Chapter 18
The sun was risingin the east, and it promised to be a warm day—if twenty degrees was warm. In Landstad, in March, it was. It was Monday morning, and since last night had been book club, he had slept at his house for the first time in well over a month. He missed waking up with Ruth, and he missed going to sleep with her also.
It had been a week since his brother had come for a visit. Since then, Anderson had not heard from his father or Jonathan, and his mother had not mentioned anything about it, which meant that his brother didn’t share much about his trip to Landstad with them if anything. Ruth must have really gotten to his brother.
Ruth had not spent the weekend with her mother in a few weeks. Her mother picked her up Saturday before lunch and dropped her off just before supper that same day, but she was not staying out there. So far, Anderson had not been invited out. Ruth didn’t suggest an introduction, and he didn’t push.
Anderson parked in the free parking area a block from the office. He had gotten used to parking there, so he didn’t have to move his truck when the snowplows wanted to go through in the middle of the night. As he walked, he saw Ruth’s door swing open. Was she getting to work early? Did she miss him?
But instead of Ruth walking out the door, he watched as Rafferty Brooks rushed out of the door and headed away from him. The man was practically running down the sidewalk when he plowed into Mia coming out of the post office. Ignoring both of them, he jogged to Ruth’s door, pulling it open and rushing up the stairs.
He couldn’t believe it. The moment he was gone, she had Rafferty up here. Had he been there all night? Were they having an affair? He had point-blank asked both of them about each other, and both had been adamant that nothing had ever happened. But he knew there was something between them; he could feel it.
Why had he trusted her? Just because she didn’t want to sleep with his brother didn’t mean she wouldn’t sleep with someone else. Rafferty. Anderson’s friend…or former friend now.
No time to take off his shoes or jacket—it wouldn’t take long to tell her off. He was tired of women who slept around. After Daphne, he should have noticed the signs earlier except he still didn’t notice than.
Opening the door without knocking, he expected her to be in the shower, cleaning up and getting ready for the day. Getting ready for a day in the office with him after sleeping with Rafferty.
Instead, she was sitting on the couch, staring out the window at the rising sun. She was wearing a skirt and blouse and had her hair up, ready for the day. Over her shoulder, he saw her pull out her phone and type something out, then drop the phone, which fell to the floor with a thud. His phone in his pocket indicated that he had a text. Lifting it up, he read:
Ruth:I am taking a sick day.
It was from Ruth. Ruth, in front of him. She turned at the sound his phone had made. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears, but she said nothing, just turned away from him.
“What is wrong? What did Rafferty do?” He went around the couch, pulling off his coat and dropping it on the floor before sitting down next to her.
“He was nice to me.” She turned back to the window.
“Did he hurt you?” Pulling her into his arms, he held her to him. Something in her tone had him on edge. He had always liked Rafferty, but that would change if he had done something to Ruth. She went into his arms willingly.
“No, never. But I have hurt him. Again and again over the years.”
“Ruth?” He had no idea what to say. What was happening?
“Did you know that when we were six in the school Christmas program, he was a shepherd, and I was an angel. I was always the stupid angel. He was the only one who saw that the binding that was holding me up in the air was breaking. He tried to catch me. We both broke our arms. My left, and his right.” She looked at the arm that had once been broken.
“You never told me that.”
“When we were eight, and Kyle Kenny stole by bike, Rafferty got it back for me.” Her voice cracked a little. “I didn’t even have to ask him to; he just did it. I think he was grounded for fighting with him over my bike.”
“Sounds like a nice kid.” He wondered what made her think of all these things.
“When I was sick half the year when we were ten, he brought me my homework every day. He said it was because he had to walk by my place anyway.” She leaned into him even more.
All he did was shake his head, knowing she didn’t want an answer. She just wanted to talk.
“When we were thirteen, we were at a party, and we played seven minutes in heaven. I spun the bottle, and it landed on Rafferty. I was already dating Franky. We went into the closet and just talked. He didn’t try to kiss me or touch me. We sat in the back of the closet, just talking about stuff. Then at the very end, he bumped his shoulder to my shoulder and said I was his favorite girlfriend, a girl who was a friend.” The tears were now flowing.
“He is a nice guy.” Anderson had seen that side of Rafferty and thought that Ruth hadn’t, but it seemed that she had seen it over the years. He wondered why she had mostly ignored it.
“Too nice to me. I have been so mean to him. He came over and told me Howard died. He could have called or just let me find out through the gossip of town. But he took the time to stop by, and I was the first person he told. After everything I have said and done to him in the last few years, he still came,” she said.
“His dad died?” he asked. He hadn’t heard that.
She didn’t answer, just fell silent as she looked out the bright window, letting the tears fall from her eyes. She didn’t even wipe them away. It bothered him how she was affected by what was happening in the Brooks family.
“Howard always wanted me dead.” She wiped her tears, but more came quickly. “He waited eighteen years for my kidneys to fail. Everybody knew that they would; it was just a matter of time. Maybe that’s why I hung on to Franky all through school. I planned to marry him and have kids, but deep down, I didn’t believe I would live that long. Then the minute Rafferty knew he could maybe help, he did.”