Chapter Forty-Seven
Ruby
We all follow Mum and Dad as they walk through the cookery school and out the doors. Wicksy is at the front with Flora and Cookie, followed by Jem, who tries to help Amber, but she slaps his hand away, telling him she can walk perfectly fine by herself while also making him carry her bag. Meanwhile, Kalen bangs the pan like he’s commanding his unit.
I’m bringing up the rear with my arm tucked in Kath’s. It’s not for her, though. I need support after the revelations of the last half hour.
“Do you know what all this is about?” I ask. She nods. “But you’re not going to tell me?”
Her laugh eases some of my anxiety. Grandma and she must have gotten in trouble a lot when they were my age. Kath is trouble enough on her own now.
“Your head is spinning,” she says as Mum and Dad lead us through the car park.
My head is all over the place for more reasons than whatever secret Mum and Dad are keeping. “Garett hurt me, and I can’t hide from that. How much of our relationship—which wasn’t supposed to be a relationship—was real if he could lie to me so easily about something so important?”
“All I’ll say is,” Kath replies, “if it was the other way around, if Garett needed the money and was going into a competition to win it, no matter the consequences, would you have lied to him?”
“I don’t know. Probably. I helped him get Cookie even though it was dangerous.”
“And he protected you then, too.”
“I knew he was keeping something from me. How can I trust him? And it’s messed up that he did that rather than let me decide for myself.”
Kath nods. I wait for some of her wisdom, but it doesn’t come.
I sink my face into my hands and add, “But he’s never had a relationship. There was no ex-girlfriend. He’s barely had a family, and most of those close to him have double-crossed him, like Clive and his own parents. Do you think he was not only scared of losing me but of letting me in, too?”
Kath chuckles. “I appear wise, but I barely know what’s happening in my head most days. Maybe it’s all that, or maybe he wanted you to have what you wanted. You had us, but when Clive did what he did, Garett had no one except Flora.”
Mum and Dad lead us to the pub next to the cookery school.
“Mum, this is trespassing,” Jem hisses as we approach the door where Garett and I sneaked in the week before.
“Oh shush, Jem, you’re the worst badass ever,” Mum replies with a grin. Dad holds the door open, and we step through.
“Do you love him, Ruby?” Kath asks.
I remember all those nights when he showed me how to cook, the looks he gave me when I achieved something new, and how he was there for me when I couldn’t get out of my own head. He took me for a walk, and we ended up here. I consider all those times he didn’t force a relationship even though a part of me suspected that’s what he was hoping for. I lied to him, too, just not in the same way. I pretended we didn’t have a future when I could have sat down and spoken to my parents rather than hide from the impact of my past. He was always about me, and I ignored him.
“Yes,” I reply.
“Welcome to your Christmas present, kids,” Mum announces from the restaurant part of the pub.
“What?” Jem bellows.
“This is our new venture,” Dad says. Jem freezes, and I sit on the nearest chair I can find. Wicksy leans against the table Garett pinned me on. Awkward. “We should have said sooner. Your mum and I are bored in retirement. We miss running something. The old owner came to us months ago and asked if we would buy the place, but we pretended we were happy gardening and going on trips.”
“We were lying to each other because we thought the other person was happy,” Mum adds before Dad continues. The subtext isn’t lost on me.
“Even couples in long-term relationships sometimes lie when they think they should. And we’ll learn from that. When you’re in a relationship, you’re always learning, making mistakes, and trying not to make them again.”
“Ruby gets it, Dad. Move on,” Amber grumbles.
“Anyway, we decided to buy the pub with the help of some investors. Didn’t we, Kath?”
Kath offers a wide smile. “I have a lot of savings, and I’ve always wanted to invest in something.”
“We hoped Garett would run the restaurant and be one of the partners. We’d manage it for the first couple of years, and then it’s up to Ruby and Jem. That’s if you want it. Kath would also move from the cookery school to the restaurant, and Ruby, you’d lead the sessions at the cookery school, with Wicksy working as head kitchen assistant. Kalen and Amber would manage the school when they could, and me and your mum would step in when needed.”
“And me?” Flora asks, although she does it so quietly that we’d have missed it if we hadn’t been silent.
Kath takes Flora’s hands. “Flora, honey, you can work in the cookery school or the restaurant. You believe you’re not good at things, but you’d be brilliant as a party planner, project manager, or workshop leader.”
“Don’t forget dog napper,” Jem adds, and Flora chuckles. It’s like when Garett gives out prizes at the end of a children’s cookery session and the shy child realises they have value. I wish Flora could see what we do.
Mum laughs, too. “How could any of us forget that?”
“I do have a plan for you, Flora, but first, I want to see what you do and enjoy. How would you feel shadowing me and Ruby at the cookery school and the restaurant?” Kath asks.
Flora smiles. “Yes, please. I’d love that.” Tears brim my eyes. This side of Flora makes my heart break. She’s not had anyone but Garett on her side for a long time. “And I’d like to pay the money needed for Garett to be a partner. I have a big trust fund.”
“Garett doesn’t need to pay anything,” Dad replies. “We want him on the books from day one.”
“I hate to be a dick,” Jem pipes up.
“No, you don’t,” Amber and I reply together before high-fiving. Jem gives us each a middle finger, and I’m reminded how much I adore my family.
Jem continues, “But Ruby kicked Garett out because she’s a…”
Mum cuts him off with one raised eyebrowed look.
My punk-ass brother is always there to remind me how quickly you can go from loving your family to wanting to kill them.
“Anyway,” he says, “he’s also leaving because Mum and Dad took too long to tell him about the restaurant.”
“Hey,” Dad replies with his hands in the air. “We only signed the contract today.”
“I wish I’d known. I’d have stopped him,” Amber replies.
“He’d want to know. He had such a vision for this place,” I murmur. “We came here the other night, and he was so alive after seeing it. He was hyped up.”
“Did you do anything else while you were here?” Jem asks, his face pinched. Only he’d ask.
My face heats as I stare at where Wicksy leans against the table, and everyone looks at him, too.
“Ew,” Wicksy cries before running to the other side of the room.
“Hold on,” I say, desperately trying to distract everyone. “Amber didn’t know about this, so why was she worrying about money?”
“I’ve been planning a Christmas present for you that would mean you wouldn’t have to work with Clive. It wouldn’t surprise me if Garett knew you’d be safe even when—”
“If,” I cut in.
“Even when you win tomorrow,” she continues. “I want to give you money to start your own business. There’d be no business partners to betray you. This is just you, starting Ruby Cloud’s Treats or whatever you want to call it. You could build it around doing sessions at the cookery school.”
“And link it with the puddings at the restaurant,” Mum cries, clapping her hands. “If Garett is happy with that.”
I rush to cuddle my sister, although it’s tricky getting my arms around her. Mum hugs us, too, and soon, it’s a giant family group hug that even Cookie tries to get in on.
“You guys are ignoring key details. How you’ve ever run a cookery school is beyond me,” Jem says, muffled against my back. “Garett is leaving, and he’s not your biggest fan anymore, Ruby.”
Everyone’s grumbles become an orchestra of noise.
“I have a plan,” I say, but it’s drowned out because everyone speaks simultaneously.
Suddenly, Kalen bangs the pan, and everyone freezes, looking at Mum, who shrugs.
“Ruby has something important to say,” Kalen says.
I give him a quick hug. “Thank you. I have a plan to get Garett back and get some retribution for him, too. But I’ll need everyone’s help, and it’s a risk. It will take something big, and I might have hurt him too much, so it might not work. Are you in?”
For a second, I hold my breath. We’re good at talking in my family, but are they willing to take a risk for Garett?
One by one, they put their hands out and shout, “I’m in,” as if we were a basketball team preparing for a big game. But because it’s my family and we’re not in a circle, we look like a poorly organised kid’s dodgeball team.