Chapter 1
ONE
Ransom
I finish off my burger and lean back in my seat as I look around the diner. I’ve been at Nosh for the past hour. It’s pretty empty, probably because it’s close to nine at night, and most people in town are already at home.
Maybe I should ask Ford if he needs any help around here. I might as well get paid for all of the time I’m spending around this place, I think as my eyes track Ruby as she fills up ketchup containers behind the counter.
I study her. I don’t need to, though. I could describe Ruby with my eyes closed. I’ve spent so much time watching her that I could draw her if needed.
Well, maybe not. I’m a terrible artist.
Her brown hair is tied up in her signature ponytail. She always wears it like that when she’s at work and takes it down the second she’s off. I think having her hair pulled back gives her a headache, but that’s just a guess. She’s always rubbing at her forehead when she’s working, though.
I glance at my watch and smile. Nosh is closing in a few minutes, and I’m waiting for that so I can walk Ruby home. It’s been my routine ever since I moved to Wolf Valley. Actually, since before I even moved to this small town.
I had been passing through, on my way back to California and had stopped in town for a bite to eat.
I walked into the Nosh Diner and locked eyes with my curvy little waitress, and that was it for me.
I was hooked. I ate, walked out, and made a call to hire movers to pack up my place in Santa Cruz.
I bought a house here in Wolf Valley and started trying to get to know Ruby.
That was harder than I had anticipated it being. Ruby had her walls up ever since I first met her, and she still hasn’t let me in much in the six months I’ve been here.
It might seem crazy to some people to completely uproot my whole life for a woman that I’ve only said a handful of words to, but I know she’s it for me.
I haven’t regretted it for a single second.
Sure, I might not be as close to Ruby as I would like, but I still get to be around her, and I’m making progress.
I think…
She looks up, and we lock eyes. Her green eyes seem to sparkle, but that could be wishful thinking on my part.
I stand, knowing that she must be ready to close up.
She rolls her eyes at me, but I can see the smile tugging at her lips.
She likes me waiting for her and making sure that she gets home safely.
She just doesn’t want to show it for some reason.
“I’ll close up,” Ford, her boss and the owner of this place tells her as he comes out of the back.
“I think Cameron was still doing inventory in the back,” she tells him, and Ford nods.
“I know.”
Ford looks at me, and I know he wants me to leave so he can be alone with Cameron. The guy is obsessed with her, but he hasn’t told her yet. I guess being her boss might have complicated all of that.
“Come on, Ruby. I’ll walk you home.”
She sighs but grabs her jacket and heads my way.
“Let’s go,” she tells me as she walks past me, and I smile, waving at Ford as I turn and head out after my girl.
“It feels like you’re my bodyguard when you walk behind me like that,” Ruby tells me as I hurry to catch up to her.
“I used to be a bodyguard,” I tell her, and she looks surprised.
I’m not sure why. I’m an open book to her, always sharing stuff about me and my past. I can count the things that I know about Ruby’s past on both hands.
“Yeah, when there were bands or whatever passing through town sometimes, they would hire the security company that I worked for.”
“By security company, do you mean biker gang?”
“It wasn’t really a gang,” I clarify, and she snorts.
“It wasn’t. We just liked riding together,” I insist.
I love motorcycles and everyone who worked at the security company loved them too. We would go out riding together at least once a week. It was a great group of guys, but I was starting to get bored. I was looking for a change of pace. That’s why I was up in Oregon and passing through here.
I got my love of motorcycles from my dad. It was just him and me when I was growing up. My mom ran off with some other man when I was four. I don’t remember much about her and I never tried to find her when I got older. I figured that I didn’t need someone like her in my life.
My dad passed away a few years ago, and I guess I had been drifting ever since. Getting out of Santa Cruz was also because I thought that it was time to get away from all of the old memories.
I’d like to make new memories with Ruby, but she’s going to take some more convincing.
At least I’ve made new friends here in town.
We walk past Foster’s auto shop. Foster is Ford’s twin brother and my neighbor.
The shop is long closed and I’m not surprised.
I’m sure that he’s at home with his girl, Lilliana.
Ruby and I reach the edge of the parking lot and we turn, heading down the sidewalk towards her place.
I send up a silent prayer that tonight is the night that something changes between us as we go.