Page 128 of The Reluctant Viking

His discerning eyes impaled her, not giving an inch.

“Are you up to me?” Ruby asked shakily, hating the vulnerability of her question.

Disbelief swept Jack’s features before he forced them back to impassivity. “Go home, Rube,” he ordered flatly. “You’ve already pushed me to the edge. I can’t guarantee what I’ll do—”

“Jack, I’m sorry. Please, let’s talk about—”

“No!” he declared icily, grabbing her arm and turning her forcibly toward the door. “I told you this afternoon that the time for talking was over. Dammit, can’t you see that I’ve had enough?”

Ruby’s heart ached at the sad hopelessness in Jack’s eyes. Lord, she must have been blind not to have seen how much she’d hurt him these past months. She had to convince him that their marriage was still salvageable.

“Jack, please listen to me. Something important happened to me today after you left,” Ruby injected quickly as she pulled out of his grip and ducked around him and back into the living room. “I need to tell you about it.”

“What?”

“Well, I had a really weird experience,” Ruby began, licking her dry lips, “This thing that happened…well, it made me do a lot of thinking, and anyhow, I made some baklava for you, and I wondered if I could make some coffee to go with it and we could talk.” Ruby knew she was rambling senselessly, but how could she possibly explain her time-travel to Jack with him hovering over her, so resistant, practically pushing her out the door?

“What the hell is going on with you?” His eyes narrowed suspiciously as they raked over her. “You look different.”

“I am different. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.” Choking back tears, she turned to the kitchen, needing a minute to get her emotions under control. She kept swallowing hard to prevent herself from crying. Pity was not part of her plan.

Plan! Ruby remembered another plan, in another time, and how that had turned out. She closed her eyes on the painful thought.

“Are you crying?” Jack asked, exhaling sharply with exasperation as he followed her into the kitchen.

“No,” she lied on a broken sob.

“Please, Ruby, you know I can’t stand it when you cry.” He put a hand on her shoulder and turned her, only to exclaim, “Where did you get that pin?”

“Huh?” Ruby looked down and saw the dragon brooch on the lapel of her blouse. She smiled and touched it gently. “From you,” she answered without thinking.

“Cut the crap, Ruby. I never gave you that pin, and whoever did must have spent a fortune. It looks very valuable.” His bleak eyes accused her angrily before he pivoted away.

He was jealous. Oddly pleased, Ruby put a hand on Jack’s arm, running her fingers tenderly over the crisp fabric before she could stop herself, and told him softly, “Jack, I didn’t get it from another man. And I’ve never been with anybody but you.” Well, that was sort of the truth, Ruby rationalized.

He jerked his arm away from her, but when he turned back, Ruby saw that the anger and jealousy had disappeared, replaced with a weary desolation. Adultery was not the problem between them, and never had been.

“Where are the boys?”

Ruby told him, and he seemed satisfied. She was glad he didn’t ask if she’d told them yet about his leaving. While she prepared the coffee, he sipped his drink and watched her every move with wary suspicion.

“Will you pour me a brandy until the coffee is ready?” she asked. As she sipped the potent liquor, hoping it would give her courage, she prepared a tray to take into the living room. Finally she set the tray on a table near the couch while Jack put more wood on the fire.

“This room and that fireplace bring back so many memories of happy times here,” she said wistfully.

“Give me a break, Ruby. You haven’t been here in more than a year,” Jack reminded her. “The boys and I are the only ones who come anymore—for fishing.”

Jack finished his drink in one long swallow, then sat down and ate one of her pastries, sipping the black coffee. Then he ate another, and another. Ruby realized that he probably hadn’t eaten all day. The kitchen showed no evidence of use.

Ruby stared at him miserably as he sat eating in cold silence. How could she get through that shield he’d erected around himself?

“I remember when you bought this place,” Ruby mused, running her fingertip absently around the rim of her empty coffee cup. “It was our tenth wedding anniversary. Your business was booming and you wanted to celebrate in a big way.”

Jack stared at his hands, listening but saying nothing. Suddenly Ruby remembered something else. “Do you remember how we christened the house? Right here in front of the fireplace?”

Jack jumped up off the sofa and stood hovering over her.

“Stop it, Ruby. Just stop it.” He picked up his suit jacket and jerked out, “If you won’t leave, I will.”