Page 84 of Under A Sicilian Sky
She tilted her head and eyed Ruby with pity. ‘Hungover again?’ She stuck out her bottom lip.
Ruby clenched her fist. She hated the way Shelby had said ‘again’ as if it was a regular occurrence. ‘Actually, I’m perfectly fine. In fact, I’m heading home. Tonight,’ she said with forced breeziness. ‘So there’s no need for you to stay.’
Shelby gasped and her face seemed to drain of colour. ‘Oh? But… why? I mean… Valerie hasn’t said things have been dealt with yet. Maybe you should reconsider?’
Ruby felt inwardly smug that she had ruined Shelby’s plans for more sexy time with Mitch. She had never been a jealous person, but this situation had hit a very raw nerve.
Realising she had disappeared into her mind and not answered Shelby, she smiled. ‘No, the decision is made. It’s time I went back and got my life on track again. I didn’t book your flight as I wasn’t sure if you’d already done that after our conversation yesterday. And anyway, I don’t really need you to come with me.’ She was aware that she sounded snide with that last comment but didn’t much care. ‘I’m booked on a flight to Schiphol this evening, then on to JFK. I’m sure you understand.’
Shelby nodded. ‘Right, yeah, of course. I’ll speak to Valerie and maybe get a flight in the next couple days. Make the most of my remaining time here.’
Ruby smiled again, an action that held no mirth. ‘Oh, I’m sure you will.’
Shelby nodded again, and Ruby thought she resembled one of the little fuzzy dogs you put on the dashboard of a car.
‘Anyway, I’m heading out to see my mum and dad before they go for their train and then to see Jules and Caitlin for coffee. I think it’s only fair to say goodbye to my friends after they’ve been so lovely.’ She stood from the sofa and grabbed her phone. She’d had every intention of going to see her parents and friends but perhaps not this early, however it was a good excuse to leave Shelby’s company.
Shelby chewed her lip. ‘Sure. How nice for you.’
‘Bye, Shelby,’ Ruby said as she left the room and headed for the coat rack.
As she stood on the doorstep with the front door closed behind her, she fired a text to Jules and Caitlin in a group chat. Both replied swiftly, agreeing to meet at the museum after she had said goodbye to her mum and dad.
* * *
Morag opened the door to her when she arrived at the B&B. ‘Lovely to see you, dearie. Come away in. Your mum and dad are just finishing their breakfast.’
When Ruby saw her mum and dad sitting there at their table, she burst into tears. They both stood and enveloped her in a hug.
‘Whatever is it, love? What’s happened?’ her mum asked in a worry-laced voice.
Ruby sniffed and wiped at her eyes with a napkin from the table. ‘Oh, it’s nothing. I just miss you both so much. And now that you’re going, I’ve decided to go back to New York tonight. The hacking is just about solved, apparently, so there’s nothing keeping me here.’
Her dad narrowed his eyes. ‘Nothing at all?’
Ruby shook her head. ‘No, Dad. I need to get things sorted with Valerie. And as much as I love it here, this place isn’t my home.’
Her parents sat and her dad pulled up a chair for her. She sat and her mum took her hand. ‘Why don’t you just come back to Yorkshire, eh? That will always be your home.’
‘I know, Mum. But there are things I need to do in New York first. Hopefully once the dust settles, I can come and visit.’
‘Well, we’ll look forward to that, love. You know you can come home anytime. We don’t care about the newspaper people hanging around. We can ignore them.’
‘That’s sweet, thank you. I just don’t want to bring any negativity there just now. You don’t need to be dragged into it. You have to live there, and people can be very unforgiving.’
Her dad shook his head. ‘You’re our daughter, that lot don’t mean owt.’
She smiled and hugged him where he sat beside her, grateful to have the opportunity to see them but trying to forget that it was Mitch who made it happen.
They chatted for a little while about the village hall opening, and laughed about Roger’s dancing and time flew by way too fast.
Morag popped her head around the door. ‘Carol, Roger, I’m afraid your taxi is here.’
Ruby’s dad went to their room to retrieve their bags and her mum hugged her. ‘I get the feeling there’s something else wrong, but I understand if you want to keep it to yourself. Just know that you can tell me anything.’
Ruby’s lip trembled. ‘I know. And I will tell you at some point when we have more time.’
Saying goodbye to her mum and dad was even harder than usual under the circumstances and she contemplated cancelling her flight and going to Yorkshire. But she knew she needed to talk to Valerie and that would be better done face to face.
