by Layla Holt
Dean could never picture her anywhere else but in Lockwood.
“By the way, Leah came to see me,” Ruby continued.
It took a few seconds to catch up with her. He’d forgotten that particular perk of Ruby’s. She changed topics without warning. Dean only knew one Leah and he didn’t think she and Ruby knew each other. “Leah?”
“Yes, your soon to be sister-in-law. She’s lovely,” Ruby said and went on to explain how they had met in the elevator in Dean’s office.
It seemed so long ago and it was less than a week ago. He remembered how he had lashed out at her and grew ashamed. “I’m sorry about that day, I shouldn’t have been so rude. It was unfair.”
Leah took a sip of her coffee. “You had every right to be angry.”
Maybe so but he had always banked on his composure in his work. He’d been disappointed that he couldn’t do the same when it came to his personal life. He didn’t want to think or talk about the past. He stared at Ruby and was unable to picture her in New York.
“Tell me about your life in New York,” he said.
“What do you want to know?” Ruby said.
“Demystify the celebrity life,” Dean said.
She let out a sharp laugh. “I’m hardly that. I never reached the heights of modeling that I hoped to.”
That was one of the things he had liked about Ruby. She never lied to herself or to other people. She said it as it was, even when it was personal and difficult. Like now. Dean knew very few people who would make such an admission.
“But other opportunities keep coming up and I’m determined to take all of them,” she continued.
“Megan told me she saw you in a movie,” Dean said.
Ruby laughed. “She’s very keen. The parts I’ve done so far have been tiny. A few seconds long at the most but it’s a start.”
“And then there’s your jewelry,” Dean said. She’d made pieces for everyone. His mother, Megan and his grandmother before she passed on.
“Ah yes,” Ruby said. “I’ll concentrate on that while I’m here. I’ve neglected it and it keeps me sane. Enough about me, what about you Dean?”
He shrugged. “There’s not much to tell. Life doesn’t change much in Lockwood.”
Her gaze bore into his. “Why didn’t you marry?”
“You have to find someone before you marry,” he said, his tone casual.
“I’ve seen pictures of you and your brothers online. The most eligible bachelors in Lockwood. You’re not short on admirers,” Ruby said.
He had not believed that a person’s heart could belong to another human being permanently. That it could stay locked and unyielding, refusing to warm up to other women. The moment he had seen Ruby at her parents’ funeral, his heart had thawed. He had started to feel, something he had thought was gone forever.
“It’s not easy finding the right person,” Dean said. “Are you seeing someone in New York?” She hadn’t hinted at someone but it wouldn’t hurt to know.
“No, I haven’t been in a relationship since I left Lockwood,” Ruby said. “Dean, I didn’t leave Lockwood because I stopped loving you.”
Did she know what she was saying? It wasn’t fair to say such things. She couldn’t possibly love him. If you loved someone you didn’t run away from marrying them. He sipped his coffee. It had grown cold. His phone vibrated and broke the silence between them. He reached into his pocket for it and answered.
It was Adrian. “Mother wants to know if you’re coming for dinner.”
“Tell her I’ll be there,” Dean said and disconnected the call.
“Friday dinner?” Ruby said.
He nodded. “You can come if you like.”
She made a face. “I’m not that brave. Say hello to all of them.”
“I will,” Dean said and pushed his chair back to stand.
RIPPLES OF LAUGHTER met Dean when he stepped into his parents’ home. The gloom that had descended onto the household after his father’s stroke had dissipated and it was due to one person. One little person to be precise. Matt Cohan, his older brother Adrian’s surprise baby.
Then there was the upcoming wedding between Adrian and Leah, Matt’s mom. Dean was pleased that it had worked out for them. He’d been in on it from the beginning when Leah returned to Lockwood with nine-month-old Matt. To say that they had all been surprised was an understatement.
He followed the happy voices to Matt’s playroom. They didn’t notice him at first as he stood leaning on the doorway. Matt’s blond head emerged from one of the many tunnels of the jungle gym and everyone cheered.
Dean’s gaze settled on his father and his throat tightened. He had lost so much weight and anyone who had known him before his stroke would be forgiven for not recognizing him. The left side of his face drooped slightly and he still could not speak.
He had refused to cooperate with the speech therapist when he first came home but he had a few sessions every week and it was helping. His mother had lost weight too but the strained look was gone from her face. They had Leah and Matt to thank for that.
Jaime was the first to notice him just as Dean was removing his Nikon camera from its case. “You missed seeing Matt trying to go up the climbing wall.”
Dean laughed at the image of fourteen-month-old Matt trying to climb the wall. It would take another couple of years for him to do that.
He said hello to everyone whilst his finger clicked away. He caught his mother’s affectionate look as she looked at him and his father’s frown. He’d always hated having his photo taken.
He moved the lens to his older brother Adrian. He was the only one not looking at Matt. He had a soft look on his face and he was staring at Leah. Dean zoomed in on Leah. Her gaze was on Adrian. Her eyes held a look of pure love. Dean sucked in a quick breath.
He knew what it felt like to love someone so completely that nothing else mattered when you looked at them.
He took the picture and moved on to his next subject. Jaime. He grinned at Dean and gave him a thumbs up and then dipped his hands into the pockets of his oversized shorts.
After taking several pictures of Jaime, Dean shifted the lens to the twin brothers, Lance and Sean, standing side by side. Lance gazed back at the camera defiantly, as if he wanted to punch it. That was the same way Lance approached life. With an aggressive attitude. He went after what he wanted as if his very life depended on it.
Sean wore an open happy face. He loved life and it showed in his life. He was smiling at the camera. Sean was always smiling.
“You were almost late,” his mother said.
“I was helping out Ruby in the bakery,” Dean said as crouched close to Matt to take a picture. He’d saved the best for last.
His words were met by silence.
“I heard that she was back. How long is she staying?” Sean asked. “I’d like to see her.”
“She’s staying until we can get a buyer for the bakery,” Dean said. He knew what his family thought of Ruby and he didn’t blame them.
A soft knock came on the door and their father’s nurse peered in. “I’m afraid I’m going to take Mr. Cohan away from you,” she said and smiled. “It’s his dinner time.”
“Yes of course,” their mother said and the nurse entered and wheeled him away. She turned to Dean when the door shut after the nurse. “You be careful Dean.”
“What’s the worst that can happen mother?” Jaime said. “She already left him at the altar.”
A look of horror came over his mother’s face.
“It’s fine,” Dean said. “But Jaime’s right. The worst that could happen already did, besides that’s the past and we’re friends now.”
“She’s making Leah some jewelry,” Adrian said.
His mother smiled. “Yes, she was very gifted with her hands. She made Megan and I the prettiest pieces.”
Dean stared at his mother. “She knows that she hurt the whole family and she’s very apologetic. She passed her regards to you all.”
His mother’s face closed up. Dean sighed. His mother was not going to forgive Ruby any time soon.
Chapter Six
Ruby stepped onto the main café floor for the tenth time that day. Any excuse to catch a glimpse of Dean. She followed him with her eyes as he made his way to the cashier desk. She met him there, with the pretense that she needed to empty it.
He looked up and smiled.
Her heart did somersaults in her chest. Harmless fun, she told herself. “How is it going?” she said.
“Good. A little busy but it’s winding down,” he said and arranged notes of change.
She watched him as he made his way between the tables, feeling like a real weirdo but unable to stop herself. He gave a man the change and gathered the dirty dishes on the table. He couldn’t find her in the same spot, Ruby thought and turned to leave. Now that would be embarrassing.
She saw it then. The older couple seated in the table she and Dean liked, next to the window. The man pushed his chair back and his head flopped forward. Dean must have seen it too because in seconds, he was by their side. The man staggered to his feet and the woman stood up, a terrified look on her face.
She went to him and rubbed his back. He made as if to speak but no sounds came from his mouth. Ruby’s whole body trembled and her legs wouldn’t move. The next few seconds passed by as if in slow motion. Dean stood behind the man and wrapped his hands around his chest.
The man who could not be described as a small person seemed to grow limp as Dean performed the Heimlich maneuver on him. Please let him live, Ruby prayed, over and over again. Nothing like this had ever happened in the bakery café while her father was alive.
It seemed to go on forever. There was no movement or noise in the café. Then the man coughed and whatever was lodged in his throat cleared.
“Oh my God,” Ruby said over and over again.
Dean helped the man back to his seat as everyone clapped and cheered. White faced and with nausea rising up her throat, Ruby fled to the back office. She grabbed her bottle of water from the desk, and tipped the bottle into her mouth.
The door to the office opened seconds later and Dean entered. “Are you okay? I saw you rush back here.”
“I thought he was going to die,” Ruby said. “I’m sorry I was so useless, I couldn’t even move from where I stood.”
“Hey, come here,” Dean said and opened his arms.
She took a step to him and he folded her into his arms. He rubbed her back with one hand and held her tightly with the other.
“People react to shock in different ways,” Dean said.
She felt like a complete fool. Instead of going to help Dean, she had stood frozen to the spot. “What would have happened if you were not there?” She wasn’t the only one who had not gone to help.
“There’s no point of thinking like that,” Dean said. “I was there and that’s that.”
Her trembling eased. She started to become aware of his strong arms around her waist and the masculine scent that only belonged to him. The tempo of her heartbeat changed. Her hands rested on his shoulders and unconsciously she caressed him.
He inhaled sharply and pulled back and stared into her eyes. If he moved the slightest bit, their lips would touch. Heaven help her, but she wanted Dean to kiss her. She didn’t want to think what it would mean for them. The low rush of his breathing told her that he wanted it too.
Spine tingling anticipation rushed through her. It had been so long since she had felt the all-encompassing desperate ache to kiss someone, the consequences be danged. Except, Dean wasn’t making a move to kiss her.
“We can’t do this Ruby,” he said softly. He loosened his hold on her and gently took a step back.
A wave of humiliation came over her and tears filled her eyes. Horror came over her at what she had done. She had tried to force Dean to kiss her when he clearly had no interest. What must he think of her? “I’m sorry—”
“Stop it!” he said.
She turned away so that he could not see her tears. He placed his hands on her shoulders and gently turned her around. Using his fingers, he wiped off the tears from her cheeks. Then he capped her face and lowered his mouth to hers.
Ruby stood stiffly, refusing to cooperate into what she was sure was a pity kiss. It’s true she’d been desperate for him to kiss her, but not like this. Not to make her feel better.
Her resolve lasted for all of two seconds. All she could focus on was how firm his lips felt against hers. With his kiss, he invaded all her senses and she slowly responded, moving with him as if the separation of four years had ceased to exist.
His hands moved from her cheeks to explore her back. Bolts of sensation rippled through her body, awakening her memories of how it felt to be Dean’s object of passion. With a mere kiss, he made her feel like the most desirable woman in all of the world.
Her whole body came alive, as if she had been hibernating the last four years. Joy exploded inside her and she knew what she wanted. To be loved and adored, without worrying about the future.
Dean’s movements slowed and he gently broke the kiss. She expected to share a laugh at what had happened. Maybe joke about their amazing chemistry. Instead, Dean’s face was a cold mask.
He cupped her cheek but there was no warmth in the gesture, and moments later, he left the office.
MAYBE HE WAS A COWARD but things with Ruby were moving at a pace that he could not cope with. How had he gone from comforting her to kissing her? Dean forked a finger through his hair before going through the door to the main floor of the café.
She’d looked so hurt when he broke the kiss. All he’d wanted was to continue kissing her and never stop but sense had penetrated his brain. His past with Ruby sat between them, ready to explode into something bigger than they both wanted.
They avoided each other but at the end of the day when everyone had left, they had no choice but to face each other. She made them both some coffee and they sat at their usual table.
“I’m sorry—” Ruby started to say.
“Don’t apologize,” Dean said quickly. “We were a couple once and I suppose the attraction will always be there.”
She smiled. “Do you remember going to Pells?”
How could he forget. “Of course.” It had been their thing to do two Sundays a month. Watch movies in the small-town theatre that only had one screen.
“I wonder if they upgraded to digital,” Ruby said with a chuckle.
“That would be a shame. Do you want to go find out? We could go tomorrow?” Dean said.
She didn’t pause to think about it. “Sure, I’d love to. Two o’clock?”
“I’ll pick you up,” Dean said.
They sat sipping their coffee as outside, it grew darker.
Ruby’s gaze bounced around the bakery café, as if seeing it for the first time. “Mom hated this place.”
She froze, as if startled by her own words.
“I figured as much,” Dean said quickly. “I got to know them pretty well after I took over their legal stuff. Why do you think that was?”
“It represented her lost dreams,” Ruby said. “She’d grown up wanting to be in the movies. She’d had dreams of moving to Hollywood to be an actress.”
The one thing that had struck a person on meeting Ruby’s mom was how beautiful she was. She could have easily passed for Ruby’s sister. “She was very pretty.”
Ruby laughed softly. “Yes, she was and she loved hearing it.”
“Why didn’t she go?” Dean said.
Ruby locked eyes with him. “She got married to my dad instead and had me. Her dreams died with her marriage and she never let any of us forget that.”
All air left his lungs at the implications of what she had told him. He stayed silent and analyzed her words. It all made sense. The pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Now he understood the look she had worn as the wedding date drew closer.
It hadn’t been from wedding jitters or not loving him. It was th
e panic and fear that she would follow in her mother’s footsteps. That she was making the same decisions that her mother had made, in essence reliving her mother’s life.
Dean looked at Ruby with new eyes.
“I felt sorry for my dad,” Ruby continued. “Nothing he ever did was good enough for mom. She always countered his achievements to what might have been for her. The light went out of his eyes each time she said something nasty. I wonder how she lived with that. It would kill me to do that to someone I love.”
She smiled and placed her hand over his on the table. “This is what I miss the most. Talking to you. We could always do that, couldn’t we?”
They could and they did, except when it mattered the most. When doubts had set in and her dreams conflicted with what they had. If they had spoken then, maybe they would have saved their relationship. He did not voice his thoughts.
There was a question burning a hole inside him but he couldn’t ask. Did she miss what they’d had? He looked back at Ruby’s actions in the back office. There was no doubt that she had wanted the kiss to continue and at the time, he had wondered to what end.
Maybe she’d had enough of what had taken her to New York. She’d talked about going back to her life but hadn’t sounded enthusiastic. Did she want them to continue where they had left off?
Looking at her now, protective feelings threatened to overwhelm him. He thought he’d gotten over her...but he hadn’t. His love for her had been hiding away until it was safe to come out again. She had left Lockwood and taken his heart with her.
Did he really want to go back to having a relationship with her? Did he have a choice?
“I wish we had been able to talk when it really mattered,” Dean said.
He expected her to back away from that topic as she usually did.
Instead she held his gaze. “I have so many regrets Dean and that one ranks up there. That and hurting the man I loved.”
Emotion grabbed him by the throat at the admission and it took a moment before he could speak again. “Why do you think that was?”
She broke the stare and looked away. “It was my fault. I went to seek advice elsewhere instead of coming to you.”
