Chapter 8

eight

. . .

Ruby

I hadsome time before I had to be at the bar, so I walked the short distance to Demi’s coffee shop, Magnolia Beans. When I pulled the door open, I was happy to see that it wasn’t very busy. Romeo was behind the counter, talking to Demi, and he tipped her back and kissed her.

Oscar Daily was there, and he made a gasping sound, as if the move was completely inappropriate. Romeo laughed as Demi’s cheeks tinted pink.

“What can I say, Oscar? I’m just a guy who’s crazy about his girl,” Romeo said as he walked toward me.

“This is a place of business, Golden Boy. I don’t want to see that kind of smut when I’m paying too much for a cup of coffee,” Oscar grumped.

“You get your coffee for half price. You’re hardly paying too much.” Demi laughed. “And don’t knock the smut until you’ve tried it.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” Romeo said as he winked at her and then turned his attention to me. “Hey, Ruby. How’s your dad doing? I’m going to try to get over there this week to see him.”

“Rehab is going well. I’m sure he’d love to see you.”

He nodded and made his way out the door, and I walked toward the counter as Oscar pushed to his feet from where he’d been sitting at the table. “All right, Demi, I need to get to work. Thanks for the coffee.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said.

“Hey, Ruby. Your brother no-showed to work this morning, and I had to call in my son to cover his shift.”

My brother, who needed the money to cover rent, no-showed to his shift.

Shocker.

The apple did not fall far from the tree. My mother could never hold a job down for very long either.

“I’m sorry about that. I’ll talk to him.”

He shook his head and shrugged. “Not your problem. But it might not be my problem for much longer either, if he pulls this one more time. He’s a good worker when he shows up, but I can’t have him not showing up for his shifts.”

“Yep. I understand that.” I sighed. “But if you could give him one more chance, I’d sure appreciate it. I know he loves working there.”

“I wish that brother of yours had your work ethic. Then I’d be a lucky man.” He held up a hand and waved before making his way out the door. I’d worked for Oscar in the summers during high school. Hell, I’d always been hungry to make my own money. To be independent. I’d started a dog walking business when I was ten years old, and I’d realized no business would hire me because I was too young. I’d had a long list of clients by the time I was eleven and had been able to tuck away more money than most teenagers could make at a summer job.

“He shouldn’t hound you about Rico. He’s not your responsibility; he’s a grown man,” Demi said.

“It’s fine. My brother’s a flake, and it’s frustrating. I get it.”

She poured each of us a glass of sun tea, grabbed two lemon bars, and motioned for me to sit at the little table in the corner. “Things are finally slow. Let’s sit and visit for a little bit.”

“Thanks,” I said as I took a sip and groaned at the sugary goodness. “This is so good.”

“I make it fresh each day.”

“I’m impressed. You’re doing exactly what you always wanted to do.”

She nodded. “I do feel lucky that it all came together. But I didn’t go off and get my Ph.D. like you did, so don’t give me too much credit.”

“Well, a fancy degree is one thing. Figuring out what you want to do with it is another.”

“I get that. What are you thinking you want to do? Any chance you’ll stay here permanently?” she asked. I’d always liked Demi. We were from two very different worlds. I’d never had many girlfriends when I was growing up, but she was genuine and down to earth, and we’d just clicked all those years ago. She was a bit younger than me, but you wouldn’t know it. She’d always known who she was and what she wanted, and I admired that.

“That’s a hard no. You saw Oscar a few minutes ago. I can’t get pulled back into all that drama. I’m here for my dad. I’ll stay as long as he needs me. But if I stay any longer, I’ll just be bombarded with all the family drama, you know?”

She nodded. “You know that I’ve been through a lot with Slade and his drug addiction. He’s doing really well for the first time in a long time and he’ll move back when he proves he can remain clean for three months post-rehab. Romeo’s going to hire him at the gym, and Slade will rent the little apartment across the alley.”

“Good for him. I know how much you love him, so I’m happy that he’s doing the work.” She and I had always bonded over our family dramas. We may have come from two very different socioeconomic backgrounds, but addiction and family issues existed everywhere.

“Well, if Slade can get better, anyone can. It’s been a long road, but honestly, I think him facing a lot of his issues has made a huge difference. My family is still pretty broken, but guess what?”

“What?” I asked.

“I’m still standing. We’re all still standing, Ruby. I know what you’re going through with your mama and your brothers, but you don’t have to carry that on your own. Lean on me. Remember the times we used to just ride out as far as we could along the water, and we’d vent and let it all out? I miss that.”

My head fell back on a chuckle. “You miss losing our shit as teenagers?”

“I miss you.” She reached for my hand on the table and squeezed it. “You helped me through a really dark time, and I want to be there for you, too.”

I nodded, and she pulled her hand away, and we both broke off a piece of our lemon bars and popped them into our mouths. “Damn, girl. I missed you, too. But these… these are life-changing.”

She smiled. “It’s a new recipe. All organic.”

“They’re so good.”

“So, tell me… you don’t know where you’re going, but you don’t want to stay here. Let’s start with what you want to do. If you could dream up a position, what would it be?”

This was so Demi to do this. To tell you to make it up in your head and go with it. So, I thought it over. “I’ve been offered a really great position at the university, but if I could have my choice and there were other options, I honestly don’t think I want to teach college kids.”

“All right. We know what you don’t want to do. How about what you do want to do? Close your eyes and think up what you would do if you could choose anything in the world.”

I laughed and closed my eyes as I finished chewing. When my lids opened, she was smiling at me and all excited about what I was going to say. “Well, I’d really like to work with kids. I’ve felt that way for a while, and then I got to have dinner with Cutler Heart last night. And just talking to him about his mom and feeling like our little chat helped—it sealed the deal, I guess.”

“Oh, trust me, I heard all about it. I’m going to convince you to join us on Saturday to ride together. He can’t stop talking about you.”

“He’s really sweet.”

“He is. So, what would that look like? Would you open a practice? Work at a school?”

“I don’t like the idea of having my own practice because there are limitations. That would mean that parents would have to bring their kids to see me. If the parent is the issue, it’s doubtful they are going to offer resources to their kid, right? Plus, therapy can be pricey, and they may not be able to afford it.”

“So maybe a school would be a good idea?”

I nodded. “That could be an avenue to explore.”

“Oh, hi there. I didn’t know you were here, Ruby. I just finished cleaning up the back,” Peyton said, as she came around the corner and hugged me. I didn’t know her well, but we knew of one another from growing up in the same small town. She’d been by the bar a few times since I’d been home, and I liked her.

“Yeah. It’s good to see you. I just stopped by for a little catch-up.”

“Hey, I just thought of something,” Demi said.

“No.” Peyton held her hands up. “Do not start thinking again. Every time my girl thinks of something, it means I have to walk a 5k or go pick up trash at the park with her. I’m not in the mood to do a good deed. I’m tired from work and school. I’ve hit my limit.”

Demi was laughing now, and I couldn’t help but smile. “I’m not asking you to do any good deeds. At least not today. But you’re getting your master’s in education, and Ruby just graduated with her doctorate in psychology.”

“Ummm… those are not the same thing. You know that, right? She’s like… way smarter than me.”

“I am not. I’m older, and I’ve been in school longer than you,” I said, shaking my head.

“That isn’t what I was saying. Ruby is interested in working with kids—you know, like a therapist. I thought maybe you would have some insight since you’ve student-taught at the school district, and you know how all of that works. I’m just trying to think of options for her to work her magic with children.”

“Oh, okay. Got it. So, they don’t hire therapists at the school district.” She chuckled. “But they do hire counselors, which I think you are probably way overqualified for. There is also the path of an educational psychologist, which would be having your own practice. But they are so needed. Kids’ needs are just not being met these days. At the end of the day, there are children struggling all over the place who would benefit from your expertise.”

I thought it over. “Thank you. I’ll definitely research these options.”

“What age group would you like to work with?” she asked.

“I actually think I’d like to focus on middle school and high school kids. That’s when I feel like I struggled the most with all the pressures of life.”

“I think you’d be amazing at it. You’re so… cool. I think kids would find it easy to talk to you.” Demi beamed at me.

“Well, I know I like talking to you.” Peyton reached for my phone and typed in her phone number, and Demi laughed at her boldness. But it reminded me that Demi and I still had one another’s numbers, even though we hadn’t kept in touch when I’d left for school all those years ago. Our friendship had consisted of our time out on the horses when we were younger.

“Good. Now you’ve got my number, too,” Peyton said as she handed me my phone back. “And I just texted myself from your phone, so I’ve got yours, too. Basically, you’re stuck with us now.”

“I can live with that,” I said, clearing my throat and glancing down at the time. “All right. I need to get to the bar.”

“Hey, what night are you off this week?” Demi asked.

“Um, only Sundays when Doreen covers. I work the other six nights. I can take breaks, but I’m sort of running the place right now, and my dad does not have the most reliable people working there.”

“That’s ridiculous. You need more than one night off.” Peyton gasped like this was the most insane thing she’d ever heard. “Pick a night, and we’ll have a girls’ night out. I think we could all use one,” Peyton said, as she pushed to her feet and hugged me.

I wasn’t big on girls’ nights out. Hell, I didn’t even know what that meant. I’d never had one.

“Yes. And if you can’t completely leave the bar, you can get someone to cover, and we’ll come there so you can still keep an eye on things. But we can dance and drink and have a good time.”

I guess girls’ night didn’t sound so terrible.

“Okay. Sounds good. I’ll text you.”

Now it was Demi’s turn to hug me.

I didn’t know what I’d gotten myself into, but oddly enough, I didn’t mind it.

I was going to be here for a few months, so I may as well have a little fun.

If I even remembered how to do that.