Page 23 of Strictly Friends
MissIda squeezed her eyes shut as if physically pained by Ruby’s words. Then she opened them and searched Ruby’s face with an expression of utter bewilderment. ‘But why in the world would he do such a thing to you and that sweet, darling boy?’
Ruby shook her head. ‘I don’t know. He’s never had the decency to explain why he disappeared. He wrote to me many weeks later to say he was here on Sorrel Island, and that he’d let me know if he moved on. I don’t know if he expected me to follow him out here or what, but I was too hurt and upset that he’d abandoned us to write back.’ She took a deep breath before continuing. ‘And then my parents died suddenly, and after that all I cared about was making sure Jake and I were okay.’
MissIda’s dark eyes were warm with compassion as she gently stroked Ruby’s arm where it rested on the balustrade. ‘I’m so sorry to hear that, sweetheart. Relationships ain’t easy, but you’re here now, so you take all the time you need to work things out with Kenny. How did you leave things with him?’
Ruby sighed. ‘He suggested we take a couple of days to settle in and find our feet and then we’ll meet up again and see how to make the trip work for Jake.’
MissIda looked around. ‘Where is my sweet boy?’
‘Fast asleep.’ Ruby summoned up a weak smile. ‘Between jet lag and eating his entire body weight in food today, he crashed out, and I’ve left him to rest for a bit.’
‘Well, I sure hope he’s hungry when he wakes up because I’ve got Southern-fried chicken on the menu tonight. It always goes down well with my guests – not that I’m getting so many these days,’ MissIda added wistfully.
‘It does seem pretty quiet. Is it because of the time of year?’ asked Ruby.
‘This used to be part of our busy season, but business slowed down some when folks stopped travelling for a while. Even though things are back to normal, we’re still not getting the tourist trade we need here.’
For a moment, the two women contemplated the garden in silence and then MissIda sighed. ‘I don’t mind telling you, Ruby, that if I don’t start getting in more paying guests, I might have to sell up.’
‘Oh no!’ Ruby stared at her in horror. ‘But Paradise Inn is your home, MissIda.’
‘I know, sweetheart, but it’s also a business, and right now there just ain’t a lot of it. This is a big house with land that needs tending, and even though I do as much as I can myself, it takes moneycoming in to keep the place in good shape. But I’m gonna keep praying the island gods will work a miracle and things will pick up.’
She patted Ruby’s arm affectionately. ‘I’d better go see if Narita’s here to help me set up for dinner. She’s Zeke’s granddaughter, you know, and she helps out a few evenings a week.’
As MissIda made to leave, she turned back with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
‘Don’t forget, Ruby, you’re on Sorrel Island, and I know you and Kenny will work things out just fine. He’s made mistakes, but the Kenny I know is a good man. There’s no shortage of pretty girls on the island and if the man is still single after all these years, who knows? Maybehisheart already found its twin.’
Ruby stared at MissIda in frustration. The woman was a completelyhopelessromantic! Had she evenhearda single word of Ruby’s explanation?
‘Miss—’
MissIda cut her off with an easy chuckle. ‘I need to get on, sweetheart. My Southern-fried chicken ain’t gonna cook itself!’
16
‘Comeon, Jake, you’ve been stuck on that page for ever! Look, if you focus on your reading and get through the chapter, I promise we’ll go down to the beach.’
Speaking from her vantage point on the sofa, from where she had been monitoring her son’s less than stellar performance that morning, Ruby returned Jake’s obdurate stare with an unyielding one of her own. After three days of leisure to recover from jet lag, Jake’s grace period was over, and it was time to start work on his school assignments. MrHinton had proved surprisingly cooperative about allowing the boy out of school for an extended period, and Ruby had no intention of abusing his trust.
Jake sighed and kicked his legs into the space under the desk. ‘But, Mum, it’sboring! Can’t we go to the beach now? I’ll read this later, Ipromise!’
‘We agreed that mornings are going to be for your schoolwork, and I’m not budging.’ Ruby frowned, her tone non-negotiable. ‘I promised MrHinton you would keep up with your work, and the last thing I want is for you to fall behind in class because I brought you out here. This week is half-term, so you’ve only got the book report to do, but you still need toreadthe book before you can write about it! Please, buddy, the sooner you finish that chapter, the sooner we can get on with the rest of our day.’
Jake grumbled under his breath but returned his attention to the open book in front of him. Ruby picked up the chunky novel she had brought with her, only to toss the book aside a few minutes later. Jake wasn’t the only one struggling to concentrate, and it was proving a challenge to focus on the seventeenth-century English love story while Ruby was on a tropical island dealing with her own twenty-first-century relationship. With Jake now engrossed in his book and Ruby not wanting to distract him, she quietly slipped off the sofa and stepped out on to the balcony.
It was another bright day with beautiful blue skies, and Ruby ran her hands through her braids and lifted her face to the sun. In the short time they’d been on the island, the strong Caribbean sun had already darkened her skin tone and she stretched luxuriously, loving the sensation of heat on her bare arms.
Now they were past the initial thorny meeting with Kenny, not only did Ruby feel more relaxed, but Jake also seemed to have adapted well, and the speed with which he had accepted Kenny back into his life had been remarkable. Other than his dogged insistence that she send for Jellybean, her son was displaying none of the anxiety that usually accompanied changes to his routine.
Ruby slipped her phone out of her pocket to remind Griffin of his promise to courier the toy rabbit and then remembered the time difference. He was unlikely to welcome a phone call so early in the morning, but if she didn’t do it now, she risked them both forgetting. She tapped out his number and huffed when the call went straight to voicemail.He’s probably shacked up with Shirlee’s successor, Ruby thought irritably, typing out a short text instead.
There was one person Ruby knew would be awake, and that was Fi, who rarely slept for more than four or five hours a night. She dialled the number and, right on cue, her call was answered on the second ring.
‘Hi, Rubes!’ Fi’s voice sounded even deeper across the phone line.
‘How did you know it was me?’ Ruby asked in surprise. ‘I’m using a local routing number.’
