Shopping with Ayesha waseverything. They went to the bigger stores, like Harrods and Liberty, but also hit Ayesha’s favorite High Street boutiques. Ruby, of course, couldn’t afford to buy any designer things right now—especially with a pending lawsuit, but when Ayesha finally took her to a charity shop that had loads of secondhand designer goods, she knew she’d be coming back here again. Often.
“I honestly buy most of my things from charity shops,” Ayesha said as they were going through the racks. “Icannotjustify the prices otherwise, not to mention buying secondhand has a much better environmental impact.”
Ruby grinned. Ayesha might be her soul mate. When they finally stopped for dinner at an Indian-inspired pub, Ruby ordered a blackberry dry cider and a chicken tikka masala, while Ayesha went for their house biriyani with a glass of wine.
“This is really good,” Ruby said, dipping her fluffy naan into the bright red curry.
“I think the Indian restaurants in London are the best in the world. Other than India, of course.”
“Disagree,” Ruby said. “Toronto has great restaurants. Which Indian places have you tried so far there?”
Ruby gave her recommendations for Indian restaurants better than the ones Ayesha had tried. Then they talked about other restaurants that Ayesha had been to in Toronto. She’d been to several of Ruby’s favorites, including the pancake restaurant, and the Egyptian brunch place.
Those were both places she’d taken Rashid to. Had he taken his sister? Neither of them had mentioned Rashid yet. In fact, Ruby kind of forgot that it was Rashid’s sister she was hanging out with today.
“So what restaurants have you tried in London?” Ayesha asked.
Ruby shrugged. “Not many. I had fast food a few times when I first got here, but I’ve only been in the city once since I moved to Surrey.”
“Which is only a train ride to London! Come on, Ruby, this isLondon! The shopping and restaurants can’t be beat!”
Ruby shrugged. “I’ll come out more once I’m settled.” It seemed wrong to come into town too much until her finances were sorted out. “I have thisthingI’m dealing with. I don’t want to overspend until it’s sorted out.”
Ayesha gave her a concerned look. “It’s not your health, is it?”
Ruby shook her head. “No, my health is fine. Great, even.”Could Ruby tell Ayesha about the lawsuit? Maybe it would be good if her boss—or rather, her boss’s boss’s boss—knew about her troubles in case Ruby needed to take more time off work, or even go back to Toronto. “The problem is my father.”
God, she hoped she wouldn’t have to leave her job because of the lawsuit.
Ayesha frowned. “Um, my brother mentioned he was… shady.”
Ruby chuckled. Why wasn’t she surprised that Rashid told Ayesha? “Yeah, he’s suing me.”
When Ayesha’s eyes widened, Ruby told her all about her inheritance, the threatening letter, and, finally, the lawsuit.
“Holy shit. I can’t even imagine a father doing something like that. I mean, I complain about my family being up in each other’s arses too much.”
Ruby smiled sadly. “You are extremely lucky to have your family.”
Ayesha paused, then smiled. And it was a sweet, genuine smile, not her normal mischievous one. “Iamlucky. I complain, but I adore them all.”
Ruby understood. She kind of adored Ayesha’s family, too.
“Speaking of family, it sounds like you could use a vacation,” Ayesha said, that mischievous glint in her eyes coming back. “How about you come, as my personal guest, to my mother’s birthday weekend at the end of the month? My treat. It’s going to be at their inn in Cheshire County. Very pastoral. Sheepeverywhere.”
Ruby frowned. It was weird to go to her ex’s mom’s birthday party, wasn’t it? Would Rashid be there?
“Come on, Rubes, this is a perfect opportunity for you to getout to see the countryside. It’s your dream, isn’t it? You can room with me, so it won’t cost you anything. I’ll even send you a train ticket. I’m the only one of my siblings going, so everyone else will be Mum and Dad’s friends, and I wouldloveto have someone under forty to talk to. It’s near Lyme Park. I think they filmed one of those Austen movies there. You’re a big Austen fan, aren’t you?”
Holy shit—Lyme Park had the pond that Colin Firth jumped into before randomly bumping into Jennifer Ehle all wet, bothered, and sexy. If Rashid wasn’t going to be there, how could Ruby say no?
The awe must have shown on Ruby’s face, because the smirk got stronger on Ayesha’s. “My mum’s into those old houses and into Austen, too. I’m sure we could convince her to come with us for a tour of the grounds for her birthday.”
A chance to visit the English countryside, see the actual house where her favoritePride and Prejudicescene was filmed, and get a look at a country inn like what she wanted to own one day. Maybe Ayesha was right—she needed this. True, it would be hard to avoid thinking of Rashid if she spent the whole weekend with his family, but she’d deal.
“Okay. If I can get the time off, I mean.”
“Ruby. I can get you the time off. Leave it with me. You’ll take the train to Manchester and meet me there. We’ll have thebesttime.”
