Chapter 17 Grant
Once we were in the car, Ruby turned to Evie. “Oh, you’ve got a car seat too.”
“Of course. It’s the law,” I retaliated.
“Uncle Grant, actually, I’m already eight years old.”
“You barely meet the height requirement,” I reminded her.
Ruby pressed her lips together but didn’t necessarily seem to want to laugh at me. I couldn’t place the soft expression in her eyes.
“You two have been bowling before?”
“No, but Uncle Grant promised to teach me. Do you know how to bowl, Ruby?”
“Yes. And I’m not even bad at it.”
“Do you like lipstick?”
“Yes, but I don’t use it on a daily basis.”
“What’s your favorite lipstick color?”
“Red. Any red shade.”
“Really? Mine is pink. A girl at school tried her mom’s, but she looked awful. It was very dark, and she almost looked like someone from a scary movie. And then a bunch of us tried it too. ”
“Oh my goodness,” Ruby said. “She stole her mom’s lipstick and brought it to school?”
Evie giggled. “Yes. That was naughty, wasn’t it?”
“I’d say so,” Ruby replied. “Tell you a secret—I did that a few times too.”
“You did?”
“Yes. And that’s not the only thing I stole from my mom. I was in her perfumes every day too. I thought I was sneaky about it, and she couldn’t tell. But a few years ago, she told me that I kept smelling like her—obviously. She also noticed that the perfumes were emptying much faster.”
“And your mom didn’t get upset?”
“No.”
“She sounds awesome,” Evie said, almost sounding hopeful.
“She really is,” Ruby replied. “I’m so lucky.”
I couldn’t believe that Ruby was communicating so easily with Evie.
“All right. Bowling alley coming right up,” I said.
The two of them clapped their hands in unison.
Evie was ecstatic, looking at Ruby as if she walked on water. It dawned on me that my niece wasn’t around women much. Sure, there was Sybil, and she had an array of nannies, but she’d never met someone like Ruby. It warmed my heart to watch them together.
As we walked from the car into the bowling alley, I put a hand on Evie’s shoulder. She didn’t want me to hold her hand, but this was a busy street. I didn’t want to risk her getting hurt. She didn’t seem to mind the compromise.
The bowling alley was dark and musty. “I haven’t been to this place in a long time,” I said.
Evie scrunched her nose. “Is that old shoe smell? What if we pick up some disease?”
“They spray everything with disinfectant,” Ruby informed her. “I’ve been bowling a few times. It’s all clean.”
“Promise you never got any sort of illness? ”
“Promise.”
“Okay,” Evie said, though she sounded unconvinced.
When the three of us approached the counter, the woman behind it looked at us and said, “Three pairs of shoes coming right up.” She smiled at Evie before handing her a pair.
“Now, your mom is next.”
I stiffened. She thought Ruby and I were Evie’s parents. Interesting. That should bother me, but it didn’t.
“Oh, she’s not my mom,” Evie said, very blasé. “I don’t have a mom. Just my dad. This is my Uncle Grant. And this is Ruby, his very good friend.”
“My mistake,” the woman said, looking at us with a slight wince.
I glanced at Ruby, who just smiled. Clearly, the comment wasn’t bothering her. But why couldn’t I shrug it off as easily?
Evie was looking straight at the woman, one eyebrow raised. “Did you use that disinfectant spray?” she asked.
“Of course. I use it after every client.”
“Anyone get any diseases after wearing the shoes?”
Evie’s expression was so serious that I almost burst out laughing. Ruby was clearly fighting laughter too.
The woman nodded seriously. “We have been operating for ten years, and no one’s gotten any foot fungus.”
“What’s fungus?” Evie asked.
“Those diseases you’re so afraid of.”
“Oh, right,” she replied. “Okay.”
Ruby and I changed our shoes too. As the three of us were heading toward the lane, I heard a familiar voice call out, “Hey!”
Evie and I turned around, and sure enough, it was Heath.
“Dad!” she exclaimed as he joined us.
Cameron was just behind him, but my eyes bulged to see Sybil and Thomas here too.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“You clearly didn’t read the messages I sent,” Heath replied. “We all decided we could use some bowling fun too. ”
“Yeah, we haven’t been in a while and thought it would be a nice family outing,” Sybil said.
“This will be so much fun,” Evie said. “Oh, we have to wait for everyone to get shoes, right? Make sure she sprays them so you don’t get that fung... fungg... What was it called, Ruby?”
“Fungus. And yes, let’s wait for them,” Ruby said.
My entire family seemed stunned as they realized Ruby was with us. Cameron and Heath were just staring at the three of us.
“And who might this young lady be?” Thomas asked.
“This is Ruby,” I replied.
My brothers’ expressions only got more incredulous.
“She’s Uncle Grant’s friend,” Evie explained. “Very good friend, right, Ruby?”
Ruby was smiling and didn’t seem alarmed by the chaos around us, so I didn’t try to steer the conversation any which way.
“Ruby,” Cameron said, “it’s nice to meet you. Isn’t the engagement party for Roger and Daphne taking place at your restaurant?”
“Yes, exactly,” Ruby replied. “The Cozy Place.”
It was time for an official introduction. “Ruby, these are my brothers, Cameron and Heath, who’s Evie’s dad.”
“I had the best burger at Ruby’s restaurant, Dad. We should go there for burgers all the time. And it was on the house!” Evie told him.
“Right. And these two are Sybil and Thomas,” I said as they both shook hands with her.
Sybil was looking at me expectantly. Thomas was the best at keeping his poker face. My brothers still looked completely lost. Honestly, the whole scene was really quite funny.
“We’ll wait for you at the last lane,” I told them. “Just have her add it to my card.”
“And don’t worry, no one’s gotten anything from the shoes. I asked,” Evie informed the group seriously. “Just make sure she sprays them. ”
“Yes, you mentioned that. Thanks for being so thorough,” Sybil said with a wink.
As Ruby, Evie, and I went to our lane, Ruby looked at me sideways. “Is it okay that I’m here? Your family seemed shocked.”
I grinned. “Oh, they are shocked.”
“So I’m here as...”
I knew what she was asking. I’d never given this any thought because how could I? It was all happening so fast.
“We’re a couple, babe. The looks on their faces were hilarious.”
Ruby grinned. “All right. But if you tell them we’re a couple, that might shock them even more, right?”
“No doubt.” As the rest of the group approached, I said, “Let’s divide into teams. Ruby and I are playing together.” I put an arm around her waist, pulling her slightly to me.
“But there are seven of us,” Evie said. “We can’t make teams of two.”
“Yes, you can. I’m not playing,” Sybil said. “I just wanted to spend time with all of you. Though they still insisted I wear the shoes so I don’t scratch their floor with my heels. So, honey, you can play with Grandpa.”
“Yes!” Evie exclaimed.
“So that leaves you two.” I pointed at my brothers.
Cameron looked at Heath. “Be honest, are you in good shape today? I don’t like losing.”
Heath snorted. “Dude, if we lose, it won’t be because of me.”
As we started the game, they kept bickering, and I couldn’t help but wonder how the whole family ended up here. It wasn’t like this was a family pastime; I couldn’t remember the last time we bowled.
I took out my phone, realizing Heath was right. I’d completely missed his messages .
Heath: Hey, you know what? I’m in the mood for some bowling too.
A few minutes later, he’d sent me a new one.
Heath: Cameron says he’ll come, too, and that Mom and Dad are coming as well.
Well, this should be interesting.
I hit the first strike on our team—full points.
“Wow,” Ruby exclaimed. “Hey, you’re really good. I chose a good team.” She turned to the group, winking at them.
I put an arm around her waist, then, out of instinct, kissed her forehead.
“Ooh,” she muttered under her breath. “Taking things up a notch, huh?”
“I didn’t actually think it through,” I admitted.
“Oh.”
Her expression instantly changed. It was a mix of vulnerability and surprise that I hadn’t seen on her until now.
I brought my mouth to her ear. “But we can definitely take things up a notch. How about a hot-as-hell kiss?”
“Hey, I’m up for anything.”
The crazy thing was, I was certain she’d go with whatever I suggested.
This, however, was very out of character for me.
I’d teased the family about things, but I didn’t play games.
It would be pure bullshit to introduce her as a friend or just someone who ran a restaurant I’d be securing for an event.
I’d told Evie she was a friend because it was too complicated to explain the truth to a kid.
But in actuality, Ruby was a lot more to me than just a good friend, and it felt right.
Then Cameron came up to us. “Out of curiosity, when did this happen?” he asked, waving his hand back and forth between Ruby and me.
He looked over his shoulder at Evie, but she was in a conversation with Thomas. Heath saw Cameron and came over too .
“Wait, I want to hear this,” he said.
I looked down at Ruby and touched her cheek with the back of my hand. The intimacy felt far too good. Far too real.
“From what we know, our brother went over to the restaurant and gave you a hard time for not securing the building as if it were a high-security prison,” Heath said jovially.
“And yet you liked him, Ruby?” Cameron continued, playing off Heath. “That is bizarre.”
“We went up to a cabin in the forest over the weekend,” I informed them.
This time, Heath couldn’t hide his shock. His jaw hung open, and his eyes were the size of dinner plates. I wanted to take a picture just to immortalize this moment.
Cameron recovered faster and fixated on Ruby. “Did he make you hike for two days straight?”
“He tried. But he mostly spoiled me a lot. It was very relaxing.”