Helen perked up. “The alarm. That means he’s done.”
Ruby strolled quickly back to the parlor, pacing across the rug several times before asking, “Where is he?”
Two red spots formed high on Matilda’s cheeks. “Maybe he had to—you know—go.”
“Go where?”
“To the bathroom.” Her whole face reddened further to about the shade of cherry pie filling.
Ruby didn’t want to disturb Max if he had togo, but found she couldn’t stop from marching down the hallway to ensure he was okay. She noticed the glass door leading to the garden was slightly ajar. She peeked out, looking around the lush garden space, but saw no one and nothing out of the ordinary.
Closing the door tight, she stepped to the ornate door and knocked on the frame. “Max? Are you okay?”
“Just a minute,” he said from behind the closed door. His voice was muffled.
She wanted to back away and give him privacy, but couldn’t. What if he didn’t love her anymore? What would she do? Beg? Grovel? Follow him around telling him she loved him and wanted to marry him even thoughshewasn’t spellbound? She lasted about five seconds before knocking again. The hollow rap of her fist on the wooden door somehow sounded like an ominous harbinger of what was to come.
“How do you feel, Max? Do you need any help?”
“Don’t come in!” his anxious voice came through the wooden door.
There was a muffled sound she couldn’t identify. Was he mopping the floors in there? Cleaning up after an unfortunate accident?
Suddenly the door was flung open and Max stood in the doorway. His expression seemed panicked, but shifted quickly to a serene one. The subtle change in his demeanor was recognizable even at first glance.
His gaze took her in, eyes moving from her face to her feet and back again. He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. And he did not wink at her, either.
“Is the spell gone?”
His eyes narrowed, but he nodded. “I think so.”
“Do you want to say anything to me?”Please wink.
He looked puzzled. “No. I have nothing to say to you. I should get back to the Sheriff’s office and pick up Uncle Milo.” Spell-free Max had certainly become abrupt. He put a finger to the center of his upper lip and rubbed the spot beneath his nose.
He glanced at her eyes once more and Ruby winked to help him remember their signal.
Without returning the wink or even waiting for her to say something, Max dropped his hand from his face, brushed past her and walked down the hallway toward the parlor.
Ruby glanced inside the empty bathroom. It was huge. There was a makeup table with a fancy padded chair between the toilet and the sink and a crimson shower curtain so long the bottom edge pooled on the floor. She almost stepped inside to see if there was a clawfoot tub behind the super-long shower curtain, but stopped herself. Now was not the time to be the nosy investigator she usually was.
She was heartbroken and trying not to show it.
Ruby turned to follow Max to the parlor, doing her best to suck it up and face the reality that he obviously didn’t love her anymore and would likely stop asking for her hand in marriage. A wave of sadness hit her like a load of pavers slammed into her breadbasket.
In the parlor, Matilda and Helen stood as Max walked past them toward the front door. “Thank you,” he said without looking at them, opening the front door to leave as if nothing of importance had just happened.
“I’m so sorry, dearie,” Helen said as Ruby followed Max, trying to catch up with him. His powerful, long strides were already eating up the brick sidewalk out front. She would have to run to catch up with him as it was.
“I am, too,” she said, trying to be brave in the face of her sudden loss. She waved at the two older witches, trying not to cry buckets of tears at this unexpected turn, and closed the door on her way out.
“Wait up,” she called out to Max’s back. He was several yards ahead of her and moving fast toward Main Street.
Max’s head turned to one side as if acknowledging she’d spoken, but he didn’t stop or slow to let her catch up. He kept marching forward like getting to the Sheriff’s office as fast as possible to see his uncle was the most important thing in his life.
Perhaps he was embarrassed by his previous behavior. Perhaps this was his way of telling her they were over and he never wanted to see her again. Perhaps if he walked fast enough, he could lose her and not have to deal with taking back all the gushy declarations of love and marriage proposals. No wink. No love. No future.
Ruby slowed her rapid steps, trailing farther and farther behind him. If he didn’t want her anymore, she wasn’t going to force herself on him. Forget that. She hadn’t been the one who started this whole thing. He had. But the loss she felt was more profound than she planned.
