Page 24 of Coming Home to Crumbleton

‘Maybe not tonight,’ she whispered.

After all, what would her parents say if she deserted them on her first night home?! The thought made Ruby snort in amusement. As excuses went, it was a lame one. If she was being honest, they probably wouldn’t even notice if she went out.

Ruby had spent quite a bit of her childhood wishing she had more “normal” parents – but they’d always done things their own way. They encouraged independence – developing self-sufficiency and spending time on interests. They chased their own with zeal and urged her to do the same.

The three of them had lived in this house more like roommates than a family. In one way, it had given her so much freedom… but in another, Ruby just wanted to be able to turn to them about all the usual things. Like boys and broken hearts.

‘Get me out of here!’ she sighed.

She should have put her foot down and told her publisher that Crumbleton was out of the question. But… here she was. Always the good girl - save for that wonderful, brief interlude that had changed the course of her life forever.

Ruby stared at Oli’s note again, letting her eyes linger on every little loop, tail and dot… and then those numbers. She should grab her mobile and call him right now. She should tell him that she wasn’t going to be at the Dolphin and Anchor. She should tell him that she wasn’t even going to be at the signing.

‘Of course you will,’ huffed Ruby, turning over and burying her face in the musty pillows.

Of course she would. Because she was still a good girl… and because, after all these years, she still craved his company. He was like a drug she’d gone cold turkey on – and she didn’t have the strength to stay away from him any longer. Not when she had so many ready-made excuses not to.

A knock at the door made Ruby sit bolt upright.

‘Yep?’ she squeaked, scared that she’d somehow managed to summon him to her door just by thinking about him too much.

‘Rubes – your dad’s off to the chippy over at Crumbleton Sands later to bring back some tea. You want something?’

It was her mum. This was the way it had always been. No family meals… just a kind of free-for-all student set-up.

‘No ta,’ she said, keeping her voice as light as possible. ‘I’ve got to meet Oli later to talk about the signing.’

‘Oh – exciting…’ said her mum.

Ruby held her breath. She wanted to ask if her parents were planning to be there… but she didn’t dare. Mainly because her heart would break a tiny bit if the answer was no – even if it wouldn’t really be a surprise.

‘See you later, then,’ said her mum.

‘Yeah,’ sighed Ruby, ‘see you.’

Blinking hard and telling herself not to be an idiot, Ruby grabbed her phone. She wasn’t going to text Oli - she’d just turn up. At least that way she could back out at the last minute if she needed to.

Instead, she pulled up Caroline’s number.

Don’t worry about the bag. According to the parentals, Oli dropped it over before I got back. He asked me to meet him later at the D&A. What should I do?

She kind of hated the fact that she’d been back all of three seconds and was already deferring to her friend rather than making adult decisions for herself. But still… she needed backup on this particular conundrum.

Go! What have you got to lose?

Ruby cocked her head. It was a good question. Not much other than her dignity - and frankly that was in shreds already.

Kinda excited and dreading it at the same time

She sent the message without thinking about it too much. Two seconds later, her phone vibrated.

Love is in the air!

Ruby’s eyes widened. Nope nope nope. She really didn’t need Caroline saying stupid stuff like that - even if it was just to her. After all, this was Crumbleton. The walls had ears!

All business. Anything else is ancient history that NO ONE needs to be talking about!

Ruby hauled herself off the bed. She needed to find something to wear that hadn’t faced several hours on a train followed by far too much dashing up and down the hill. She’d only just managed to yank the backpack open when her phone vibrated again.

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