Page 63 of Strictly Friends
‘Well, I’m glad he’s happy,’ said Ruby truthfully, even if she did feel an occasional pang that her erstwhile suitors had moved on. First Mac, and now Kenny, she thought ruefully.I really have a gift for getting rid of any man who’s interested in me.
Just then Jake burst through the kitchen door and raced up to his mother.
‘Hey, buddy, what’s up?’ Ruby ruffled his hair affectionately. ‘Gosh, I swear you’ve grown a couple of inches in the past few months! Have you finished your homework?’
He nodded. ‘I wrote all about different types of boats and printed off some pictures from the computer to stick into my book.’
‘Sounds great. I’ll take a look when I come upstairs.’
‘I told Oliver that my dad owns the biggest boat out of anybody in school,’ he added gleefully, and Ruby sighed, unable to deny that this time Jake was probably right.
Before she could launch into a lecture on the evils of bragging, Jake said with a wheedling smile, ‘Mum, can I get a dog?’
Startled, Ruby stared at his upturned face. ‘Adog? You don’t even give poor Indie the time of day! You’ve always said you didn’t want a pet because you were afraid it would die, and you’d be upset.’
‘Yeah, but things are different now,’ he insisted.
Ruby scoured his determined expression, marvelling at Jake’s transformation since their trip. His anxiety seemed to have disappeared, and while MissIda would no doubt credit the healing power of love, it did look as though both Kenny and the legendary gods of Sorrel Island had been putting in some work on her child.
‘Jake, what’s brought all this on?’ Ruby asked in amusement.
‘Mum, you can’tnotdo things because you’re afraid,’ Jake said decisively. ‘That’s what Auntie Shirlee says, and she’s right.’
Ruby froze, her breath catching in her chest. It took her almost a minute to speak and, when she did, her voice emerged unnaturally high. ‘Auntiewho?’
‘Auntie Shirlee – you know, Uncle Griffin’s friend. So, can I get a dog?’
Griffin and Shirlee?!Ruby’s pulse started racing so quickly her heart felt like it would explode inside her chest.Griffin was back withShirlee?
Taking one look at Ruby’s stunned expression, Auntie Pearl intervened. ‘Jake, your mum and I will think about it. Now go upstairs and change into your pyjamas.’
Vaguely aware of her aunt shooing Jake out of the kitchen, Ruby stood rooted to the spot in disbelief. Blindsided by the revelation that Griffin had moved on – and withShirlee– she felt as if she’d been punched in the stomach.How could I have got it so wrong?she wondered in bewilderment. She had dismissed Fi’s speculation that Ruby was just one in a long list of women, but clearly it was Ruby who had once again misread the truth of her relationship withGriffin. Even as the rational part of her brain pointed out that it had been months since they’d spoken and the chances were high that Griffin would be seeing someone else, Jake’s words had ripped open the wound Ruby had convinced herself was healing. A wave of anguish swept over her, and she slumped, defeated, against the kitchen counter. Had the passion she and Griffin had found in each other that fateful night at the beach, the magical kisses they had shared and – andeverythingthat had happened between them and meant so much to her been nothing more to him than an opportunistic grab, and now water under the bridge? Because if Griffin had moved on so easily that he was already back in Shirlee’s arms – and clearly unfazed by the woman’s dodgy feet, Ruby thought cattily – then Fi had been right to point out what Ruby should have always known. That Ruby had been simply the latest in a very long line of women falling hook, line, and sinker for Griffin Koinet.
Auntie Pearl cautiously closed the door behind Jake and turned back to Ruby, her eyes brimming with sympathy.
‘Now listen to me, Ruby—’
Guessing what was coming, and in no fit state to hear the details of Griffin’s love life, Ruby cut her off abruptly.
‘I’m fine, Auntie Pearl, honest. Whatever Griffin gets up to is none of my business any more, and I don’t need to hear it.’
Auntie Pearl looked distressed. ‘But, Ruby—’
Ruby shook her head and bent to kiss her check. ‘Please, Auntie, I don’t want to talk about him. I’ve got an early meeting tomorrow, so I’ll say goodnight now.’
Willing herself to make it to the kitchen door and up the stairs, Ruby maintained her composure all the way to her room, where her knees buckled, and she collapsed on to her bed. So much for thinking she was over him when there was clearly no expiration date on heartbreak, Ruby thought, as she tried – and failed – to hold back the tears streaming down her cheeks and soaking her pillow.
44
‘I’m almost scared to ask, but do you want to come with?’
From her seat at the conference table in Fi’s office, Ruby looked up from the marketing analytics reports she’d been reviewing to squint at the square white card embossed with gold letters that her boss was holding up.
‘What’s it for?’ It looked like an invitation, but Ruby was too far away to make out the words. ‘If it’s another product marketing event, then I’ve had enough soggy crisps and cheap wine to last a lifetime, so no thanks.’
Fi hesitated, and then read aloud from the card. ‘You are warmly invited to the launch of the Marilyn McColl Koinet Music Heals Foundation. Please join us to learn more about the work of the foundation and—’
It took a minute for Griffin’s mother’s name to register before Ruby cut in. ‘The Marilyn McCollwhat?’
