sis,” Scarlett cut in. “Everything is just perfect. Demitri’s being a dream.” There was a wistfulness about her that even the speaker’s tinny quality didn’t distort. “He says he loves me and that he’s sorry.”
The sheriff’s eyes darkened. He’d figured out Ruby wasn’t her sister in a matter of minutes. He was surely connecting these dots at lightning speed. Was he hurt? Angry? Feeling betrayed? No one wanted to be the rebound.
Ruby dismissed an unbidden rush of guilt. Why did she care? She was hardly responsible for her sister’s complicated love life.
The bouquet of flowers lying on the table caught her eye, and the guilt returned. The gesture was sweet. Thoughtful. That of a man who held affection for a woman.
If she hadn’t asked for Scarlett’s help, her sister might have stayed in Sweetheart.
Fat chance. The sheriff was history the second Demitri crooked his little finger. Ruby’s appearance changed nothing.
“Scarlett,” Cliff said into the phone. “Are you all right?” Each word was delivered with an icy undertone.
There was a long, awkward pause. Ruby half expected her sister to hang up. No matter. Cliff knew Scarlett was alive and well. That had been the whole purpose for the call in the first place.
Or, did he have an ulterior motive? He might have insisted Ruby call her sister in order to confirm the friend was indeed a boyfriend. Maybe he was retaliating by embarrassing both Scarlett and Ruby.
Anger prompted her to blurt out, “He knows about us. He saw my tattoo.”
The pause that followed was considerably shorter. “I’m sorry, Cliff,” Scarlett said. “I didn’t mean for you to find out this way. I’d have told you, but everything happened so fast.”
“Are you all right?” he repeated.
“I’m great.” She sighed. “Look, maybe we can talk about this when I have more time. Then, I can explain.”
“Not necessary.” Turning on his heels, he snatched his half-finished coffee off the table and carried it to the sink where he rinsed out the mug.
Ruby removed the phone from speaker before continuing the conversation with her sister.
“For crying out loud, Scarlett, why didn’t you tell me about him?”
“I thought it was over.”
“You thought?”
“All right, I wanted it to be over. When Demitri contacted me last week, I blew Cliff off. Sort of.”
“Sort of? Really?”
“I avoided him. Didn’t return his calls. I figured he’d get the message.”
“He obviously didn’t. He brought you flowers.”
“Oh.”
“You should have leveled with him.” Ruby found it difficult to keep the disappointment from her voice. Her sister thought first of herself, then others.
“How’s he doing?”
Now she suddenly cared?
“I have no idea.” Ruby stared at Cliff’s rigid back, then at the flowers on the table, and her heart cried a little for him.
“How are you doing?” Scarlett asked.
“Well enough, all things considered.” She returned to the subject of Cliff. “Detective James says Sheriff Dempsey is someone I can trust. A straight-up guy.”
“He is. And he’s really sweet. If not for Demitri, I’d still be going out with him.”
Second choice. Ruby decided to spare Cliff that tidbit of info.
“He’s gorgeous, as I’m sure you’ve noticed,” Scarlett continued, talking more to herself than to Ruby. “And I liked the attention. Demitri was being his typical indifferent self, and I needed a distraction.”
Ruby gnashed her teeth together in frustration. How many times would her sister keep returning to that loser before she wised up?
The “gorgeous” guy in question stood at the sink, staring out the window, the muscles in his neck corded with tension.
Whatever Ruby did next, stay or leave, was partially up to him. She wasn’t reassured. There was nothing yielding or compassionate about him as far as she could tell. Even his kiss had been hard. Void of emotion. She was nothing more to him than a lead in a possible crime.
And he was definitely not the person in whose hands she cared to place her fate.
A click alerted her there was a call waiting. “I have to go,” she told Scarlett. “Someone’s buzzing in.”
“Sorry about Cliff.”
“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to.”
“Call me later.”
“I will.” Ruby checked the display, aware of Cliff’s intense scrutiny. The incoming number wasn’t one she recognized.
“Who is it?” he demanded.
“I’m not sure.” Her new number was only a few days old.
Normally, she’d let the call go directly to voice mail. If it was important, they’d leave a message. But Cliff’s intimidating presence threw her off balance.
She swiped her finger across the phone’s screen, accepting the call. “Hello.”
“Hey, baby. Miss me?”
Terror froze her bones. For a nanosecond. Then, fury took its place, just like it had that night in her condo. A fury that had ultimately saved her life.
“How did you get this number?” she rasped.
“You should know you can’t hide from me forever. I’ll always find you.”
Her arm shook so violently, the phone started to slip. Using both hands, she held it in front of her mouth and screamed into the receiver, “Leave me alone!”
Cliff materialized at her side. Grabbing the phone from her, he barked, “Who is this?” Empty silence answered him, and the display returned to the home screen.
Crowley had hung up.
Ruby’s legs went out from under her, and she leaned against the nearest solid object, which happened to be Cliff.
* * *
“HERE, SIT.” CLIFF LOWERED Ruby into a seat at the table, then fetched her a bottle of water from the fridge. He held it to her mouth. “Drink this.”
She complied, and the water seemed to restore her strength. “The bastard,” she muttered.
Cliff
