Ruby hadn’t. Ruby hadn’t blamed anyone. She was...she had been rescued, and that was what counted, not the rest of it.
“I... I’m not angry about it,” Ruby said. “I’m just happy. I’m happy that I’m here. You know, not everyone gets to be so confident their life has a purpose. My life was saved and I... I’m meant to do something with it, I suppose.”
“My daughter’s life meant something too. And she’s still gone.”
Dana started to walk faster and Ruby had to trot to keep up, her each step making pain radiate in her chest. “I... I didn’t mean...”
“Settle down, I know you didn’t.” Dana sighed. “Everyone wants easy answers, easy fixes. You can’t fix tragedy.”
Then they were standing by Dana’s car, and Ruby didn’t know if she was relieved or sorry. “I guess I’ll see you Monday,” Ruby said.
“That is one thing I like about you,” Dana said. “I don’t scare you.”
Then she got into her car and left Ruby standing there feeling... Like Dana did in fact scare her.
But not half as much as the things she had said.
6
The March of Progress
BY JAN EBERSOL
MARCH 5, 1883—With the new railway comes new opportunities in Southern Oregon. The new Eden Valley Orchard in Medford has capitalized on this new era of export, and it seems the expansion is happening here too. The land owned by Thaddeus Brewer boasts 400 acres of pears, expected to be ready to harvest next season.
DAHLIA
When Dahlia arrived back at the shed that night, Ruby wasn’t there. She could tell she had been. The door to her room was flung open and there were boxes everywhere.
Dahlia locked the front door behind her, then went to check the back and make sure it was locked too.
What if the man Ruby had seen really was Nathan Brewer? Though it seemed like if it were Nathan Brewer, rumors about him would have been flying already.
Dahlia heard a key in the lock a moment later, and then Ruby. “Hi,” she said.
“I was worried about you,” Dahlia said.
“Why?” Ruby frowned.
“Because you saw a man skulking around earlier.”
“Ah, right,” Ruby said, as if she’d forgotten about the skulking man. “Can you help me carry stuff in from the car?”
“What did you get?”
“Everything,”Ruby said. “Retail therapy, Dee. It’s a thing.”
She vanished out the front door again, into the twilight.
“Are you using Mom and Dad’s car?”
“Mom said I could,” Ruby said, bending over and digging into the back of the small SUV. “She said Dad never goes to town anyway.”
Dahlia supposed that she shouldn’t find that annoying. Particularly considering she was living on her parents’ property for free.
Ruby appeared, not with bags as Dahlia expected, but a very large box. “I drove into Medford. I went to Target. You said that I needed my own desk.”
“Why are you retail therapizing?” Dahlia asked, watching as Ruby hefted the long box and carried it inside. Then she went to the back of the car and grabbed hold of the bags that were sitting in there. There were many.