Page 20 of Rags to Royals

He shoots me a look. “Give us a minute.” Then he strides behind the bar and through a door.

Thirty minutes later, Ruby and Henry emerge from the back room.

It’s clear Ruby has been crying, but it’s also clear that she no longer has lipstick on and her hair is much more mussed than it was before. There’s also definite whisker burn on her neck.

Ruby has her purse and says she got a replacement for the rest of her shift.

So, we follow her Jeep with our rental car into the town of Emerald, Ohio.

To my disappointment, it doesn’t seem that the town has at all embraced the Wizard of Oz theme I was expecting. We pass the turn off to the main downtown area that completely missed the chance to pave Main Street with yellow bricks. Not a single building, least of all City Hall, is painted emerald green either. It’s like they’re actively tryingnotto bring up tornados and wizards and people coming here to figure out that there’s no place like home.

Which would be afantasticmotto for a sweet little town.

We keep driving past a park, the high school, and then into a very typical residential neighborhood. The houses are older but well kept. Most are two stories with wide yards and well-established trees.

We pull up along the curb opposite the pale blue two story with white trim and shutters. It has a huge porch with a white porch swing and an immaculate front flower bed on either side of the porch steps. Ruby pulls into the driveway and then waits at the bottom of the steps for us.

She does not offer me a tour and it’s clear Henry has been here before because he makes himself comfortable in the kitchen, pulling a soda for each of us from the fridge before settling on one of the tall stools at the breakfast bar.

Ruby starts making herself a sandwich. Henry watches every single move she makes. She seems to be trying very hard to ignore him.

Finally, she sighs, sets the knife she’s using down. “Do you guys want something to eat?”

“We’re okay.”

“I could eat.”

Henry and I both answer at once. I frown at him. We haven’t eaten in hours. He rolls his eyes, but gets to his feet and rounds the counter going to where Ruby is standing. He nudges her out of the way and takes over making the sandwiches. She just stands watching him for a long moment, her lips pressed together. Then she turns and looks at me, crossing her arms.

“Scarlett doesn’t want to see you.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“But here you are.”

I nod. “Here I am.”

“This might not go very well for you,” Ruby tells me.

“I understand that. But I can’t go the rest of my life without seeing her again.”

Ruby doesn’t respond to that. But fuck, she looks sad.

I don’t know what’s going on with her and Henry but, damn.

Just then the front door opens and my heart slams against my rib cage.

Scarlett is here.

My heart is clearly refusing to hear everyone telling me that she’s not who I think she is and that she doesn’t want to see me. I want to see her. Ineedto see her.

But the next moment we hear a voice call from the front of the house, “Mom?”

Ruby’s eyes widen. “That’s Mariah! She’s not supposed to be home until later.” She looks around quickly. “Hide.” She points to a doorway.

Henry frowns. “The pantry?”

She nods quickly. “Hurry!”

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