go over and get her…it isn’t far.”

  Ruby’s lips formed the shadow of a smile, then fell. “That’d be kind. Let me wind my hair up and I’ll join you downstairs in a moment.”

  He wanted to protest. Her hair was much longer and prettier than he’d first thought.

  When did I let myself imagine what her hair’d be like?

  “If you must. It’ll just be me and Mrs. Cahill, and I suspect she’d rather talk with you.”

  A muffled sound, suspiciously like a chuckle, came from Ruby’s throat as she turned back to him. “She doesn’t like talking with anyone. I don’t know why she’d invite you over, and I doubt there’s any pie.”

  “Well, now I’m heartbroken. I was looking forward to a piece.” Beau felt a smile crack his face.

  Ruby grabbed a ribbon from a small table and quickly braided her hair, tying the bit at the end. “I guess you can take me down, I’m ready now and you let all my heat out.”

  “Oh.” He shook his head. He’d let himself get distracted by her shiny, long hair. “Why don’t you go on down and save me a seat? I’ll throw a log on your fire so it’s warm in here when you come back up.”

  She glanced nervously behind her. “No, I think it’ll be fine once we close the door.” She walked past hi
m and her scent filled him. There was no way pie could smell better, not even fresh from the oven.

  Ruby led the way down the narrow stairs and waited at Mrs. Cahill’s front door, her breath a puff of delicate cloud around her as she waited. Beau knocked and Mrs. Cahill ushered them in.

  “I couldn’t wait outside anymore. Too cold. Take your coats off, if you like, or leave them on. Pie is on the table. I’ll be back in my room.”

  Ruby’s eyes grew large and she clutched her coat about her. “But, don’t you want to sit out here with us?”

  The old woman turned and smiled a big toothless grin. “Of course not. It isn’t right for you to be anywhere all alone, but no one said you couldn’t sit by my fireplace. I’ll be in the back of the house in case this young man tries anything…but I know he won’t. He’s a good boy. Bank my fire when you’re done.”

  Beau snorted. At least one woman in the room trusted him. “Thank you, ma’am.” He put his hand on Ruby’s back and led her over to the table, pulling out her chair for her.

  She slid her coat off her shoulders and sat, waiting for him to join her. The pie had seen better days. He wasn’t even sure when it had been made, but he wasn’t there for the pie, despite what he’d told Ruby. She picked up her fork and poked it as if she thought it might come to life.

  She glanced up at him conspiratorially and whispered. “I warned you.”

  He picked up his own fork and cut a bit off the end. The crust was about as hard as a day-old biscuit, which worried him. “What do we do with it?” he whispered back.

  “I think this might be the same pie she offered Lily and I the day I moved in. That was two months ago.”

  “Wouldn’t it mold?” He wanted to choke. What kind of strange magic did Mrs. Cahill use to make this pie?

  “I don’t know. Lily warned me, but I didn’t listen. I thought it’d be rude to say no. I was sick for two days afterward.”

  He pushed it around with his fork. “I don’t think either of us wants to get sick.”

  She laughed and a warmth spread over his face. “I’m sure we can think of something.”

  “Why don’t we go sit by the fireplace. I’m still a little cold.” Ruby shivered.

  He stood, picking up both plates and carrying them to the living room. He scraped the pie into the fire and it smoked and sizzled.

  Ruby strode into the room and paused in front of the fire. “I don’t think it’ll burn. If that pie fought hard enough to avoid mold, it isn’t going to give up against some flames.”

  He pulled the poker from the hook and broke the pie apart as best he could. She sat down on the floor next to where he was squatting in front of the fire. Having her so near made his head turn to mush, he could hardly remember his own name. He breathed in deeply and tried to remember what May said he should talk about, what did he need to know beyond what he already knew?

  “Ruby, what’s your favorite color?” Oh, you’re such an idiot. Of all the questions May had given him, why did he ask that one?

  Ruby laughed a nervous titter. “I don’t rightly know that I have one. Do you?”

  Now there was something he’d never considered. “I don’t think I have one, either. Though I’m partial to the color of the sky as the sun comes over the trees in the foothills.”

  “That’s beautiful.” Her voice was soft and slipped its way through his senses.

  He leaned back and pulled his legs out from underneath him, moving so he was still next to Ruby, but not too close. “That color is pretty close to your hair.” He focused on the fire, if he turned to look at her she might run, and he couldn’t take her running from him again.

  “My hair is horrible. No one remembers a thing about me except my hair.”

  “I’d imagine they also remember your name…” He poked the pie one last time and it belched sparks at him.

  “Funny story. I was born bald. My ma desperately wanted my hair to be like hers, so she named me Ruby in the hopes it would be.”

  “I guess she got lucky…and I’m really glad she didn’t name you Bluebird.”

  Ruby laughed and his chest swelled with the sound. He’d do about anything to hear it again.

  “I don’t think it works that way, but I won’t tempt the Lord by using that name for any of my children.”

  “Do you think you’ll have a lot?” He glanced back at her, wondering what she’d say. He’d come from a small family, it was just him and May, but Ruby had been one of eight.

  “I guess it’d be up to the Lord, but I’d like to keep it at just a few…if I ever get married.” She drew circles on the rug in front of her with her finger.

  “Do you think marrying is out of the question?” he refused to give credence to her first marriage and he couldn’t help leaning toward her, hoping she’d respond encouragingly.

  “I hope to…someday. When the right man comes along, a man who doesn’t hate me for my past.”

  He laid his hand over hers and a jolt of something delicious shot up his arm. “The past doesn’t matter, Ruby. If someone loves you, they love you for who you are now, not who you were then. You wouldn’t be the woman you are without everything you’ve been through.”

  Her deep red curls tempted him and he took gentle hold of her braid, tugging the ribbon free of its hold. She gasped and reached for her hair, but he’d already undone the binding. He dropped the ribbon and lifted his hand to her hair again. Each strand was softer than a horse’s muzzle and he couldn’t stop until he’d reached her neck, massaging out the last of the woven braid. He fanned her locks out over her shoulder.

  “You have beautiful hair, Ruby.”

  She stood up quickly and grabbed her shawl. Cheeks flushed and eyes wide, she stammered, “Merry Christmas, Beau. I need to go make sure Lily made it home. Good night.”

  Beau tried to stand before she could get to the door but he heard it close with a thud just as he made it to his feet.

  14

  “Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned…” Ruby chanted the words all the way to the small red chapel at the corner of town.

  Her mother had been Catholic and she’d taken Ruby and her sisters to mass twice, that she could remember, at least. The little church was not Catholic. So, for the most part, she’d stayed away. Until tonight. Tonight, she needed to go to confession, because her heart was doing things it shouldn’t, and her body was wanting things it had no business wanting.

  Candlelight inside the small church building danced along the windows, and the familiar scent of incense greeted her as she approached. How would a Protestant church deal with confession, did they even have confessionals? If they didn’t, where could she go? She opened one side of the large double doors and slipped inside. It was quite dark, with only the candles on a tiered table at the front for illumination.

  The man she recognized from Penny’s wedding as Reverend Bligh approached her. “Good evening. What can I do for you?”

  Ruby looked around the chapel, but then glanced back at the reverend.

  “Strictly speaking…I was raised Catholic and I’d like to…,” she whispered, “use the confessional.” Reverend Bligh cocked his head to the side, and his face transformed with a bemused smile. “I’m sorry, miss. This isn’t a Catholic chapel. We don’t have one of those here.”

  Ruby clutched her cloak closer. Her mother had warned her about Protestants and their false teachings. “Where can I find a priest?”

  The reverend laid his hand on her shoulder and she was surprised to find that it didn’t make her want to run through the nearest wall.

  “Please, have a seat. I don’t have a confessional, but I do have a wife waiting in my office. She could sit behind the curtain I use to change before service and you could sit outside it. She’ll never know your name, and you’ve never met her before. Will that suffice?”

  “Yes, but, she isn’t Catholic. How will I be absolved?” Ruby felt a growing dread within her as if the world were going to c
rush her at any moment.

  “Ruby, the Lord hears you, no matter where you are or who you’re speaking to. Why would an omniscient God need to use one of His own creations as His ears? He knows your thoughts and He knows your hurts. I’ll be right back. Have a seat.”

  “But…what about the candles. I saw the candles, so I thought…” Confusion and embarrassment roiled through her.

  “You saw what the Lord knew you’d need to see to come in here tonight. The candles were for this evening’s Christmas service. Anyone who had a prayer for supplication or thanksgiving lit a candle. I gave a sermon on how our prayers are a pleasing aroma to the Lord, and I sprinkled incense over the flames.”

  That was it. It hadn’t just been the candles when she’d come in, but the scent had reminded her of the masses she’d attended as a child.

  The Lord knew what I needed to see and hear…the Lord…knew me…

  Ruby turned to ask him another question, but he’d disappeared into a room off the sanctuary—his office, Ruby supposed. Ruby sat and stared up at the wooden cross in the center front of the building. While her family had never been devout by any means, and if the church had known who her father was, they wouldn’t have allowed them in at all, Mother taught them as best she could. Ruby had learned the rosary at a young age, though she’d never been diligent about practicing.

  The room was warm and Ruby removed her cloak and laid it gently on the pew next to her. There was a small kneeling bench in front of her and she knelt.

  Lord, I don’t know what to say. I’m here in this Protestant house, are you here, too? Can you hear me? I don’t know what to do. I care about Beau more than I can explain, but he don’t deserve me and all the trouble I’ve been through. He says the past don’t matter, but I don’t see how that can be true. Help me to see…

  “Miss?”

  Ruby raised her head and Reverend Bligh laid his hand on her shoulder. “Come with me, child.”