The Davenports(59)

Ruby tasted salt at the back of her throat. She didn’t want to answer. She couldn’t.

“Maybe I wanted to believe that you were different from the other girls, not trying to get close to me for my money.”

Ruby was confused. “I never wanted your money.”

Mr. Barton wiped his face with his hands. “Then what did your mother mean? What plan?”

Ruby looked at the pin in his lapel. She hadn’t noticed it was a teardrop-shaped stone. A ruby. Her chest tightened and she wished they were anywhere but here. His expression was almost too much to bear. “I—” No, she couldn’t tell him the truth. Ruby wasn’t fooling herself. She knew once she told him, that would be it. He would want nothing to do with her. Could she lose him now?

Ruby looked into his eyes, eyes that looked at her with such reverence. The truth would change that. Yet, she couldn’t bring herself to lie to him. He deserved so much more than she had given him, but most of all he deserved the truth. She licked her lips and swallowed past the dryness in her throat.

“Harrison, when John returned home, he was distracted.” No this wasn’t John’s fault. She started again. “I had hoped to regain John’s attention when he returned from school. My normal flirtations weren’t working, so I decided to get him to notice me by becoming attached to someone else. To you.”

“So you were using me to make him jealous.” His eyes searched hers. The longer he stared, the tighter her throat became.

Ruby took his arm. “You must understand—I am my parents’ only child and the Davenports are their oldest friends. Our families becoming one is a hope they have had for a long time.” Ruby waited while he weighed her words. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“For what? Stringing me along this whole time?” He paced in front of her. When he turned back, his face was hard as stone. “This was all a lie, then.” It wasn’t a question.

“At first,” she said. “Things are different now.”

“How are they different?” He shook his head. “Are you telling me it’s over between you and Davenport? You’ve given him up?”

“I—” She blinked back the tears that blurred his face. She was breathing too fast, and sweat beaded on her temples. Ruby wanted to say yes.

I’m so proud of you. Her mother spoke and Ruby’s world had stopped. For a moment, she bathed in the acceptance she’d longed for. She couldn’t think of a way to explain it—her parents’ expectations, the pressure she felt to please them, how it weighed on her. She couldn’t think of a way to explain it without it sounding like a sad excuse, like she didn’t know right from wrong. All she could think to say was, “It’s complicated.”

Ruby forced herself to watch his reaction, the way he bit the inside of his cheek to keep his chin from quivering. “Complicated?” He cleared his throat. “Uncomplicate it fast. Or I’m gone.”

Tears fell from her eyes and she nodded. “I’m sorry.” These words, she knew, were true. But when no others came, she felt Harrison Barton pull away.

As if he read her soul, he said, “I am too.”



* * *



—

“Sorry,” Olivia said, closing the door behind her. “Hostess duties.”

Ruby swung her feet off the couch and patted the seat beside her. After the conversation with her mother, and then Mr. Barton, Ruby snagged a bottle of champagne and a pair of flutes. The sitting room between Olivia’s and Helen’s bedrooms was perfect. Their shared space contained a mix of not only Helen’s and Olivia’s things, but Ruby’s as well. She’d flipped through one of the catalogs while waiting for her friend to arrive, not really registering the images on the pages. It was a familiar place. And Olivia always knew what to do.

Now that Olivia was here, though, Ruby was unsure of where to start. How much to disclose. This wasn’t gossip about just any of the young men who wanted to shower her with attention.

Olivia sat beside her on the couch. She kicked her shoes off and tucked her feet underneath her. “I brought dessert.” The devil’s food cake she placed on the low table laced the air with sugar. In the dim light of the lavender candles, Ruby could see the line forming between her friend’s brows. “It’s your favorite,” she said, holding the plate up to Ruby’s face. When Ruby didn’t immediately respond, Olivia said, “Oh, Ruby, what’s happened? You can tell me.”

Ruby leaned against her friend, and decided to go straight to the heart of the thing.

“I think I’m falling for Mr. Barton,” she said.

“Well, that’s wonderful news,” said Olivia. “Why don’t you look like it’s wonderful news?”

“My parents are completely against it. They have a certain idea of how my life should be, but . . . I don’t know what to do.” Ruby groaned and slouched against the back of the couch. She felt miserable. And confused.

Olivia was unusually quiet, her eyes distant. Ruby had expected her friend to pepper her with questions. Instead, Olivia stared into the flame of the nearest candle.

“Olivia?”

“Hmm?” Her friend refocused slowly. “I’m sorry, Ruby.” She smiled sadly and reached for the bottle on the table. Olivia poured for both of them. The bubbles floated to the top and exploded like tiny fireworks in the glass. “I think the hardest thing we can do is to decide what we want, and stride toward it.”