Shayne crouched down to their level to talk to them. “It’s okay. I don’t really like new people either. I saw Rubyeight timesbefore I finally said hello.”
“RubyAuntie,” Tara corrected him.
Shayne looked up at Ruby and raised one brow. “Oh, we’re going by Auntie, are we?”
Ruby waved a hand. “It’s an Indian thing. All of your relatives’ friends are your uncles and aunties, even if you’re not actually related.”
“Ruby, I’m well aware of the etiquette,” Shayne said, standing. “I’ve been best friends with your cousin since we were thirteen. But I had no idea you were close enough to the Hakim family to be considered an auntie?”
Rashid came back to them. “Princess ornaments!” he said enthusiastically. Which was such an odd thing to come out of Rashid’s mouth that she almost put a hand on his forehead to see if he had a fever.
Shayne smiled. “I was about to guess which ones were their favorites. Hmm… you have beautiful curly hair and look very courageous,” he said to Tara, whose curls were in pigtails. “So I think Merida fromBraveis your favorite. And you…” he saidto Noor. “You have your hair in one braid, which makes me think you’re aFrozenfan. Team Elsa?”
That made Noor’s eyes widen. “Elsa is my favorite! Noor likes Anna better.”
Shayne nodded. “I’m an Elsa fan, too. After Ariel, of course. Which one do you think Ruby Auntie likes?”
Tara immediately pointed to a Christmas ornament with Belle fromBeauty and the Beastwearing a red Christmas cape. “Because Ruby wears red all the time.”
“Rashid Uncle bought her a red necklace!” Noor added.
Shayne frowned. “He did? Why?”
“Because they’re friends, and Rashid Uncle said it’s not deep,” Tara explained with a straight face.
Ruby exhaled. Anderson and Shayne looked like they were going to laugh.
“Oh look, they have a Mulan one,” Ruby said to change the subject. “I love the song about her reflection—the Christina Aguilera one.”
Noor agreed and told Shayne she also liked Elsa’s songs, which made Tara jump in and say that Anna’s songs were better, but not as good as the songs fromBeauty and the Beast. Soon Shayne, Tara, and Noor were having an in-depth conversation about the best Disney songs.
Rashid turned to Ruby, an absolute look of wonder on his face. He was clearly surprised Shayne could get through to the girls. Ruby wasn’t. If anyone could make a couple of shy kindergarteners comfortable, it was Shayne.
Shayne madeeveryonecomfortable. What he’d said to the girls—that he hadn’t talked to Ruby until he’d seen her eight times,was the farthest thing from the truth. When Ruby moved back to Toronto and connected with her cousin Marley, Shayne immediately welcomed her into their circle. And when he started dating Anderson, Anderson became as important to Ruby as Shayne. Ruby was going to miss these two so much when she left Toronto. Watching them interact with the twins now almost made her tear up.
She shook that thought out of her head. Why was she getting sentimental now? Ruby was used to leaving places, not looking back at them. There was no reason why this move should be harder than the others, even if she was moving farther than she ever had.
Ruby only bought a pair of starburst earrings from the vintage sellers, but again, Rashid bought a lot. He bought Disney ornaments for the girls, an old edition of a Hans Christian Andersen anthology, a gorgeous 1920s faux emerald brooch, and a gray tweed jacket that Shayne insisted was made for Rashid. Shayne was right—the jacket made Rashid look devastatingly handsome. Like, country gentleman hot.
While Rashid was paying for the jacket, Shayne and Anderson cornered Ruby alone.
“Okay, girl. Talk,” Shayne said. “He bought you a necklace? Also, why are those girls attached at the hip to you?”
“What? No. They likeyou, Shayne.”
“Everyone likes me,” Shayne said. “I’m a goddamn delight. Why the necklace?”
“And why does he look at you like you’re the best Christmas gift he ever had?” Anderson asked.
Ruby huffed a laugh. “He doesn’t. He bought me a smallruby necklace that I liked. We’re friends.”
“Okay, but—”
“Shayne, come on. Maybe he’s not as bad as I thought he was, but there is no way I would want anything more with Rashid because—”
“I know, because you hate doctors. But that doesn’t mean—”
“My mommy is a doctor,” Noor said behind them. And yep, the girls were listening, along with Rashid, who was holding a paper bag that Ruby assumed had the tweed jacket in it.
