After a long and informative discussion with a local architect who specialized in restorations, I was feeling good. My soul was not fixing up the house. Seeing that the house got repaired was in there, but it wasn’t for me to do the work.
Realizing I didn’t have to take that stress on felt good. Just like knowing Allan was getting the help he needed because I was able to navigate that process for him. I wasn’t the help, but I had been the conduit for him to find proper treatment and care.
Mac was getting married, and Kenzie would be free of him. Maybe now, if she would forgive me, she would be willing to let the world know I was her boyfriend. Or more. I was definitely interested in more. But she had to forgive me first. And in order for her to forgive me, I had to get off my ass and apologize.
I made a quick fry-up for dinner. I reheated some leftover French fries, poured a can of chili over them, and topped it all off with a couple of eggs over easy. I wasn’t the cook Allan was, but I could feed myself. After I fed my body, it was time to feed my soul. I cleaned up the few dishes I used before heading out to the workshop.
The lights were on in the barn. At first, I didn’t think anything of it. But I hadn’t been out to the workshop at all since the early morning hours, and I distinctly remembered turning the lights out. I stood there for a long moment and just admired the long cabinet. The workmanship was stunning, and my freshly-turned legs fit into the design.
I may not have built the piece, but I was finishing it, bringing it to life. As soon as it was done, I would take it to Kenzie as a peace offering. I had been a little too pleased with myself as I watched the lights go off, throwing the furniture into darkness.
I knew those lights should have been off.
“Hello?” I called out.
There was a soft groan coming from inside the workshop. Someone was curled up on the futon couch I had impulsively bought yesterday after dinner. It took half a second to recognize the top of Ruby’s head with her choppy hair.
She pushed up into a sitting position and rubbed her eyes. “Tate?”
“Uff!” The air rushed out of my lungs as I was tackled and embraced.
I brushed my hand over her head before wrapping my arms around her and hugging her back. I had missed her.
“Ruby, what’s…?” That’s when I realized she was crying.
I held on for another minute before shifting so I could look into her face.
“What’s wrong, kiddo? Are you okay?”
“I didn’t know where to go.”
I led her back to the couch. She was such a mighty kid, I had forgotten how small she actually was. The last time I had seen her personality also be small like this was when she had broken her wrist.
“What are you doing in the workshop? Why didn’t you come inside?”
She chewed on her lower lip and sniffled. “I didn’t know if I’d be welcome. You were mad at me about my wrist, and I…”
I pulled her into a hug. I had messed up with her and her sister. After a minute, I let her go and turned to face her. I let out a heavy breath, uncertain of where or how to start.
“I owe you an explanation and an apology.”
“But I…” she started.
I held up my finger to pause her. I wasn’t going to go all Army command on her. She was just a kid, and the hard shell she showed people so they couldn’t hurt her was full of holes and was quite squishy. I needed to be aware and careful of her feelings.
“You did nothing wrong. I still owe you a phone. I’m sorry about that. Look, Ruby, that afternoon, Allan started to have a crisis. He wasn’t safe. I didn’t know if you would be safe with him here.”
“Is Allan okay?” she asked.
“Allan is going to be great. He’s in a place right now that can help him. It’s like recovery, but for his mind.”
“You’re not mad at me?”
“Not at all. I should have explained things better. But when things were happening, I was scared and not exactly certain what I was doing. I focused on getting Allan the help he needed.”
“You got scared?” The sarcastic bite was back in her voice.
“I get scared when people I care about are hurt or about to be hurt.”
“But you were in the Army.”
I nodded. “I was. I was scared then, too. But I trusted the decision makers, and I would stick to the plan and do it anyway. Scared doesn’t mean incapable. It just puts me on hyper-alert.”
“I’m scared,” she admitted.
“How come? Why are you hiding out? Did someone hurt you?” I was ready to go papa bear on anyone who so much as threatened this kid.
“It’s Kenzie.”
Everything in my body froze. My breath got stuck in my throat, my gut clenched, and the hairs at the back of my neck stood on end.
“What’s wrong with Kenzie?” I asked in the calmest voice I could muster. I had to control myself or I would start yelling and shaking.
“She says she is going to marry Mac. You can’t let her do that.”
I just stared at her. “What the fuck?” I shook my head, realizing I had cursed in front of Ruby. “Wait, what do you mean, she’s going to marry Mac?”
“She doesn’t even like him. I know she doesn’t. She’s doing it because we’re broke, and she thinks he’ll take care of us.” She was bawling. “I don’t want Mac to take care of us. He’s mean and he lies.”
Kenzie was going to marry Mac? It wasn’t registering fully.
“She could have asked me. Does she hate me that much?”
“She thinks you’re mad at her for something.”
I closed my eyes and groaned. Leaning back, I covered my eyes. “I yelled at her when Allan was having an episode.”
“Like you yelled at me?”
“Exactly like I yelled at you. I messed up. But she could have, you could have come to me and said something.”
“I wasn’t allowed to. You can’t let her marry Mac. She’ll listen to you. You like her.” Ruby emphasized the ‘like’. She recognized Kenzie and I were more than friends. “And she’s in love with you. She won’t admit it, but she is.”
“I won’t let Kenzie marry Mac.” I pushed to my feet and held out my hand to pull Ruby up.
“Mac says they’re going to have a baby. But I know that’s not possible.”
I stopped and stared at her.
“Say that again.”
“Mac says they’re going to have a baby. But it’s not his baby. Kenzie would have had to have, you know, done it with him. And he’s so gross. There is no way she’s gonna have his baby.”
I cast my gaze from side to side, trying to process Ruby’s words.
“Is Kenzie pregnant? Did she say something?”
Ruby shrugged. “She didn’t say she wasn’t.”
I grabbed Ruby’s arms and made her look me in the eye.
“Tell me everything they told you. I want every word.” I let go of her, not wanting to seem like I was threatening her.
“Kenzie said Mac has insurance, and she won’t have to worry about working more than full-time. She pointed out the big back yard we used to play in when our parents were still alive. Mac used to have parties in the summer. Mac was pretending to be nice, but it was fake. When Kenzie wasn’t looking, he would make faces and glare at me. He knows I don’t like him. I used to be afraid of him when I was little.”
I nodded, encouraging her to keep talking. “Come on, let’s get in the truck. Where’s Kenzie now? You can keep telling me everything as I drive.”
“She was still at Mac’s house when I ran away. I don’t want to live with him. I don’t want my sister to think she has to marry him so someone will take care of us. We were taking care of ourselves really well.”
“You were taking care of yourselves beautifully.” It was a struggle to not growl. Or to run to the truck and slam it into gear. I had no idea where Mac lived.
“You need to tell me where to go,” I said as I started the truck.
Ruby continued, only interrupting herself to point when I needed to turn. “Mac said I was going to have a little brother or sister and put his hand on Kenzie, you know how people put hands on baby bellies.”
Kenzie was pregnant. Fuck. She had to be terrified, with no job and thinking I didn’t want anything to do with her. I let out a long, deep sigh when Ruby pointed to Mac’s house and there were no cars in the driveway. Kenzie wasn’t there.
That only meant I now needed to find her and tell her she couldn’t marry Mac. If anybody was going to take care of her, it would be me because I loved her.
“Where is she?” I asked.
“Maybe she went home.”
There was no car in the parking lot, and she wasn’t upstairs when I insisted we check.
“Where else can she be? Where does Kenzie go when she needs to be alone to think?”
