Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
RUBY
I swing the door to B’s Bakery open as if my life depended on it.
“Oh, we’re closed. I’m sorry I forgot to switch the—Oh, hi, Ruby.” Brooke beams when she sees us. “Can you flip that sign for me, Max?”
He nods and does as she asks.
“Thanks. If your mom says it’s okay, I have some brownies left over today. Quinn is coming to grab them for Miles, but I bet he won’t mind if you steal one.”
“Nice.” Max takes the treat from her.
“Can you find a table while I talk to Brooke really quickly?”
My son nods, and Brooke sneaks him a cookie to go with his brownie.
I find a spot farthest from Max, and Brooke meets me.
“I have not a clue what you want to talk to me about, but the fact you picked this spot where Max can’t hear means it’s good.”
“It’s … something.” Declan’s face moments before he was going to kiss me yesterday appears in my thoughts.
My stomach practically flips.
Flips.
Shit.
I lean forward
“Something happened yesterday when we were moving Declan and Susie into the house.”
Brooke’s eyes widen. “What happened? Oh my God, did his bed break and now you both have to share yours because, obviously, his giant body is way too large for your couch. Well, maybe not the one in the basement, but it probably still wouldn’t be that … too much?”
I nod. “A little.”
“Sorry. Okay, tell me the real story. I’ll be quiet.”
“We,” I say even softer than before and glance at Max, “almost kissed.”
“I can’t hear you,” she says and leans closer. “What?”
“We almost kissed.”
“Look, Ruby, I understand you’re trying to be quiet for the little ears nearby, but I can’t hear you.”
I roll my eyes and pull my phone out to text her.
Declan and I almost kissed.
Her phone pings, and then she slaps it to the table.
“What!”
“Shhh.”
“What ... I mean, how did this happen?”
Now her eyes and smile are wide.
“This is not a smiling matter.”
“Oh. Yes. It. Is.”
“It just … we bumped into each other in the kitchen and then we didn’t … separate until Miles walked in.”
Brooke presses her lips together to keep from smiling, and her head does this odd bounce thing.
“Okay, okay. How do you feel about this?”
I palm my forehead.
“I think I wanted him to do it.”
Now Brooke is making this weird squealing noise, but when I look up, she pulls herself together.
“I think …”
The door opens so suddenly, we both scream.
“Shoot, sorry,” Grace says, and then Quinn walks in right behind her. “It says closed, but you didn’t lock it. I saw Quinn, and she said you were expecting her.”
“Yep.” Brooke stands quickly, grabs the extra brownies, and hands them to Quinn.
“Hey, Ruby.” She smiles.
“Hi.” I look away quickly.
Now, even I know this isn’t usual behavior for me and Quinn, so I’m not surprised in the slightest when she sits next to me.
“Is everything okay?”
I nod.
Then Grace sits.
“Are you sure?”
“Yep.”
Silence falls over us, and then Brooke caves. “Declan almost kissed her,” she whisper-shouts.
“Brooke.” My gaze flashes to Max, whose head perks up.
“What?”
“Nothing. Are you ready?”
I jump to my feet, ready to make my escape, but I pause.
“Not a word of this to anyone, and that includes Miles,” I tell my friends.
Quinn groans. “But this makes so much sense now. He came home all annoyed about Declan moving in.”
“He did? Why?” I ask. They all like Declan. What would have changed his—oh.
“I asked, but he said it was nothing to worry about.”
“It’s not,” I agree and then wave as Max and I head out the door.
“Can I go say hi to Uncle Huddy?”
“Yes.”
I wait until he’s heading off to Hudson’s before I smile.
All these years later, he still calls him Uncle Huddy.
We enter through Sadie’s bookstore, the one connected to Hudson’s bar. Hudson excuses himself quickly from the couple he is talking to and makes a beeline for his nephew.
They do some fancy handshake that they made up last summer, and my heart swells.
It’s the little moments like this that remind me why we came back.
As I wait for them to finish talking about the next time Max can go to hockey practice with Hudson, my gaze drifts out beyond the bar’s seating area and to the floor-to-ceiling windows on the other side. Declan and Susie are walking down the street.
They get stopped by a woman who instantly laughs and then brushes her hand on Declan’s chest. He steps back, nods to whatever she said, and then steps around her, but the woman keeps talking.
When he finally manages to escape, he turns onto Main Street, and within seconds he and Susie enter the bookstore.
“Max!” Susie hollers and then runs to her friend.
Declan walks in slowly, his hand stuffed into his pockets and his gaze on me.
After moving yesterday, he and Susie ordered pizza and kept to themselves in the basement, despite the kids’ arguments.
It’s for the best though. With the way he’s looking at me right now, I’m not sure there wouldn’t have been a repeat of what happened in the kitchen.
And that can’t happen again.
From what I know, I have no doubts that Declan is a good man, but I learned my lesson about dating someone who has money, and I’m not about to repeat the past.
Declan and Susie come up the stairs just as Max and I sit down to eat dinner.
“Oh, um, we …” he starts, but Susie just sits down at the table as if she’s simply waiting for someone to put a plate down in front of her.
Declan’s gaze flashes between her and me.
“Susie and I were just headed out to dinner. Come on, Susie.”
“But they are having spaghetti and garlic bread, Dad. It smells so good. And” —she lowers her voice, facing her dad—“you know Ruby is a good cook—you talk about it all the time— so you know this is going to be super yummy.”
I tilt my head to look at Declan, holding back my smile as I wait for him to reply.
He thinks I’m a good cook and talks about it with Susie. Words I’m sure he never wanted me to know but are nice to hear.
Declan clears his throat. “I …we …”
“Should sit down because it is good,” Max says with a mouth full of noodles.
“Max,” I scold.
“What?” He shrugs. “They live here now. They can’t go out to eat every night just because we are using the table.”
I nod, outsmarted by my child once again.
“He’s right. Let me make you both a plate.”
“I can do it,” Declan says quickly. “Thank you.”
“Yes!” The kids cheer at the same time.
“We should watch Mario again tonight after dinner,” Max says to Susie, who nods eagerly.
“Well … that’s—” I think over my words. It’s night two. The kids are excited. A movie should be fine. Still. “We should make some ground rules,” I say to Declan as soon as he sits down.
“I agree.”
“How about after dinner, once we have the kids all set to go downstairs, we can make a list.”
“Make a list,” he repeats. “So organized.”
My lips part to argue, but Max beats me to it.
“That’s my mom. She loves a good list.”
His smile is so proud.
My eyes meet Declan’s for the smallest moment before he shovels a fork full of food into his mouth.
My gaze shifts slightly to his jaw and the way he chews. He’s always had chiseled features with a slight shadow of a beard, but right now, his jawline is more pronounced than usual and his lips look plump and soft, and oh my gosh, I’m staring.
I look away quickly, focusing on my plate, stuffing my face, and listening to the kids talk about the different ways Bowser could have beaten Mario.
On my next bite, I look up once more.
My eyes find his like a magnet.
His lips tug to the right and then he winks.
“Dinner is delicious, Ruby. Thank you again for letting us join in.”
I can feel my cheeks heat from the compliment.
“Yes, thank you,” Susie adds with sauce all over her chin.
“Anytime. Maybe we can add dinners to the list.”
“Only if you get to cook more nights than my dad,” she says in a whisper.
Declan doesn’t even try to look offended. He just grins and says, “I second that vote. Your cooking is way better than mine.”
I smirk but look down so he can’t see it, and continue eating.
Better than him.
It has a nice ring to it.
The rest of the dinner goes with ease, and I hate to admit that I actually enjoy the company.
As soon as we are finished. Declan takes Susie downstairs to change into her pajamas and start a movie.
Max also changes and then sprints to the basement.
I finish cleaning the kitchen, a much shorter argument between Declan and I this time, and then I settle in the living room upstairs to wait for him. The creak in the stairs is my only hint that Declan is on his way.
As soon as he reaches the top step, my heart begins to race.
Oh-kay.
Gray sweatpants. Black T-shirt. Backward ball cap. Black rimmed glasses.
It seems Susie wasn’t the only one who went downstairs to change into their sleepwear.
This man needs to go right back down those stairs and change every single thing he has going on.
But of course, I can’t tell him that.
I just need to take a deep breath and pretend like it doesn't bother me.
“I brought a notebook just in case you wanted me to write this down.”
Damn him.
His ability to read me shouldn’t turn me on.
“Thank you,” I say and then sit down on the chair across from him, tucking my legs to sit crisscross applesauce. “Where should we start?”
He tilts his head, his brows rising for a split second. “I’m good with wherever you pick.”
“Okay, well, let’s just start from the beginning of the day. You obviously have bathrooms in the basement to get ready, so we can cross that off.”
“Bathrooms crossed off, check,” he says, never taking his eyes off me.
I narrow my gaze, “Breakfast is … pretty much anytime Max wakes up. I work from home, so we aren’t rushed to be ready by a certain time during the summer.”
“Same with me and Susie.”
My gaze snaps to his.
“So, wait, we’re just here all day every day … together?”
I knew Declan still worked and obviously from his house, but the details didn’t register when I invited the Youngs to move in.
“Seems so. Let’s make this easier. For breakfast and lunch we obviously leave for each family to do their own thing when they see fit. Susie and I usually go out to dinner once a week, but I can make that more often while we are here if I need to.”
“No, no, I don’t want you to feel like you can’t be here, but there is only one kitchen.”
“So ….”
“So how about we agree to three dinners a week together … for the kids’ sake.”
Declan leans back and chuckles, “Yes, for the kids’ sake. I hope you can survive that.”
I hold my chin high as I say, “If they are like tonight, I can survive and —no, stop. Don’t smile.”
“I can’t help it. I think we’re friends and you just refuse to admit it.”
I refuse to have a reply.
He laughs. “Well then, let’s move on to rent.”
I nod slowly.
“I don’t really know where to start on that. It’s only three months.”
I hate how unsure I sound, but I truly feel that something like this should be discussed together. I never had that option before, and I’d hate to take it from anyone else.
“How about I pay you two thousand a month or six grand up front?” he suggests with a simple shrug.
I …
He…
What?
This is so typical for someone with money. To just act like it means nothing, like it’s not a big deal.
It is a big deal and completely insulting.
Does he think I can’t afford this place?
I’m half tempted to tell him to fuck off and I’ll just cover the bills to prove a point, but fuck … the whole point was to get extra money, and as much as I’d love an extra two grand a month, that number makes me feel like I’m a charity instead of someone helping out someone else.
I could start an argument, but this is the start of a long summer.
“How about one thousand a month?”
He jerks his head back, and this time, it’s as if he’s the one who is insulted.
“Two seems more fitting.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ve looked at the market in this area, and that’s the number that fits.
Not to mention we’ll double the water bill, my daughter will leave every single light on, and I’ll want the AC on all night every night.
Add in the extra feet running up and down the carpet stairs and you’ll need that cleaned when we leave, and more down downstairs.
The dishwasher will run twice as much, and the—”
“Fine.” I hold my hand up to stop him. He’s clearly thought about this. “Fifteen hundred and we leave it at that.”
“But …”
“Please, Declan, just agree with me.”
He pauses, gaze locked on mine for a beat before he nods.
“Alright. This is your house. What you say goes.”
I blow out a breath and look away. Only when I look back, his eyes are still focused on me.
It only increases my awareness of him. Of how it feels like he is trying to read my mind. As if he’s trying to understand me in a way no one ever has.
“What topic is next?”
His question eases the tension in my shoulders, and my breath returns to normal.
“Food. Kids are kids, and if I buy something that Susie wants to eat, let her. Even if she finishes it.”
“Same rules for me with Max.”
“Thank you.”
“Is there anything Max can’t eat? I would assume I’d know this by now, but he’s not with me full time.”
“He’s good. Susie?”
“She’s good too.”
“Next?” I ask.
“I do have a topic, but it’s a little off from all this. What about Max’s dad?”
“Colter? What about him?”
“Does he know that I’m living here?”
I’d called him before I had the conversation with Declan on the patio. He was comfortable with whatever decision I made.
“He’s fine with it.”
“Just like that?”
“Yes. Colt and I have a good relationship. He trusts me and I trust him. He’s a great guy. Not the guy for me, but he’s a good man. And Susie’s mom?”
He doesn’t even look up. “Gave up her right to have an opinion years ago when she told me she didn’t want to be a mother anymore.”
My heart instantly aches for him. For Susie. I hear the pain of what that means. Of the new light this news sheds on the kind of man Declan is.
There are so many things I want to say.
How could she?
What kind of mom doesn’t want to be in their child’s life?
Why did she leave?
But instead I say, “Her loss.”
He glances up. “Yeah. It is.”
The silence falls between us, so painful that my next sentence comes out before I can think twice about it.
“Since the kids have taken over the basement, I guess you can stay up here to watch a movie with me if you want.”
I reach for the remote and turn on the TV.
“Thanks, but I have some emails to go over, so I’m going to head back down.”
“Oh. Okay, yeah.”
He stands. “Let me know if we need to talk about anything else.”
“Okay.”
“Night, Ruby.”
“Good night, Declan.”
He heads back down the stairs and I watch his every step.
I invited him to hang out with me, and he said no.
I should be happy.
But I’m not.