The Loves of Ruby Dee (30 page)

“You’ll be stayin’ around for a bit, won’t  you, Lonnie?”

“Yeah, I guess so. Unless the old man fires me...or fires Ruby Dee. I doubt there’s much chance of that, though.”

“No, I don’t imagine there is,” Will agreed, and he was thinking of the irony in the situation, when Lonnie spoke about it.

"You know, it’s pretty funny, when you think about it. You got into the fit of leavin’ by making the old man accept Ruby Dee, and now he’s lettin’ you go and keepin’ her.”

“I’d been thinkin’ about my own place for a while before Ruby Dee. I spoke to Ambrose Bell back before Dad had his stroke.” After the old man’s stroke, he’d let the idea of leaving pass...or he thought he had.

Will threw down his cigarette and crushed it with his boot. “I don’t want to crowd you, Lon, but I could sure use your help, while we try to get things straight. And there’s Ruby Dee. She might need help. I know she likes havin’ you around, too.”

“You’re just goin’ down the road, Will. Are you plannin’ never to come over here?”

“No..."
Will shook his head, feeling sheepish. “It’s just gonna be different.”

“Yeah, well, I thought that was the point.”

Lonnie shot Will a questioning look. Lonnie could sure surprise Will on occasion.

“You’re right,” he said, punching his brother in the shoulder. “You aren’t very often, but when you are, you are."

Lonnie said virtuously, “My wisdom comes from hangin’ around women so much. You learn a lot about stuff like that from women."

Lonnie went off to find a sleeping bag and other things Will might need, and Will went up to his room, threw clothes into a duffel bag and grabbed a handful of shirts and jeans on hangers.

As he came along the upstairs landing he paused at Ruby Dee’s door. Then he knocked. When she opened the door, he could tell she’d been crying.

He fumbled inside himself for the words, and finally came up with, “I want you to stay, for a while longer. Please.”

She nodded, and then her tears welled up. “He loves you, Will. He really does.”

Will didn’t know what to say to that. He leaned over and kissed her quickly, then went down the stairs. He ended up driving off and not even speaking to the old man. He didn’t have anything particular to say to him.

* * * *

Ruby Dee slept restlessly and lightly. When she awoke, she lay there a few seconds, listening, trying to place the sound she’d barely heard. It was first light, she saw. The nights were cooler now, and she had left her window open, and the fresh morning air drifted through. So did the scent of coffee. And the sound of footsteps on gravel.

She slipped out of bed and went over to the window. She could just make out Will’s figure, standing in the driveway and looking up at her window.

Pushing the window wide, she leaned near the screen. He saw her. “I’ll be right down,” she called softly.

She threw on her robe and, with Sally right at her heels, flew down the stairs in bare feet, staying near the wall, so as not to make the stairs creak. Through the kitchen, where the light was on over the sink, just like always, and the coffee maker was steaming, just like always. And then she and Sally were outside on the concrete step, and Will was right in front of them.

Grinning, he said, “Good mornin’.”

Her heart hammered. “Good morning.”

He lifted his steaming cup. “I don’t have a coffeepot over at my house."

She gazed into his steely-blue eyes. “You have one here,” she said.

With surprise, she saw the flame of desire in his eyes an instant before he reached up, slipped his hand behind her neck and drew her to him. He kissed her full and hard, taking her breath and senses, before breaking off and stepping backward.

Well. She could only stand there, breathing hard, staring at him. Wanting him, there on the concrete steps in the first light of morning. And she thought how quick and easy it would have been, too, primed and ready as they both were.

Amazed and embarrassed by her thoughts, she broke the gaze, looked down at the grass.

Will, his voice husky, said, “Sit with me on the steps for a few minutes, and I’ll share my coffee with you."

If she shared his coffee, she wouldn’t make noise getting her own. They sat side by side on the steps. A blue jay swooped and chattered at Sally, and in the far distance coyotes yipped.

Ruby Dee asked Will how he had liked his first night in his house, and he said it had been uncomfortable, because not only didn’t he have a coffeepot, but he didn’t have a bed, either. Then he gave her specific directions to his place, which was just over five miles away. “You’ll know you’re close when you see the old cattle loading pens on the right.”

His eyes rested on hers for long seconds. He was giving her an invitation, and Ruby Dee felt a warm excitement wash over her.

He started talking about the land then. Only a hundred and sixty acres would be his, but he would have access to two thousand more. That was small by comparison to the Starr ranch, or almost any of the other ranches around, but it was plenty for him to begin a breeding program. What he wanted to do, he said, was try for a new cross, which would combine the Starr-registered Herefords and the best qualities of Red Angus and Brahmans.

There was something different about Will today, she thought, watching his earnest expression. There was a certainty about him, as if he had crossed a bridge in his mind and was heading resolutely down the road, face forward.

It made Ruby Dee feel at once excited for him and uneasy, too, because she didn’t want him to go down that road and leave her behind. Yet she wasn’t certain she wanted to go with him, either. She was even less certain that he wanted her to go with him.

Minutes later they heard the sound of Hardy’s cane on the kitchen floor. Will cast her a reluctant grin and rose. “Guess our day is startin’.”

He handed her the coffee cup and rose.

“Will..." He turned. “You are havin’ breakfast with us, aren’t you?” She didn’t know what to expect anymore.

He nodded and gave that slight, slow grin. “Yes, ma’am. I don’t have any food at my place, either.”

“Well, there’s food here,” she said.

And he said, “Even better, there’s you.” And then he walked away in that easy saunter he had.

* * * *

For the following week it was almost as if Will had never moved away. He came for coffee each morning and took most of his meals with them. He spent the days working with Lonnie and Wildcat, when he wasn’t in his office. But every evening after supper, he left to go to work on his own place, so Ruby Dee saw little of him.

Several times she brought up the subject of going to see Will’s house, but Hardy said, “I’ve seen it.”

Hardy had taken up what Ruby Dee considered passive resistance. Once more he spent long hours out in his shop, and when he was around either Will or Lonnie, he had very little to say to either of them. Of course, Hardy never had been much of a talker. His resistance now came in the form of attitude. He barely even acknowledged his sons with so much as a nod.

One afternoon Ruby Dee drove up to Woodward for shopping, and to simply have time alone to drive around and have a hot dog and cherry limeade at the Sonic. She left Sally with Hardy, since she didn’t want to leave him alone. Deep inside she felt guilty because she fully intended to drive by Will’s house on the way home. She didn’t know why she should feel guilty about that, but she did.

She took Will a coffee maker as a housewarming present. Having a gift made going by easier to do.

It turned out that Georgia Reeves had picked the same evening to pay Will a visit.

Ruby Dee didn’t see Georgia’s red Suburban. She was carrying the big box containing the Braun coffee maker, and she had her eyes fastened on the side door, which she figured led into the kitchen. She kept thinking he would have heard her car and come out, but as she neared the screen door, she heard voices and figured he was busy talking to someone and hadn’t heard her come up. Not until she was standing right smack in front of the screen door did Ruby Dee recognize Georgia’s voice.

Georgia said, “Frank is off in Fort Worth. He’s been gone four days, and he’s called once. That’s about the way it is.”

Through the screen, peering over the top of the box, Ruby Dee saw Will and Georgia facing each other in the glaring light of the kitchen.

Will said, “Well, I’m sorry, Georgia.”

Right then Ruby Dee figured she had better sneak away or bust in, because she didn’t want to get caught just standing there. She said, “Hello, in there.”

Will’s head jerked up, and then he was hurrying forward to open the door for her and welcoming her in. Ruby Dee thought he did seem glad to see her. She said hello to Georgia, and if looks could kill, Georgia’s would have buried Ruby Dee.

“This is a housewarming present.” Ruby Dee handed Will the box.

He thanked her profusely. Georgia said he would probably need to get bottled water, or the coffee maker would be clogged up in a few days. “The way Will drinks coffee, you know,” she said, as if she were intimately aware of Will’s habits.

Ruby Dee said, “He does love his coffee, doesn’t he?” in the same manner, showing Georgia right off that she could match that game.

Georgia pressed her lips into a tight line. Will looked from Ruby Dee to Georgia as if he wished to be somewhere else.

“You sure are doin’ a lot of work, aren’t you?” Ruby Dee said and started to look around.

Will hurried to show her all he had done in the house and what he planned to do. Georgia went right along with them. It was a small house with almost everything gutted but the bathroom, so it didn’t take long to see it. Back in the kitchen, Will offered cold drinks, and suddenly, with Georgia and Will both drinking Red Dog beer and Ruby Dee drinking Dr. Pepper, Ruby Dee felt distinctly out of place.

She set her half-empty glass on the counter, saying, “I guess I’d better get back. I don’t want to worry Hardy...
he’s waitin’ on me to play dominoes.” She made that up as she went to the door.

Will followed her out to her car. Ruby Dee saw Georgia’s Suburban then, parked over to the side, between two big cedars. As if she had tried to hide it.

“Thanks for the coffee maker,” Will said, as Ruby Dee slipped behind the wheel.

“You’re welcome.”

His hands were on the door, his eyes hard on her. “I’m glad you came over. If you’ll wait a minute, I’ll drive on home with you.”

But Ruby Dee said, “No need. I know the way.” She sent the Galaxie speeding back down the drive. When she turned onto the road, she almost hit the ditch, because she had trouble seeing through her tears.

Georgia waited back in the kitchen. Will snatched his Red Dog off the counter and downed the contents in three long swallows.

Georgia said, “All those years I waited for you to move off from your daddy, and now you finally do it. Why, Will? For her?”

Will shook his head. “I don’t have to leave the old man for Ruby Dee.” Then he added ruefully. “I might be fightin’ him for her, though.”

Georgia’s eyes went wide with questions, but Will wasn’t about to explain it to her. He knew she would never understand. He barely did himself.

Setting her empty bottle on the counter, she said, “Well, we could ease each other,” and her eyes were heavy with invitation.

But Will said he had somewhere to go, and opened the screen door.

When she left, Georgia said, “I wish you luck with Ruby Dee, Will...One of us should find somethin’ with someone.” She shifted into gear, and then she looked at him again, her face shadowed now in dim light. “But I’ll be around, should you change your mind.”

Will said, “Georgia, don’t do that to yourself. We were done a long time ago. It just took us awhile to find it out.”

He thought he heard her swear at him before she drove off.

Will turned out the lights in his house, then drove over to the ranch. Light streamed out the back door. Ruby Dee and the old man were at the table, playing dominoes. Ruby Dee looked at him with surprise, and then with doubt. But he caught a hint of pleasure, too. Ruby Dee never had been able to hide anything.

Will poured himself a cup of Ruby Dee’s coffee and sat and watched the game, offering occasional suggestions to both sides. Hardy told him to shut up, but Will just said, “I figure after all those weeks you spent in the wheelchair, it’s my turn to annoy you."

Hardy’s eyebrows rose, and then, imperceptibly, a grin played at the corners of his mouth.

* * * *

During the following days, the old man met with Billy Stumblingbear and Mike Tilley, the two men Will had recommended for the manager’s job. The old man was polite enough, but he told each one to send him a written résumé.

“I want to wait for answers to our ads and take a look at every possible prospect,” he told Will. “I can handle things, if you’re in a hurry to be off.”

His tone made Will want to dump it all in his lap, but Will was too busy to spend much time being annoyed. After the haying and cattle work, he spent every available minute working on his house. He put Lonnie and Wildcat to work there, too, and both helped long after the workday was done. Will wanted the house to be ready, so he would have a place to bring Ruby Dee when he asked her to marry him.

Chapter 23

The first Saturday of September brought the Harney rodeo, which included a barbecue supper before the rodeo and a dance afterward. Will had asked Ruby Dee to go with him to the rodeo and dance. He had asked her right in front of the old man, because he thought it best for the old man to see. He had not expected the old man to up and say he thought he would go, too.

“I asked Ruby Dee, Dad,” Will said. “It’s a date.”

To which the old man said, “That’s fine, but I don’t see that I have to miss out.”

There was no sense in Will saying he wouldn’t take the old man. Ruby Dee wouldn’t have had that.

At about three o’clock the house began to buzz with activity, showers going in both bathrooms, Elvis singing out from Ruby Dee’s room, Lonnie hollering for polish for his belt buckle.

Will dressed in his good Larry Mahan turquoise shirt and starched Wranglers, although he had to forgo his dress snakeskin boots in favor of his bull-hide Noconas, because he was competing in the steer wrestling. He’d been practicing all week. He hadn’t competed in a rodeo for at least six years, but he hadn’t lost his ability to steer-wrestle. After all, he did wrestle cattle all the time.