The Loves of Ruby Dee

by Curtiss Ann Matlock

  “Thanks, Dad. I’d really like that, too.” Will’s throat got tight. He thought a minute, then he asked, “Will you stand up and give Ruby Dee away?” He had to ask that, had to have the understanding between them.

  The old man stared at the grass. He nodded. “I’ll do it.” His voice was husky.

  They stood there. Will tore the dried piece of grass into pieces, and the old man spit a stream of Skoal to the side.

  “It’s a good place here,” the old man said. “Got a good view, and yer blocked from the north wind. Land’s good...never been over-grazed, this grass.”

  Will prodded the ground with the toe of his boot. “I’ve been thinkin’ that we could let Lonnie and Crystal come live here, and Ruby Dee and I could come back to the house and live with you...if you’d have us.”

  He hadn’t really known he was going to say that, but once he got started, the words came easy enough. He glanced up, and the old man’s look of surprise made Will feel good. Maybe he’d topped his dad at last.

  The old man didn’t look at him. “It’s an idea,” he said. He cleared his throat. “And maybe you ought to keep on managin’ the Starr, too.”

  “I thought you were gonna close down and disperse.”

  “A man can change his mind,” Hardy said righteously. “Besides, you boys both need jobs, now that yer takin’ on families.”

  “I got this place here,” Will said, “and Ambrose Bell can give both me and Lonnie jobs.” A stubbornness had taken hold of him.

  Hardy frowned and thumped his cane a couple of times. He and Ambrose Bell had always been competitors.

  Will said, “I got a quarter section here that the house sets on. It’s not much, but I’ve also leased six sections of Ambrose’s land.” The old man’s sharp gaze was fixed on him. “All that would be a good addition to the Starr.”

  The old man’s eyes narrowed. “And what does the Starr need with more land? We got enough, don’t need to lease.”

  “If the Starr’s gonna support two growin’ families, it’s gonna have to expand. We got to have at least this house, and we’ll need the land.”

  Hardy looked off in the distance for a minute, and then he said, “All right. You boys are Starrs. You both come back to the Starr, and we’ll work out a partnership. Does that suit you?”

  Will figured that was a lot for the old man to say...a hell of a lot more than Will had ever in his life expected him to say.

  Standing at the screen door, Ruby Dee saw Will and Hardy shake hands. Well, that was something.

  She called, “Coffee’s ready!” and ducked back inside. She didn’t want them to think she’d been spying. She had been trying to listen, but they’d been too far away for her to hear.

  Hardy came in first, and in one quick look she noticed that he looked fine. She had smelled a bit of whiskey when she’d hugged him, but he obviously hadn’t gotten drunk. He sat at the table in one of the two chairs, Ruby Dee took the other chair, and Will leaned against the counter. She had made pan-fried toast and spread it with a little jam—that was about all the food Will had in the house—for she was certain Hardy hadn’t eaten a thing that morning.

  “Dad thinks it would be a good idea for us to get married at the party on Saturday.” Will raised an eyebrow at her.

  “Oh, thank you, Hardy! I was hopin’ we could do that. We can be married under the elm there, Will.”

  Hardy, in typical fashion, pointed out there might be birds in the trees. Will said he would shoot a shotgun in the air right before the ceremony, and his eyes sparkled at her.

  It was going to be all right, she thought.

  Hardy never was one to linger and as soon as he’d had one cup of coffee, he was ready to leave. Will and Ruby Dee walked out to his truck with him, and Ruby Dee said she would be right over to fix him a decent breakfast.

  “It’s goin’ on lunch time, gal,” Hardy said, and then he was driving away.

  Will kept his arm around her as they walked back into the house. “You’re comin’ over with me, aren’t you, Will?” she asked. “We can have breakfast, and I’ll have to see about Hardy’s medicine. And there’s so much left to do for the party, and now, with us gettin’ married...Oh, Will!”

  Chuckling, he reached out and pulled her back against him, kissing her neck. She turned in his arms, eager to see him and to hold him. He gazed down at her and said, “Dad and I have worked out a deal. He isn’t gonna shut down the Starr. And we’ll live over there, Ruby Dee...in the house with Dad, if you want to.”

  Well. She stared up at him, searching his face for a clue as to how he felt about it. Suddenly she didn’t know how she felt anymore.

  She slipped from his arms and went down the hallway to the bedroom, to the cherry-wood bed. She began to make it up.

  Will came to the doorway. “Have you changed your mind about living back there with him? I thought you wanted to,” he said with a confused frown.

  Ruby Dee snapped the sheet and smoothed it. “I did...but you wanted this place. You’ve worked so hard on this house, and you got us this bed.” She straightened, looking at him. “You said you wanted something of your own, Will. I don’t want you to give that up for me, or for Hardy, either.”

  “A man can change his mind,” he said, his lips twitching in a grin.

  She didn’t find that amusing. “Have you changed your mind?” She didn’t see how he could do that.

  He said, “I guess I’ve had somethin’ of my own all along. I’ve had me...and I’ve had Dad and Lonnie. And now I have you.” He came forward, took hold of her arms, and gazed down at her, and his eyes were full of emotion.

  “All I really wanted, I guess, was for Dad to acknowledge that he needs me. He’s done that now. And you know, all these years Dad has held so tight to havin’ something of his own that he’s almost lost what really matters in this life. I don’t want to do that, Ruby Dee.”

  “My goodness, Will Starr...you are somethin’.” She pressed her face against his chest and cried. Then she said, “Will, I want to take the bed. It’s our marriage bed. Could you get it over there tonight?”

  * * * *

  Ruby Dee and Will were married beneath the elm tree in the backyard. Ruby Dee wore the dress she had bought on Monday—she thought it was perfect, even though it was an untraditional flower print of dusky rose and blue. She never had looked her best in white or pastels, and her red Noconas went perfectly with the dress. So did the silver earrings from Hardy.

  He gave them to her right before the ceremony, as she was freshening her lipstick—Dusky Sienna—at the mirror in the kitchen.

  “I have a wedding present for you,” he said awkwardly, and held out a small white box.

  “Oh!” she said when she opened the box. Then she dashed to the mirror to put them on. “Aren’t they wonderful?” she asked, turning her head to him.

  He grunted and nodded. Hardy did not know how to give a compliment.

  Then Crystal was hollering from the porch. “Y’all, everyone’s ready!”

  Hardy went on ahead, and Ruby Dee picked up the bouquet of tiger lilies Lonnie had gotten for her—she had forgotten all about flowers. She couldn’t imagine where Lonnie had found lilies at this time of year. But that he had chosen this flower went to show how well he knew her.

  With her arm through Hardy’s, she walked toward Will. All the guests stood, because they didn’t have enough chairs. Out of the sea of strange faces, Ruby Dee recognized some. There was one of the domino players, and Crystal near the back, because her stomach was unsteady and she might have to duck out. There was Cora Jean, with her long white braid, and a younger woman who must be her daughter. And Wildcat in a sport coat. She almost didn’t recognize him.

  Lonnie and Will wore their best hats for the occasion...and my goodness, they looked handsome in their suits. Lonnie grinned at her.

  Once she looked into Will’s brilliant eyes, she didn’t notice anything else.

  The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur of cake
cutting—Lonnie and Crystal, Will and Ruby Dee together—and eating and dancing. Hardy seemed to get into the swing of being the land baron host. He stayed on his feet, moving among the guests, and he danced a number of times with Cora Jean.

  Sally went quietly beneath all the tables, where she happily feasted on dropped food. Crystal fainted. That scared Lonnie to pieces, but Ruby Dee reassured him that Crystal had simply had too much excitement. They took her inside to rest, Ruby Dee brewed her a cup of saffron tea and Lonnie sat with her.

  Finally it was time for them to leave for their honeymoon—a week of camping down along the Red River. Will could hardly believe Ruby Dee wanted to do this, but she really did.

  “It will be so romantic in my camper—just the two of us.”

  Will liked that idea. And he was amazed when he looked inside her trailer. All these months, and he had never seen inside it. It was like a tiny cottage, all done in royal blue—curtains, slipcovers and pillows.

  Ruby Dee went upstairs for a last-minute check. She stuffed her hair dryer and makeup kit into one of the two bags on the cherry-wood bed. A pair of Will’s jeans lay over the back of the flowered chair, and one of his ball caps hung on the closet doorknob.

  Gazing in the mirror, Ruby Dee brushed her hair and tied it back in a ribbon. She freshened her lipstick, and then paused, looking down at Miss Edna’s urn.

  “Miss Edna...I've finally done it. I’m a married woman, got a home and am workin’ on my babies.”

  “It’s not going to be at all what you think,” Miss Edna said.

  “Nothing is ever what we think, is it?”

  “At least you’ve learned that much.”

  Ruby Dee touched the urn. “I’m not alone anymore, Miss Edna. I have a family.”

  And then Will was calling to her from the stairs. “Are you about ready?”

  She ran her gaze over her dresser—Miss Edna’s urn and her Bible, her mother and father’s picture, her dictionary and the stack of Elvis CDs.

  Will came in and took up the bags. “Got everything you want to take?”

  Ruby Dee glanced back at the dresser, and then she kissed him lightly. “I have everything for now. Everything else will be waitin’ here when we get back.”

  Then they were driving away down the lane, the top down and the aluminum camper jolting behind, Will at the wheel and Sally with her nose stuck out in the wind. Ruby Dee twisted around and looked back. Hardy and Lonnie stood side by side. She waved at them, and they waved back.

  Ruby Dee sat back down, and Will put his arm around her and drew her close. His shirt was crisp against her cheek, and he smelled of sensual aftershave and tobacco, scents that were now sweetly familiar. The sky above was azure-blue and clear, as it had been that first day she had come to the Starr ranch.

  It struck Ruby Dee that she had come up this road the same way, bouncing over the ruts, pulling her trailer and all her hopes and dreams. But then she had been all alone. Now she was with Will. Together they were pulling all their hopes and dreams.

  After two miles, Will stopped, just to kiss her.

  “Promise me to still do that when I’m seventy-five,” Ruby Dee said.

  “I’ll do it as long as I live,” Will promised her.

  Chapter 30

  Nine years later.

  Ruby Dee and Will’s fourth child was born one week before Hardy died, in February.

  Ruby Dee had had three children in seven years, and had decided that was enough. But they’d gotten a surprise in their ninth year. Crystal also had three children in the same amount of time, and Lonnie had had himself fixed so there would be no surprises for them.

  Hardy died peacefully, sat down to take off his boots and fell over dead on the bed. Cora Jean told Ruby Dee that Jooney had died on the same day, so many years before. They buried him in the White Rose Cemetery. Since there were no official plots, and no official grave diggers, either, Ruby Dee asked Will and Lonnie to dig the plot next to Jooney’s. Of course they were curious. She just said that Jooney had been a special friend, and that Hardy would like it.

  “He won’t like being squashed up there next to his parents. You know he hated to be crowded.”

  The afternoon of the funeral was clear and crisp but windless. The sun beat down and warmed the ground. With the fine weather, Ruby Dee didn’t worry about bringing the baby—little Zoe, finally after three boys.

  The funeral was small. Those who had come were loyal friends. Hardy had changed a lot in those last years. He’d taken to playing dominoes twice a week down at Reeves’s Quick Stop; either Ruby Dee or Will would take him. Each Sunday they had a family dinner at the Starr Ranch, and Hardy enjoyed everyone being there, most especially the babies. It was discovered that babies liked him. Whenever one of them got colic or plain fussy, it was Hardy who rocked them. Crystal’s second baby spent a number of nights in Hardy’s arms.

  “I trust Hardy with my baby like I don’t trust anyone else,” Crystal once confided to Ruby Dee. Crystal generally whispered around Hardy.

  That evening, after everyone had finally left and all but the two oldest children, Crystal and Lonnie’s daughter Kendra and Ruby Dee and Will’s son J.W., were asleep, the family gathered around the kitchen table. The table was big, as was the entire house. Will had built on a two-story addition, because he said he needed room.

  On the table was the colorful Whitman’s chocolate tin Hardy had kept in his room. He had left instructions that the box be opened after his funeral. Everyone wondered what was in it, but no one had peeked.

  Lonnie took his finger and scooted the box over in front of Will. He still deferred to his brother.

  Hesitantly, as if a snake might pop out, Will lifted the lid.

  Inside were three envelopes, one addressed simply: To all of you, another with Will’s name on it, and a third with Lonnie’s. Will opened the envelope addressed to them all. As he unfolded the paper, he cast a glance at Ruby Dee, and she laid her hand on his thigh.

  Will scanned the words before he cleared his throat and read aloud. Ruby Dee was already smiling. She could hear Hardy’s voice in every word.

  You all know by now that you have inhairited a lot more money than you thought I had. Ha! on you. If you boys have a problem with me leavin your wives equal shares, too bad. They cooked for me.

  I didn’t put a note in here for Crystal, cause she and I never did talk much anyway. Just so she don’t feel left out, tho, I want her to know I have apresiated her trusting me with her babies.

  I didn’t put a note in here for Ruby Dee, cause she and I most generally said anything we needed to while I was alive.

  Hello, I’m gone.

  —Hardy W. Starr

  They all had to chuckle. And to point out all the misspellings. Crystal said that even if he’d made her nervous, she had liked him, at least after the first couple of years.

  Will and Lonnie set their letters aside, and then, their spirits lighter, they delved into the tin.

  “I can’t see, Mama,” Kendra said as she and J.W. battled for space.

  There was a clean Skoal can containing a lot of baby teeth, surely Will’s and Lonnie’s. There was a pearl-handled pocket knife, and a spoon with the image of a cowboy on the handle. Crystal said it was Tom Mix; she was into collectibles. There was a pair of dice, very old, and a wedding ring, whose no one knew. There were pictures of Hardy’s mother and father—and one of Lila, too. He had scratched an X across her face.

  “She was beautiful,” Ruby Dee said.

  “I can’t believe Dad kept her picture.” Bitterness laced Lonnie’s voice.

  “I can,” Will said, thoughtfully. His eyes met Ruby Dee’s, and understanding passed between them.

  Last, Will picked up a tattered folio and opened it. He looked astonished, glanced from the folio to Ruby Dee. J.W. wormed up beneath his father’s arm.

  “It’s a picture of Mama,” J.W. said, unimpressed. He liked the pocket knife.

  “What?” Ruby Dee craned to see.
>
  The face in the photograph did resemble her. Somewhat. The resemblance startled her. It was an old photograph, from the twenties or thirties, Ruby Dee guessed from the style of the woman’s hair and the picture itself. On the inside of the folio was written: “For my dearest H. S., with love, Jooney.”

  “Good Lord, she looks just like Ruby Dee,” Crystal said.

  “Her hair’s different,” Kendra said, practically.

  Will and Lonnie and Crystal stared at Ruby Dee, as if she had better explain. Ruby Dee sat back in her chair.

  She said, “Hardy and Jooney were lovers when they were young. She died before they got married.”

  Understanding came into each set of eyes, like the dawning of the sun. Ruby Dee kept looking at Will. She couldn’t read his expression. Even after these years, he could hide from her.

  J.W. said, “You mean this isn’t Mama?” He glanced from one adult to another.

  Kendra told him, “No, pea brain. It’s just someone who looked like her.”

  Later the envelopes for Will and Lonnie disappeared. Ruby Dee guessed that Lonnie had taken his with him. She saw Will in their big chair, reading his, when she came into the bedroom after settling J.W. and checking on the two other boys.

  She went over to look down at Zoe in the bassinet. She looked like Ruby Dee, but seemed to have Will’s eyes. She wondered whether they would darken. Each of the boys had her eyes.

  “I sure have more babies than I bargained for, Miss Edna,” she whispered.

  “Don’t put this one in overalls, Ruby Dee. It’ll encourage her to be a tomboy.”

  Fine, Ruby Dee thought.

  Glancing over at Will, she saw him drop his hands in his lap, then lay his head back. She went to him, moved the letter and settled gingerly in his lap. There were tears at the outer corners of his eyes. She pressed her cheek next to his.

  “What did he say?” she asked hoarsely.