Page 30 of Freeing Ruby

She shakes her head. “I told you I’m not moving back home.”

“Mr. Foster,” I say, hoping to redirect the conversation. “Someone is terrorizing Ruby.”

“You have proof?” he asks me, clearly skeptical.

“Yes.”

“You listen to me, young lady,” Foster says, directing his comments back to Ruby. “This guy is feeding right into your paranoia. It’s job security for him if he convinces you you’re in danger.”

I glance at Ruby and find her eyes on me, wide and uncertain. She’s scared. She’s afraid I’m going to up and leave her here to deal with this alone. I give her a subtle shake of my head, and she relaxes.

“You should go now,” Ruby tells her father. “I don’t want to hear any more.”

Fuming, Foster opens the door and walks out, slamming it behind him. Ruby rushes forward to lock it. She turns to face me, watching me expectantly.

“I’m not leaving you, Ruby.”

She gives me a relieved smile, but then her lips flatten, and she swallows hard. “I want to apologize for the things my father said to you. He has a tendency to be suspicious of anyone who looks a certain way.” Her arms cross over her chest, and she’s practically hugging herself. She’s afraid, and she feels alone.

I step forward and hold out my arms to her, giving her the choice to accept comfort from me or not. She hesitates for only a split second before she walks into my arms. As I run a hand up and down her back, I can feel her trembling. “You have nothing to apologize for, Ruby. I hear stuff like that all the time. It means nothing. And you’re definitely not responsible for anything your father says.”

She slips her arms around my waist and hugs me back. “I’m so sorry about all of this.” Her voice is muffled against my shirt. “This isn’t your problem. I’m not your problem. I wouldn’t blame you if you decided to leave.”

I tighten my hold on her. “I’m not abandoning you, Ruby.”

After Ruby returns to her work, I call Shane back to give him a heads up about Foster’s visit, just in case the man tries to cause trouble for Shane.

Shane sighs. “Don’t worry about Foster. If he causes problems, I’ll have a talk with him. In the meantime, keep doing what you’re doing. We’ll get to the bottom of this and make sure Ruby’s safe.”

After we end the call, I walk down the hall to Ruby’s studio and poke my head through the open doorway. “You doing okay?”

She turns in her chair to face me. “Yeah. I just feel crappy for the things my dad said to you.”

“I mean it, you don’t need to apologize.” I come into the room and check out the painting of a calico cat and compare it to the photograph clipped to her easel. “How do you do that? You’ve got a real gift.”

When she smiles, tiny dimples appear. “Thanks. I appreciate the compliment.”

“I came to ask if you like enchiladas.”

She lights up. “I love them. Why?”

“Because I want to make you dinner tonight. How about it?”

Her smile deepens. “I would love that. But we’ll need some ingredients. I probably don’t have a lot of what you’d need.” She hands me the notepad on her worktable. It’s a grocery list already in progress.

Eggs

Milk

Bread

Cheese

Toilet paper

Bananas

Apples

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