The Way You Are

by Carly Fall

  Garrett rounded the corner and grinned, a man with grey hair and wire-rimmed glasses behind him, and Zach and Savannah bringing up the rear.

  “Ruby, this is Doctor Vise. He decided to show up a little early. Doc, this is Ruby.”

  She smiled, hoping to calm her heart before he took her blood pressure. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said, extending her hand.

  Chapter 18

  “Are you sure there’s nothing wrong with her?” Garrett asked as he walked the doctor to the car.

  “I’m certain. She’s fine—just a little bump to the head.”

  “Damn,” he whispered as he ran his hand over his head.

  “So … er … you want her to be hurt?”

  “No. No, of course not. I just don’t want to get on a damn horse.”

  Doctor Vise set his bag in back of the rental car. “I’m not following you, Garrett.”

  He sighed. Of course he didn’t want her hurt, but he had hoped the doctor would tell her to rest for a couple of days so he didn’t have to embarrass himself on a horse. Right now, he’d rather sit in the jungles of Guatemala, sweating and fighting the bugs, than get on the beast.

  He hated admitting weakness. He’d never confessed to his Nana he was afraid to go to school because of the gangs; he’d never acknowledged his fear of the night in the jungle where his life, and the lives of his fellow Marines, had been so drastically altered. Hell, he even had a hard time acknowledging fear was a part of him, but maybe if he hadn’t been such a stubborn ass, he would have pulled the unit out of the area before the explosion. When he lay in bed staring at the ceiling thinking about the explosion, his heart pounded, sweat broke out over his brow, and his stomach clenched, just as it had that night. He’d been very afraid, but just like he had his whole life, he’d pushed past it.

  Straight up, getting on the damn horse scared the crap out of him.

  “She just hit her head pretty hard, Doc, so I was surprised you didn’t say she needed to rest a few days.”

  The doctor nodded. “Well, it would be best if she stayed quiet the rest of the day, but tomorrow, she’s free to move around and do whatever she feels up to.”

  Perfect! Just what he needed—a few more hours to get over his fear of horses. Maybe he’d get online and look at videos on how to get on the damn beasts so he didn’t make a complete ass of himself in front of Ruby. Not that he should care, but for some reason, he did.

  “Sounds good. I’ll let her know. Thanks again for coming out, doc. We appreciate it.”

  He shook the man’s hand and stood in the driveway as the doctor drove away, leaving a puff of dust in his wake.

  He heard Savannah bound up behind him, and a few seconds later, Zach stood by his side.

  “Everything okay with Ruby?” Zach asked.

  Garrett nodded. “Yeah. He said she should take it easy today, but then she’s free to do whatever she wants.”

  “That’s good. I have something I need to talk to you about, but I’m not really sure how to do it.”

  He turned to his friend, the wrap-around sunglasses hiding the white orbs of Zach’s eyes. “What is it? Just say whatever you need to say, man.”

  Zach took a deep breath. “Okay. I saw something in the mirror. It wasn’t good.”

  A slight tingle of panic crawled up his spine. “What? What did you see?”

  “I saw you and Ruby crouched down in the kitchen, your gun drawn. She looked terrified, and you seemed really pissed off.”

  He waited for Zach to say something else, but he remained silent. “And?”

  “And what?”

  “What happened, then?”

  Zach shrugged. “Nothing. I told you, I only see little snippets of stuff. That’s what I saw.”

  “Seriously? That’s it?”

  “That’s it.”

  “How do I know you’re right, that it’s really going to happen?”

  Zach shrugged. “Because I’ve never been wrong.”

  He remembered his friend putting two holes in the man’s forehead.

  Zach whistled for Savannah, who reached his side in seconds. He picked up the harness handle and walked her back toward the house. Suddenly, he turned. “Oh, one last thing. It’s going to snow.”

  Garrett gazed up at the bright blue spring sky—not a cloud to be seen, and the temperature hovered in the mid-sixties. “I think you may be wrong about that one, man.”

  “I’m never wrong,” Zach called over his shoulder as he walked around the side of the house.

  Garrett stood in the driveway, considering the fact that danger might be on the way, if he were to believe Zach. He’d been in the kitchen with Ruby when the doctor had arrived early, and yes, he’d been nervous. Perhaps that was Zach’s vision, but then he remembered they definitely hadn’t been crouched down together.

  As the sun warmed his face, he decided that he could believe the danger coming, but Zach had it all wrong about the snow.

  He turned and went inside, heading for his room, but he met Ruby in the hallway.

  She grinned at him, and he found himself smiling back. She reminded him of sunshine on a winter day—her smile warmed his soul and heated his skin.

  “The doc gave you a clean bill of health, huh?”

  “Yes, he did. Ready to go riding?”

  He took a deep breath, slowly let it out, and shook his head. “I think it would be best if we waited until tomorrow, okay?”

  He couldn’t imagine Ruby getting told no very often, and expected to see her true side. Somewhere behind this sweet girl façade lived a spoiled, rich brat.

  Her face fell, her disappointment evident. “Okay,” she mumbled.

  He waited for the argument.

  “We can go for sure tomorrow?”

  “Um … yeah, s-sure,” he stuttered. “I … um, just thought it would be best for you to take the rest of the day and kick back.”

  She nodded. “I can understand that, but I’m fine. It’s okay, though. We can go tomorrow.”

  As she stared at him, her emerald eyes seemed to bore into his very soul. What was it about this woman that affected him so much? Yes, he preferred a woman with curves, but he’d never really been one for redheads. Yet, Ruby could jack him up physically and scared the shit out of him emotionally with one simple look.

  “You’re really not going to argue with me?” he blurted.

  She shook her head. “No. Joe made it very clear you’re in charge, so what you say goes.”

  “Okay. Good. But you know I’m just here to make sure you’re safe, right?”

  “I know, Garrett. But if it’s all right with you, boss-man, I’d like to cook dinner tonight.”

  “You like to cook?”

  She shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not the best, but I can make a mean Swedish Meatball and some good fajitas, and I’d really like to do something to take my mind off everything. I really get antsy when I sit around.”

  He could relate as he felt the same way. Where Zach seemed content to listen to the television or run his fingers over the braille books he’d brought with him, Garrett needed to be in motion. Ruby had recovered from her let down and grinned at him expectantly. descent

  “I know what you mean. Have at it, Ruby. The kitchen is yours.”

  Chapter 19

  Ruby finished rolling the last meatball and set it in the casserole dish. She poured the sauce over them and turned to check that the oven had properly heated. Satisfied at the reading, she opened it and set the dish on the rack to cook.

  She opened the refrigerator door and noticed a bottle of Chardonnay chilling. Pulling it out, she rummaged through the drawers looking for a corkscrew.

  “Let me help you with that, Ruby.”

  She turned as Garrett came up behind her, his body close to hers as he reached into the next drawer.

  Her heart skipped as she felt the heat from him, and a chill ran down her spine despite it.

  Taking the bottle from her, he set i
t on the counter and worked the corkscrew in. A moment later, the cork popped, and he reached up into the cabinet to pull down a wine glass. The muscles rippled under his skin with each movement, and she tried to tear her gaze away but found it difficult.

  “Here you go,” he said, handing her a full glass.

  “Thank you,” she murmured and took a sip, realizing the glass wasn’t actually glass.

  “What is this?” she asked.

  “Polycarbonate.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Bulletproof material.”

  She studied the glass. It looked like a real glass, but it actually bent slightly.

  “I’m confused,” she said as she squeezed the container. “Why does this house contain bulletproof glasses?”

  Garrett grinned and leaned against the counter opposite her. “This is Joe’s getaway, right?”

  “That’s what you said.”

  “Well, Joe’s an important guy who probably has a lot of people after him.”

  “Like who?”

  Garrett looked around the kitchen as he formulated his answer, and her cheeks warmed and stomach tingled as she stared at him. Visions of their lips meeting danced before her, and a wave of desire rolled through her, sending a chill up her spine. The gorgeous man really threw her hormones into overdrive.

  “Sometimes the less you know, the better off you are. And in this situation, I think that about sums it up. I don’t know much about Joe’s business, and I work for him. You’re a client, so I don’t feel right sharing what little I do know with you.”

  They stood in silence for a moment as she sipped her wine, and he turned to her, his honey-colored gaze shining under the kitchen lights.

  “What I can tell you is that this place is a fortress. The windows are made out of the same material as the glass. The walls are reinforced with steel plates and beams. There’s a gun in every room. Joe didn’t take any chances when he built this house, and if a glass can stop a .22, why not drink out of it?”

  “That would be really amazing if a glass saved a life.”

  “Things like that happen, especially in the military. Guys are saved by crosses, metal lighters … things like that.”

  “Incredible,” she murmured, taking another sip as her imagination ran wild with thoughts of a glass stopping a bullet.

  “So, what did you decide for dinner?” he asked changing the subject on her.

  “Swedish meatballs. They’re in the oven now.”

  “Cool. I can’t wait to try them.”

  She heard Savannah barking outside. “How did Zach lose his sight?”

  Garrett’s face hardened, and gone was the friendly man she’d come to know. The hard ass military guy had taken his place.

  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked,” she blurted. “It’s none of my business.”

  His face softened and he shook his head. “Quit apologizing, Ruby.”

  “You looked like you were so angry, I thought I asked a bad question.”

  “No.” He took a deep breath before he continued. “Zach lost his sight in Guatemala. If I looked upset, it’s because it brings back bad memories for me.”

  Taking a sip of wine to quench the questions, she let him continue.

  “I was in charge of the unit when the explosion that blinded him happened. I feel responsible.”

  Ruby started at him. She couldn’t image the weight of having someone else’s life in her hands, and her respect for Garrett grew even more. Her life had been so cushy; her biggest worries had been her embarrassments. “Why do you think him being blind is your fault?”

  He shrugged. “Because something didn’t feel right that night, and I should have listened to my gut and pulled out my men.”

  She stared at him, unsure of what to say, so she sipped more wine.

  “So, it is my fault. I should have—”

  Placing her hand on his forearm, she shook her head. “Garrett, one thing I’ve learned is you can’t let the ‘should have’s’ and ‘would have’s’ rule the present. There’s a lot of things that we all should have or wished we would have done, but we didn’t. What’s important is the here and now and our future decisions. We can’t live in the past.”

  He stared at her a long while, and then glanced down at her hand resting on his arm. She let it slide off and back to her side. Clearing her throat, she wondered again if she’d said the wrong thing.

  “You’re right,” he whispered.

  A tension brewed between them, an entity she had never felt before. Her heart beat quickly, and suddenly, she became quite warm.

  “But sometimes, we need to right our past mistakes so that we can go into that future without the guilt,” he continued.

  She nodded, wishing she could come up with something from her own life to share with him, something that would help her make her point. However, what did the daughter of a billionaire oil tycoon have in common with a soldier who grew up in the projects of New York? Her problems were trivial compared to what Garrett had been through since the day he’d come into the world.

  “Let me know when dinner is ready, okay?” he said, giving her hand a squeeze.

  As he left the kitchen, she sipped her wine and wished she had the words to soothe Garrett, but she didn’t. What did she know about being in the military, or having someone else’s fate hanging in her hands? Nothing. She only wished she could find a way to make him see that Zach’s blindness wasn’t his fault.

  Chapter 20

  “Well, we’ve got Chess, Uno, or Sorry,” Garrett said.

  Dinner had been just short of magnificent, and he needed to let his belt out a notch. Ruby had turned out to be not only a sweet, caring woman, but one hell of a cook. If she kept serving them meals during her stay, he’d have to lose a good five to seven pounds by the end of the week.

  “Out of those, I’d like to play Sorry,” she stated.

  “I’ll watch,” Zach quipped.

  Garrett rolled his eyes. “Fine. Sorry, it is.”

  He stood and brought the game over to the dining table. The temperature had dropped, and the heat from the fireplace in the living room warmed the kitchen. “What color, Ruby? Red?”

  “Oh, please,” she huffed. “No. Give me green.”

  “Green, it is.” He chuckled, took red for himself, and shuffled the cards.

  They played as Zach stroked Savannah.

  Ten minutes later, no one could ever accuse him of stacking the deck as Ruby kicked his ass. She had every pawn out of Home, while he only had one.

  He drew his next card, smiled, and set it down on the stack.

  “Dammit!” she exclaimed as she read the Sorry card that would send one of her pawns back to her home spot on the board.

  She drew her card and moved one of her pawns.

  Garrett’s next card also read Sorry.

  “No-o!” Ruby wailed as she threw her head back and laughed.

  He chuckled at her competitive streak, sending another one of her pieces back to the starting square.

  “The competition is getting thick in here,” Zach commented while taking a swig of beer.

  Garrett now had three pawns out, while Ruby had two.

  He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She smiled, obviously enjoying herself as she sipped her wine, her cheeks pink as she ran her fingers through her hair.

  They each drew a couple more times, and then it became Ruby’s turn again. She flipped over the card, squealed, and set it down. “Yes!” she yelled, standing so fast, the table wobbled, sending the game pieces all over the floor.

  Gasping, she placed her hands over her mouth, a look of horror coming over her face. “Oh, no!”

  He burst out laughing. Ruby looked as if she’d just committed a horrible crime instead of messing up a silly game. “Relax, Ruby. It’s okay.”

  Zach chuckled. “I guess the game’s over?”

  She plopped down in her chair and put her head in her hands.

  Garrett bent down
and picked up the board and set it down on the table. He then placed his hand on her forearm. “Ruby, it’s okay. It’s just a game.”

  She sighed and smiled, setting her hands on the table. “I know that, Garrett, but I was going to win. I never win at Sorry, and there I was kicking the big, bad Marine’s butt.”

  He laughed again as they both got on their hands and knees and cleaned up the cards and pawns.

  “We’ll play again, Ruby. But I’ll tell you this—I don’t go down without a fight.”

  She grinned, and he couldn’t help but check out her cleavage as she crawled around on the floor toward him.

  “Game on, Marine. Game on.”

  Chapter 21

  Ruby poured herself a cup of coffee and gazed out the kitchen window at the white winter wonderland.

  Zach came in the kitchen and she smiled. “Good morning, Zach.”

  “Hey, Ruby. I smell coffee.”

  “Yes, I just made some. Can I pour you a cup?”

  “That would be lovely, thank you.”

  She turned and grabbed a cup from the cabinet and poured. “Do you take cream or sugar?”

  “No. Just black, please.”

  He sat down at the table and she placed the cup in front of him.

  “There you go. Can you believe it snowed last night?” she asked while taking the chair across from him and then sipped her coffee.

  “Really? Imagine that.”

  “I know. It seems so crazy because yesterday was such a nice spring day. I’m sure it will melt off, though.”

  “How much is there?”

  “Probably about four or five inches.”

  “Savannah will want to play in it.”

  Ruby smiled. Growing up in Dallas, she rarely saw snow. Frankly, she couldn’t wait to get out and play in it, too. “I’ll be happy to take her out.”

  “I’d like to toss a few snowballs around, as well.”

  Garrett walked into the kitchen rubbing sleep from his eyes. As he glanced at them, he seemed surprised to see the two of them up.

  “Good morning,” she said, feeling her face warm. Why did he affect her so much? She felt like a schoolgirl when around him, and her cheeks seemed to be in a perpetual blush whenever she looked at him.