Page 123 of Strangers She Knows

That broke Rae’s heart, and Rae knew that Ruby, while putting on a brave face, was hurt, too. She hugged Ruby and looked into her eyes. “I’m sorry about your baby.”

“Thank you, darling girl.” Ruby pushed Rae’s bangs out of her eyes. “When you read about Patrick and Father and how I lost Aileen…it brought it all back. That’s good, to remember what the events of my life have been, the pains and the joys.” She looked up at Kellen, and her lips trembled as she smiled. “I look at you girls and think that Aileen would have grown up as brave and strong as you.”

“So none of it was true? The stuff my mom said? About you being a spy, and Patrick coming for you, and getting married on the ship, and the twins…?” Rae knew Kellen had made it up, but she clung to the happy ending she had demanded for Ruby.

“I’m afraid none of it is true.” Ruby allowed herself a dramatic pause. “Except for the part about being a spy.”

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You know, it was funny. Afterward I thought Ruby’s words were like a hair dryer dropped into a full-of-water bathtub. We all jerked as if we’d been electrified.

The questions started, and everyone was asking.

“You were a spy?”

“You went to Japan?”

“You spied for the US?”

Ruby relaxed against her pillows and beamed at the fervor she’d caused, and for one moment, I caught a glimpse of the determined young woman she had been. “Yes. Yes. And yes. If you’ll recall, General Tempe did ask if I spoke Japanese.”

“He had a job for you.” Rae spread her arms wide. “Tell us everything.”

“If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”

Rae collapsed on the bed in despair.

Ruby laughed aloud and patted Rae’s ankle. “The information has been declassified, and I have a journal that I wrote about my adventures. When I’ve passed, the journal will be yours.”

That was all we could get out of her, and by that time, she was worn out.

We left her to rest, stayed overnight and returned to the attic the next day. Ruby filled in some of the gaps.

After Ruby’s father died and she had returned from her search for Patrick, she realized she couldn’t care for the house and the island, and she needed to sell them. But she’d been confined to her attic for so long, she wouldn’t, or couldn’t, leave. She found a buyer in Elia Di Luca and worked out an agreement that she could remain on the island in her attic for as long as she lived. “Of course,” she said with a smile, “I don’t think he believed I would live so long.”

Inevitably, servants became impossible to find. Hermione had left to get married and returned after her children were grown, to be Ruby’s dear friend and companion. The island caretakers were instructed to care for them. First Olof, then Jamie Conkle, provided them with meals and services.

And that was why I saw Jamie in the mansion. Even after we arrived, she continued to try to care for Ruby.

When Hermione died, her family gave Ruby permission to bury her in the Morgade family plot, and Ruby’s life went on as before, albeit lonelier. It was only when Olympia arrived that the system got fouled up.

“So the Di Lucas knew you were here?” Max asked.

Ruby hesitated. “Perhaps one or two of them. The older ones. I think, for the most part, I was forgotten.”

Max shot a look at Kellen that promised trouble forsomeone.

After Ruby finished her story, Max left to talk to the construction crew. They told him they had been speaking with Ruby. On her death, she wanted the house torn down and all trace of the past erased. She said the ghosts needed to be laid to rest…which made us wonder if Olympia had been crazy after all.

We flew out the next afternoon. Rae offered to leave Luna behind as Ruby’s companion and assistance dog, and Ruby gratefully accepted. She promised not to keep Luna too long; only as much time as it took Luna to heal from her injuries. Ruby said a girl and her dog should be together, and we left them resting on the bed.

After we were away from the island, I asked Rae what Ruby had whispered in her ear. Rae said, “She told me when I wanted to confront you with a grievance, I should do it without an audience, and she told me to think about how I’d feel if you yelled at me in front of my friends.”

Ruby made it so easy for Max and me to be parents to Rae.

The Di Luca family gave Isla Paraíso to the state of California to be used as a wildlife refuge and funded all future research conducted there by UC San Diego. I knew we wouldn’t be visiting again, yet Max, Rae and I would never forget our time there, the bad and the good, the horrors and the glories. There we had become a family.

Back at Yearning Sands Resort, Rae rejoined her friends, went to her camps, got a new phone, declared her life was complete, and on being told in September that Max and I were going to Italy on our honeymoon, threw a massive adolescent tantrum which ended with her being grounded from her friends, her camp and her phone.

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