Phantoms of Fall (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 2) (36 page)

“Hey, Ruby forgot to stop at the store so she’s going
back there now,” Rachel announced as she pushed the door
open and walked in. “You’re safe for at least fifteen minutes—
come take a look at the decorations and stuff.”

“No thanks, Rachel. I kinda want to be alone right
now.” I flopped back down into the chair and closed my eyes.

I felt her arm slip around my shoulders and she said
quietly, “I know how much you miss her, Zach. Just hold on a
little while longer, okay? Things are going to work out for you
two—I’m sure of it. The pain I see in your eyes since you
broke up—well, I see it in her eyes, too. Just tell her how you
feel, tell her she’s the only girl for you. You said she’s trying to
keep a secret from you, right?
Something big, something that
would affect your future together, right?”

Slowly, I opened my eyes. I tried to answer her but if I
did I knew I would start to cry. So instead, I nodded my head
yes.

“Okay, whatever that secret is, if you’re willing to live
with it—tell her that.
Tell her you know everything and that
it doesn’t change how you feel about her. Tell her you love
her no matter what.”

And I
did
love her no matter what. I knew exactly how
my accident happened in the stairwell that day and I knew
why she didn’t want to tell me the truth. Ruby could see
ghosts and I was okay with that. Now proving that to her was
going to be the hard part.

“I will, Rachel.” I reached up and gave my sister a big
hug. She deserved it. She’d gone out of her way to help me
win Ruby back for the second time. Rachel was the best sister
in the world but if I told her that, she would never let me live
it down. “Thanks for everything.”

“Well, it looks like people are starting to arrive so I
better go play hostess since Ruby’s not here.” She gave me an
encouraging smile as she left the room. “If you need anything,
text me.”

So I sat there alone in a room growing steadily darker
while waiting for my cue. Music and laughter filtered through
the wall making me feel even lonelier than I already was. I
checked my watch every few minutes, first out of boredom
then eventually out of worry. Ruby should be back by now.
What if something bad happened to her while I was hiding in
here like a coward?
What if she was hurt or in danger? I
knew nothing about this new ghost in her life—could this one
be more dangerous than Scarlet was?

And what was up with her rapid weight loss? She was
so thin and pale lately. God, I hope she’s not seriously sick.
She threw up a few times at the beginning of the year but I
thought she
was
just stressing
over school.
When I
mentioned it to Rachel, she actually said she thought Ruby
looked great—I should have known she wouldn’t get it. Chloe
agreed with me, but neither of us knew how to talk to her
about it when she wouldn’t even say hello to us. If she wasn’t
sick, there was only one other option.

She was doing this to herself on purpose. Girls took
drastic measures when they thought they were fat—could
Ruby be anorexic? I never made her feel that way did I?
Did
she think I wouldn’t sleep with her because she wasn’t skinny
enough for me?
She was beyond perfect just the way she
was—there wasn’t a single thing I would change about her.
But girls could be so sensitive sometimes. One time when we
were young, I told Rachel she had legs like Kermit the Frog. I
was just pulling a stupid, mean brother trick but she took me
seriously. She refused to wear shorts until middle school, like
five years later. I told her that I was just messing around with
her, but she took it to heart.
If I said or did anything that
made Ruby feel less than perfect, I wanted to know what it
was so I could fix it.

All of these thoughts made me even more worried
about where she was.
I pulled out my phone and texted
Rachel. “Almost 7—u heard from Ruby?”

 

An eternity went by while I waited for her reply. It
came in one short word. “No.”

I couldn’t stay there in that room worrying about her
anymore. Pacing the floor, I checked the window about every
ten seconds for some sight of her. I texted Rachel one more
time. “S’thin’s wrong—goin 2 look 4 her.”

I barely set one foot out of the bedroom door when
Rachel came bolting down the hallway.

“No, Zach! You’ll ruin everything! I’m worried about
her, too, but why don’t you let someone else go? Jason was
getting ready to go anyway so just sit back and let him find
her.”

“Is he going now?”

 

“Yes, just relax. If she was in an accident, we would
know by now. She’s probably having car trouble.”

 

“Fine. But if you don’t hear from her or him in five
minutes, I’m going after her myself.”

 

“Five minutes? He’ll barely have the car out of the
garage in five. At least give him fifteen!”

 

“Five minutes is my final offer.” I tapped my watch
and noted the time. “And it starts right now.”

Rachel knew when it was pointless to argue with me
and that time was now. “Fine,” she said as she stomped away
in that ridiculous vampiress outfit. “I’ll let them know. Just
get back in your room.”

I sat back down with the intention of watching every
second of that five minutes tick by. No sooner did my ass hit
the cushion when I got a text from Rachel.
“She’s here!!”

I breathed a huge sigh of relief that she was okay then
caught it in my throat when I realized it was almost go time.
What if she didn’t love me as much as I thought she did?
What if I left here tonight even more brokenhearted than I
already was? What if she didn’t believe me when I told her
the truth about me and Chloe?
Would Chloe be willing to
reveal her secret to help me?

Now that she was here, I really started to panic. She
could get mad and kick me out.
She could tell me never to
come near her again. Ruby was a beautiful girl—what if some
other guy made a move on her before I got to her?
If I found
some slobbering idiot with his hands all over her I would….

I would do nothing.
My anger got me into this—it
certainly wasn’t going to get me out of it.
If she found
someone else—regardless of who he was—I would wish her
luck and walk away. Then I would go home and cry until my
eyeballs fell out of their freakin’ sockets.

What was taking so long? I texted Rachel to find out.

 

“In shower—wanna join her? ;)”

“Smart ass.” She knew I would give anything for an
opportunity like that.
Just the mere thought of it was enough
to make my hormone level rise along with other things.
I
concentrated on unpleasant thoughts to get rid of it—Viking
princes wielded axes not swords.

I just got my crotch under control when the door
opened and Boone appeared.

 

“Hey, Romeo, time for action!”

Finally. My legs nearly gave out beneath me—that’s
how nervous I was. But I had to pull it together if I hoped to
impress her so I pretended I was as confident about this plan
as Rachel was and walked into the ballroom.

The room was dimly lit and full of people so I scanned
the room blindly in search of her. The crowd at the center of
the room began to diminish until there was only one person
left standing in it. My Viking princess. If I hadn’t known we
were dressed alike, I never would have known it was her—
the blond hair threw me off. But the closer I got, it was like I
could feel that it was her, feel the energy start to build. She
was the last one in the room to see me.
When she turned
around, I fell in love with her all over again.

She was gorgeous.
Her costume fit her perfectly—
every curve of her body was visible beneath the icy blue
fabric of her dress. I wanted to take her in my arms and never
let her go.
I was about to make my move when she said
something
unintelligible
and
started to flee.
For a split
second, I considered letting her go.

But I changed my mind and reached out for her hand
hoping I would catch her in time. I thought I was too late until
I felt the warmth of her skin on mine and the same powerful
current I felt the first time we touched. She didn’t resist me.
Instead, she turned to face me and I melted. Her eyes simply
captivated me. They were wide with surprise and the color of
her dress
made them
emeralds
sparkling
in
appear greener than
usual,
like
the
moonlight.
I
stood
there

mesmerized by her as the band started to play.
30. The Moment We’ve Both Been
Waiting For

My whole body trembled as we stood there staring at
each other in silence. I’d never felt such intensity before. I
went through every range of emotions possible but in the end
it all came back to my love for Zach.
Just like always.
But
what good could come of it? How could I possibly walk away
from him after this?
When that song ended, I would be
irreparably broken.
Good sense told me to run away now
before I lost any more of myself to him.

But when he finally broke the spell and pulled me
close, I ignored my mind and
gave in
to what my
heart
wanted. Crimson’s voice was hauntingly beautiful as she sang
a love song that felt like it was written just for us. I wasn’t
paying much attention to the lyrics, though—not with Zach’s
arms around me. I didn’t even care that he was clumsy with
his left arm because of the cast. He was perfect even when he
wasn’t.

It felt like we were alone in the universe with only our
hearts to guide us.
I was so caught up in this beautifully
twisted illusion of reality that I forgot about everything that
separated us in the first place.
I wanted this moment to last
forever. But sadness grew within me as I realized that our
lives weren’t perfect and that all of those imperfections would
once again resurface the moment the song ended.

I had to get away from him before I fell in too deep.
Releasing my hands from around his neck, I turned to go
before he saw the tears that were about to flow. But he held
firmly to my waist and pulled me into him. He was behind me
now with his hands on my stomach and his head bent close to
mine. The sound of his soft breath in my ear was all it took
for me to surrender. I leaned my head against his chest and
entwined my arms with his. We danced this way until the last
words of the song escaped Crimson’s lips.

The spell was broken. Or was it? The music changed
tempo but we remained in our lover’s embrace. I tried to find
the strength to walk away but I couldn’t. Then he whispered
in my ear.

“Ruby,” he spoke softly with words that were only
meant for me to hear, “Walk with me. There’s something you
need to know.”

Oh no. A knot grew in my stomach larger than the one
I had when I broke into the school. What could he want to tell
me?
If he told me he got Chloe pregnant, I would die right
there on the spot. Part of me didn’t want to know what was
on his mind. Luckily, that part was overruled by a burning
curiosity to hear him out.

When I turned to face him, I forgot all about the tears
that were now streaming down my cheeks. He noticed them
instantly and brushed them away with the fingertips of his
broken
arm.
There
was
something
so
vulnerable,
so
unguarded about the way he did it. It was like he was using
the broken pieces of himself to fix the shattered pieces of me.
I wanted him more than ever. I wanted him enough to tell
him the truth—all of it.

I wanted to just start blurting it out right there on the
dance floor regardless of who was listening.
I wanted to
shout “I love you Zach Mason!” as loud as my voice would
allow me to.
Instead, I nodded my head and let him lead me
out of the ball room. He held my hand as we descended the
steps and walked out the front door of the mansion.

“You don’t mind if we talk out here, do you?” he said
as he guided me out to the oak grove, “It’s really hot in there.”

Hot? Try on fire. My costume had me hot enough on
its own not to mention the heat we generated between us.
“No, this is fine.”

The
crisp fall air nipped at my
skin
and
it was
heavenly.
As we made our way out to a private spot, the
leaves crunched under our feet but it was the only sound we
made. We walked to the one spot where moonlight found a
way to filter through the leafy canopy to the ground and he
stopped.

“Ruby, I know who pushed me down the stairs that
day.”

That was it? That was why he brought me out here?
To tell me some convoluted theory he had about which one of
Ryan’s friends exacted revenge on Ryan’s behalf? I
considered baring my soul to him and this was what he
wanted to tell me. Dumbfounded, I just stared at him. When I
didn’t respond, he repeated himself like I was supposed to
know who he thought was responsible.

“Okay,” he said, “let me try this a different way.
I
know your secret, Ruby.
I know you can see ghosts and it
doesn’t change how I feel about you. I love you regardless.”

My secret?
I could feel my eyes widen as I tried to
figure out what to do or say next. My next words to him were
crucial so I paused to consider them. As I was thinking about
my next move, I stared at the ground by my feet. That’s when
I saw it—the pink stone I saw the day he brought me out here
when he found the stitches in the back of my head. Something
about that stone reminded me of him that day and of how my
world would forever be changed by having known him. That
day was months ago, but nothing about how I felt about him
had changed, nor would it ever. That’s how I knew that I
needed to be honest with him. I bent over and picked up the
stone and concealed it in my pocket before admitting the
truth.