Ruby figured she could manage this relationship with her father if she didn’t actually let him into her life. He didn’t know much about her job; he knew nothing about her friends; he didn’t even know about her plans to own a business in the UK. She’d hoped to keep the relationship deep enough for him to be satisfied, but nowhere near deep enough for her to get hurt by him again. But the plan wasn’t really working. Because being around him—with his happy new family—hurt every time.
“So, where will you be living when you move,” Ruby’s father asked as he helped himself to more ice cream.
Ruby finished chewing the cake in her mouth. The frosting was grainy. “I booked a room in a rooming house for the first week. I can renew if I like it there, or I can move once I get a job.”
Her father’s brows wrinkled. “Did you call the numbers I gave you? I still have family in London. You can stay with them. Don’t waste your money on a rooming house.”
Ruby didn’t know this family in London and preferred not to have another debt to pay with anyone in her father’s family. “It’s fine. I know I’ll find a job soon—and then I’m going to want to live near work.”
He was still frowning.
“It’s so inspiring,” Pamela said. “You’re young and living your life! I wish I’d done things like that when I could.”
“Rubina isn’t young,” her father said, shaking his head. “You really should be settled instead of moving so much. At your age I had a wife and daughter and owned a business. You should go back to college and get a real job. Even Gavin is looking at schools now—I took him on a campus tour in Hamilton last March.”
Ruby looked at the stepson, who only nodded. She exhaled. Her father had never taken her on any campus tours. Also, no one called her Rubina except her father. Plus, a career in luxury fashionwasa career. She had no doubt she made more money than the entry-level “real” jobs that she could get with a college degree—and that was because she was damn good at what she did.
And most important, did her father ever realize that the reason Ruby had never settled anywhere—in a relationship, or hell, in a city for more than a couple of years—was because of him? Because he’d never, ever made her feel wanted in his home?
But no. She wasn’t going to say any of that. Because she was committed to keeping things surface level. “Yeah, maybe! I’ll look at options after I move.”
There was one thing Ruby knew without a doubt—she was never going to see this man and his perfect new family again after getting on that plane to the UK. She didn’t need to keep this up anymore—she had her visa. Maybe she’d contact him one more time, just to see the look on his face when she was settled in England, owning her own business, and not just succeeding in spite of him, butthriving. Ruby would love to show her father that she was more than the person he saw.
Ruby was in the store before opening the next day to put out some new stock and told Jenisha about that awkward and painful birthday cake at her father’s.
“Your birthday was like two weeks ago, wasn’t it?”
“Week and a half, but yeah. I told them this was my only free night this month.” She’d said that mostly because she wanted to put it off as long as possible.
“I don’t get Brown parents—no matter what we do, it won’t be enough.” Jenisha was Sri Lankan, so she knew. “Did they even get you a birthday present?”
“Drugstore fragrance from three years ago. Still had the sticker from one of those closeout places.” Ruby sighed. She hated being ungrateful. Pamela had never been anything but kind to her, and her fatherhadhelped her get the visa. Plus, they went out of their way to get the cake and wrap that gift, right? But he was her father. Her only living parent. He wassupposedto do something for her birthday. He hadn’t even remembered how old she was.
Ruby yawned. She’d had a terrible night’s sleep. The hour she spent with her father left her feeling unsettled, like it always did. Hopefully, that was the last one. She opened another box, which turned out to be scented candles made by a top fragrance house.
“I don’t need my father anymore,” Ruby said, smelling one of the candles before putting it on the shelf. She didn’t know why, but the scent reminded her of Rashid. “I’m going to get a referral to the Hakim Hotel Group in the UK. They are so much more influential than anyone my dad knows. All I haveto do is impress Dr. Rash.”
Jenisha shook her head. “I still can’t believe that you’re going out with the guy you called the most infuriating man you’d ever met.”
“I’m just going to show him and his nieces around a bit. Improve his impression of me.” She pulled another box toward her and opened it. The irony wasn’t lost on her—she wanted to prove she wasn’t impulsive, so she impulsively made that deal with him.
“So when is your first not-a-date, and where are you taking him?” Jenisha asked.
Ruby pulled out a couple of pearlized white ceramic Christmas trees with little glowing white lights on the tips. They reminded Ruby of these hideous green trees that her mother had made one Christmas at one of those DIY ceramics places. Which… would that be a good activity for five-year-olds?
“Dunno yet. I haven’t spoken to him.” She didn’t have his phone number. She should have gotten it when they had dinner on Sunday.
“So, you made this great plan to impress the guy by taking him and his nieces to Christmas things, but you didn’t actually, you know, plan anything?” Jenisha laughed.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because, Ruby, it’s so you. You aren’t a planner! Like, you could have opened all these boxes first, seen what was in them, then planned where they would go, but instead you’ve been opening one box at a time and putting them on the shelf. Now you’re going to have to either move the candles or put the taller Christmas trees in front of them.”
Ruby scowled at Jenisha. “I plan things! Does no one think I’m capable of carrying things out?”
“I know you’re capable. But a lot of times you do things without thinking them through, assuming it will all fall into place.”
That was ridiculous. She’d done a hell of a lot of planning for this move—which was proof that shecouldanddidplan. “Okay, let’s finish merchandising. And I promise, I’ll make some Christmas plans today.”
