“You got a better idea?”
“Leave it with me,” I promise. Another couple of minutes of good natured ribbing, and then the room empties out. The Fishers return to their ranch, with the promise of a grill party soon. Mom retreats to her office to make some calls. Dad joins Brooks and Silas to unload and distribute the feed amongst the storage barns. Ruth and I return to my truck.
“I gotta head into town real quick, baby girl,” I say. “Gotta pick up some parts for the baler.” Our hay baler has had some engine issues lately, and between Brooks and Jody, they managed to narrow it down to just one or two causes. We’ve ordered some new parts which can’t be delivered for another week, but since the supplier is right outside Skillett, I gave them a call and agreed to collect it all myself.
Ruth’s eyes light up. “Can we stop at that diner? I’ve beendreamingof those milkshakes.”
And that’s how we found ourselves outside Miss Celia’s diner, between the Chevy and the door, face-to-face with Bethany.
“Hi Ev,” Bethany purrs. She glances dismissively at Ruth, a slight sneer at the sight of her hand in mine, then locks her eyes on me again and adopts a syrupy-sweet tone. “It’s been a while. I’ve missed seeing you around here. Hey, you remember prom night? And all those nights after?”
I narrow my eyes. Prom night was my first time. Bethany’s, too, or so she told me. We had no idea what we were doing. It was over in a minute, sweaty and sticky and entirely unremarkable. I don’t miss the way Ruth’s hand trembles in mine, or the hitch in her breath as Bethany leans in with a seductive smile. At least, she thinks it’s seductive. Probably. I think it’s a little too try-hard.
It’s petty and mean, two things I never want to be, but I shrug as I say “Huh… not really.” Bethany’s face falls, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. She tries not to let her disappointment show, immediately plastering the fake smile back on her face as she looks Ruth up and down, before turning back to me.
“Well, I hope we get to do it again soon. Like I said… you’ve been missed around here.”
Before I even have time to formulate a response, she turns and flounces away, her high-heeled sandals clacking on the ground. I take a slow, deep breath to compose myself before squeezing Ruth’s hand and pulling her in front of me, facing me.
“I’m sorry you had to see that.” My words come out in a hoarse whisper. “She never did have any tact. Or any class, come to think of it.”
“At least she has taste,” Ruth says. The accompanying giggle is a little too harsh, a little too loud, and her eyes are wild and unsettled.
“Nah, baby girl. If she had taste, she’d be after you, not me.”
Ruth snorts, and I step forward, pulling her into me for a long hug. It takes her just a second longer than usual to return my embrace, but still, her touch is grounding. And when she squeezes her arms around me, pressing herself closer, a hundred-pound, blonde-haired weight is lifted from my chest, and breathing comes easy again.
We’re quiet until we’re back in my truck, milkshakes in to-go cups dripping condensation into the cupholders between us.
“She was my high school girlfriend,” I say into the quiet. I turn the key in the ignition, shift the truck into gear, and back out of the space, one arm around the back of Ruth’s seat as I reverse. “We dated all of junior and senior year. Prom was our first time.”
Ruth says nothing.
“I haven’t seen her for a year, until recently. I bumped into her a couple months back, and she was all over Cooper Tell. He went to school with us, too. Couple years younger. Eyed me up like fresh meat, but—Ruth, honey. I’m not interested in her. She could parade naked right in front of me, and I wouldn’t even care. She’s not you.”
“Why do you do that?” Her first words since bumping into my ex-girlfriend, and they’re not even about the whole monologue I just spilled. The one where I all but told her how hard I’ve fallen.
“Do what?”
“You always call me Ruth. Never Roo, like all my friends do. But you’re Ev, and I know you shorten your sister’s name too.”
“I don’t want to beeveryone elseto you, Ruth. Your name is beautiful, like you. Classic. Timeless. Elegant.” She stares at me, jaw dropped just a little, like she’s about to speak. But she says nothing. “You’re the only one I see, Ruth.”
Several minutes later, she finally speaks. Our milkshakes are melting between us, even though I gassed up the air con in the truck last month, and it’s still working pretty well.
“I guess it’s a good thing you’re not justeveryone elseto me, either,” she says quietly. I reach for her hand, and we drive the rest of the way home in silence, fingers intertwined.
When we reach my cabin, Ruth busies herself with a FaceTime call to her friends, and I send a text to my sister, then make a quick call to Brooks.
“Hey, man. I need a favour. You got time tomorrow morning?”
Chapter nineteen
Ruth
“Do you trust me?”He kisses my forehead as he passes my seatbelt across my body. I clip it into place and turn to him with an indulgent smile.
“You know I do.” Yesterday’s run-in with Everett’s ex-girlfriend surprised me with the ferocity of my trust in him. Although, I do wonder what I’m getting myself in for today. Everett has some kind of secret behind that wicked smile, and I’m either going to love it, or—let’s be honest, I’m going to love it. The real question is whether or not I get to keep my clothes on.
