Chapter 7
Anderson watchedRuth head out the door into the sub-zero weather without a coat on and walk past the front window in just a blue blouse that was barely enough for the chilly office. In fact, she usually slipped on a sweater during the cooler days. Jumping from his chair, he grabbed her coat and followed her to give her the much-needed piece of clothing. But when he pushed out the door and looked down the street, she was gone. Completely disappeared, just like the night of the blizzard. Heading out, he walked down the street, looking in cars to see if she was waiting for hers to warm up. He didn’t find her, nor were there any cars driving down the street.
Finally, the cold sent him back to the office to get his coat to keep looking for her. His usually unemotional personal assistant had blown her top at him because of Rafferty. He knew he should have talked to her before he said what he did to Rafferty, but the man was his friend, and he was falling on hard times.
“Find her?” Rafferty asked with a little smirk. The man didn’t seem to care for Ruth’s safety and health. He just seemed to like to antagonize her.
“No, I think she is in the parking lot down the street,” he said, sliding on his jacket as quickly as he could. “She must be freezing.”
“Why would she be down there?” Rafferty asked as he too was slipping on his jacket to help.
“I didn’t see her on the street. I am pissed I don’t even know what she drives,” Anderson admitted. To his credit, he had never seen her driving or walking to her car. She usually got to work after him and left before him, but now he realized they should talk about where she parks. Just basic safety things like that.
“Probably still the 1970 Dodge Charger with the big engine. It is most likely in Chester’s garage for the winter,” Rafferty replied, pulling his jacket off.
Looking over at his friend, he asked, “Green?”
“Yup.” Rafferty sat down in one of the waiting room chairs. It seemed he was no longer going to help look for her.
“I have seen that in the summer. What does she drive in the winter?” Anderson wanted to know, needed to know. That car was not a daily driver. He may not know a lot about cars, but he knew that.
The car was usually sitting outside the office door when it was in town. For a month or two in the summer, it sat there, right by the window. Then it was gone, not to be seen for another year.
“Nothing. She doesn’t go far in the winter, and Chester or Sara come and get her on the weekends.” Rafferty moved the visitor chair back to where it had been before he’d come into the office.
“How far does she walk to work then? She needs her coat,” Anderson said, holding it up for him to see as if he didn’t know what the conversation was about.
“She is already home, don’t worry about it.” Rafferty sat down in the chair and dropped his arms over the chairs on either side of him.
“How close does she live, Rafferty?” Anderson demanded. Why did his friend know where she lived, but he, her boss, did not?
“Very.” Rafferty could barely contain his smirk. In fact, he didn’t. “You have no idea where she lives? Really?” He raised an eyebrow in question.
“Where does she live?” Anderson demanded, hanging the coat back on the hook.
Rafferty’s answer was to point to the ceiling. Anderson looked up as if she was going to be floating above his head.
“She has lived upstairs forever. I can’t believe you have never known. You never noticed?” Rafferty couldn’t stop smiling.
“Forever?” he asked, sliding his jacket off. With sudden realization, he knew where she had vanished to the night of the blizzard across the street. Turning, he actually looked at the spot, though the snow pile had long ago been moved.
Then a lot of their conversations ran through his mind, such as her always blaming being late because of the weather, that he never saw her car, and that she was always walking around town when he saw her. Always walking. But if she lived here, then she didn’t have far to go to get anywhere.
“I think she moved in while she and Franky were still engaged. Frank always let her live up there when he owned the building. I heard she was rent-free the entire time. Guilt over what his kid did.” Rafferty followed him back to his office, away from Ruth’s desk and the window so he couldn’t look out without seeing her in that snowbank.
“You think?” Anderson asked, wanting to know more about Ruth. He suddenly wanted to know everything about her.
“I don’t know exactly. We were no longer all that close, and I went to college. But it is a small town; you hear things over the years.”
No wonder her mother picked her up every week from work—she was also at home. He wondered why she never went home for lunch since it was right there. Instead, they ordered in all the time. Lately, they had been talking more over lunch than ever before. Nothing serious, just little things. He liked to see if he could make her laugh. Most days he was successful.
“You suddenly seem way too into Angel, Anderson. Are you interested in her?” Rafferty asked, humor gone from his demeanor.
“No, I am not,” he said a little too quickly. He wasn’t admitting anything to Rafferty that he wasn’t ready to admit to himself.
“Go for if you want to, but her mother will kill you. She doesn’t let much happen to Ruth. She’s a bit overprotective. Always has been,” Rafferty informed him seriously.
Anderson had never seen the woman beyond her head in a late model Buick. She never came in to get Ruth. Ruth had to go out to her. Not that he was interested in Ruth, so it didn’t matter.
“Let’s go get some drinks,” Anderson said, standing up. Rafferty followed him, and they grabbed their coats and headed out into the cold dark street only lit by streetlights. It was North Dakota in January, so it was dark by five. While walking across the street, Anderson couldn’t help but look up and the windows above the insurance office. There was a soft glow behind the curtains in the windows. He shook his head, pretending he didn’t care that she lived there.