Chapter 6
“Another week of below-zero weather.So, no nice weather until at least after February 1st.” Ruth looked up from the weather report app on her cellphone. Anderson was sitting at his desk with his feet up. This was their usual quiet time, and during these quiet weeks, she wondered when he would notice that she didn’t do much around there. Because there was nothing to do.
“Is your mom coming to get you today?” he asked. It was Friday, and at five, her mother would be waiting outside the door in her old Buick to whisk her away to the farm. It was something that had happened nearly every Friday.
“Too cold this weekend. Mom does not like going out when it is too cold, and Chester does whatever my mom says,” she said, putting her phone down and sliding her glasses off so she could see him clearly. Sometimes she left them on when she talked to him so that she didn’t see his handsome face across the room. It was very distracting sometimes.
It had been close to a month since book club had started, and this weekend was the third meet-up. They were again meeting at Ruth’s place because of their need and want to drink. It also made sure that the entire town didn’t know about it and want to join in—six members were enough, a number Ruth had gotten used to faster than she had expected to.
Since the first meeting, the book club had changed. They were still reading books, but each of them was reading a different book, so their discussion was more about the murders and not the books themselves. But Natalie had expressed an interest in making their conversations into a podcast, like a radio show that could be found on the internet. This week was going to be the first one they would record. Ruth was a bit nervous about the whole thing, but the others seemed to be excited about it, or at least pretended to. She was eighty percent sure only Natalie was actually excited about the recording part.
In that time at the office, Anderson had started talking to her more than ever before. No longer was it just mundane conversations about the weather or town happenings or work. Now they were talking about more personal things. The weather still came up a lot, but it was winter in North Dakota, so it was always on everyone’s mind.
With the change, she was sometimes unable to edit during the afternoon because they were talking, and it was cutting into her work time. But learning more about Anderson was worth the wasted work time. Work would always be there; Anderson, not so much.
“Any big plans for the weekend then?” Anderson asked as he now did on Fridays.
“No, just book club on Sunday afternoon.” She was looking through the papers on her desk.
“What book this week?” He had wormed some of the names out of her of who was in book club. Okay, he knows them all! He was very good at getting information from her.
“Fifty Shades of Gray,” she smirked. He knew the book; everyone knew the book. The group had agreed to tell everyone that was the book—it kept the older generation from wanting in if they ever found out about it. It was actually about the Son of Sam, but she wasn’t telling him that. Or that her book had been interesting but graphic in a different way than the book she had told him.
“Learn anything new?” He grinned at her.
“Nothing I didn’t already know.” She was proud of herself for not blushing. At thirty, she hated that she blushed so easily. It was her cross to bear for having such pale skin. She also never tanned, just burned to a crisp.
The door to the outside opened, letting in a cold chill and stopping their conversation. Ruth gathered the sweater off her chair and pulled it over her shoulders. Looking up at the visitor, she lost her smile. “Anderson, your friend is here.”
Anderson got to his feet and came out to her office area. “Rafferty, what can I do for you today? Come into my office; my personal assistant has some issues with you.”
Rafferty looked over at Ruth. “I actually want to talk with her for a minute.”
“I have nothing to say to you, Brooks.” Ruth was again shuffling through the papers on her desk, though she had no idea what she was even looking for anymore. Her only thoughts were what he could possibly want from her.
“I need you to talk to Mia for me. Talk me up.” He grabbed a visitor chair and pulled it to the front of her desk and plopped down in it, not caring that Anderson was listening still.
“No, I don’t want any of my friends talking to you. They deserve better.” She didn’t look up at him.
“You owe me, Angel,” he mumbled quietly. She knew he was staring at her.
She stood up and looked down at him with anger. “And this is what you want? Mia? What happens when you need a liver?” Her voice was quiet, but she knew Anderson could hear anyway.
“I hear yours is getting quite the workout at book club, so it might not be in the best shape.” He stared her in the eyes as he got to his feet, the smile gone.
“Not nearly as much as yours always has,” she countered. He was a social drinker, and he was always socializing. Or more accurately, he was a player and spent most of his off time at the bar.
“Could you just talk to her?” he asked, nicer now, maybe a little whiny.
“No. If she wants to talk to you, she will. She knows you as well as I do.” She picked up the pile of papers because she had nothing else to actually do to look busy.
It wasn’t like Mia would listen to her; they were new friends, nothing more. And if she even thought that Mia would want to date Rafferty, she didn’t need Ruth’s assistance in that. They worked not a block apart every day. Rafferty spent more time in the cafe than Ruth herself did.
“Come on, Angel,” he pleaded, adding again in case she forgot. “You owe me.”
“No, Mia is her own person and doesn’t listen to me. And if she did, I would tell her to stay as far from you as possible. So I wouldn’t even ask,” she whispered and sat down, then turned her back to him. Though she had nothing to do behind her desk, she just stared at the wall.
Once she heard him walk into Anderson's office, she turned back to her computer and started doing actual work. Editing. Time to get back to that. But the conversation in Anderson’s office drew her attention and distracted her.