CHAPTER 26 Ruby
Ruby
No one says a word.
The only sound we can hear is Clementine quietly sobbing.
I am glued in place, and by the looks of it, so are Hendricks and Lando.
I want to reach out and hug her, but something stops me. I know it has everything to do with the way she spoke to Miles. She might be hurting, but lashing out at Miles wasn’t the way to go.
When she looks up, her bloodshot eyes barely glance at me before they narrow on Hendricks.
“You fucking bastard, Hen. There was nothing to tell him. You didn’t need to do that.”
“No way, Clem,” he says, and I think it’s the first time I’ve ever heard him use this particular tone as he jabs a finger at his sister.
“Don’t you fucking dare blame me. This is your own doing.
I told you what would happen. I told you how hurt Miles would be, and I told you to tell him.
I gave you the chance, Clementine, and you decided not to take it. ”
She sobs again, using her hand to muffle her cries. I can’t imagine what a number Torres has done on her if this is how upset she’s getting. I also can’t imagine him being in love, because he, like all the other polo players I know, has a reputation.
But then I was wrong about Miles. Because he’s nothing like I thought he would be.
In the end, it’s Lando who comes to her comfort and pulls her into his arms.
“Come on, Clem. It’s fixable. We can fix this,” he says, rubbing her back.
“No, Lando, you don’t understand,” she sobs.
“It’s fine. We’ll fix it. It’s a complicated situation, and Miles is hurting.”
“No.” Clementine pulls back, shrugging his hands off. “No, Lando. I’m not making a mistake. I mean it. We love each other.”
Next to me, Hendricks makes his opinion known with a scoff of disapproval. I don’t know what he’s more pissed at—Clementine or the situation. I can’t imagine keeping this secret has been easy for him.
Being caught between two siblings can’t be a fun place, not that I would know.
On the flip side, he should have told Miles.
Lando runs his hands through his hair. A million thoughts seem to be whirring in his brain, and when he lands on one, he stares at her, hard.
“Are you pregnant?”
Clementine’s eyes fly wide open. “No, I haven’t .
. . Nothing’s happened with him. It’s not something we planned, and I truly didn’t know who he was .
. . I never allowed myself to be with him because of Miles.
I told him no.” She swipes a hand under her nose, finishing with another loud sob.
“But if Miles is gonna act this way, then what the fuck have I got to lose?”
“Clementine, think about what you’re doing.”
“I am . . . it’s all I think about,” she snaps. “But why do you all get to be fucking happy and I don’t?”
Lando drops his head with a shake, unable to answer, because, of course, she deserves to be happy. “Clem, before you do anything, you need to fix things with Milo before it drives a wedge in this family.”
Hendricks is the one who replies. “Miles would never allow that. He’s more loyal than any of us.”
Clementine’s head drops, and a fat tear falls onto the hard stone floor, but she doesn’t put up any argument. And I’ve had enough. Whatever this situation is, it’s not my business. My husband is, though.
I step toward the door, following the direction he took off. “I’m going to find Miles.”
I don’t make it out before I’m called back.
“Wait, Ruby.” Clementine stops, and I turn. “I’m sorry. I should never have said . . . you know, what I said.” She looks so uncomfortable that I almost feel sorry for her. “I don’t truly believe them—”
“Reckless and irresponsible, you mean?” I snap Miles’s words at her, because that is what she means.
From the corner of my eye, I see Lando’s face twist, confirming it’s exactly what he thinks, but Clementine shakes her head.
“No. He’s never needed anyone’s approval to do anything like the rest of us seem to, but whatever he does, he goes all in with his whole heart.
Getting married might have been impulsive, but Miles doesn’t truly do anything without thinking things through first. He would never have married you if he didn’t think he could see a future. ”
I scoff from above the hole she’s trying to dig herself out of. “Well, that’s a lie, because we’ve always had an end date to this.”
But she’s insistent. “No, you might have but Miles didn’t. In all honesty, none of us have seen Miles as happy as he’s been since you guys returned from America . . .”
I look at Lando, the head of the family, waiting for him to disagree, but all he does is nod in the direction Miles headed.
“You’ll probably find him by the pool, and if he’s not there, follow the side gate through the rose garden, which heads to the stables—”
“Um . . . okay, good to know. Thanks.” I take a step and pause with my hand on the door.
“Clementine, you must know Miles always tells the truth, so why do you think he’s lying about Torres?
He was there at the tournament last week, and the reason Miles is so upset about tanking is because Hampshire was the last assessment for handicaps. ”
I give her a second to let my words sink in, because everyone knows Miles is expected to go to ten. And everyone in this family—including Clementine—knows how badly he wants it.
Then I leave, jogging in the direction Lando pointed. Rushing down a set of wide stone steps, I peer around. The view of the fields is incredible, with rolling green hills and cows and horses grazing—it’s really quite stunning. But as there’s no sign of Miles, I keep going.
He’s not at the pool either. So I follow the next set of instructions and rush through the gate on the other side, only to find myself walking through a wide tunnel of rose bushes that opens onto a stony path leading me around more roses.
Each path I take leads me to a fork, and I realize I’m going around a maze. My shoulders slump. Not only am I not going to find him, but I’m also going to get completely lost.
“Miles?” I call out when I reach yet another divide in the path.
Taking the left leads me to a dead end, so I turn and go the other way.
“Miles?”
I’m running past a wide opening when movement catches my eye, and he’s there sitting on a stone bench, head in his hands.
Oh, Miles.
When he looks up, his eyes are red, and it’s obvious he’s a million miles away and hasn’t heard me calling.
Rushing over, I stop in front of him, close enough that his knees bracket my legs, and his head falls on my stomach.
I push my fingers through his thick curls. “I’m so sorry.”
He looks up, his forehead marred with a deep crease. “Why are you sorry? I’m the one who should be sorry.”
“Why?”
He sighs, sitting back again and scrubbing a hand down his face. His pinky ring catches the sunlight. “For what Clementine said. For how that must have made you feel.”
“Miles—”
“She was wrong.”
Gently pressing my palm to his mouth, I stop him from talking more. Tilting his chin, I force him to look up at me. “It’s not your apology to make. And it’s not me she owes an apology to.”
He shakes his head. “She’s going to have to figure out what a fucker he is by herself. She won’t listen to me.”
“Sometimes we need to make our own mistakes.”
“Yeah, and I’ve been making a lot of them,” he says wearily. I don’t want to ask what he means, but his eyes shoot up to mine. “You know what she said isn’t true, right? You know that’s not how I feel?”
“What do you mean?”
His eyes squeeze together, like it would be easier not to look at me, because he doesn’t want to say whatever he’s about to say.
“That I’m going to return to screwing around.”
He stops, and I stay quiet, because I can see he’s not done. Just wrestling with what he wants to tell me. I’m not going to lie and say that Clementine’s words didn’t feel like a slap to the face, because they did. But also a slap to reality.
It’s becoming harder and harder to remember that Miles and I have a timeframe, and the end date is looming. I don’t want to acknowledge it.
He takes a breath, his hands run up the backs of my legs, stopping just shy of my ass. It takes all my effort to concentrate on his words and not on where his fingers are. Or where I want them to be.
“I’m not incapable of commitment, I just haven’t met anyone I wanted to commit to.
” I hold my breath, and my heart pounds as he reaches up and curls a strand of my hair around his finger.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while .
. . this thing. I know we agreed that it would last the season, and then .
. .” He pauses, grips my thighs, and forces me down onto his lap so quickly my belly flops.
“I need more time. I don’t want this to be over, Ruby.
I don’t want this to end when the season does. ”
I stare at him and take in his words—like really absorb them. His expression is reserved, and there’s a wariness in his big blue eyes. It’s an odd look on him, someone who’s always so sure of themselves, yet he’s waiting for me to reassure him.
And that’s a powerful thing.
“Miles . . . what are you saying?”
“I’m saying that I think we need to go back to the beginning.”
“Aspen?” I tease. Though it’s more for my benefit because I need a second to configure my thoughts and stop my heart from beating out of my chest.
My answer raises a smile. “We can go to Aspen if you want, but that’s not what I meant.” He tugs on his neck, looking so awkward that I want to put him out of his misery. “Shit, Ruby, I’ve never done this before—”
“Are you saying you want a divorce already?”
He shakes his head. “No fucking way. No. I think marrying you might be the best thing I’ve ever done.”
I blink. He says it so matter-of-factly that it takes me back to Clementine’s parting words, that Miles doesn’t do anything without thinking them through. Maybe that’s why he’s finding it so hard to get his words out.
“What’s the beginning?”
“If we weren’t married, we would have started with a date.” His tone is decisive, even more so when he continues. “I think we owe it to each other to give this a shot, don’t you?”