Ruby

by Shanna Handel

  Sniffling, Ruby dried her tears and looked up at him. “That hurt.”

  “I know,” he whispered. “But did it hurt enough to make you think twice about your safety? About being honest with me? About controlling your temper?”

  Her fingertips fiddled with the buttons on his shirt. “Yes,” she said in a quiet voice.

  “How did it make you feel?”

  She looked away.

  “Ruby, look at me.”

  She tilted her chin up, her eyes were shining.

  “How did it make you feel?”

  Ruby continued to play with his buttons, tapping each one she could reach several times, as if she was counting as she thought.

  “You know how it made me feel.”

  “I know how I think it made you feel. But I want to be sure we are on the same page. Tell me.” He lifted her hand away from his buttons and held it with his.

  “Melty, you know that. But also, it made me feel cared for. And, I like when you spank me, when I do something that I shouldn’t. I can’t explain that part, I just know that I like how it feels.”

  “You don’t have to explain anything. I just wanted to know how you felt about it.” He wrapped his arms around her. “So, you are still up for this type of marriage?” He could feel her nod her answer softly on his chest. “Good. I love you, Ruby, and I would do anything for you.” He kissed her forehead. “Like right now, I’m going to cook you some dinner.” He patted her leg and went to stand, but she put a hand on his chest to stop him.

  “Jacob?”

  “Yes?”

  Looking at him shyly, Ruby snuggled deeper into his lap, and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. Her face was close to his. Before he could stop himself, he leaned in and paused just before their lips touched. Their faces were only inches apart; he could feel her breath on his face. The heat from her drew him in further and slowly he took her bottom lip in his mouth, the full pouty part of her that he had longed to taste so many times before. Gently, they kissed, taking the time to explore one another. He tightened his hold, desiring all she had to give. Jacob somehow found the strength to pull away.

  Holding her at arm's length, he relished in the shine in her eyes and the flush in her cheeks, knowing he was the man who put them there.

  “If there is spanking during our engagement then I want kissing, too.” A demure smile crossed her red lips.

  “Okay.”

  “And I want Chubby’s tacos.”

  Jacob raised his eyebrows. “No Chubby’s for naughty girls who run from their spankings.” He leaned in practicing the new motion of kissing his bride to be. Ruby eagerly returned his kiss. “And no public places for naughty girls who may need another spanking tonight.” He slid his hand under her bottom and gave it a hard squeeze.

  She jumped up and rubbed at the sore spot. “Ow. No way. I’ll be good. I promise.”

  “Let’s get you fed.” Jacob placed her on the ground and grabbed her hand, leading her into the kitchen. Standing by his promise that he would do anything for her, Jacob was going to make his first and very best attempt at cooking Mexican cuisine. He just hoped they didn’t end up having to order pizza.

  Chapter 5

  Months passed after the engagement, and it felt like days. Ruby was taking on more and more hours at Three Sisters. Heather adored Ruby’s taste in clothing. In fact, she trusted her taste so much that Heather was allowing Ruby to place orders for clothing directly out of the catalogues without having to run them by the sisters first. This was a minor source of contention with Lila at first, but Lila enjoyed Ruby’s company so much that she often stayed past her shift when Ruby came to relieve her, just to chat. Jacob had heard through the grapevine that Luke had walked down to the shop several times to retrieve Lila hours after she was supposed to be home.

  Ruby loved all of the women as much as they loved her, but she held a special place in her heart for Elizabeth. They got along famously and seemed to have a lot in common. Perhaps it was the fact that Elizabeth, being the youngest in her family, was closer in age with Ruby. Or maybe it was their propensity towards bratting, though Jacob knew Ruby was anything but a brat. Yes, she could get a little pouty at times, stamp her foot once and awhile, but he could quickly cure her of that. Ruby was always ready to lend a hand and often thought of others before herself.

  Jacob was enjoying the challenges of his new job, as well as watching the dollars pile up in his bank account. David had recently taken him on full-time. Jacob was only a few days away from taking the Real Estate exam. David was already paying him a share of the commission, on top of an hourly wage, but once he had his license, he would be able to handle the sales of homes start to finish for David. Jacob was eager for the added responsibilities as he continued to learn the trade under the experienced business man.

  Both busy, the engaged couple spent every free minute that they had, together, wrapped in each other’s arms. When Jacob thought things were getting a little too heated for a couple who were not yet married, he would force them out of the cabin. They frequented Chubby’s— it turned out Jacob had a lot to learn about cooking. They also spent time checking out houses in town, or off on a day adventure. Every night, Jacob would take Ruby back to her home and leave her with a bittersweet kiss on her porch. He longed for the night she would stay with him as his wife.

  The couple had found an easy balance and fell into a comfortable routine during the course of their engagement. They had decided to wait for discipline as well as intimacies for marriage- Ruby pushing the first agenda, Jacob the second. Jacob had agreed to no spanking during the engagement unless Ruby put herself in danger again. That was a hard limit for him. And though Ruby was starting to see the merits of waiting to be together, in that way, until marriage, she often pushed Jacob past his comfort zone. Jacob had, of course, acquiesced to her request for there to be kissing and he had to admit, it had been amazing.

  There was only one glitch, and it gnawed at the back of Jacob’s mind daily. Ruby was putting off planning for the wedding. He had expected that as soon as he put the ring on the girl’s finger, she would have been off scheming with the sister’s right away. They had worked out their budget. Heather had procured the local stone church, having an ‘in’ since she and David owned it, she was just waiting for the newlyweds to set a date. Elizabeth had offered the top of the store for the reception. Lila had asked, no begged, Ruby to let her drive her into the city and take her dress shopping.

  Ruby politely put off each member of the family, in turn, making a light joke, or saying “we have plenty of time.” Jacob had tried not to let it bother him, but last night he had finally asked her to set a definitive date, and she had flat out refused. He had left her porch that night feeling distressed and there was tension in their farewell kiss.

  Jacob pulled down Ruby’s driveway. His thoughts were still on the tense goodbye from the previous evening. It was Sunday, and he knew he had to cross this bridge with his fiancée, or family dinner was going to be miserable for both of them. It was starting to be awkward, and though he was not a prideful man, his pride was hurting. Did she not want to marry him after all?

  Watching from the window, as he knew she often did, Ruby was out the front door before his car was even in front of the porch. Ruby quickly ran down the front steps, slamming the car door as always. He had barely even put the car into park before she was all settled in saying, “Let’s go.”

  Jacob sat, not moving. This charade had gone on long enough.

  “Hello, Ruby,” he said, coolly.

  She looked over at him with an amused smile. “Why good evening, Sir Jacob. Why so formal today?” Distracted by the afternoon sun glinting prettily off her ring, she redirected her eyes to admire it.

  She was clearly thrilled to be engaged to him. The problem was she just didn’t seem to want to marry him.

  “Ruby, I’m not moving this car until we set two dates. One, the wedding date,” he paused and watched her face but it was unreadable
, “and two, I have to meet your mom.” Still staring at her, he was shocked to see a pained expression cover her beautiful features.

  Twirling the delicate ring around her finger in a nervous fashion, she whispered, “No.”

  Jacob tried to hide his dismay. The last few months had taught him how differently Ruby’s mind worked from his, and he chose not to panic.

  “No to the wedding date, or no to meeting your mom?”

  “No to both.”

  Sighing, Jacob looked out of his window. Gathering his emotions, he turned his body towards her. “Why?” There was a cold edge creeping into his voice that he had hoped to hide from her.

  “Because. I don’t want you to meet her. And I know you won’t marry me until you do. So, I guess we are never getting married.” Ruby crossed her arms and turned her head away from him as far as she could, looking out her window.

  Jacob was at a loss. He checked the time. They had to leave, or they would be late to his mom’s house. Wordlessly, he put the car in drive and headed towards Heather’s in a stony silence. He was tired of trying to pry information out of Ruby.

  When they arrived at Heather’s, it took all of Jacob’s will power to walk through the front door. Neither he nor Ruby were in the mood for a family gathering. They were both naturally happy people but had a hard time trying to fake cheerfulness.

  The evening was uncomfortable. The family was quick to pick up on the fact that there was trouble in paradise for the young love birds. The atmosphere around them was wrought with tension. Any attempt at banter fell flat.

  After enduring an hour of the awkwardness, Jacob could take no more. He grabbed Ruby’s hand, throwing the family a quick apology of, “I’m so sorry, but you must excuse us this evening,” then headed out the door leaving bewildered faces behind them.

  Ruby looked up at Jacob. “Where are we going?”

  “We have something that we need to take care of.”

  He opened her car door for her, then headed to his side and got in. He drove down the road without another word, heading for her house.

  When they pulled into the driveway, Ruby finally broke her silence. “Are you breaking up with me?” Her tiny voice sounded as if she was holding back tears.

  Jacob swiftly came to her side, pulled her from the vehicle and wrapped his arms tightly around her.

  “Never.” He turned her face up towards his; her eyes threatened to spill over with a waterfall, her dimpled chin quivering. “That will never happen. Ever.”

  He held her for a long moment. Then he placed a hand on each of her shoulders and held her at arm’s length. “Ruby, this has gone on long enough. We are going to walk in there, and I am going to introduce myself to your mother. Then we will get some ice cream or something. Okay?”

  She looked as sad as he had ever seen her, and though it broke his heart, he didn’t relent.

  Finally, she turned towards the door and walked up the stairs, slowly, as if it were her death march. He could hear her murmuring something with numbers to herself— was she counting her steps? Giving one last woeful glance behind her, she smiled sadly at Jacob, then opened the front door wide, stepping over the threshold.

  “Hello, Mama. Jacob wants to meet you.”

  Jacob stepped into the dark house. The first thing that hit him was the smell. It was the same smell as sweaty clothes that had been left in a gym bag in a hot car. He resisted the urge to pinch his nose. He walked behind a trembling Ruby and leaving the foyer, entered the living room.

  There, on an ancient flowered couch, sat the most obese woman he had ever seen. She must have weighed close to five hundred pounds. Her stringy hair looked like it hadn’t been washed in weeks. There were huge wet stains around her underarms. She had an oxygen tank next to her on the floor; a mask attached the tubing to her face.

  The most off-putting thing was the fierce scowl that covered the woman’s face. “Get me my cigarettes, girl,” she sneered. She looked Jacob up and down with distaste. “So this is your fancy boy toy, eh?”

  Without a reply or a backward glance, Ruby left the room. Jacob was too stunned to speak.

  After what felt like a century but must have been less than a minute, Ruby returned to his side. In her hands were a green, crumpled package and an orange lighter.

  “Don’t forget to turn the tank off first, Mama. You know what the doctor said about oxygen in the air causing burns.”

  “Shut up. You think I’m dumb enough to burn myself?” She let out a loud, ugly cackle. “You’re the only one stupid enough to burn yourself. Always getting burnt on that oven.” She stopped her heckling to light her cigarette.

  “Only because seven-year-olds aren’t supposed to be cooking for their mama’s. It should be the other way around,” Ruby mumbled.

  “What was that?” The woman let out a long string of smoke from her nostrils. “You little ingrate. You never want to help, do you? Here I am, your poor sick mother and you are complaining about having to make some food. Want to be waited on hand and foot, don’t you?” She sneered at Jacob. “Well, I hear you two got engaged. Good luck with this little princess. She’s your problem now.” She returned to her cackling, which turned into a hacking cough, muttering under her breath, “thinks she’s so smart,” in between heaves.

  Ruby looked down at the floor. Her thumb moved nervously, tapping the tip of each finger over and over as if playing out the beat of a song.

  Jacob had not moved a muscle or said a single word since their arrival. The whole scene felt surreal to him. It was as if he was on the set of a movie, a terrible one at that. He willed away the shock and acted.

  “Ma’am, I am so glad to meet you finally.” He turned to Ruby. “Grab some stuff, baby. You won’t be coming back here anytime soon.” Ruby looked up at Jacob, shock quickly turning into relief washing over her face. Then she hurried from the room. He could hear dresser drawers opening and closing.

  The woman sneered down her bulbous nose at Jacob. “You take her. I don’t want her anyway. She’s useless. Always has been.” She started coughing again. After she had caught her breath, she continued her antagonizing monologue. “Although you probably are gonna want to bring her back after you get to know her a little better.” She hooted, her fleshy rolls shaking like mounds of jelly. “She’s a real weirdo and likes the boys a little too much if you know what I mean.” She smiled an evil grin.

  Red flashed in his mind and Jacob was too angry to trust himself to reply. It didn’t matter who Ruby was with before, she was his now, and soon, forever. And no one was going to treat her the way this witch was.

  Ruby flew into the room with a huge duffle bag over her shoulder. She hesitated, then quickly gave her mom a kiss on the cheek saying, “Bye, Mama,” and was on the porch in the blink of an eye.

  The woman leaned back on the sofa; her neck craned towards the door. “Damn it, girl, where’s my dinner? You gonna leave me here to starve?”

  Jacob said, “We will have a pizza delivered. A little goodbye present. And ma’am, your dead wrong about your daughter. She’s a treasure and the loss is yours.”

  He turned on his heel and exited the room, and for the first time in his adult life, allowed himself to slam a door as hard as he wanted.

  When he got to the car, Ruby was shaking and sobbing. He wanted to comfort her but knew he needed to get her out of there first. He sped away pulling over as soon as there was a shoulder on the side of the road. She was still crying.

  Jacob put his arm around Ruby best he could in the car. “Shh, baby. It’s okay; it’s going to be okay.”

  “That’s why I didn’t want you to meet her, her be… before,” Ruby stuttered out. “I was afraid you wouldn’t want me because I was going to turn into her.” The sobs started fresh.

  “You mean big, like that? Ruby, you need to know that I’ve committed my life to you. That is not affected by any change you may undergo in the future, and I hope the same applies to me.”

  “No. Not fat, mean. I d
on’t want to be mean, like her.”

  Jacob was speechless. His sweet Ruby was feisty, yes, had poor language sometimes, yes, and a bit of a temper. But out and out spiteful for the pure joy of causing others pain? Never.

  He couldn’t help but smile when he compared his sweet little pixie, all ruffled out in her pastel colors, jewelry jangling, stopping to pet every dog and coo at every baby that she passed, to that nasty woman.

  Jacob turned toward his wrecked fiancée. “That, my dear, will never be you.”

  “But what if it is?” she wailed.

  “Ruby. You need to calm down.” He stroked her hair softly. “If you ever start getting even a little bit mean, I know how to redirect you.” He winked at her.

  “But what if I do get fat?” Ruby sniffled as she wiped away her tears.

  “Then I’ll have Elizabeth bake you an endless supply of cupcakes.”

  “What if I get ugly?”

  “Impossible. You will always be beautiful to me.”

  “What if I start smoking like a chimney?”

  “Over my dead body.”

  “But what if I do get mean, really, really mean, like her?”

  “Then I’ll spank you really, really hard. And you will stop.”

  “What about when I get all old and wrinkly?”

  “I pray for that every night.”

  She looked at him, shocked. “You pray for me to be an old hag?”

  Jacob sighed. Would he ever be able to show this woman her worth? “No, I pray that we get to grow old together.”

  “You do?”

  “Every night.”

  His confession calmed her. She paused and caught her breath. “My greatest fear used to be her. Now my biggest fear is turning into her.”

  “You are goodness and light, Ruby. It is just not going to happen. I promise.”

  She sniffled, melting into his arms. “That’s why I don’t want a wedding. I can’t have a happy day if she is there, and it’s supposed to be a happy day, isn’t it?”