I chuckled. “Could’ve fooled me. You seemed like a natural.”
She shrugged. “Chase never really wanted to have kids. He said he wanted to travel the world first… obviously that didn’t happen.”
“What about you? Did you want kids?”
She shrugged. “Never really thought about it much. When Chase said he didn’t want that kind of responsibility, I just assumed I didn’t want it either. It’s why we never got a dog or cat.”
“Do you want a dog or cat?”
“I’ve always been a kitten lover, but now it just seems rude to bring a cat into my life when my life won’t last much longer.”
The corners of my mouth ticked with frustration. We were moving backwards again. “I really wish you would stop talking like that, Ruby.”
She moved forward, grabbing a few apples and throwing them into a bag, ignoring me. “You should probably get used to it, Cap. You aren’t going to change me.”
This woman needed to break out of this pit of despair she was in and fast, but I had no idea how I was going to get her out of it.
“Whoa, that woman’s melons are huge!” she exclaimed, looking over the produce aisle where a big busty woman was holding up two extremely large cantaloupes and comparing them to her breast size. Her breasts were definitely bigger. For the first time since I met her, there was a mischievous gleam in her eye–one that was very much alive and almost playful. Almost like she was trying to distract me from how she was really feeling inside.
“They are pretty big,” I agreed, “but they got nothing on that man’s cucumber.” I played along, pointing to an elderly gentleman who had a rather large cucumber in his hand. Then both of us stopped, mouths dropping in tandem as the man gently fondled the fruit, stroking the bumped surface a few times before putting it in his cart.
“Oh my god, did he—” The shock on her face was priceless. “Did he just molest that poor cucumber?”
I shot her a wink. “Nah, it was consensual. I think the cucumber actually enjoyed it.”
Before I could stop her, she belted out the most glorious laugh I had ever heard, one that had the absentminded cucumber molester and the busty cantaloupe woman glaring our way. Within seconds I was joining her, realizing that both produce patrons could hear us.
“Oh god, I think they heard us,” she whispered, grabbing my hand and pulling me behind her as we quickly exited the fruits and vegetables section. Neither one of us could stop laughing, and it was amazing to see how one little laugh and innocent innuendo could feed life into her–even if it was only for a few brief minutes.
“That was a close one,” she breathed out, bending over as she fought to catch her breath. “I think the cucumber guy could’ve taken us both.”
“Well, he was in possession of a rather large cucumber. And you know what they say about large cucumbers don’t you, Ruby?”
“No, what?” She started giggling again, obviously thinking my mind was going to wander back to the gutter where it usually thrived.
I threw her a flirtatious wink and grinned, the corners of my mouth quirking up ever so slightly. “They taste delicious in a freshly made salad.” I held up the bag of salad in our cart and shook it at her.
We both broke down into giggles again, and for the first time since meeting Ruby, I actually felt a glimmer of hope bubble inside of me. Laughter was the perfect weapon to battle Ruby’s depression, and if I could keep making her laugh, then maybe just maybe, she’d finally battle her depression once and for all.
Chapter Ten
Guilt overwhelmed me as soon as we stopped laughing. I’d made the joke to distract him, and it worked, but then I enjoyed the sound of his laughter and found myself laughing with him over the simple teasing exchange. It wasn’t until I was able to catch my breath that the guilt took over.
That moment lived in my mind and kept replaying over the last week. Everyday Cap insisted we get out of the house. Most of the time we went to the local park to walk the path, sometimes we would just walk around the neighborhood. A few times we went for a drive on a backcountry road with the windows down and the music up.
We fell into an easy rhythm together at the house, and though memories plagued me at night and in my dreams, the sadness didn’t pull me under the same way. Going out each day with Cap actually gave me something to look forward to. I started looking forward to the bit of exercise and fresh air, despite the Texas heat. He asked me questions about Chase, forcing me to relive the good memories.
“Where did you two get married?” he asked as we took another lap around the park’s path.
I smiled softly. “We eloped, actually. My parents didn’t approve of Chase and what he stood for. At the beginning of our relationship, my parents placated me, thinking that if they demanded I stop seeing him, then I’d dig my heels in and just do what I wanted behind their backs. They were right, becausewhen things started getting more serious between us, they put their foot down. They gave me an ultimatum, Chase or the life I was accustomed to with them. I made my choice and never regretted it. So, Chase and I left Austin and headed down to South Padre Island. We got married on the beach and camped out there for our honeymoon.”
“How did you guys wind up in Rising Star of all places?”
“Chase got a job working out on Benedict Ranch.” The memories of how we met came flooding back. “Chase loved horses almost as much as I did.”
“Almost?” Cap smiled.
“It was an ongoing joke between the two of us. He was a stable hand at the country club my parents belonged to. That’s how we met. My mom dragged me to riding and dressage lessons when I was little, but then I fell in love with it. Chase’s dad was a trainer and got Chase a job at the stables where he worked.” I took a deep breath and swallowed hard to push the emotions back. “Anyway, the rest of the story is pretty much like Romeo and Juliet and you know how that ends.” I shrugged it off, trying to hide the pain that talking about Chase exposed.
