“Thank you so much for getting him to safety,” I said, running to Ronan as they laid him down on the sofa.
“I’m sorry I had to punch him, Ruby,” said Jason.
“You did what you had to do. You all could have been killed,” said Serenity.
“Serenity is right. You did what needed to be done. Ronan can’t ask for better friends. Thank you,” I said, hugging each twin.
“Damn, he stinks!” said Serenity taking a step back from Ronan and covering her nose.
I glared at her and rolled my eyes. She held up her hands in a peaceful gesture as if she didn’t mean any harm. In truth, Ronan did smell. It smelled as if he hadn’t been bathed in days.
A groan came from the couch. My sad eyes took in my husband who was obviously in pain. In that moment, I felt a pull to be there for him, at least until he got into an alcoholic rehab and possibly mental health counseling. Perhaps counseling would help us both.
“Let us help you get him upstairs. He really could use a shower,” said Jonathan.
“Thanks guys,” I said as they lifted Ronan from the sofa. “Serenity, I know you have to work in the morning. Take my car and go on home and get some rest. Thank you for being here for me when I needed you the most,” I said giving her a hug.
“That’s what friends are for,” she replied.
“Serenity, if you wait until I return, I will give you a lift back to your apartment,” said Jason looking back at her.
“I don’t think so,” argued his twin brother Jonathan. “I will see that Serenity gets home safely.
I didn’t envy Serenity one bit. If she kept playing them both, there would be trouble brewing between Serenity and the Knight twins soon. By the looks of it, things are brewing quicker than I expected. I would just have to have patience to see how they played out and hoped Serenity didn’t get burned in the end.
“I’m driving Ruby’s car back to my apartment. I don’t want to trouble you guys,” Serenity said in a rush and dashed for the door. She was out the door so fast that no one got a chance to respond.
Jonathan gave his brother a heated glare before they returned to getting Ronan up the stairs and into the shower. Once Ronan was dressed and tucked into bed, I locked up behind the twins and walked back upstairs to my husband…the man I loved still.
I sat on the side of the bed watching him sleep. After he awakened an hour later, he said, “I’m sorry Ruby…for everything. I will spend the rest of my life righting my every wrong I did to you and my family. I need for you to forgive me,” he said,
“I do forgive you Ronan. I just will never forget how you hurt me and tore our family apart,” I honestly admitted my true feelings.
“I don’t expect you to forget. I won’t ever forget it, either. Will you also promise to be honest with me, and not keep a sickness or anything else from me ever again, Ruby? Will you promise me that you will trust me to respond the right way?”
“I’m done keeping secrets and telling lies. If my cancer comes back, which I pray it never will, I’ll be honest about it.” I saw myself reflected in his eyes…Like I knew he was reflected into mine.
“I’m ready for my family to be under the same roof again. A piece of me has been missing. I’m incomplete without you and our kids. Can we be whole again Ruby? The power is in your hands…Will you complete me?”
“Ronan, through the pain and hurt, I lost sight of how we used to complete each other. Seeing you on that roof and imagining losing forever made me realize that I still love you deeply. It’s the kind of love that doesn’t just go away.”
“Does that mean you will come back home?”
“I will under a few conditions.”
“Anything, Ruby.”
“I want to put this house up for sale and build a new one from the ground up. This house holds a lot of great memories, but the bad carry too much weight for me.”
“If that’s all you want, Ruby? It’s a done deal.”
“That’s not all. I also want you to go to Alcoholics Anonymous and for us to go to marital counseling,” I added.
“All three things are as good as done,” Ronan said before kissing me so gently.
“That was nice,” I told him. “But what were you thinking getting up on the roof like that?”
“I got up there to tell the world how much I love you. Then, I got unsteady and called the Jason to help me down. I started telling him how I felt about you he assumed I was on a suicide mission.”
“Well, seeing you like that made me realize how much I still love you. I just hope that we can build from here,” I said.
“With renewed faith in our love, we’ll get there Ruby.”
We reunited with the hope of our future at stake. For the first time, in a long time, we made love with our souls intertwining as one. There was no longer an illness or Misty Crewe to cause distrust. We spent the night together with cleansing rain falling against the windowsill, releasing the pain between us as we made love.
We had a healing balm, after a pain that had cut us both so deeply. A cleansing rain after the storm. I was happy about the prospect of my family being together again. Laying in Ronan’s arms, I had no doubt that after all we’d been through that we’d rejoin as one divine entity, made stronger for what we had endured.
Chapter 19
Ruby
Six Months Later
“Oh boy! Those dinosaur tracks were huge,” exclaimed Benedict. We were sitting at the breakfast table on a Saturday morning talking about our trip to Dinosaur Valley in Texas. Ronan had surprisingly planned the trip without telling me where we were going. When he walked into the bedroom door last Friday, he told me to pack and we went to pick the kids up from school. Off to Texas we flew on his friend’s private jet.
“Yeah!” chimed in Yasmine between bites of her buttermilk pancake that she was nibbling on. “That was so much fun! When can we go back to Texas, dad?” she asked her father with a bright smile and expectant expression written across her cute upturned face.
“We will go back soon,” Ronan said; his face mirrored how happy he was that our children were happy. “Did you enjoy Dinosaur Valley as much as our kids did?” Ronan asked to bring me into their conversation.
I smiled at Benedict and Yasmine and then glanced at Ronan. Once again, I looked into my children’s adorable faces. “I had a great time with you two,” I said, “Thanks for thinking of doing the trip.”
“Anything for my family, Ruby,” Ronan said. “But did you enjoy spending time with me too, Ruby?”
My breath stilled in my chest before slowly expelling. Ronan and the children were looking to me for an answer. “Of course, Ronan,” I finally said. “Finish up your breakfast, you two,” I urged Yasmine and Benedict. “You have to be at your dance class in an hour Yazzy.”
“Yes ma’am,” they both said in unison.
I could feel Ronan’s heated gaze boring into me, so I bent my head to finish my breakfast without further eye contact. “Everybody finished with their breakfast?” I asked, once I’d eaten all I wanted from my plate. I slid my chair back and stood up from the table.
“I’m all finished,” replied Yasmine
“Me too,” Benedict said.
“Great! Go and get your dance bag, Yazzy,” I said.
Yasmine wasted no time in doing as she was told.
“Benedict, go and grab your things too,” said Ronan.
“Okay dad,” Benedict said and ran out of the kitchen, as well.
“Ruby, I will load the dishwasher,” Ronan said, standing up from the table to take the dishes from my hand. “Even though it would be nice if you would use the housekeeping staff on weekends too. They get paid good money to cater to your every need, Ruby Michaels,” added Ronan with his gorgeous, bright smile that rose high on his rosy cheeks. He had successfully gone through mental health counseling and Alcoholics Anonymous, and I hadn’t seen him touch a drink since we came back home last year.
“The staff being here during the
week is plenty, Ronan. I’m sure they enjoy their weekends off,” I said.
“Whatever makes you happy baby,” he replied.
“Taking care of my family and having my children close makes me happy, Ronan,” I replied while wiping down the table with a dish towel.
“Are you sure you’re happy, Ruby? Sometimes, I get the feeling that you’re not completely here—” Ronan’s voice was cut off by the vibrating of my cell phone.
“Hold that thought,” I said and walked over to pick up my cell from the countertop. I looked down at the screen and saw I had a new text message.
Darryl: Good morning purdy lady. I woke up this morning to the sunrise and it reminded me of your beautiful smile. The thought of your smile gives me incentive to start my days with a smile. Keep your beautiful smile no matter what. My remembrance of it depends on it. ☺
A full-blown smile rushed to my lips and flush rose to my cheeks after reading Darryl’s message. He always knew the right things to say and the right times to say it. I needed to smile this morning and he seemed to be the only man that could put a genuine smile on my face these days.
“It must be good news, Ruby?” Ronan said. His words jerked me out of my moment of musing and brought my attention back to him. Truthfully, I had forgotten Ronan was even in the room, once I read Darryl’s message. I hurriedly discarded the message and turned towards Ronan, while thinking of a reply.
“I’m ready, Mom,” Yasmine shouted out as she ran down the stairs with her brother at her heels.
I breathed out a sigh of relief. Our children coming back into the kitchen stopped me from having to answer Ronan. I couldn’t tell him that Darryl, the guy from the Chicken and Biscuits restaurant that he casually joked about, had been texting me at least once a day. I surely couldn’t tell him I looked forward to each of those texts like a gift from Santa on Christmas morning when I was a child. I definitely couldn’t tell him every text from Darryl made me feel like a giddy school girl with her first crush.
“Okay, we’d better get going before you’re late. Meet me at the backdoor, sweetie,” I said to Yasmine. Then, I turned to Ronan. “See you after dance practice.”
I walked out of the kitchen to grab my handbag and keys.
Ronan followed closely behind me as if he had something heavy on his mind.
“Ruby, do you want to go out to dinner tonight? I could get a sitter to watch the kids, while we go on a date,” he offered.
“Hmm, I don’t know. Can I give you an answer later? I really have to get going, Ronan.”
“Dad, I’m ready!” Benedict came rushing down the stairs to stand beside Ronan.
“One moment, Son. Meet me out by the car. I’ll be out soon. I need to speak with your mom for a minute.”
“Okay dad,” replied Benedict obediently.
“Wait a minute,” I called after my son. “Where is my kiss?”
Benedict ran back to give me a hug and kiss and then he was on his way again. “What do you want to talk to me about?” I asked Ronan while glancing at the thin watch on my wrist.
Ronan placed his hands on my shoulders and just looked down into my face and stared. His expression held a slight frown between his brows. “I love you so much, Ruby. I thank God every day that you gave me a second chance. Do you know that?”
I nodded as I looked up into his handsome face. I knew he cared deeply for me and spent every day of the past six months trying to show me how much. I also knew how much he was capable of hurting me. “Yeah, I know,” I answered.
“I will spend the rest of my life proving to you just how much I love you. What can I do for you or give you that will bring the smile you had on your face a few moments ago? How can I get you back to the good place you were before I ruined us?” he asked in a serious tone of voice.
“I am happy, Ronan. I appreciate all that you have given me, and all the loving gestures that you have made. Don’t ever doubt that…When I said I wanted another house, I had absolutely no idea you were going to have me a castle built,” I said with a slight laugh.
“I was serious when I said that I would fix us.”
“You have, and you’ve given me enough already.” I touched the side of his face and kissed his cheek. “We will talk more later, Ronan. I really need to get a move on and so do you.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” he said. “But there is one more thing before we go.”
“What is it?” I barely got out, before Ronan swept me into his arms and planted a solid kiss onto my lips.
I accepted his kiss and returned it as he swept my tongue eagerly into his mouth. His essence flowed through me and I reveled in the familiarity of his kiss. Ronan’s lips traveled down to the side of my neck and tickled my skin with soft butterfly kisses. A slight moan escaped my throat and I felt good in my husband’s embrace.
The moment was stolen when I remembered being pinned against the wall in Serenity’s apartment. The memory and feel of another set of strong hands gripping me and even softer lips from a very capable, handsome man, who was not my husband, invaded my brain out of nowhere.
“You can go now,” Ronan said as he released me from his onslaught of kisses to my neck and lips.
My head was spinning between the presence of my husband and thoughts of Darryl Nichols.
This is the end for now. Thanks for reading!
There will be more to come with these characters in the next installment of this series.
Text Nayberry to 22828 for updates on new releases from Shani.
Happiness
All anyone want is to be happy
Sometimes we as women
Give up who we are so we won’t be alone
Wrong or right
We want to be happy
At all cost
Grasping at a little happiness
Collecting a lot of pain
Whether sinner or saint
We just want to be happy…
So, what makes you happy?
Delve deep and grasp hold
Before it’s too late.
-Theresa & Shani
From Theresa Hodge Presents
A Girl Named Blu By Charity Hodge (Unedited)
Coming 08/08/2017
Stay In Touch By Signing Up For Theresa Hodge’s
Newsletter: http://amazon.us9.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=ffde15be91b185d57d934a65c&id=1f6b614090
Chapter 1
BLU
The Start Of Something New
Yawning, I slowly uncover my face and reach across to shut off the blaring alarm from the clock on my bedside table. I rub my eyes to clear away the sleep and blink several times before throwing back the bedcovers. I notice streaks of sunlight peeping through the slits of my frilly curtains. Sitting up, I ease out of bed and stand when my feet sink into the softness of the carpet. Yawning again, I stretch my arms above my head and give myself a good stretch. I rapidly exhale as I think about how today is the day I start at my new school. New teachers, new students, no more wearing traditional clothes. Now, I have to wear uniforms to some preppy private school my parents enrolled me in. Walking over to my desk, I decided to write my feelings in my diary before I shower and dress for school.
Dear Diary,
Today is my first day at my new school. I don’t know what today will bring, but I’m scared. I don’t want mom and dad to know how much I resent starting my new year at Gulf Shores High. My best friends and I planned years ago the things we would do our Senior year together. Now, it’s just me, Blu, a seventeen-year-old black girl going to a school full of pale faces. I didn’t get much sleep during the night, tossing and turning, my mind full of nervous thoughts. Instead of excitement and pleasant thoughts about hooking up with my old friends at Gadsden High School, my heart is beating with anxiety. Well, thanks for listening to me but I must get ready for school now. It will be just awful if I’m late for the first day of school.
Remember me fondly,
Just Blu <3.
I put my diary and
pen down and take a look around my room. It definitely is going to be a new experience, one that I want to enjoy, but one that I could only feel sick over. How I wish the day would be over, so I could have my first day of school behind me.
I leave my room, with the smell of breakfast tickling my nose. I smile, rejoicing that I could at least enjoy a good breakfast, before enduring the pain I am sure would follow. I walk down the hallway and take a slight left to the kitchen. Mom stood with her back to me as I enter the room.
“Good morning mom,” I say placing a kiss on her cheek as she stands at the oven flipping pancakes. I snatch a piece of turkey bacon off a plate before going to the cabinet to get a glass to pour me some orange juice from the fridge.
“Good morning Blu. How did you sleep last night?” she asks as I gulp down my orange juice.
“I slept okay,” I reply sitting down at the kitchen table and glance out the window. The sun is out and the day looks like it will be a calm one after the storm last night.
“Honey, I know you’re nervous about finishing up your final year at a new school, but it can’t be helped. Your dad had to accept this promotion. Think about it, we get this big house, in a beautiful neighborhood, your dad gets a forty percent raise in his pay, plus we stay within walking distance of the beach. That alone should cheer you up,” mom tries to encourage me as she walks over to place a plate with two pancakes and two slices of bacon on the table before me.
I scrunch up my nose and drizzle a bit of maple syrup on my pancakes. “I know mom, and I’m proud of dad. I’m just gonna miss my friends,” I admit. Anyone should realize that. After spending my whole life going to school with a different group of kids, this was a big deal for a teenager.
“I know you will. I’m going to miss my friends as well but you know we can always fly back and visit sometimes.” I listen to her words and want to understand all that she is giving up, but I was still a bit preoccupied with my own worries.
To The Woman He Loves 2 Page 14
