Nate gripped the steering until his knuckles were white. He had noticed that it was on days he had an emergency, there seemed to be traffic, how typical. He didn’t need to think further that Taylor had told one of her lies. He sighed as he dialed Maria’s number for the umpteenth time. Ruby wasn’t answering calls. He sighed again as he overtook a vehicle, not minding that the driver was yelling at him. It wasn’t the first time he had let her down, he imagined how lonely she had felt. The part that upset him the most was that Mark whom he disliked was there for her. She was there for him during his father’s remembrance and stood by him throughout. He wasn’t the type to cry but he felt tears sting his eyes. He wiped them immediately as he tried to focus on the road. Ruby deserved better, someone who was going to be there for her always. “Maria?” He yelled when Maria finally answered the phone “Nate” Maria replied softly, she could tell from the sound of the honk that he was dr
Nothing was more comforting than the smell of her perfume and Maria’s cooking. It quickly dawned on him why he liked her scent so much, it reminded him of childhood. She smelled floral and sweet, a scent he counsels really place his hands on but he liked it anyway. Everything seemed normal, the clanking of pots in the kitchen signified that Maria was at home. Maybe Ruby was at home too? He thought.He stood, rooted to the ground for a minute. He was scared to call Ruby’s name with no answer. “Nate” Maria said, a little startled by his presence and joined him in the living room. “How are you?” “Where’s Ruby?” He asked, his voice unstableMaria had lived with him for years and he knew all her tricks. When something bad happened, she tried to distract him by talking about something irrelevant. “I need you to calm down” she said soothingly “Ruby left, she wasn’t in a good mood” “What do you mean she left?” Nate cried. “You should have stopped her” “Nate, it was beyo
“Are you okay?” Mark asked her for the umpteenth timeIt was her second day in his house and she had barely eaten anything. Crying herself to sleep seemed like the best option as she couldn’t sleep. “I’m fine” she nodded with a little smileMark had been caring and doting on her ever since he took her in. It wasn’t exactly her plan to put up with him but she decided to move in with her parents the next day.She was scared of being reminded of all that had happened to her especially after being slapped by Emily. “If you need anything, let me know” he smiled She nodded again and returned his smile. She was surprised by how independent Mark was, he enjoyed making his own meals and cleaning up the house even after the day's work.She stifled a yawn as she stuffed some pasta into her mouth. She had barely eaten anything since the incident and had lost so much energy. “Thank you for everything” She had to admit that the food was good and she hadn’t realized how much she was
Ruby smiled as she waved excitedly at Mark. She watched his car pull out of her parents driveway, his car revving up some dust as he drove.She was thankful to be back at home, she didn’t want to become an inconvenience to Mark even though he didn’t complain much.She placed her hands on her waist as she breathed in fresh air and then sat on an empty chair on the porch.She rubbed her forehead as she tried to soothe her throbbing headache. Nate had called her a couple of times but she didn’t answer. He sent roses to Mark's house before she had left and he had sent some notes with it. It hurt that she couldn’t speak to him or feel him but she wasn’t sure she was ready to have a conversation with him yet. If there was a chance or shot for something worthwhile between them, she wanted him to know the truth, to know that she had loved him for years even though he had constantly hurt her. “Honey, are you good?” Her mother asked softly as she joined her on the porch Ruby nodded
Taylor's face was squeezed into a tight frown. The look on Nate’s face could have torn her apart instantly. The look on Grace's face was even more unbearable. She had known Nate’s family for years and she’d never seen Grace look as angry as she did.A part of her was scared but with her father and some of his men by their side, she didn’t have much to worry about. She was even more upset that Grace chose Ruby over her. She had known the family for years and did all she could to impress her but she failed each time.She had tried to impress Grace once by going into business but the business came crashing down in less than a month. “I won’t take unruly behavior from you or your child” Grace warned as anger clouded her face “She attacked my daughter and she ended up unconscious in a hospital. She could have died!” Mrs Wyatt fired Shiver ran through Emily’s body as she remained quiet. The guilt was evident on her face as she feared that Grace found out that she slapped Ruby. “Nate a
“Hunny, are you good?” Esme asked for the thousandth time that afternoon Mark had given Ruby a week off to heal from all that had happened. There wasn’t a better way for her to spend her weekend than with her best friend. Esme’s tummy was now twice the size it used to be, the doctors had said she was due soon but the good side to it was that she wasn’t as emotional anymore. It felt like all the pregnancy symptoms she used to have during her first trimester were now gone. “I’m in shock, I’m drained emotionally” Ruby admitted sadly A new ramen spot had opened in town so they decided to try it out. Ruby had noticed that somehow , she was always excited for good food so she thought it would make her feel better. It had been a week since she saw Nate and she felt empty. Everyday got worse than the previous one.At first, she had spent a couple of days in bed crying her eyes out, stuffing her face with ice cream and chocolates and then watching sad romance movies. “Tell me a
“What do you think of repainting the walls of the park?” Adam asked “It doesn’t sound bad” Nate mumbledHe tried to focus but that seemed impossible. Why had Ruby not returned his calls or text? Had she gotten the flowers? Had she been crying? Had her scars healed? “Katie is mad at me. I went riding at the polo club the other day and I had hoped to impress her but somehow, she fell off her horse” Adam said as he rubbed his palms together and sat on a bench. Nate scoffed. His mind was too occupied by so many things to be interested in Adam’s love story. They had decided to take a walk around the park and note areas that needed major renovation. The bench croaked at the impact of Nate’s weight when he sat down.Almost everything was messed up, most of the infrastructure was old and looked like they were begging for help. The first thing Nate did was to destroy the little hut Wyatt had built. Memories of Jake looking lifeless there had haunted him. “Want to talk about what
It was the first time she had an opportunity to meet with Doris after months of her hiding. Ruby smiled as she brushed her hair into a bun. For some sort of reason, she was excited to see her old friend as it had been long since they met each other. Doris used a couple of burner phones to text her, each time she texted her, it was a new number. A week ago, she had asked Ruby to get a journal for her. The journal belonged to Wesley and it contained business transactions and some proof of Wyatt’s involvement in major frauds. Ruby had been skeptical about it, she knew Nate kept most of Wesley’s belongings in the basement but she knew it wasn’t in her place to go through his late fathers stuff also, it wouldn’t make any sense for her to surprise Nate by telling him that she had been working with Doris who was wanted by Wyatt and had been labeled a dangerous woman. On the spur of the moment, she decided to get the journal from the basement and other things Doris had said she’d