Page 32 of Strictly Friends
‘I was hoping to have a lie-in today,’ Ruby grumbled, grudgingly shifting her left leg forward as directed. ‘At the very least, I should be down on the beach lounging in the sun instead of getting cramp from sitting on this lump of grass. Do you really expect me to hold this position for two hours?’
‘I need you to look back at me over your shoulder... like this,’ Mac said patiently. Ignoring her grouching, he angled herhead gently towards him. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll give you a break every ten minutes. It feels annoying now, but trust me, you won’t even notice in a week or two.’
‘If I remember rightly, you said you only needed me to sit for a few days, tops,’ Ruby reminded him sourly. ‘You do know I’m supposed to be on holiday, don’t you?’
‘I thought you were on a mission, not a holiday,’ Mac retorted, returning to sit behind his easel. ‘Besides, you wouldn’t want to deprive Jake of his art lessons, would you?’
‘Oh, so now you’reblackmailingme?’
‘Blackmail is such an ugly word, Ruby, and don’t frown – you’re ruining my profile.’ He creased his brow in concentration as his pencil swept across the canvas and she subsided into silence.
‘You know, I thought you were just doing the whole mom cheerleader thing when you said Jake was good, but the kid has real talent,’ Mac observed.
Ruby nodded, forgetting Mac’s instruction to keep her head still. ‘That’s partly why I was so desperate to bring him here. Jake’s school has a fantastic art club and if the school had made him leave, it would have been a disaster in more ways than one.’
Mac made no comment, and all Ruby could see were his pursed lips and his arm moving across the canvas.
‘After all the torture you’re putting me through, I’d better get to see this piece of art when it’s finished,’ she ventured, after the silence had stretched into minutes.
Mac’s lips curved into a smile, and he scratched his beard in the now familiar gesture. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll definitely get an invite to the exhibition. You’ll have to do some press interviews nearer the time, anyway, but my PR team will sort that out.’
Ruby’s eyes widened. ‘Wow!Are youreallythat well known?’
‘Yes, I really am,’ he assured her without a hint of modesty.
‘In that case, I’ll stop moaning.’ Ruby grinned. ‘This might all be worth it if I end up becoming a celebrity. Next thing you know, I’ll be on some reality TV show climbing into snake pits and eating live bugs.’
‘Keep your head still,’ Mac ordered, ‘and that sounds gross, by the way.’
Ruby giggled, delighting in their easy rapport. Posing for Mac and spending time with him was slowly drawing her out of the protective shell she had grown as a safeguard against men. Unlike Kenny, with Mac there was no emotional baggage and unspoken resentment from the past or unsettling questions about the future. Despite her grumbling, she enjoyed their time together and even his extravagant compliments had become less disconcerting. His lifestyle, as far as she could tell, consisted of a few months a year in his native New York, with the rest of the time spent travelling around the world painting portraits commissioned by wealthy individuals, private organisations, and even governments. His endless supply of anecdotes enlivened the long periods of posing, although once she had been so hysterical with laughter after he recounted an unfortunate incident during a sitting by an unnamed prime minister, that Mac had been forced to let her go for the day.
‘We’ll need to finish soon,’ Ruby warned. ‘Kenny’s picking us up in half an hour. He’s promised to take Jake horseback riding on the beach near Sugar Bay.’
‘Sounds like Kenny’s really trying to make up for lost time with the kid,’ Mac remarked.
‘It looks that way,’ Ruby admitted, ‘but I still have my doubts about the man’s staying power when it comes to family. As they say, “Once bitten, twice shy” or, in my case, forever shy.’
A faint smile played at the corner of Mac’s lips. His eyes still on the canvas, he asked, ‘It’s great that he’s trying so hard with Jake, but is he also trying to make it up to you?’
Sitting across the table from Kenny in a café later that day, Ruby was no closer to finding an answer to Mac’s question. After a pleasant drive around the island, Kenny had taken them past the marina to a long stretch of white sandy beach where Jake had gone riding, shrieking happily as his horse picked up speed, and displaying not one shred of anxiety. To see her son looking so carefree was worth every heart-stopping moment Ruby spent watching him canter alongside the experienced riding instructor holding the horse on a leading rein.
‘Dad says I can go riding again next weekend!’ Jake’s voice cut through Ruby’s thoughts, and she smiled absently at her son. His face was smeared with cream from the chocolate sundae he had just ploughed through, and she automatically picked up her napkin and leaned forward to wipe his face.
‘Mu-um!’ He jerked his head away with reproachful eyes. ‘I’m not a baby!’
Kenny dribbled some water from the jug on to Jake’s napkin and handed it to him without comment. Watching Jake swipe the damp napkin across his mouth, Ruby felt a pang of sadness. When had her baby disappeared? But then, she remembered, not all his childish habits had vanished.
‘Just so you know, Jake, I tried calling Uncle Griffin this morning to find out when Jellybean will be delivered, but I couldn’t reach him, and he hasn’t called me back yet.’
‘Can’t you text him, Mum?’ Jake pleaded.
Ruby nodded and reached for her bag. After dashing off a quick text, she placed the phone on the table and, as she looked up, caught an expression she couldn’t decipher on Kenny’s face.
‘What?’ she demanded.
‘It’s nothing,’ he said shortly.
‘It didn’t look like nothing,’ she insisted.
