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Chapter 46 - Watching
Vander
In the morning, we dropped Jace off at school together, swung through Tim Horton’s drive–thru for coffee, then headed to Spuds.
Unlike her home, Spuds had been updated over the years. Looking at it from a business perspective, I could see no glaring need for improvement. It had proven itself to be a viable business over the years, particularly with the controlled rent Ruby paid. Knowing that Minty owned the building, I understood now how that was the case.
Working at Spuds with Ruby reminded me of the first time we worked together more than two decades before. This time was just as much fun.
“Your grandparents, did they work well together?”
“Oh, yeah. Lots of teasing, lots of laughing, lots of sweating, too. They had their tough times, but they were happy working together.” She smiled as she reminisced.
When the lunch rush hit, and Ruby’s part-timer came in, I retreated to Ruby’s table in the corner and went over my emails from work. Looked like I would have to go in after Spuds closed for an hour or two.
During clean up, I decided to broach the subject of franchising with her again.
“Ruby-mine, I’m going to go into work for a couple of hours after we pick up Jace and I drop you home.”
Her face fell. “Oh, no, Vander! I’m so sorry!” She pressed her forefinger into the divot of her top lip. “I’ve caused you too much trouble today.”
“Not at all,” I rushed to reassure her. “It’s not uncommon for me to work until eight or nine, sometimes even ten at night. Usually not on a Friday, but it happens. I need to go in for a meeting. This meeting would take place in the evening no matter what. You haven’t caused any trouble.”
She looked doubtful but hopeful.
“Truly, Ruby. I’m telling you the truth. In any case, I did tell you I’m selling my company, right? These kinds of hours cripple the kind of family life I want with you and Jace, and Georgie when he’s here.”
“You’re sure?”
“Positive. But I do want to talk to you about franchising. Before I sell the company, I want to have your situation well in hand.”
She shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. “I’m not so sure I want to franchise anymore, Van.”
My eyebrows hit my hairline. “What?”
This was a project over a decade in the making. Was she scared? Was this somehow taking her out of her comfort zone? How did I navigate this without making her situation worse?
Pacing back and forth, she began waving her hands around expressively as she explained.
“All these years, every time I got bored,” she paused and looked at me pointedly, “which was often, I’d think about how I could shake things up a bit. When I went through all the possibilities, the only change I considered ‘safe’, was franchising Spuds.” She stopped and faced me head-on. “Maybe I don’t have to make the ‘safe’ choice anymore.”
Excitement bubbled up in my chest thinking the Ruby of old might be taking back her life.
“Explain,” I demanded.
“Okay, well, I did a lot of thinking after Minty and Amber left yesterday, and I determined that my safe choices actually sabotaged me. They led me away from what I really wanted. But because I was too afraid to admit what I really wanted, I substituted other things that would never really satisfy.”
My breath stuck in my lungs. “What do you really want?”
“I want what my Yiayia had with my Pappou. I want you. I want our family. I want to do couple and family things like take vacations and buy new furniture and go out for dinner and take the kids to the pool. I want to spend time with my Yiayia, my sister and her family, and Minty.” She put her hands on her hips defiantly. “I mean, I wouldn’t mind seeing if there’s something else I might like to do, instead of Spuds. Maybe even pick up a hobby.” She threw her hands up into the air. “If I franchise, I’ll be super busy doing something that’s only ever been a substitute instead of enjoying you and the kids, my family, and Minty. I definitely won’t have time to try anything new for myself. You’ll be scaling back, and I’ll be getting busier. I don’t want that.”
She finished by crossing her arms over her chest. Her declaration infused my system with joy. I grinned.
“Does this mean you accept my marriage proposal?”
She chortled. “You haven’t proposed!” Her smile dropped away, and her mouth twisted to the side as she glanced at me out of the corner of her eye.
“What is it? You’re practically chewing on the words. Spit it out.” I was rabid for the rest of it. If I could ensure that she never held anything back again, I would.
