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Ruby has spent enough time with her own daughters, who are twenty-two and twenty-three, to know that by “hook up” Tilly doesn’t just mean “meet up for a drink.” This time both of her eyebrows go up.
“I mean, come on,” Tilly says, standing up again and resting just her fingertips on the counter. “He’s hot. You’re single and you've still got it. You two could be a total power couple.”
This makes Ruby laugh and she knocks a jar of pencils off the counter and onto the floor. “Oh, Tilly,” she says, shaking her head as she bends over to pick up the pencils. “I’m not sure if I’m ready to start thinking about all that stuff.”
“So you’re not into men?”
Ruby laughs again, nearly dropping the pencils she’s just gathered. “I am. But let’s talk about you—do you have a boyfriend?”
Tilly makes a disgusted face. “God, no. I prefer women.”
Ruby nods and sets the pencils in the cup. “Do you have a girlfriend, then?”
“No, there’s no one datable on this island.” Tilly rests her elbows on the counter again and gazes out the window at Seadog Lane. “I’ve known everyone here for most of my life, so dating any of them would feel like I was dating my own cousin.” Her upper lip curls as she considers this. “Ruby, what would you do if one of your daughters was into girls?”
Ruby walks a stack of biographies over to a display table. “I would love them just like I love them now,” she says, glancing back over her shoulder at Tilly. “It would make no difference to me, as long as they were happy.”
Tilly chews on her glittery lower lip and uses her tongue to move the little stud that’s pierced right below her lip line as she thinks. “My grandpa thought it was weird the first time I told him I liked girls.”
This is delicate territory, and Ruby doesn’t want to overstep her bounds. “I’m sorry to hear that,” she says, sliding a stack of books aside so that she can set up the new ones. “Has he gotten used to the idea?”
Tilly shrugs. “He’s kind of old-school about things. I think he hopes that I’ll outgrow it, but honestly, no matter what he says, I know he loves me. He’s just a salty old pirate, and he doesn’t like it when things change.”
“I’ve gathered that much about him,” Ruby says, sinking down onto the floor and sitting criss-cross as she sorts through yet another box of books. For a relatively small island, the residents of Shipwreck Key are avid readers, and Ruby does a brisk business and works hard to keep everything in stock that she knows people will want to read. “But your grandpa is a good man, and he clearly loves this island and he loves you. So I think you should just keep being who you are, and know that he’ll catch up with you in his own time. Trust me.”
Tilly walks behind the counter and starts to scan in the Emily Giffin books so that they don’t have to make eye contact, but Ruby can see the hint of a pleased smile on her face. “So, back to Dexter—when is he coming to the island again?”
Ruby chuckles at this; she has been spending a fair amount of time with the man who is writing a book about her husband and his presidency through the eyes of the First Lady. “Actually, he’s been here, we’ve met on Christmas Key, and now he's asked me to meet him in New York City in a few weeks so we can have another sit-down interview.”
“Ooooh, a date in the big city. Nice,” Tilly says, tapping at the computer keys.
“Well, not really a date, Til. More like a business meeting.”
Tilly rolls her eyes, trying to look bored. “Uh huh.”
“No, seriously. Dexter North is a biographer with a job to do, and I’m merely a part of his story.” She shrugs helplessly from her spot on the floor, feeling her cheeks go pink as she imagines Dexter’s handsome face. “Nothing more, nothing less.”
“He's into you. Come on. Add two and two together and come up with four already, Ruby.” Tilly slaps a hardcover on the counter after scanning it.
Her lack of concern while talking to a woman who most people speak to with deference and reverence is absolutely refreshing to Ruby. Far from being offended when Tilly just says it like it is, or speaks to Ruby like they’ve known each other for years, she’s absolutely charmed and it secretly thrills her.
“He’s thirty-six, honey, and I’m almost fifty. That’s not exactly a natural fit.”
“It is if you say it is.” Tilly stacks another book after scanning it.
Ruby wants to argue this and point out to Tilly that life sometimes doesn’t work as smoothly as you’d like it to, but instead she just nods. Who’s to say that a nineteen-year-old girldoesn’thave some wisdom to impart? If there’s one thing that Ruby learned by traveling the world and meeting all kinds of people, it’s that everyone has something to teach you.Everyone. Sometimes you just need to shut up and listen.
"You're right," she says to Tilly. "I'm imposing limits on myself and it's totally unnecessary. I guess we all do that sometimes, don't we?" She looks at her young employee meaningfully.
"Let me guess," Tilly says dryly. "This is some sort of teachable moment. You want me to understand that I'm imposing limits on myself by dressing in a way that's off-putting to everyone on the island, including anyone who might be datable for me, right?"
Caught, Ruby shrugs guiltily. "Well. Maybe. I would imagine in a much bigger city that your look might go over more easily. But here...it just seems like you intentionally want to hold people at bay. And if I'm wrong, tell me I'm wrong."
Tilly purses her lips and narrows her eyes. "I'm not going to say that you're wrong," she says after a beat. "But I am going to think about that before I give a response. Because maybe we all do things to keep other people out, right? Maybe you moved down here to an island full of crusty fishermen, widows, and retired rich couples because you thought you could get lost in the crowd. Then you never have to worry about being asked out by another politician, or going through the kind of crap your husband put you through ever again."
"You're very astute," Ruby says, pushing herself up onto her knees and then standing. "I'll give you that, young lady." She smiles at Tilly and then motions to her little upstairs office, where she retreats sometimes midday to answer emails from Ursula, her virtual assistant, or to just decompress and catch up on what's happening in the world by scrolling through her favorite news outlets. "Could you keep scanning those new books into the system while I handle a few emails?"
"You got it, boss," Tilly says, giving her a sloppy salute.
