“Man I amnotgoing to miss retail in December,” Marley said. She’d worked at Reid’s, too, until she started freelancing as a stylist. They all talked about how Ruby could possiblyenjoyworking in retail at Christmastime.
“What do you have against doctors?” Anderson asked during a conversation lull.
“Oh, nothing.” Ruby forced a chuckle. “They’re great. Just too committed to their jobs, right? Won’t make time for little old me!” She glanced at Marley.
Marley gave Ruby a sympathetic look. She knew better than anyone else in the room why Ruby wasn’t a huge fan of doctors. Marley had been there thirteen years ago when their entire lives were consumed with doctors and medical facilities. She’d been there when doctors hadn’t been able to prevent Ruby’s mother from dying of breast cancer.
The others in the room must have caught on, though, because everyone was awkwardly silent for too long. Ruby finally couldn’t take it anymore. She had to say something.“So… Nadim, you said your friend is from London? Does she go back often?”
“Yeah, actually, she does,” Nadim said. “We were telling her about your move. You’ll love this, Ruby. She came to Canada for school and stayed after meeting her husband here. But her twin sister Ayesha is still back in the UK, and she’s working in their father’shotelbusiness.”
Ruby nearly dropped her gingerbread man. “You have a friend in thehotelindustry in England? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I had no idea Ayesha was working for her father. Last I heard she was a yacht girl in Monaco. Before that, she called herself an event planner—I don’t think she ever planned any events.” He shook his head, smiling. “I had some wild times with the Hakim twins.”
Shayne snorted at that. “Ah, so the one in England is thebadtwin, and the one here is thegoodtwin. To be honest, I wish the bad one lived here. She soundschaotic.”
Nadim nodded. “She used to be. Now Ayesha’s running a posh boutique hotel in Spitalfields. I’m shocked she’s a responsible businesswoman now.”
Ruby didn’t care how chaotic this girl used to be—sheneededto get an introduction to her. “So, their father owns more than one hotel?”
He grinned. “Yeah, he owns a bunch. All in the UK. And this is the good part, Ruby: Jasmine told us that apparently their father recently got a new property—an inn in the middle of the UK countryside. In Cheshire, near Manchester.”
Oh my god.Ruby grinned. Forget the chaotic twin; sheneeded to meet theirfather. This could be the foot in the door to make her and her mother’s dream a reality.
“Apparently, their mother was tired of city living,” Reena said, “and convinced their father it was time to semi-retire as country innkeepers.”
Anderson rolled his eyes. “They probably turned it into a cookie-cutter clone of his other properties.”
Nadim shrugged. “Maybe. But Jasmine mentioned that he’s having trouble with staffing there—she said it’s so hard to find people whowantto be in the boring English countryside.”
“Iwantto be in the boring English countryside!” Ruby said. It was her dream. She could almost taste the scones and milky tea.
Nadim grinned. “I know. Like I said, Jasmine’s a bit of a mess right now… and she really has no influence in her father’s business decisions, but I think we should all get together. Soon.”
Reena nodded. “She’ll love you, Ruby. And once she loves you, it will be easy to get an introduction to her family in the UK. They’re Ismaili Muslim, too.”
Ruby grinned. This was fate, she was sure of it. Ruby, as well as Marley, Nadim, and Reena, were all raised as Ismaili Muslims. It was a small sect of Islam, and followers tended to look out for each other, so knowing this family was from the same community as her was in itself a foot in the door. “Yes. We can have tea. There’s an adorable café in the Distillery District. You said her business is nearby… What does she do?”
“She’s a physician,” Reena said. “Two young kids and her own practice—I can’t imagine having two babies at once.” Reena shuddered, then looked at Nadim. “Thank goodness youdidn’t impregnate me withtwins. I would have left you if you did. One is more than enough.”
Nadim frowned. “You’d leave me if you had twins?”
“Good point. I’d need your help with the twins. I would have done something, though. Stopped baking bread for you, maybe.”
Nadim’s eyes widened, then he pantomimed Reena stabbing him in the heart. Reena was a baker, and Nadim claims he fell in love with her bread before her. Ruby could believe it. Her bread was excellent.
At that, Aleem let out a wail. “He’s hungry. Here, pass the little man over. He’s also a fan of my food.”
While Reena nursed her baby, they all talked about their holiday plans while eating Christmas cookies and drinking chai eggnog. Ruby was in a fantastic mood, thanks to this possible connection to a UK hotel family. Her thirty-fourth trip around the sun was shaping up to be her best one yet.
MONDAY MORNING RUBY WASat the back of the store tidying the small lingerie section after the weekend rush.
The other person working today, Jenisha, interrupted her as she was straightening cashmere robes on the hangers. “There’s a man here who asked for you by name.” Jenisha had plenty of teasing in her voice.
Ruby frowned. “Man? What man?”
Jenisha shrugged. “He’s cute. I’m not a fan of the beanie, though. I wish men would wear formal hats again.”
