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“No. Never. ”
She felt a sudden euphoria, then it fell away, left her even more confused. He could ruin her with a word, this boy shed loved whod become a man she didnt know. Shed loved him so much, and yet shed broken his heart. She still barely knew why. “That summer. . . I found out from Lottie that youd moved away,” she said, her voice unsteady.
“I couldnt face you,” he answered, looking at her. “You didnt just hurt me, Ruby. You ruined me. ”
“I know. ” She almost reached for him then, placed her hand on his thigh as if she had every right to touch him. And the stinging realization that she couldn’t touch him, that she didnt even know him, brought her up short.
She lurched to her feet, terrified that if he looked at her again, she would burst into tears. “I have to get back to Nora. ”
Slowly, he got to his feet and reached for her.
She stumbled back so fast she almost fell over the bank. His hand dropped back to his side, and she had a sudden, overwhelming fear that he wouldn’t try to touch her again.
She could see the disappointment in his eyes. “Time is precious,” he said. “If I didnt know that before this week, I know it now. So Im just going to say it: I missed you. ”
She couldnt imagine what to say next, how to answer. She had missed him, too-missed him so much-and it hurt to know that she would go on missing him until she was an old woman. A more bendable, trusting person could have changed the future in this very moment, but Ruby couldnt imagine that kind of strength.
He waited, and the silence stretched out between them. Then, slowly, he turned and walked away.
Chapter Fourteen
Nora sat on the porch. She could see Dean and Ruby sitting out on that old rock of theirs.
Ruby was the first to stand. Slowly, Dean followed. They stood frozen, close enough to kiss.
Then Dean turned and headed back up toward the house, leaving Ruby behind. He strode up the path, saw Nora on the porch, and came toward her. At the railing he stopped, hung his arms over the wisteria covered edge, and smiled tiredly. “Hey, Miz Bridge. ”
She smiled. “Call me Nora. Its good to see you again, Dean. Im glad you finally made it back to the island. ”
“Its good to see you, too. ” He looked at her, and in his eyes, she saw pain. “Thank you, Nora,” he said softly. “Youre everything to him. ”
She nodded, knowing she didnt need to say anything. Everything that mattered had passed between them in silence.
Dean turned back, stared down at the beach. Nora knew that they both wanted to talk about Ruby, but neither of them knew what to say. Finally, he pulled away from the porch. “Will you guys come over on Saturday? Ive got the Wind Lass working. Im going to take Eric sailing. ”
“That would be great. ”
Dean shot a last, lingering look at Ruby, then walked away.
Nora waited, knowing that Ruby wouldnt stay down there for long. Sure enough, a few minutes later, she headed up the path. When she saw Nora on the porch, she paused.
Nora noticed that her daughters eyes were red. A thin tracing of tears streaked her cheeks.
Noras heart went out to her. “Come,” she said, “sit with me. ”
Ruby looked torn. She probably couldnt decide which was worse-being alone right now or being with Nora. Finally, she walked up onto the porch, hitched her butt up onto the railing.
Nora longed to touch her daughter, to simply lay a hand on Rubys head the way she used to. But such intimacy was impossible between them now. The only way she could touch her daughter was with words, with memories. “You know what I was remembering just now? The winter I was pregnant with you. A freak weather pattern moved through the islands. ”
Ruby looked up. “Yeah?”
“The snow came earlier that year than anyone could remember. Just after Thanksgiving. At first people tried to drive, but by evening, there were more cars in the ditches than on the roads, and we all gave up. By nightfall, the clouds were gone, and wed never seen such a starry sky. ” She smiled at the memory.
“Your dad and I were on the porch when we heard the laughter. We put on every piece of winter clothing we owned and followed the sound walking through snow that came up to our knees. I remember having the strangest feeling that I could see our words; they seemed to be written in the steam of our breath. The snow didnt crunch beneath our boots. It sort of. . . sighed. We followed the laughter all the way to the McGintys place. That ugly old swamp on their property remember it?-well, it had frozen solid. Every kid on the island was there, skating or sliding or inner-tubing. I never knew how it was that everyone knew to be there at just that moment. . . . At midnight, stars started falling. Hundreds of them. The next day on the news, they had all kinds of scientific explanations for it, but we believed it was magic. ” Nora closed her eyes, and for a moment, she could almost smell the newly fallen snow, almost feel that stinging cold on her cheeks. “After that, for almost a month, things on the island went a little crazy. Roses bloomed on prickly bushes that had been brown and dead for weeks. Rain fell from cloudless skies. But what I remember most of all were the sunsets. From then until the new year came and chased the magic away, the night sky was always red. We called it the ruby season. ”
Ruby said softly, “Is that where my name came from?”
Your dad and I used to sit out here, wrapped in blankets, and watch that ruby sky. We never talked about naming you after it, but when you came, we knew. Youd be our Ruby. Our own bit of magic.
