Page 19 of Bluebell Tides

Ruth nearly swallowed her tongue. A plum was dripping all over her right hand. Quentin took a step back, then let his eyes drop down to her pregnant belly. CeeCee made a noise in the back of her throat. Ruth kept her head held high.

“Good morning,” she said. “Nice to see you both.” She continued, swinging her hips, feeling more arrogant than she had in months. She felt beautiful.

That night, Ruth told her roommates about the run-in with Quentin. “I can’t believe he didn’t know I was pregnant?” She shook her head. “I thought everyone knew.”

“I heard a rumor that his friends were trying to keep it from him.” Reese winced.

“Ugh. They really did not want him to date me,” Ruth said, laughing. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter.”

But apparently, it did matter. Because that night at ten thirty, long after Ruth had gone to bed, there was a pounding on the front door and the howling of a man who’d drunk too much beer. “Ruth? Ruth, I need to talk to you!” Ruth recognized Quentin’s voice. She got out of bed and went to the foyer, where her roommates were already there, looking out at him.

“Should we call the police?” Dina asked.

“No. I’ll talk to him,” Ruth said.

Ruth stepped outside and stood barefoot on the top step. Quentin staggered beneath her, then stopped short, as though he were mystified.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he demanded.

“What makes you think the baby is yours?” Ruth asked.

Quentin sputtered, as though that were a stupid question.

Ruth crossed her arms. “You should go home, Quentin. There’s nothing for you here.”

“Is that so?” Quentin stepped up, so that his nose was level with her chin. “I want to raise that baby with you, Ruth. I want to be with you.”

It was so startling that Ruth didn’t know what to say.

“Don’t you get it, Ruth? I love you. You’re the only woman I’ve ever loved,” Quentin said, his voice shaking.

Ruth snorted. “That’s ridiculous.”

“It isn’t.” He glared at her. “We’re having a baby. We’re going to have a family. Why can’t we be a family together?”

Ruth had never imagined this, not in a thousand years. “Your family hates me, Quentin. You know this could never work. Do yourself a favor and turn around and go home.”

“I won’t,” Quentin said.

Ruth’s heart felt cracked. Seeing him like this, so handsome and forlorn, yanked her back through time. She still loved him, of course. He’d been her first, and she always would, in a way.

“Please, Quentin,” she breathed. “Please, just leave the baby and me alone.”

Quentin stayed there, arguing with her, for another ten minutes. But eventually, he ran out of words. He ran out of logic. He stumbled away from her, tugging at his hair. Ruth went back inside and fell into the arms of her flatmates, unsure if she’d done the right thing.

“I love him,” she said into Dina’s shoulder. “But it can never be.”

11

Present Day

“Dangerous people live in Bluebell Cove,” Sophie echoed to Lily, her eyes widening.

“It doesn’t get any more ominous than that.” Lily threw her head back, laughing.

It was late. They were sitting cross-legged on Sophie’s bed, their hair drying after their night swim in Bluebell Cove. Mysteriously, they’d seen Ruth Landers on shore, buzzing through the dark to warn them of dangerous people. But they couldn’t fathom what she was talking about.

Sophie reached for a chip in the bag between them and crunched the edge, thinking of Ruth, of how strange she’d been ever since Sophie had met her at the beginning of May—about a month ago, now that it was early June. Where had the time gone?