Chapter 24
The snow was almost gonefrom the parking lot as Ruth loaded another box of computer equipment into the back of the car. Well, it wasn’t a car; it was a cute little SUV. Within a week of moving into the apartment in Grand Forks, her mom had taken her car back, but in the bigger town, Ruth wasn’t able to get around like she wanted and had gone and purchased her first brand-new car. After taking a cab to the dealership, she had bought the one she liked the best. It was a dark brown on the outside and inside, and the color reminded her of Anderson’s eyes.
In the month she had been away, she had spent most of it in her new apartment. On the drive to town that night, she had contacted her rental agency, and they had found her a place she would be able to get in that night. It was small and furnished, but that suited her just fine. She had set up her computers on the dining room table and had lost herself in the worlds that she created. Worlds where everyone was happy in the end.
Finally able to write like never before, she saw how much time she wasted on work and everything that entailed. Just showering every day had cost her a chapter, based on her actual output this month—though she had to shower once in a while.
What made it different in a bigger town was that she could order food at any time. Anything she wanted and at any time. The first week she had lost writing time just looking at menus. Since then, she had ordered from nearly every restaurant in town that delivered.
Another of her new habits was that she could go a block over and buy a good coffee. Any time she needed one, she could just walk there. Until she had found the shop, she had no idea what good coffee tasted like. Now she was addicted. She headed over one last time, deciding she needed one for the trip back to Landstad.
It had taken almost the entire month, but she had come to the realization that she could live somewhere other than Landstad. She didn’t love it here, but she saw the advantages that Anderson had loved about the place. She knew she had messed up, completely messed up, but she hadn’t contacted him. In fairness, he didn’t contact her either.
She had talked to her friends since they had two book club sessions while she was gone. The first time they had Facetimed the discussion, but it wasn’t as much fun as usual. They had told her how mad Anderson had been when he found out she’d left. And that he had broken her door, or two doors, to be exact. It surprised her that she hadn’t heard from the rental company about it, but Tess had confessed that she had told Anderson that Ruth owned the building. She had also told Ruth that Anderson had the door had been fixed by the end of the day.
The next time they got together, they had traveled to Grand Forks and met up with Ruth. It had been a lot better than the meeting before. Not as comfortable as her apartment in Landstad, but it had been nice to see familiar faces again. This time they said that Anderson was still there but that Rafferty was definitely working with him. Mia was keeping an eye on them for her.
It had now been a month, and so far, the girls had said Anderson was still in Landstad. She knew he was supposed to be out of the office by April first. That had passed, and she was tired of waiting for him to leave so that she could get back to her life. Or back to her apartment since her life was actually over.
Today she had decided it was time to leave. Today she would confront Anderson if he was still in Landstad and tell him that she was willing to try living away from her home with him. If he wanted her, that was. It had been a month; he was most likely over her by now.
Opening the door to the coffee shop, she loved how the warm air and smell of coffee surrounded her when she stepped inside. It was like a hug when she really needed one. Walking to the counter, she smiled at the regular server who just wrote what she knew Ruth would ask for, and they chatted about the weather and things happening in the few blocks around them as Ruth paid and waited for her coffee. She had been surprised that she made friends in the big town. It had been far easier than she had ever suspected it would be.
Sylvia handed her the coffee, and Ruth headed out the door. She was almost to the door when she heard her name being called. Turning, she almost dropped her hot coffee cup when she saw Anderson coming towards her.
“Ruth, stop.”
Why was he here? She needed the three-hour drive to figure out what she would say to him. Usually, it was a two-hour drive, but she was going to drive as slow as she could. She needed that time.
“Anderson.” She breathed out his name. It felt foreign on her lips after the month of not saying it.
“I have been waiting here for two days. Waiting for you to come back,” he said.
Not knowing what to say, she looked around as if someone else would have been looking for her here too. Did everyone know about her coffee shop addiction?
“Noel saw you here the other day, then she came back the next day and saw you again. She called me to tell me you were here,” Anderson continued, but his words were not registering in her mind.
“Did the book club tell you where to find me?” she asked as he easily pulled her over to a table and sat her down. Nothing was making much sense. Anderson was there in person.
“Ruth?” was all he said, realizing she was not hearing him.
“Anderson,” she answered, looking into his brown eyes.
“No, the book club didn’t tell me, though I know that they’ve known for weeks. They kept your secret. Noel saw you last week, then again two days ago. She called me to tell me you were here, or at least that you came in here. I have been sitting here waiting for you to come back.”
“I didn’t come in yesterday,” she replied as the story became clearer to her. It was still a shock that he was sitting in front of her. He had been waiting for her, here? He wanted to see her enough to wait for her?
“I know. I was waiting for you.”
“Oh, yeah, you said that.” Ruth wrapped her hands around her coffee in front of her.
“We need to talk. I know that you own the office building, Ruth. Why didn’t you tell me?” He wrapped his hands over hers.
“I really didn’t try to hide it from you. Well, yes, I did. I didn’t want you to know that I owned it in the beginning. I didn’t know you; you could have taken advantage of me. Later, I guess I enjoyed having something over you. Not after we got together, before that. Afterward, I was nervous and thought you would be mad at me for hiding it. You were mad that I didn’t tell you l lived upstairs.” She bit her lip. Had she said too much already?
“I would have understood. How long have you owned it?”
“Frank offered me the building at a low rate before he put the insurance office up for sale. He didn’t get as much for the company without the building, but Frank always liked me and felt he owed me something for how Franky had treated me. He didn’t, but I jumped at the chance to own the building.”