Chapter 13
James
Hasty decisions are part of growing up. I’m prepared to overlook the whole thing if you come to the board meeting on Monday at three. It’s been added to your calendar. Don’t let me down.
Yours sincerely,
Mortimer Beaufort
I delete Dad’s email without replying. My pulse started racing the moment I saw it in my inbox, but all I can do now is shake my head.
He couldn’t even spare the time for a greeting, or to change his standard sign-off, even to his son.
To be honest, I’m not surprised that he thinks I acted on the spur of the moment.
He’s spent years ignoring all the evidence that I don’t want anything to do with Beaufort’s.
And the fact that he’s emailed now, not to ask me to come home, but to save face in front of the board, only confirms that I did the right thing.
And one day, it will stop hurting. I’m sure of that.
I put the phone down beside me on the bed and look around the room that Ophelia has given Ruby and me.
It’s the guest room that Lydia and I always used to stay in when we came for a visit.
Even then, we were confused by the mishmash of furniture that couldn’t have been more different from our house in Pemwick—the floral wallpaper, divan bed, and heavy velvet curtains that are far too long all give the impression that Ophelia had been picking stuff off the street and then finding a use for it at home. But I’ve always felt comfortable here.
My phone buzzes, breaking into my thoughts. Another email has come in, and when I see the sender’s name, every muscle in my body tenses for the second time today.
It’s from Cyril.
Cautiously, I unlock the screen.
I’m sorry.
That’s it. I gulp hard and open the attachment. One by one, the photos I took of Ruby and Mr. Sutton are downloaded. They’re the originals. I can see that at once. I sigh with relief, although the sight of the pictures makes me feel queasy.
I remember exactly what I was thinking and feeling when I took them. I didn’t know what kind of person Ruby was, and I wanted to protect Lydia, to make sure nobody could ever hurt her so badly again. I didn’t care about the consequences if the photos went public.
Phone in hand, I walk to the narrow door to the en suite bathroom. I knock.
“Come in,” says Ruby.
I open the door. “You’ll never believe what…” I begin, but the words get stuck in my throat.
I’d assumed that Ruby would have had a shower and that she’d be dressed.
But she’s sitting in the large corner bath.
Her hair is up in a bun. The strands that have come loose are curled damply at the nape of her neck.
I swallow hard as my eyes take on a life of their own and stray downward.
Drops of water glisten on her bare shoulders, and although the bath is practically overflowing with bubbles, I can see her skin peeking through here and there.
“Is everything OK?” Ruby asks with a frown, sitting up slightly.
I clear my throat. “Cyril’s sent me the original photos,” I croak in the end, holding up the phone.
“Seriously?” Ruby squeaks in disbelief, leaning forward slightly to get a better view of the screen. “I’d almost given up hope.”
“I said it would all work out in the end,” I say hoarsely.
The sight of her wet body is totally distracting me, and I can’t think straight. I cough again.
“So, what do we do now?” she asks after a while. I realize that her voice sounds just as rough as mine.
I should probably leave now.
“I’ll give them to Lydia. I should do that right away. We can talk about it later. I didn’t mean to barge in on you. You just relax.” I turn, and I’m about to walk through the door when Ruby’s voice makes me pause.
“James?” she asks, barely audibly. But it hits home like lightning.
I make a questioning sound as I turn back to her. Her cheeks are flushed, and she clears her throat now too.
“Wouldn’t you…wouldn’t you like to stay?”
I gulp dryly and open my mouth, but I’ve lost the power of speech.
Ruby’s face reddens even further. “But you don’t have to. I…”
That breaks the spell. “Of course, I’d love to stay here with you,” I say, slowly lowering my hand from the door handle. “If you’ll let me?”
She nods. Just the once, a decided look in her eyes.
There’s no need to ask me twice.
I shut the door and turn the key. As it clicks in the lock, everything else fades into the background—my dad, Cyril, Maxton Hall. There’s only Ruby, sitting naked in the bathtub just a few feet away, looking at me expectantly.
It’s the first time in half a lifetime that we’ve been alone together. Unlike this morning, nobody can barge in on us, making us frantically jump apart. The only people here are her and me.
Not taking my eyes off Ruby, I set the phone down on the basin.
Then I lower my hands to the hem of my T-shirt and pull it slowly over my head.
I drop it on the floor and then slip off my socks.
As I undo my belt, Ruby’s gaze darkens. Her eyes roam over my body, following my movements as I peel off my jeans and boxers.
I can’t hide from her any longer. And in this second, I don’t even want to—even though the way she’s biting her bottom lip makes the blood rush to my crotch.
Without hesitation, I join Ruby in the bath.
The water is still hot, so hot that it steams slightly as my body cuts through the bubbles.
Ruby watches me the whole time as I slip right under the water and then slowly come to join her, resting both arms on the edge of the bath around her sides. A slight smile plays around her lips.
“Hey,” I whisper.
“Hi,” she replies, just as quietly. She lifts her wet hands to frame my face.
She strokes her thumbs over my cheeks. I shut my eyes and lean forward to kiss her.
Ruby sighs quietly as our lips meet. Her grip tightens, and she pulls me closer.
Her breasts brush my skin, and a tingle shoots down my spine.
“Thanks for coming with me today,” I say between kisses.
Ruby slides her hands down my face and rests them on my chest. “I’d go anywhere with you, James.”
My heart is racing, and when I open my eyes again, there’s warmth and affection in Ruby’s face.
Whenever she looks at me like that, all I wish for is to be the person she deserves.
“And I’d go anywhere with you.”
Ruby puts her arms around my neck. I hold her bare back and pull her close to me. Water splashes over the edge onto the floor, but we don’t care.
This time, the kiss goes on for quite a while.
Lydia
“Do you really not want us to come in with you?” Graham asks for the third time this morning.
I turn to him and reach for his hand across the gear stick. Then I slowly shake my head.
“No. This is something I have to do alone.”
He frowns, clearly unhappy with my decision.
“It feels like sending you into the lion’s den,” says Ruby from the back seat. I can see in the mirror that she’s pale with nerves.
“What can happen now?” I ask, undoing my seat belt. “I’ve already been kicked out of home. I’m not going back to Maxton Hall. It’ll work out somehow, Ruby, trust me.”
James opens his mouth, and Graham looks like he wants to say something too, but I don’t give them the chance.
Firmly, I open the door and get out of the car.
Not looking back, I cross the golf club parking lot and walk to the main entrance.
I keep my sunglasses on my nose as the sliding doors move apart and I step inside.
The receptionist gives me a friendly nod.
I have no idea whether the young man recognizes me, but his gaze rests on my belly for a second.
His smile doesn’t slip—he’s too well trained for that—but I still catch the exact moment when he clocks the bulge.
The dark blue, off-the-shoulder dress I picked out this morning fits like a second skin and leaves no room for doubt. It’s the first time I’ve worn anything this figure-hugging in months, and I have to get used to the feeling of not hiding from the world.
I smile at him, then stride across the foyer toward the restaurant where Dad and his friends generally hang out after a round of golf.
He often brought James and me here as kids.
Not to teach us to play, but to show us off to his pals if they brought their own children along.
I remember the conversations that went on over our heads, and how Alistair, James, and I used to play hide-and-seek out on the huge greens to keep ourselves from getting quite so bored.
My heels click on the gleaming marble floor as I walk in.
I spot Dad from miles off. He’s sitting with a bunch of other men at a round table by the large windows with a view of the bright green hills and the golf course lake.
Someone’s cracked a joke, and Dad tips his head back and laughs loudly.
It sounds strange to me because I haven’t heard him do that for ages.
I take one last deep breath, then step up to the table. Immediately, five pairs of eyes are fixed on me, and my father’s laugh dies abruptly.
“What are you doing here?” he asks. His eyes rest on my stomach, and all the color drains from his face. He looks frantically around at his friends, and I’m expecting him to jump up at any second, to shield my body with his.
“I’m not here to see you,” I reply, my voice steady.
I’m proud of how cool I sound, even though the sight of my dad has made my heart clench. I replay the moment when he hurled my phone at the wall before trashing my wardrobe like a man possessed. For a moment, I touch the spot where his hand hit my cheek.
Dad must be remembering too. I can see it in his eyes, in the brief flicker of pain. But it vanishes as quickly as it came.
I tear my gaze away from him and turn to the man sitting opposite him.
“Do you have a minute, Mr. Lexington?” I ask.
The head teacher’s steely eyes flit from me to my dad and back again. Without the rimless glasses and suit that he wears to school, he looks like a different person.
“If you would like to make an appointment, Miss Beaufort, then kindly call in to my office tomorrow morning,” he says after a beat.
I shake my head. “This can’t wait.”
Evidently, he can hear that I’m deadly serious, because he looks me over appraisingly. Then his eyes rest on my bump. There’s a long pause, and I hold my breath.
Finally, he nods. “Very well.”
He pushes back his chair and stands up.
I look at Dad. He’s sitting stock-still in his chair, gripping his water glass, and gives no reaction as Lexington takes the initiative and leads me toward the foyer.
When we get there, he points to one of the groups of armchairs clustered around the area. I shake my head. I need to stay standing to say what I have to say.
“Mr. Lexington, I need to speak to you about Ruby Bell,” I begin, looking straight into his gray eyes.
He blinks in surprise. “Miss Beaufort,” he says, “I really can’t discuss another student with you. I’m sure you appreciate that.”
“You made a serious mistake on Monday when you suspended her. And I want to put it right.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His tone is still calm, but I spotted the throbbing vein at his temple a long time ago.
“Ruby wasn’t the person having a relationship with Graham Sutton—I was.”
Lexington’s eyes widen. “Miss Beaufort—”
“And if you don’t believe me”—I put my hands on my hips—“you can see the evidence for yourself,” I continue, looking down at my belly.
Lexington glances down, then up to my face again. He clears his throat firmly, takes a deep breath, and starts again at the beginning.
“The photographs clearly showed Miss Bell.”
“They were faked. In reality, Ruby and Graham were only talking about the event.”
I reach into my handbag, pull out my phone, and bring up the photos that James sent me yesterday evening. Then I hold it out to Lexington.
He narrows his eyes and leans in. I see his face change, from dubious to incredulous, to deeply embarrassed. Shaking his head, he rubs the bridge of his nose. “Bloody hell, Mortimer, what have you done?” he murmurs, so quietly that I can hardly make it out.
“My father was trying to protect me. In his own twisted way,” I say automatically. God knows why I feel the need to defend Dad.
Lexington eyes me thoughtfully. There’s a deep furrow between his eyes. “I’ve been head of this school for over twenty years, but…I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
“I’m prepared to put it in writing. And so is Graham. We’ll do whatever it takes for Ruby to finish her A levels. We can’t let her be punished for our mistakes, sir,” I declare.
Lexington nods. “Miss Bell may come back to school on Monday. I will be in touch with her parents immediately.”
“I’m sorry for landing this on you at the weekend,” I say. “But I couldn’t leave things a second longer.”
“Thank you for your honesty. This can’t have been easy for you.”
I just nod and hold my hand out to him.
“All the best to you, Miss Beaufort,” Lexington says as he shakes it briefly.
Then I turn on my heel and cross the foyer. Once I’m outside, I take a deep breath and close my eyes for a moment. The sun is tickling my nose, and I’m filled by immeasurable euphoria.
I go back across the car park to the others. Ruby, James, and Graham have gotten out of the car. Graham is leaning against it, hands in his pockets; Ruby is standing nestled up to James, who is whispering in her ear. She freezes when she catches sight of me, eyes questioning.
I give her a triumphant smile.
The next moment, Ruby pulls away from my brother and hurries over to me.
“I’m the best!” I call out, throwing my arms up in the air.
She looks incredulously at me. I run the last few steps. I grab Ruby by the shoulders and beam at her.
“As of right now, you are no longer suspended,” I say.
“No!” Ruby squeals.
I nod. “Yes.”
“No!” The next moment, she flings her arms around me. She hugs me so tight that I can hardly breathe.
“Thank you,” she sobs. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
I squeeze her back. For a moment, I shut my eyes and enjoy the sensation.
I’ve finally spoken aloud the thing I’ve been keeping secret for so long.
For the first time, I’ve been open about my pregnancy—and unashamed.
And I’ve helped my friend. I can’t imagine that I’ll ever feel better than I do at this moment.
“Love you, Ruby,” I say quietly.
“Love you too. So much,” she replies.
I open my eyes but don’t let go of Ruby as I look at James. I can tell from his wry smile that he’s just as emotional as the two of us right now.
Then I glance over to Graham. I can see the promises of the last few nights in his eyes. For the first time, I feel as though everything really is going to be all right. However long it takes to get there.