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“I’m not sure I have time to go home first without making you late,” Ruby said, setting her phone down so she could finish wiping out the pastry case.
“What about Grampa?”
Ruby rolled her eyes with a smile. “I’m not sending Grampa to our place to get your purple pants. I’ll see if I can get off work a few minutes early so I can do it, but if not, you’re going to have to wear the dress you chose this morning. Choices have — ”
“Consequences,” Olivia finished for her.
“Exactly.” Ruby stood and closed the glass case. “But I’ll do my best.”
“Thank you, Mommy.”
“Let me talk to Aunt Brooke.”
There was a shuffle and the god-awful TV noise got a bit louder in the background before her sister came back on the phone. “Hey.”
“How long has she been watching TV?” Ruby asked.
“It’s only her second episode,” Brooke said. “I know the rules.”
Ruby snorted. Rules and her sister didn’t exactly go together. “Can you make sure her hair is brushed and stuff? It’s going to be tight if I go back to the apartment to get the other clothes.”
“I’ll have her ready except for the clothes,” Brooke said. “Dad’s meeting us there.”
“K, see you soon.”
Ruby slipped her phone into her pocket and turned to Henry. “Mind if I cut out a few minutes early? Liv’s insisting the dress she chose this morning won’t work for her show.”
Henry grinned. “A girl’s gotta have the right outfit, am I right?”
Ruby laughed. “My girl does.”
Henry waved her off. “You leave, honey. I’ve got this place. And take pictures. I want to see what fabulous combo Olivia has come up with this time.”
Ruby hugged him. They’d been working together at Roasted for over two years, and they’d seen each other through a series of breakups, old and new friendships, and countless family crises. “You’re the best.”
She walked into the supply room and was hit with the faint scent of expensive cologne, a remnant of the stranger who’d stopped Adam in the alley. The scent went straight to her core, and she drew in a deep breath against the sudden desire running rampant in her body.
She hadn’t been with anyone since Adam, not even for a hookup. Relationships felt too dangerous, an unknown quantity in the already volatile cocktail that was her life — not to mention her still-bruised heart.
Her divorced friends told her she’d be happy eventually, that she’d feel liberated, but she wasn’t there yet. Maybe it was because Adam loomed over her life like a specter. Maybe it was because being a single mom in New York City, even with the help of her dad and sister, was damn hard.
She exhaled slowly, the way her therapist had taught her. She needed a date with her vibrator.
Clearly.
She removed her apron and hung it on one of the hooks on the wall, then grabbed her jacket and hesitated at the back door. Normally, she would exit that way, but she was still on edge after the incident with Adam.
She didn’t think he would come back to make trouble, especially with Olivia’s show tonight, but the truth was, she just didn’t know what Adam would do when he was angry at her. Add in the humiliation of being put in his place by the mysterious stranger, and all bets were off.
She returned to the front and passed through the counter area.
“Thanks again,” she said to Henry, who’d turned up the music and was singing along as he restocked for morning.
“Anytime, boo!”
Ruby stepped out onto the street and started for the subway, but she’d only gotten a few feet when she heard a voice behind her.
“Ruby.”
