Chapter 14
Ruby didn't talk much on the drive to Daylesford, the quaint spa town an hour from Melbourne.
Thankfully, Jax understood her need for silence and he respected it, humming softly to old eighties songs as he drove. Apart from the occasional glance at her, he focused on the road, his single-minded concentration probably indicative of everything he did.
She squirmed, not needing much to remind her of what he'd said at the register office.
You won't be wearing it long.
She should've known a commanding guy like him wouldn't take no for an answer. He probably saw her refusal to sleep with him as a challenge, hence his, 'It'll be late by the time you finish seeing your sister, so we'd better stay over in Daylesford.'
Sure, he'd masked it in subtle caring, but she'd seen right through his act. And that had been before the kiss at the ceremony.
Damn him for making every cell in her body throb in anticipation when she didn't want to do anything but focus on the task at hand.
Seeing Sapphire and delivering the ‘good news’ before it hit the papers or she heard it second-hand.
"Is this the place?"
Ruby squinted at Tenang scrawled in flowing duck egg blue against an ecru background.
Tenang meant tranquil in Malay and Sapphire needed that.
Tranquillity, peace, a haven away from the burden she'd been carrying this last year.
Making Seaborn viable had been highly stressful—she should know considering the lengths she'd gone to to save the business—but dealing with grief over their mum's death when Sapphire had been so close to her, keeping the secret of Seaborn’s imploding financials from her…
Yeah, her sister had been an emotional breakdown waiting to happen.
In a way, the chronic fatigue symptoms had been a blessing, a warning before she collapsed or, worse, actually had a complete breakdown.
Ruby hoped the news she had to deliver wouldn't set Saph back; or cause a relapse.
"Yeah, this is the place.” Ruby pointed to the right. "You can park there."
Jax followed the long, winding driveway shaded by towering pines before pulling up alongside the main entrance.
Nerves pinched her gut as he killed the engine.
"You sure you don't want me to come in with you?"
She wasn't sure of anything, least of all the wisdom of marrying the enemy and then having to tell her sister.
She gnawed on her bottom lip and nodded. "It'll be easier if I see her alone."
She could just imagine the look on her sister's face if she walked in with him and introduced Jax Maroney.
Ruby herself had nearly collapsed from shock that first night at the showroom, so what would it do to Sapphire?
She fumbled the seat-belt release and he reached across and pushed the button, stilling her shaky hand.
"Take as long as you like, I'll be waiting."
She'd never heard him anything other than cool and in control, so the unexpected hint of emotion in his voice almost undermined her completely.
She bit her bottom lip and nodded, hoping she wouldn't cry, hoping he wouldn't ask again if she wanted company, because this time she might capitulate and say yes.
Before he could show another glimpse of his surprising tender side, she opened the door, wobbled on her stilettos for a second, straightened her sheath, and rushed towards the front door.
Ruby had been thankful Jax offered to drive her to Tenang after the wedding but after glimpsing his unexpected caring side, she wasn't so sure.
She could handle being married to a recalcitrant grump. A sexy guy with hidden depths, not so much.
The last thing she needed, to feel anything other than reluctant lust for her new husband. Not worth the angst falling for someone unattainable, and that label fitted Jax Maroney. Emotionally repressed, a loner who guarded his heart as much as his past, he'd be the last guy she should fall for.
She could be grateful he had a soft side, but mistaking it for anything other than a guy looking after his investment would be foolish.
With a wistful sigh she didn't dare interpret, she entered the foyer, peace instantly enveloping her. She'd initially been wary about her citified, savvy sister spending time at a place like this to recuperate, but her doubts had been assuaged when she'd dropped Sapphire off.
An appealing mix of five-star hotel and luxury health retreat, Tenang oozed tranquillity, the perfect place for stressed-out executives to find their zen.
Being surrounded by all this muted music and pastels and soft voices would drive her nuts, but Sapphire seemed happy and that made Ruby want to weep in relief.
Saph had been here five weeks, and every time they spoke her go-getter sister seemed stronger, brighter, and more like her old self: confident, fit, ready to take on any challenge and win.
After checking in with the smiling receptionist, Ruby slipped a visitor's lanyard around her neck and headed for the sprawling rear garden where her sister would be reading by a mineral spring.
The cushion-covered, wrought-iron bench strategically placed beneath a weeping willow offered solitude and privacy, and had become Sapphire’s favourite spot.
Ruby ducked under the branches and smiled when she spotted her elegant sister wearing a designer leisure suit sprawled across the bench, the autobiographies she favoured shielding her face.
"Hey, bookworm."
Saph peeped over the top of her book, her eyes lighting with pleasure. "Hi, Rubes, good to see you."
"You too."
Sapphire shifted so Ruby could sit and hug her. "You didn't have to get dressed up to visit."
Ruby mumbled, "You don't know the half of it," before pulling up her big-girl panties. Sapphire deserved the truth. Now.
"I've got something to tell you, Saph, and I want you to promise you'll hear me out."
Sapphire frowned. "This doesn't sound good."
Ruby fixed a bright smile. "It's all good."
"Yeah? Then why are you shredding the hem of that gorgeous sheath?"
Ruby stopped fiddling by clasping her hands and resting them in her lap. “What I have to tell you is pretty big, Saph."
Her sister paled. "Has something happened at Seaborn? Was the spring collection a flop?"
Sapphire twiddled her thumbs, a nervous habit she'd had since they were kids, and Ruby unclasped her hands to cover Saph’s with hers.
"Stop stressing, it's not good for you. Seaborn is fine."
At least, it would be now that Jax wouldn't be undercutting gem prices and driving them out of business.
Sapphire's thumbs stilled. "Then what?"
Despite mentally rehearsing a million ways to break the news to her sister on the way here, Ruby knew there’d be no easy way to say this.
She took a deep breath, blew it out, and blurted, "I'm married."
Sapphire's jaw dropped. "You're what?"
Bracing for the worst once she dropped the rest of her bombshell, Ruby squeezed Sapphire's hands and released her.
"I met someone on that pearl expo trip to Broome, and we've been doing the long-distance thing since then."
Bewilderment warred with hurt in Sapphire's expressive blue eyes.
"Why didn't you say something?" Sapphire shook her head. "For goodness sake, Rubes, we tell each other everything, how could you do something like this without me?"
Not everything.
Her sister had kept their precarious position from her for almost a year and it still stung.
With only eighteen months between them, they'd always been close, and Sapphire lying by omission the past twelve months didn't make it any easier now Ruby had to return the favour.
Pain ripped through her at the thought of the practised lies she'd have to tell many times over the course of her fake marriage.
"It was all about timing. We really wanted to do this now—"
"You're pregnant!"
"No."
Though the rest of what she had to reveal would be more shocking. "You know I'm not the big, fancy wedding type. Registry office is much more my style."
"At least you looked the part." Saph's begrudging admission alleviated some of the tension as she checked out her outfit. Her admiring gaze stalled on the pearls and she blinked rapidly. “You wore Mum's pearls."
Ruby's hand fluttered towards them, stroking the silky smoothness like a good luck talisman. "Wearing them made me feel closer to her."
Sapphire sniffed and reached out a finger to touch one. "She would've been so happy for you."
"Are you?"
Sapphire managed a watery smile. "If you're happy, I'm happy."
"I am."
Happy she'd found a viable solution to save Seaborn, happy she'd finally shouldered some responsibility for the family business, happy she could fulfil their mother’s dying wish.
Sapphire tweaked her nose, as she'd done countless times growing up, the familiar gesture not helping Ruby’s precarious emotional state. "Who's the lucky guy?"
Ruby curled her fingers into her palm to stop from fiddling, took a deep breath, and blurted, "Jax Maroney."
Sapphire parroted her, silently mouthing his name, the quiet punctuated by warbling magpies and the burbling of the spring spilling over rocks smoothed by time and erosion.
Sapphire didn't move, her utter stillness frightening. With that blank stare and expression, she'd gone into shock.
Ruby grabbed her hand and rubbed it between both of hers. "I know this is a surprise—"
"You don't know anything." Sapphire yanked her hand away, her accusatory gaze slicing through the rest of the platitudes Ruby had planned on delivering. "You're crazy if you think for one minute I believe any of this crap.”
"It's true." Ruby spoke softly, hoping her calm would translate.
By the angry flush staining Sapphire's cheeks, it hadn't.
"I may have pushed myself too hard over this last year and ended up with chronic fatigue, but I'm not a moron." Sapphire jabbed a finger in her direction. "You, on the other hand, would have to be the biggest moron on the planet to marry Jax Maroney."