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She shakes her head. “I can’t stay with you. That’s crazy.”
“You can.” Lorraine nods decisively. “That way my sewing ro—I mean, the wallpaintingproject in your room can stay the way it is. Problem solved!” Lorraine claps, then spins and returns to the back kitchen area. “Come on, Ruby, we’ve got work to do. Thanks, Knox,” she calls.
Ruby snags the fries from the counter. “I told you not to get these for me.”
“I know.”
“And I haven’t agreed to stay at your house.” She stares up at me, her jaw set in a line of challenge. So fucking cute.
“I know.”
“Ruby!” Lorraine calls.
Ruby stands for a few more seconds, clearly caught between a rock and a hard place—or, more accurately, between me and her grandma. “Ugh. Pick me up at eight. Hopefully, we’ll have all of today’s orders done by then.” She turns and pushes through to the kitchen.
“See you then.” I smile, everything inside me lighting up like a goddamn Christmas tree at the thought of having her under my roof.
I stride out to my car, Greasy sitting on the hood and looking at me expectantly. Scratching behind his ears, I lean closer to him and whisper, “We got her, Greasy. We got her.”
8
RUBY
“Knox is so sweet to let you stay with him,” Grams says as she puts the last sticker on one of the boxes to seal it closed. “I bet Merry would want to snap you up, but she just took a new job and hasn’t even had time to stop by and see me. You two are still close, right?”
As close as we can be when Merry is all about Reindeer Valley and I’m all about running away from it. But I don’t want to say that to Grams, so I settle for a simple nod, then pivot to what I really want to know.
“What’s going on with Knox?” I ask, leaning my hip against the counter. I’ve been dying to pepper my grandma with questions about him, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. She’d know something was up then. I had to wait for her to say something first, to give me the opening I needed.
Of course she waited until minutes before he’s supposed to be here to pick me up to break her silence on the topic.
“What do you mean?” she asks a bit too innocently.
“He’s different.”
“He’s grown up. He’s not a boy anymore. He also doesn’t have that mother of his whispering things into his ear anymore. People can say what they want about your mom—getting pregnant at 16, as wild as the day is long—but at least she had enough sense to realize she wasn’t made for motherhood.”
I stare at her in surprise. She doesn’t talk about Sandra often. “I’ve never really been upset that she left me with you. You know that, right, Grams?” That’s the honest truth. My grams had given me the best childhood. I wouldn’t change a thing.
“Of course I do, sweetheart.”
Mom was young when she had me. Too young, really. She's a bit of a drifter. I’m thankful she didn’t try to take me with her when she decided to leave Reindeer Valley. God knows what might have happened to me if she had.
Grams gives me a tired but warm smile. “I’m only saying that some parents can be toxic, and it can take a minute for their kids to shake loose from that influence.”
“All right,” I agree, understanding what she’s getting at. Or at least I try to understand. It’s hard to let things go easily when they’ve stuck with you for so many years. Mom leaving me is a pretty terrible memory. Even if Grams took the best care of me and gave me a great childhood, I still grew up knowing my mother ditched me. But like Grams says, it was for the best. In fact, it was probably the most unselfish thing my mother ever did for me, and isn’t that a kicker?
“I’m just glad you’re back.” She takes my hands, and I notice how the wrinkles next to her eyes have deepened. She’s aged, but somehow she’s stayed just as beautiful. I hope I got all those good genes.
“Me too.” I squeeze her hands.
She blinks, her eyes watering, and takes a deep breath before letting me go. “Now don’t be rushing here first thing in the morning. I have a few girls helping me, and this kitchen can only fit so many.” Something isn’t adding up here. When she called me to come home, she sounded as if she was desperate for my help, and now she’s telling me not to come in? What the heck?
“All right, so you want me to come in the early afternoon?” I ask to clarify. As soon as the words slip past my lips, I hear the bell on the front door of the bakery ring. I know it must be Knox because the sign has already been flipped to closed.
“That should work.” She gives me a kiss on the cheek. “Go on now. I’ll lock up.” She waves me off. I want to ask her more questions, but I know my time has run out.
“Love you,” I throw over my shoulder before I head toward the front. Knox is standing in the center of the bakery waiting for me with something pink and fluffy in one of his hands. When his eyes come to mine, a smile pulls at his lips. Why does he have to be so damn handsome?
