‘Ms Graham, Ms Ryan, thanks a bunch for coming in today and for putting together your presentation. Phil and I thought it was really cool,’ Jamie Callagher, the CEO of The Rialto indie cinema chain sent Ruby a relaxed smile. With his goatee beard, his messy hair and his more casual than smart hipster clothing, Callagher looked like Richard Branson’s geeky younger brother. Or rather, exactly like what he was – a movie buff who had managed to turn his favourite hobby into a money-spinning brand.
Cool? Had he said cool? Was that good, or code for crap?
‘I’m so glad you enjoyed it,’ Ruby said as the spiced caramel latte she’d been given by the receptionist turned into a spiced caramel nuclear bomb in her stomach. When she and Jacie had gotten the call to come back into the company’s head office this afternoon neither of them had been able to eat a bite.
They’d spent weeks working their asses off on the proposal they had delivered this morning, Jacie doing the lion’s share of the work on the financials while Ruby worked on a PowerPoint presentation of everything The Royale had to offer. They’d been brutally honest about the theatre’s financial liabilities, but after all the hard work Luke had done bringing the aging décor back up to scratch, the beauty of the theatre had shone through in the series of shots she’d taken over the last week.
Luke.
Just the thought of him had Ruby’s anxiety ramping up another notch. Was today his last day of work? She didn’t know, he hadn’t said anything this morning when they’d had breakfast together, but there had been a moment when she’d caught him watching her as she had laid their plates down on the table in the living room and what she’d seen had made a sharp pain stab under her breastbone. A sharp pain that felt like loss. Perhaps avoidance wasn’t so great after all, because not knowing was starting to turn her into a basket case.
‘So, Phil and I have got an answer for you …’ Jamie said, and Ruby wrangled her thoughts back from the topic of Luke.
The young CEO glanced at the man sitting next to him, who Ruby had thought for a minute might be his twin when they had arrived to do the presentation that morning – except where Jamie never stopped talking, Phil had yet to say a word.
‘When something this hot comes our way, we don’t like to mess around,’ Jamie said. ‘So we have a counter offer for you.’
‘You do?’ Ruby said.
‘Fantastic,’ Jacie said at the same time. ‘What is it?’ her assistant manager asked.
‘We totally get that The Royale is special,’ Jamie said, leaning forward to emphasise his enthusiasm. ‘And the place is looking great. You’ve got a business we think The Rialto brand can enhance considerably. And from your preliminary numbers we definitely think it’s well situated to expand our reach in the West London area. It’s kind of close to our venue in Holland Park, but we’ve been thinking of changing that to a first run theatre so adding The Royale to the portfolio as a venue for classics and retrospectives would totally work.’
‘That’s wonderful,’ Ruby said, letting Jamie’s enthusiasm inflate the bubble of hope under her breastbone and push out the pain of Luke’s impending parting. Turning The Royale into another Rialto cinema hadn’t been what they had offered, that sounded like a takeover rather than the fifty percent buy-in that she and Jacie had proposed so they could cover the theatre’s debts. But she was happy to hear him out.
‘We thought the name The Rialto Royale would build on your local clientele while giving the venue a hit of extra Rialto cool points …’ Jamie grinned.
But we don’t need your cool points, we’ve got enough of our own.
‘Why don’t we call it The Royale Rialto,’ Jacie said, the flat tone saying exactly what Ruby had been thinking. ‘Seeing as it’s been The Royale for a lot longer than you’ve been in business.’
Jamie’s grin sharpened. ‘That’s not going to work for us,’ he said easily enough, and Ruby realised Jamie Callagher was nobody’s fool. He knew The Royale was in trouble, that he had the upper hand in these negotiations.
‘That’s okay, Jace,’ she said, sending her assistant manager her best cease-and-desist look. ‘I think the name change sounds wonderful,’ she added.
They needed The Rialto on board as investors, or the only option was to sell the theatre to developers and close The Royale forever – while working on the presentation she had contacted every possible investment prospect she could think of, and she hadn’t even gotten a call back from the others.
‘Okay, cool,’ Jamie said, his silent partner Phil remaining silent but sending Jacie a hard stare which was making the spiced caramel bomb in Ruby’s stomach start to implode. Something wasn’t right about all this, because she was getting the impression Jamie and Phil were wolves in hipster clothing.
‘Now, we’d really like to move on this ASAP. We’ve spoken to a developer and they think the best use of the space is to gut the upstairs flat and add a floor, so we can create some rental units to increase the theatre’s operating profits,’ Jamie said, his enthusiasm becoming turbo-charged. ‘It’ll take a while to get planning permission and do the rebuild.’
Rebuild? They hadn’t mentioned anything about a rebuild, or gutting her home.
‘So we’d need to finalise the purchase in the next couple of weeks to get going on that and re-open before we hit the lucrative Christmas season.’ Jamie was still speeding up. ‘We’re prepared to be generous to you and your staff to expedite the deal. We’re proposing double the asking price you specified plus an extra five percent.’ Pulling some paperwork out of a file in front of him, he passed the contract across the table. ‘It’s all there in black and white for you to look over, but for this to work for us we’d need to close the deal a week from now.’
‘I’m sorry? What?’ Ruby said, dumbly. ‘Did you say you want to pay me double what I asked for plus five percent for fifty percent of the business?’
Jamie’s wolfish grin took on the precision of a killer shark. ‘No, Ruby … Is it okay if I call you Ruby?’
‘Yes, of course,’ she said, the bubble of hope turning into a lead weight.
‘Ruby, a partnership isn’t going to work for us. That’s not how we roll at The Rialto. We’re only interested in purchasing one hundred percent of The Royale and running the cinema with our own team in our own way.’
‘But we’re not offering you a hundred percent—’ Jacie’s outraged shout barely registered as Jamie interrupted her, his killer smile making the lead weight in Ruby’s stomach collide with the nuclear bomb.
‘Plus, we checked out the loan agreements on the theatre, and we know you’ve got to pay off the theatre’s debts by June 20th. So it’s not like you’ve got a lot of time to find a better offer.’
***
‘Jesus, and to think I once thought Luke Devlin was the Antichrist. The man’s a fricking saint compared to Jamie and Phil the Evil Hipster Twins,’ Jacie stared glumly into her lemon-tini as they sat on the stools at the end of the bar in Brynn’s Babes a half hour later. ‘What the bloody hell do we do now?’
‘We move on to Plan B,’ Ruby said, knowing there was no Plan B.
‘Is there a Plan B?’ Jacie asked, the flash of hope in her expression making Ruby want to cry.
‘There are other cinema chains, and other possible investors …’ All of whom she had already contacted. They were all out of viable options, but Jacie and the rest of the staff didn’t need to know that … yet.
‘You think that’s a possibility? Aren’t we running out of time to find someone else?’ Jacie frowned. Unfortunately, her assistant manager was not an idiot.
‘Leave it with me, okay. I can make a few calls. We have a week to make a decision on this offer.’ A week during which she might be able to negotiate something to at least save her staff their jobs. Surely Jamie and Phil would have to hire a whole new team, but why bother if the staff were already there? Unless they were planning to rehire on reduced salaries – which she wouldn’t put past them. But perhaps Ruby had some leeway there if she offered to take a lower sales price for The Royale, maybe she could guarantee her staff their jobs and salaries. But what about her own job at The Royale? Somehow she doubted she would be able to persuade Jamie and Phil to keep her on. And did she really want to? Taking orders from The Rialto’s head office would be very different than being her own boss, or taking orders from Matty.
She took a hefty sip of her own lemon-tini to fill the hole in her stomach left by the afternoon’s nuclear explosion.
The thought of being forced to leave The Royale, start a new life, a new job, somewhere else without everyone who had become like a family over the years had been hanging over her for two and a half months. But the possibility wasn’t just a possibility anymore … It was more like an inevitability.
‘You’re not seriously considering their offer are you? That would mean the end of The Royale as we know it,’ Jacie said, the dejected look back.
Yes, she was seriously considering it, because the alternative was closing The Royale down altogether.
‘We’ve got some bargaining power,’ she said. ‘I don’t mind who owns The Royale as long as we can stay together here and keep the cinema open.’
‘You really think those two smug wankers will bargain? They didn’t look like the bargaining type to me,’ Jacie said.
‘We’ll see,’ Ruby said.
‘Should we cancel our Babs and Bob night tomorrow?’ Jacie said.
‘Absolutely not,’ Ruby replied. ‘It’s a Matty’s Classics night.’ And they might not have another now, she thought miserably. ‘Brynn’s offered to do the theme tune in the foyer before the show. Plus, everyone will already have their costumes.’
The dress-up theme was your favourite Robert Redford or Barbra Streisand character to celebrate the penultimate Matty’s Classic, the iconic movie in which the two actors had linked up for the one and only time in their careers. She was expecting a lot of Yentls and Funny Girls and probably a few Sundance Kids.
‘I’ve already sourced mine,’ Ruby added, because in between working her bum off on yesterday’s presentation for The Rialto and having a wild affair with Luke Devlin in the last twenty days, she’d also managed to find a close replica of Streisand’s dress in the El Morocco scene at the beginning of the movie.
‘Yeah, me too,’ Jacie said. ‘Okay, I guess you’re right. It’s not over till it’s over.’
Tears stung Ruby’s throat at the question in Jacie’s voice and her heart weighed several tons in her chest because the end of The Royale wasn’t the only ending coming towards her at warp speed.
The door to the bar opened, letting in a stream of sunlight that backlit a tall figure in jeans and a checked shirt she recognized instantly – magically conjuring up the other ending she had been avoiding for days.
Luke waved to Brynn, who was serving behind the bar, then headed towards them. He wasn’t wearing his overalls.
Ruby’s throat began to hurt. She finished her lemon-tini not sure if she could cope with losing Luke today, too.
Jacie, probably sensing her dip in mood, shifted round. ‘Hey.’ She lifted her hand in greeting.
‘Hi Jacie, Ruby.’ Luke nodded. He reached into his pocket and produced the set of keys Ruby had given him nearly six weeks ago now.
The weight in her stomach became a chasm.
‘Hey, Jacie, do you mind if I speak to Ruby in private?’ he said.
Jacie stared at the keys, obviously figuring out the significance of them too. She sent Ruby a searching look, the stubborn expression on her face telling Ruby that she had her back – if Ruby needed it. For one desperate moment Ruby considered telling her friend to stay, to avoid the inevitable for a few moments more, but she forced herself to nod, the time for avoidance was over.
Jacie took the hint. ‘Sure, I’ve gotta go open the cinema for the evening showing anyway. I’ll leave you two to it.’ Sending Ruby one more fierce look, she left.
‘Your assistant manager is a tough nut to crack,’ Luke said as he watched Jacie leave. ‘She still doesn’t like me much.’
Jacie liked him a lot more than he would ever know. And she wasn’t the only one. His calm, practical presence over the last six weeks as he worked his way methodically through the checklist of repairs had endeared him to everyone. He’d become a part of their community without even realizing it. And everyone would miss him. Even Jacie.
‘Actually, I think she likes you a lot,’ Ruby said, knowing it wasn’t just Jacie she was talking about.
Avoiding dealing with his inevitable departure in the last few days had been hard, but not as hard as facing it. After all the qualifying and talking sense to herself she’d been doing in the last days and weeks, ever since this affair had begun, why was she finding it so hard to breathe evenly right now?
He placed the keys on the bar between them and climbed on to the stool Jacie had vacated. ‘How did the meeting go, with The Rialto?’ he said.
‘How did you know about that?’ she asked, a guilty flush hitting her cheeks.
The yearning she had been burying for days threatened to spill out of her mouth. She would have loved to ask Luke’s advice, to get his take, to lean on him and hope he could find a solution. But she couldn’t do that. She had no claim on him, they’d established that without a doubt over the last three weeks. Her ribs began to ache as she had to force the breaths in and out of her lungs.
‘Are you kidding me?’ he said, a wry smile twisting his lips
She dragged her gaze from his mouth, to find him watching her.
‘Gerry and Tozer aren’t the most discreet guys on the planet,’ he added.
‘Hey, Luke, you want a drink?’ Brynn asked, having returned from the storeroom. The bar was almost empty at five in the afternoon, which was why Ruby and Jacie had escaped here to debrief after their meeting.
‘Sure, I’ll take a Sam Adams.’ He glanced at Ruby’s empty glass. ‘You want another?’
She didn’t, really. Drinking in the afternoon was not a good idea, especially when you had a ton of heartache to process, and your breathing was already severely compromised. The one thing she could not do was let on to Luke how much she was going to miss him. Because then he would feel beholden, and that was the one thing she didn’t want. They’d both gone into this with their eyes wide open. If she went to pieces now in front of him, all that would have been a lie.
But the thought that this was almost certainly going to be her last drink with Luke had the reply popping out of her mouth. ‘Yes, thank you.’
Maybe she was pathetic for wanting to prolong the agony, but so be it. And a drink might help her to get through this with her dignity intact.
‘You didn’t answer my question,’ he said. ‘How did the meeting go?’
‘Good,’ she lied smoothly, avoiding eye contact. ‘I think we’ve found an investor. And a solution which will work for everyone. I’m …’ She paused, drawing on all the acting talent she had ever possessed to put the right amount of enthusiasm into her voice. ‘I’m excited. This is going to be a new chapter for The Royale, and hopefully a lucrative one. We should even be able to give you something for your share.’
He frowned, his searching gaze only making the blush on her cheeks hit critical mass. And the pain in her lungs more pronounced.
Thank goodness for the dark lighting.
‘I told you, I don’t want a cent,’ he said. ‘You can invest my share back into the business if there’s any left after the debts are paid.’
‘You don’t have to do that,’ she said. Although she knew on one level he did, and it only made her sadder. Taking nothing from the sale would sever any ties he had to the theatre, to Matty, and perhaps most importantly, to her. And while she knew that’s the way it had to be, for both of them, it didn’t make the stabbing pain every time she drew a breath any less vicious. ‘Matty wanted you to have half,’ she added.
‘He didn’t know me, Ruby’ he said gently. ‘We both know that bequest had everything to do with Matty’s love for my father and you, and nothing to do with me. From what I know about my uncle now, he was big on romantic gestures. But he also loved you like a daughter,’ he said with an authority that made her throat burn as well as her lungs. While Luke had spent his days doing up The Royale, he’d come to know what a special person Matty was, and that made her so happy. Or it would once she got over the pain of losing him, too.
‘He wanted me to have a stake in The Royale for the sake of that lost love affair and because he wanted me to help you out,’ Luke continued. ‘I get that. And that’s why there’s no way I’m taking anything out of the theatre now, when you guys need it. Okay?’
She smiled and swallowed down the tears threatening to spill over her lids. ‘You’re much more emotionally intelligent than you look,’ she said, stupidly moved by his declaration.
‘I had a good teacher,’ he murmured.
She nodded, knowing she couldn’t speak, or all of her best efforts to remain dignified and not desperate would be for nothing.
Don’t you dare cry. Don’t you dare make a scene. Not now, when you’re so close to finishing The Ruby Movie the way it has to be finished.
‘Here you go, guys,’ Brynn arrived with the fresh drinks. Ruby took a gulp of hers and swallowed. The sweet citrus tang somehow allowed her to ignore the pain in her chest.
Saved by a lemon-tini.
‘What are you two going as for Babs and Bob night?’ Brynn asked.
Ruby pressed a shaky finger to her nose. ‘That’s for me to know and you to find out,’ she said, hoping no one could hear the tremble in her voice. ‘What are you going as Brynn?’
‘Dolly Levi, of course,’ he said, with a flourish. ‘I have a gold glitter ball gown which is absolutely perfect, all I need to do is source some feathers for the headpiece.’
‘Wonderful,’ Ruby said. ‘Are you still okay to sing the theme song before the screening?’
‘Darling, just try and stop me,’ he said. ‘So how about you, Luke. I’m thinking you could pick any of Bob’s characters from his prime years.’ Brynn gave Luke a careful once over. ‘Better known as The Sundance to Waldo Pepper years.’
Luke took a judicious sip of his beer. ‘When is this event?’
‘Tomorrow night,’ Ruby and Brynn said together. Ruby could hear the stupid yearning in her voice and wanted to take the words back.
Had he heard it, that eager desperation? The desire she’d had on lockdown for weeks. It seemed he had, when he placed the bottle back on the bar and the easy smile on his face disappeared. ‘Unfortunately, I’ll have to give it a miss.’
Oh shit.
The piercing pain swelling in Ruby’s lungs scored a direct hit with the confirmation of everything she’d feared his arrival in the bar signified.
Luke had come to say goodbye.
You already knew that, you ninny. Do not screw up all your hard work, not now, not when there has never been anything you can do to change the final fade out of this affair.
‘That’s a shame,’ Brynn said, speaking for both of them. ‘You would so have rocked Bob as The Great Gatsby in his Roaring Twenties flares.’ Sending Luke a smile, he headed off down the bar to serve a customer that had just walked in.
‘So what movie are you celebrating Babs and Bob night with?’ he asked. ‘Is it another of Matty’s Classics?’
She wondered, momentarily, why he was prolonging their conversation. But then she took a deep breath – the painful swelling in her chest threatening to cut off her air supply – and suddenly realized she didn’t care what his reasons were.
She wanted all the final minutes she could get with him. Why shouldn’t she grab them with both hands? She could handle the pain later. Today had already been awful enough. Losing Luke was going to be hard, but he hadn’t left yet.
‘The Way We Were,’ she said, in answer to his question. ‘Matty loved Babs and he always said Bob Redford was at his most bonkable in that movie.’ The blush ignited, but she ignored it. For goodness sake, don’t think about how bonkable Luke is, that will just make this even tougher. ‘I know a Streisand obsession is a bit of a gay cliché,’ she said, trying to steer the conversation back on to safer ground. Movie trivia had always saved her in the past, and now her life depended on it. ‘But Matty always said cliché is cliché for a reason. The film is a wonderful melodrama about two people who fall in love but are total opposites. She’s a working-class Jewish spitfire, passionate and determined and believes in fighting for lost causes, and he’s a handsome WASP who’s laid-back and privileged and doesn’t believe in lost causes, let alone fighting for them …’
Her words trailed off – why on earth was she giving Luke a plot synopsis for The Way We Were in their last moments together? And how come she couldn’t get over the horrible significance of that plot all of a sudden.
Had Luke figured out the truth? That she was totally Katie in this scenario – destined to be heartbroken and alone – and he was Hubbell – aloof and pragmatic?
The irony helped her even out her staggered breathing a bit. Get a clue, Rubes.
This wasn’t a movie, it was real life. Too real life.
‘You think I haven’t seen The Way We Were?’ he said, surprising Ruby so much she sputtered and nearly choked on her lemon-tini
‘You’ve seen it? Really?’
‘Yeah, really.’ Luke drank his beer, his piercing blue gaze meeting hers. ‘It’s the longest most turgid melodrama in movie history so kind of hard to forget.’
‘No, it’s not.’
‘You think?’ he said and she had the strangest feeling he wanted to prolong this moment as well. Why did that make the moment even more precious and yet even more painful at the same time? ‘It’s goes on forever while going nowhere …’ He added. ‘And that damn theme tune is like the ear-worm of the century.’
‘Okay, I’ll admit the movie is a bit laggy in places,’ Ruby said, managing a smile despite the sadness searing her throat. Just keep talking about the movie and everything will be all right. ‘But Robert Redford is beyond gorgeous in Navy whites …’
‘If you like your guys short and squat and with too-perfect hair,’ he cut in, as he swept back the dark wave of hair that always flopped over his forehead.
‘And Babs is terrific,’ she soldiered on while allowing herself to get side-tracked admiring his too-perfect hair. ‘No way is the theme song an ear-worm, it’s beautiful and so evocative. And the whole two hours is worth it for that one scene in the bar.’
‘What scene in the bar?’ The blank look was back.
‘Oh, please? You don’t remember it?’ Okay, now she was offended. And a bit outraged. But at least she was breathing easier. She could do this, she could definitely do this. ‘Close your eyes,’ she said, suddenly gripped by an idea. A hopeless, silly, slightly pathetic idea. But one that had the potential to end this affair in the way she had always planned to end it. On her terms, as well as his.
She let the giddy kick of adrenaline flood her veins to cover the lingering pain.
Maybe Luke did not do romance. But when was she likely to get another chance to re-enact one of her favourite scenes from one of her favourite movies with a man who had given her so much in the last six weeks: he’d fixed their theatre and helped her get over the first big emotional hurdles caused by losing Matty, by simply being there when she needed him, and by giving her the best sex of her life. Surely that deserved to be celebrated not mourned?
‘Why do you want me to close my eyes?’ he said, the suspicious light in his gaze somehow flirtatious. Was this Luke’s way of saying goodbye? Letting her have a moment that would make this ending easier, no matter how hard?
‘Just close your eyes,’ she demanded, enjoying her own assertiveness and the ability to breathe again, if only for a little while. ‘I’m going to rewind the scene, so you can remember it.’
He closed his eyes. And her breath slowed in her lungs. Not ending the pain, but easing it, a little.
She studied him in the half light – and savoured the moment he was giving her – determined to remember it always. The fall of hair which had dropped back over his forehead, the lean lines and perfect angles of his face, the dimple in his chin. He was never meant to be hers for the long haul, but he had been hers for a little while, and she refused to regret a single second – which was really the main reason she could not fall apart right now.
One piercing blue eye opened. ‘I’m waiting,’ he said, then snapped it shut.
She laughed. ‘Okay, okay.’ She flexed her fingers and then started humming The Way We Were theme. Loudly.
‘Oh, hell,’ he said, but his lips quirked and she smiled, her heart skipping into her throat. However tough this parting was going to be, however poignant, they would always have this moment. And so many more.
‘Of course, I really should have had gel nails fitted for this …’ Ruby said as she leaned towards him. The stool wobbled, and she planted her palm to stop herself falling forward, only to have it land on the taught muscle of his thigh.
The muscle tensed beneath her hand. And heat shot through her.
‘If this is just an excuse to feel me up …’
‘Shut up,’ she said, flustered as she snatched her traitorous hand back, took another sip of her lemon-tini, then rubbed the burning palm on her own thigh.
She started humming again, her heart beating a giddy tattoo when his lips quirked. Then she reached out a nail, and slowly, delicately lifted a thick lock of his hair and smoothed it back from his brow. And all the pain seemed to coalesce into one simple thought.
However much this hurts, it was always, always worth it.
His eyes opened as the song got caught in her throat, her whole body stilled from the lightning strike of emotion – and possibly one too many sips of lemon-tini before wine o’clock – as she found herself trapped in the sapphire blue, which for once didn’t look cynical or pragmatic. He simply stared at her, his gaze pensive and intense. And she wondered what he was thinking.
Her lungs squeezed tight under her rib cage, the moment suspended in time – and she wondered if this hurt as much for him as it did for her.
But then he broke the spell. ‘That’s it?’
‘Yes, you still don’t remember it?’ she said, appalled and breathless at the same time. ‘The scene in the club, where Hubbell’s on shore leave in his Navy whites and Babs spots him and he’s sleeping and she hasn’t seen him in years and she flicks his hair back. And it makes him wake up and their eyes connect.’
Just like ours, now.
Her rib cage contracted so much, she almost couldn’t breathe. ‘And he hits on her and they end up in her apartment. But the next morning he treats her like a one night stand. It’s heartbreaking and awesome at the same time, because she loves him and has always loved him and he doesn’t even know it.’
She finally careered to a stop, realizing she had gone too far. Way way too far.
You’re not in love with him, Ruby, that is not allowed.
‘No,’ he said, softly. And she heard the apology in his voice. ‘Don’t remember it.’
‘Oh, well.’ She sat back, knowing as she gathered the tattered remnants of her dignity – and her bruised heart – that while it hurt now, she had to carry on breathing through the pain. ‘I guess that explains then why you don’t appreciate everything that movie has to offer.’ She took a sip of the lemon-tini, only to find her glass empty.
She swallowed, knowing what was coming next but suddenly knowing she would survive it, just like she had survived everything else.
Perhaps she would never be able to watch Babs getting touchy-feely with Bob’s perfect fringe again while watching The Way We Were without seeing Luke but did that have to be a bad thing? Movies had saved her once upon a time, but she’d finally discovered, thanks to Luke, that real life could be so much more exciting than anything Bob and Babs had to offer.
He lifted the keys from the bar and, taking her hand in his, placed the bunch in the centre of her palm. He wrapped her fingers around them as the deep pulse of desire in her abdomen joined her erratic heartbeat and the pulsing pain in her chest. ‘The work’s finished, Ruby.’
She nodded, staring at their closed fists, unable to speak round the great big wodge of sadness lodged in her throat. If they could have been two different people, this might have worked. But she’d always have the memories.
He let go of her hand, then tucked a knuckle under her chin. ‘You look after yourself, and The Royale, okay?’ he said, emotion thickening his voice.
She sent him a watery smile and nodded, holding the pain deep inside – letting it sear her lungs and sting her eyes but refusing to let it overwhelm her before she had watched him walk out of the bar.
‘Has he left for good?’ Brynn murmured having come back down her end of the bar as the door swung shut behind Luke.
Ruby nodded. She couldn’t speak, the pain in her lungs too intense to utter a single word.
‘Shame, he seemed like a nice guy,’ Brynn said, taking her empty lemon-tini glass.
She nodded again and blinked furiously.
He was. But he was never meant to be mine.
And suddenly, Ruby knew what Katie must have felt like at the end of the movie when she had to let Hubble go.
And exactly how much it sucked.
***
Luke headed out of Brynn’s bar into the late spring sunshine of the last day in May. He could hear the cars heading towards Portobello Road, could smell dust and exhaust and the garbage left out in front of the grocery store across the street, could see The Royale on the opposite corner. But all he could really hear was Ruby’s sultry voice humming the Streisand tune, all he could smell was the fresh rose of her shampoo, and all he could think about was how much he wanted to turn back and dive into her again, the way he had so many times in the last three weeks.
Dumb. Why would you do that, Devlin?
Especially as the break-up he’d been dreading for days had gone much smoother than he had imagined it would. But as he headed past The Royale, something else about their parting came back to bug him.
She hadn’t met his gaze when he’d asked her about the meeting with the guys from The Rialto today. Something wasn’t right, he was sure of it.
He shot a look over his shoulder, checked his watch.
No sign of Ruby, perhaps she was having another cocktail. Before six o’clock. Which didn’t make a whole lot of sense now he thought about it either. Ruby liked a novelty cocktail, but she wasn’t a big drinker, not since he’d known her. So why had she and Jacie been knocking them back at Brynn’s before opening for the evening?
His steps paused and he crossed the street to The Royale. He spotted Jacie in the lobby. She looked up from the ticket booth and saw him standing in front of the cinema.
Only one way to find out what had really happened at that meeting.
He’d already said his goodbyes to Ruby, which had been a whole lot harder than he would have thought possible, but he couldn’t leave until he knew for sure she was going to be okay.
‘Hello?’ Jacie said as he pushed open the glass door. ‘Come to say goodbye?’ she added, the snap of resentment giving him pause. She hadn’t liked him at first, but he thought they’d reached an accord in the last few weeks.
‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘And to find out what the heck happened at your meeting this afternoon, because I asked Ruby and I don’t think she was straight with me.’
‘Why would you want to know that, when you’re leaving?’ she said.
He bristled, annoyed by the accusation in her tone. What the hell more did she want from him? He’d worked his ass off for six weeks getting this place back to where it was supposed to be, didn’t he get any credit for that? But as he opened his mouth to finally have it out with her, he saw the flicker of distress cross her features … And suddenly, he knew this wasn’t about him.
Jacie was tough, tenacious and a hard nut to crack for sure, but she was also smart and hard-working, she loved Ruby and The Royale and she was fiercely loyal to both.
‘What the hell happened in that meeting, Jacie?’ he said. ‘I can’t fix things if I don’t know what’s going on.’
Her expression softened, and he could see the scared friend behind the tough girl act. ‘Do you really want to fix things?’ she asked.
Every one of the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, his heart pulsed hard in his chest, and for once he didn’t question the wisdom of following his gut. ‘Yeah, I do.’