Page 48 of Just Like in the Movies

Becca wasn’t the only one who was going to die now.

‘Mom?’ he barked into the mouthpiece.

‘Luke, my darling, it’s so wonderful to hear your—’

The fury surged. ‘I’ll call you back,’ he interrupted the effusive greeting. Did she really think he was going to let her get away with this? ‘But don’t you dare call this number again or there will be consequences. Do you understand?’

‘Luke? What are you—’

He dropped the phone and clicked off the handset. Then clicked it on again to block any return calls. He knew his mom: consequences – especially unspecified ones not written in blood – weren’t an effective deterrent. And getting a busy signal when she was intent on contacting someone was the one thing guaranteed to drive her nuts.

Deal with it, Mom. While I deal with the fallout from your latest emo-bomb.

He dumped the handset on the bar.

‘Luke!’ Ruby’s waterlogged eyes had gone wide with shock. ‘Why did you speak to your mother like that?’

‘Don’t worry, it’s how we roll,’ he said, cutting off that line of conversation, because the last thing he wanted to do was discuss his dysfunctional relationship with his mom, or give the woman who had put that sad look in Ruby’s eyes a single extra ounce of attention.

Ruby wasn’t a crier – she was tough and tenacious and brave. She didn’t do fake emotions. But his mother made a living out of them. And Ruby was a babe in the woods when it came to dealing with his mother’s particular brand of emotional manipulation.

Keeping his hand on her shoulder, he leaned past her to grab a couple of paper napkins out of the dispenser on top of the bar. He dabbed her cheeks. ‘Now, tell me the truth – are you okay?’

A new wave of tears flooded over her lids and she gave a little hiccup. Then she shook her head.

‘I guess not. I’m sorry, it’s silly, really,’ she said, taking the wad of napkins from him and scrubbing her own cheeks. ‘I didn’t mean to make such a scene,’ she added, tangling the damp tissue in her fingers. ‘It’s just so hard sometimes. I miss him so much. But it was nice to talk about Matty with your Mum, really it was. I think she’s the only person who misses him as much as I do.’

‘Uh-huh.’ He nodded back, struggling to sound sympathetic while the fury choked him.

So his mom had called the theatre to share reminiscences with Ruby about a guy she hadn’t contacted in thirty-one years? Like hell. He had no idea what his mom’s true motives were, but he wasn’t buying the let’s-share-our-pain one for a second. He’d have to deal with that melodrama another time though, because first he had to take the devastation out of Ruby’s eyes.

‘Could you use a hug?’

The flash of shock at his offer made him feel like an asshole.

It was true, he wasn’t a natural-born hugger, but he did make important exceptions. Like when Becca’s hamster had been eaten by the ginger tom his mom was starring opposite during the shoot of a low-budget kids comedy in Spain, or when his brother Jack’s dad Bill – who they had all adored – had died tragically during a storm at sea off the coast of Maine ten years back, or when his mom had won her second Tony a year ago. Although he really wished he hadn’t made an exception on that occasion when the stolen shot of the two of them backstage had been juxtaposed with clinch shots of his mom and Falcone in their only movie together and gone viral as a creepy, vaguely incestuous meme with the tagline ‘Helena Devlin: Being only as old as the man you feel’.

His mom, of course, had adored that meme. ‘I do love to be current.’

‘You don’t mind?’ Ruby said, clearly concerned she would be taking advantage of him again.

And he wanted to kick his own ass for making her scared to touch him that morning.

‘Nope,’ he said, spreading his arms wide and tugging her into his body.

She stepped into his embrace, tucked her head under his chin and ran her own arms around his waist to hug him back. Her fingers trembled as she clung to him. The silent shudders while the last of the storm battered her, had his heart rising into his throat. He rubbed her back and racked his brain for something to say, that might alleviate at least a little of her grief.

But really what was there to say? Her loss was huge. She hadn’t just lost her best friend, she was about to lose her job and her home. Not for the first time, the thought of loaning her the money she would need for the debt skimmed through his consciousness. But he forced himself to let it pass by and land back in the box marked Bad Ideas.

He was entangled enough in this situation already. And loaning her the money might solve the immediate problem, but it would only create more problems down the line. He was going to be gone in four weeks at the most – after checking the repairs that needed doing, he’d decided to extend his stay through the end of May – but come June 20th, Ruby was still going to have a stark choice.

He couldn’t replace his uncle as her guardian angel, he just wasn’t cut out for the job.

The shuddering finally stopped as the storm passed. Ruby’s deep sigh against Luke’s neck sent a cloud of her scent – floral sin and rose shampoo – into his nostrils. His hands tightened on her lush curves, before he forced himself to let her go and step back.

She looked at him through tear-gilded lashes. ‘Thank you, I think I needed that,’ she said, the embarrassed heat in her face, and the honesty and integrity in her gaze only making her more luminous.

‘You’re welcome,’ he said. ‘You want to take a break for the rest of the day?’ he asked. ‘I’m sure me and the rest of the crew can handle the clear up.’

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