Page 35 of Dare to Dance
My decision was made for me when I saw the sign that read “open at six a.m.” I had five minutes, which was plenty of time to grovel to Norma then get a box of donuts. I climbed the stairs two at a time until I reached apartment three. I didn’t have a key. Usually, we accompanied Alex back after our shifts. I turned the knob, but the door was locked. I knocked softly. I didn’t want to wake up the neighbors.
After a minute, I pounded harder. “Norma,” I said loudly. “It’s me.”
Footsteps clobbered up the stairs behind me, followed by voices. Familiar voices. Kross’s voice. Norma’s voice.What the hell?
“You know, Tommy’s friend Trent gives me the creeps,” Norma said. “What if he got a hold of Ruby?”
“That dude gives me the same vibe,” Kross added. “Let’s check the apartment. If she’s not there, then we’ll call the cops.”
They sounded chummy as though they had bonded over coffee. I would strangle Norma if she said anything about Raven to Kross.
When they rounded the banister, Kross’s eyes went wide while Norma jumped at me, throwing her arms around my neck. “Where have you been? I was worried sick, searching everywhere for you.”
“What’s he doing here?” I asked as calmly as I could. “What have you told him?” I didn’t want to bring out my claws, but I had to know what I was walking into.
She let go of me, her pretty face twisted. Yeah, she was ready to chop off my head. On the other hand, Kross’s soft gaze was anything but angry. His mouth twitched with a quick smile, and my belly fluttered.
“I got him out of bed and asked him for help in finding you.” Her tone was motherly. “You didn’t answer me. Where have you been?”
“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later. Right now, I’d like to take a shower,” I said in a snippy tone. Again, I didn’t mean to be all bitchy. I was beginning to worry that if she went to Kross for help in finding me, she might have broken down and told him about Raven. If she hadn’t, then she might if I continued to push Kross away.
“Don’t get any ideas about disappearing again. You two need to talk,” she said firmly as she unlocked the apartment door.
The need to stomp my foot was strong, a habit I’d always had when I didn’t get my way or didn’t want to do something.
Norma crossed the tiny living room to the bedroom. “I’m going to use the bathroom.”
I trudged into the apartment with Kross on my heels. “Don’t wake up Alex.”
“Alex left with some dude last night. She said she would see us at work later,” Norma said loudly from the bathroom.
I was afraid to turn around and look into Kross’s eyes. No doubt I would cave and kiss him or something. Not that there was anything wrong with kissing him. But would he want to kiss me back? His cologne lingered around me, making my cheeks heat up. So I made a beeline into the bathroom. “I can’t be alone with him,” I whispered.
Norma splashed water on her face. “You’ve got to talk to the man.”
“I don’t know where to begin. I’m afraid of what could happen. This isn’t the time, either. I have a job. I’m making money. I need to get Raven back first.”
She snagged a towel off the sink and patted her face. “Life doesn’t work that way. He’s in your life for a reason. That reason is to help you.”
I chewed a nail. “What if he judges me? What if he doesn’t like me?”
“Start at the beginning. Tell him the story. Tell him how mad you still are. Tell him all those things you told me. You did nothing wrong. Life always gets complicated, and Ruby, you’ve had one fucked-up life. Make things right now. He could be your savior.” Sorrow flooded her brown eyes.
I couldn’t argue. I had many things to atone for. More than anything, Raven came first. “I want to be my own savior. I want to prove to myself that I can make it on my own. I’m tired of relying on people to take care of me. My mother did a good job of that, but look where it got her and me.” As much as a knight in shining armor sounded like my ticket to a better future, I had to fix my own depressing plight. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be my own person. I wanted that feeling of confidence back.
“I know, sweetie. But Kross is the father, right? He deserves the truth. At the very least, start a dialogue. Reconnect. Then take it one step at a time. Okay?”
I nodded. One step did sound like something I could do rather than detailing the last four years in one sitting. The nausea building inside me didn’t agree. Or maybe I was just hungry. “If he threatens me again, I’m done.”
“Fair enough. Now, come on. I’ll be in the bakery while you two talk.” She grabbed my hand. “You’ll do fine.”
I wasn’t so sure of that.
Before I could calm my trembling hands, she pulled me into the living room. Kross was leaning against the window that overlooked the street below.
Norma released my hand. “Come get me when you two are done.”
“You can stay,” I blurted out as my pulse quickened. I felt the need to go back an hour to the empty silence of the warehouse, listening to the cat complain. Even turning back time three weeks when Norma and I had been living on the streets seemed like a better option. Sure, being homeless wasn’t easy, but at the moment, it sure seemed easier than what I was facing now.
