Читать книгу Forbidden Temptation - Gwynne Forster - Страница 6

Ruby Lockhart rose early the day after Christmas. Her to do list resembled Santa’s naughty-and-nice list. Unlike him, though, her work was just beginning.

She stretched as she got out of bed and braced herself for the day. In a few hours, her sister Opal’s life would be forever changed. Little did she know, hers would be, too.

Yesterday’s Christmas celebration had been memorable, with her sisters and the men they loved exchanging gifts and enjoying camaraderie after the festive meal that she’d spent two days preparing. As the elder sister of Opal, Pearl and Amber, Ruby hosted the holidays, a habit they’d cultivated after the loss of their mother five years ago. As tired as she had been last night, Ruby hadn’t slept soundly. Last-minute details for the wedding occupied her mind throughout the night. Some would call her a control freak. She preferred to say she was proactive, doing her part to prevent any hitches.

She took the royal-blue jacket dress that she’d bought for the wedding out of the closet in her bedroom—the same room in which her parents had slept—and hung it on the back of the door. Amber, her youngest sister, always said she should avoid all shades of blue, because it didn’t flatter her dark skin, but Ruby didn’t care; she loved blue. Besides, people seemed to pay more attention to her light-brown, almond-shaped eyes than to her clothes or anything else about her.

She tried on the dress to be sure that the hem reached the top of her shoes, never a certainty at her height of her five feet, nine inches. Satisfied with the dress’s fit on her trim, size-twelve figure, she called the bride-to-be and announced, “I’ll be over in a couple of hours to check your dress.”

“Thanks, but you needn’t hurry. Pearl is here with me. Is Luther back yet? It’s too bad he couldn’t have Christmas dinner with us, but parents come first, especially on holidays.”

“I don’t know about Luther. I haven’t spoken with him.”

“You’re not going to the wedding with him?” Opal asked, her tone incredulous.

“I never planned to. Anyway, he’ll be there. You know he wouldn’t miss it. Luther is as faithful as night and day,” Ruby said, with the assurance of a preacher quoting scripture.

“Yeah,” Opal said, “provided you’re not thinking of Alaska where you can’t always count on daylight. Pearl just said that you can put my hair up.”

“Good. I’ll be over shortly.” In the meantime, Ruby could tick off a half dozen items on her mental to do list.

At five minutes of six and with her heart pounding in her chest, Ruby took her seat on the aisle of the third row in the Lakeview Baptist Church. When strains of “Here Comes the Bride” began, Ruby turned and saw Opal, so beautiful that she seemed to wear a halo. An odd sense of peace enveloped Ruby, and she relaxed for the first time in days.

“And by the powers vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife.” The Reverend Wade Kendrick’s words brought tears to Ruby’s eyes, and she smiled through the stream that bathed her face. She didn’t think she had ever been so happy. D’marcus kissed Opal with the reverence of a man touching his newborn child for the first time. Ruby looked around, subconsciously seeking someone, anyone, with whom to share her happiness. Her gaze fell upon Luther who sat a short distance from her, and something quickened within her. Why was Luther looking at her with such a rapt expression on his face? Her eyebrows shot up, and he surprised her with a wink.

Ruby smiled at Luther, mainly because she always smiled at him, had since she was three and he was nine and she had followed him wherever and whenever he allowed. After the service, they met on the front steps of the church, and she hugged Luther as she usually did when they met. He stepped away from her quickly, and she gazed up at him with what she knew was a quizzical expression.

“I’ll see you at the reception.” He patted her shoulder and walked away with a limp that was barely noticeable.

“What’s wrong with Luther?”

Ruby turned to see Amber standing beside her. “I don’t know. He acted kind of strange.” However, she didn’t dwell on that. Luther was Luther, the Rock of Gibraltar, and she didn’t doubt that he would always be that way, and always be there for her and her sisters.

“Wasn’t it a beautiful ceremony?” she asked Amber. “I’d better get on to the reception,” she said without waiting for her sister’s response. She floated down the few steps as the sunset stared her in the face. Beautiful and powerful, the great disc colored the late December sky in shades of red, blue and gray and cast a fading glow on the wedding guests, enhancing their elegance. When she reached her car, she leaned against it for a minute thinking that even the light wind that freshened the air was careful not to disturb the women’s fancy hats and hairdos. The guests’ cars shone as if just waxed, and white carnations trailed up the posts around the church. Beauty surrounded her. She didn’t think she would ever forget the feeling of contentment, of pure joyous satisfaction she had at that moment.

Luther Biggens’s feelings about what transpired during the past hour and, especially, after the wedding ceremony did not conform to Ruby’s. During the ceremony, she had caught him looking at her with an expression that even a child should have understood. Shock registered on her face. Yet, he doubted that she understood what she saw. A gracious woman wouldn’t hug a man, knowing that he cared for her, unless she reciprocated his feelings. Ruby had hugged him as if he were her brother, and he’d barely been able to resist trapping her in a lover’s grip. He had been in love with her since she was a teenager, but she’d obviously never considered that possibility, nor had she treated him as anything other than a big brother, which meant that loving him hadn’t crossed her mind. Wearily, he got into his car and headed home to change for the reception that began at eight o’clock.

Luther had once dreamed of a life with Ruby, of a time when he would teach her to love him, and they would marry, have a family and grow old together. When he thought the time had come to pursue his dream, Ruby’s mother died, leaving her with the responsibility of shepherding her three sisters through school and into relationships that became marriage. Ruby had focused on her sisters and her career, denying her femininity as if she weren’t a woman herself, in need of a man’s love and affection.

He parked in front of his house, went inside and the loneliness of his life glared at him like a bare electric bulb swinging from a ceiling. He’d lived for thirty-five years and what did he have that was meaningful to show for it? Certainly not the ribbons and braid on the jacket he’d once worn as a commander in the navy SEALS. Or his citation for bravery during the daring exploits in Yemen that had cost him his right foot and a good part of his right leg. Prior to that, he been self-assured and fun loving, but what woman would settle for a man with his disability? The navy didn’t want him, and surely Ruby deserved better.

So he continued to love her from a distance and to be there for her whenever she needed him. All the while, wanting her.

He changed into a black tuxedo, white shirt and red cummerbund that he wore with a white carnation boutonniere. A pair of black patent leather shoes replaced his lizard-skin shoes and he slipped on his Oxford gray chesterfield coat and left home for the reception. He thought of calling Ruby to ask if she’d like him to accompany her, but realized that she would probably already be at the reception handling last-minute details. With God’s help, he’d get through the evening without being miserable. At times, he wanted her so badly that the pain became almost unbearable.

As the doyenne of the Lockhart family, Ruby stood at the head of the receiving line, greeting guests and making small talk. She’d been standing there about fifteen minutes, enjoying the drone of chatter that had become increasingly loud and the laughter that could be heard above it. Relaxed and happy, she let her smile tell all around her of her pride in the occasion.

“Good evening, Ruby.”

Her lower lip dropped, and she gaped at the man, helpless to do otherwise. “Luther, for goodness’ sake,” she exclaimed. “You…went home and changed.” What a stupid thing to say to a man, even if the man was Luther. “Gee, you look like a million dollars.” He winked, and tiny shivers raced through her. This was Luther? She managed to regain her aplomb and attempt to introduce him to the person standing beside her but suddenly couldn’t remember that person’s name or why the woman was standing there. As it happened, Luther was already acquainted with the woman.

Ruby watched Luther as he continued down the receiving line. Around six feet one inch and one hundred and ninety pounds, he carried himself so gracefully, no one would know he’d had that terrible accident.

And he was handsome. Why hadn’t she ever noticed that his long silky lashes cast a shadow over his big brown eyes? And those dark eyes against the olive tones of his face…Oh, well, there was no reason why she should have noticed, she told herself. After all, he was practically a member of her family. She shook her head in wonder. At least she should have noticed his mouth; that lusty bottom lip would win a prize.

The best man’s announcement of the bride and groom interrupted her lustful thoughts. The lights dimmed, and Mr. and Mrs. D’marcus Armstrong danced the first dance. Just as Ruby removed her jacket, exposing bare shoulders covered only with spaghetti straps, Luther asked her to dance. She hadn’t known that he danced, and she wondered how she should behave.

“Don’t be so careful,” he said. “I never attempt anything unless I know I can do it.”

“You look good,” she told him. “In fact, you look…uh…great.”

“Thank you,” he said, staring into her eyes. “I like the way you look, too.”

Why did he unnerve her? This was Luther, and she had always felt safer with him than with anyone else. “Thanks. Amber doesn’t like me in blue.”

A grin formed around the sensuous mouth that she’d just noticed for the first time, and a smile made his eyes sparkle. “Amber’s a woman. What would she know about what looks good on you?” He laughed, and she joined the mirth, although she wondered why she laughed when, in truth, she was thoroughly confused.

He led her in a slow fox trot, and it occurred to her that his disability made no difference. As they danced, he clasped her right hand lightly, but his hand at her waist proclaimed power and authority. She relaxed in his arms, and let the music flow over her. When the music stopped, he stepped back and half bowed, a bit mockingly, she thought. With his hand at her back, he walked with her to their table for ten, sat opposite her and fastened his gaze on her.

“Champagne, ma’am?” the waiter asked her. She took a glass from the silver tray and thanked the waiter. “They’ll be cutting the cake in a few minutes,” he said. “Right now, we’re preparing for the toast.”

She drank sparingly, usually an occasional glass of wine with dinner at a good restaurant. She hadn’t tasted champagne in ages. The best man offered the toast, raised his glass and invited the guests to join him. They had splurged on an expensive champagne, and after tasting it, she licked her lips approvingly and slowly drained the glass.

“This is good stuff,” her cousin, Paige Richards, said. “Just the thing in this candlelit room with the orchestra playing this soft, romantic music. It’s enough to make a woman say yes.”

Ruby’s gaze drifted to Luther, but she spoke to Paige. “Is that so? Then I think I’ll have another glass.”

Paige’s eyes widened. “I’m not sure you should do that, Ruby. This isn’t like you.”

“Of course it isn’t,” Ruby said as she accepted a second glass of champagne from the waiter. “Now, if I put on an apron and went into the kitchen back there to help with the cleanup, that would be just like me, wouldn’t it?” She took a long sip of champagne and the pit of her stomach immediately served notice that she shouldn’t drink too much more of it. “I’m sitting here in front of this good-looking man, listening to this befuddling music and with nothing to do with myself, so why shouldn’t I enjoy this champagne?”

Paige whispered something to Pearl, and Pearl leaned toward her older sister. “Ruby, maybe you shouldn’t have any more of that champagne.”

Ruby looked at Luther, raised the glass to her lips and let the wine drizzle slowly down her throat. Then she put the empty glass on the table. “Why can’t we have another dance, Luther? These two old fuddy-duddies are cramping my style.”

Luther got up immediately, put an arm around her waist and walked with her out to the dance floor. This time, he put both arms around her and moved in a slow drag. She put her head against his shoulder and let the champagne, the music and the aura of man encourage her recklessness.

When she missed a step, he held her a little closer. “Do you want to go back to the table?” he asked her.

“Nope. I’m perfectly happy right where I am.”

“If I were you, I’d be careful of my words,” he said.

She snuggled closer. “I’m always careful. Don’t you know that careful is my middle name? Careful Ruby, that’s me.” She glanced around his shoulder and saw Pearl and Amber talking. “I’ll bet they’re talking about me.”

“Who?” He stopped dancing and guided her back to their table.

“My guardians,” she said. “Amber and Pearl.” She took another glass of champagne from the waiter’s tray, sat down and took a few long sips. “What are you two saying about me?”

“That you shouldn’t drink any more champagne,” Amber said.

“Oh, pooh,” Ruby replied and, realizing that Luther had taken the chair beside hers, leaned over and kissed his neck. His eyes widened and he ran his fingers back and forth over his hair.

“Let her alone,” she heard him say. “She deserves to have some fun. I’ll take care of her.”

She drained her third glass of champagne and looked at Pearl. “If this good-looking man was with you, you’d be having a good time, too. Come on, Luther, let’s go see what everybody else is doing.” Amber’s gasp didn’t concern Ruby. She was having the time of her life, and she didn’t intend to let her sisters spoil her fun.

“Where are you taking us?” he asked her.

“Out here,” she said, leading him to the anteroom that faced their table. At the door of the anteroom, she traced his bottom lip with her right index finger. “I’ve been thinking about this lip all evening. I don’t know why I never saw it before tonight. It’s so inviting. Maybe it’s not real.”

His pupils dilated, and he stared down at her with hot, stormy eyes. “Why are you playing with me?”

“I’m not,” she said. “I just want to see what it tastes like.”

Luther couldn’t imagine what had gotten into Ruby when she reached up and sucked his bottom lip into her mouth, but he didn’t hold back. He couldn’t. He rimmed her lips with the tip of his tongue, and when she opened to him, fire shot through his veins and he plunged his tongue into her mouth, gripped her body to his and, mindless of their public posture, enjoyed the first sweetness he’d ever had from the lips of the woman he loved so desperately. He heard a gasp and set her away from him.

“What do you mean by starting that here in front of all these people?” he asked in a voice that trembled with the emotion that besieged him.

“There’s nobody else in here,” she said, but he could see that the kiss had discombobulated her, as well.

“I’m sorry that happened, Ruby.”

“Well, I’m not. I loved it.”

He shook her shoulders, though he did it gently. “Don’t you know better than to tease a man the way you’ve been teasing me all evening? I’m a man with feelings, Ruby.”

“Of course you are, and I haven’t been teasing you. You look good, and I’m enjoying it.” She looked around. “Where’s that waiter with the champagne?”

“I think I’d better take you home. We’ll take your car, and I’ll come back and get mine. You shouldn’t drive.”

“You listen to me, Luther Biggens. I am perfectly sober.”

“If you’re sober, why did you kiss me?”

Her hands went to her hips, but she quickly removed them. “I kissed you because I wanted to, and I fully enjoyed it.”

Luther couldn’t deny he had, too.

“I’m not going home to that big empty house,” she said. “If the wind blows the slightest bit, the whole place creaks. It’s too big, too old and too dark. I don’t like living there all by myself, and I’m not going there tonight.” She folded her arms like a recalcitrant child, poked out her bottom lip and pushed out her chin. “I’m going home with you.”

“Oh no, you’re not,” he said, feeling as if he were between a rock and a hard place. He wanted her alone with him in his house in the worse way, but he didn’t want to spend the night struggling to control his rampaging libido.

She walked to the table with head up and shoulders back in her usual regal stride, and got her jacket.

“Where’re you going?” Pearl asked her.

“Yes,” Amber said. “Are you leaving already?”

“After all that I did yesterday and today, you’d think I’d be tired, wouldn’t you?” he heard Ruby say, and as far as he was concerned, those were the words of a sober person. What the hell! If she wanted to go home with him, he’d take her there. Ruby tripped to the bridal table, kissed Opal, patted D’marcus’s shoulder and walked back to Luther.

“I’ll take you home, Ruby,” he said, wanting to do the right thing. “If you’re afraid to stay there by yourself, I’ll sleep on the living-room sofa.”

She laid her head to one side and looked at him with half-open, seductive eyes. “Didn’t I tell you that I’m going home with you?” She reached out and took a flute of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter, and before Luther could stop her, she emptied the glass down her throat. “Delicious. Absolutely delicious,” she said. “Come on. Let’s go.”

She didn’t seem to need steadying, but, nonetheless, he walked out of the room with his arm around her. At the cloak room, he collected their coats, helped her into hers and took his time getting into his gray chesterfield. He was stalling for time while he did some thinking, but she locked arms with him, reached up and kissed his cheek and urged him to the door. If he lived to be a thousand, he’d never forget this night.

He loved her and he desperately wanted her, but did he dare make a move? What if he misread her, took the wrong step and ruined the most important friendship of his life?

“All right,” he said to her when they got into her car with him at the wheel, “you said you want to go to my house, so I’m taking you there. But when you decide you want to leave, you only have to tell me.”

“I know that, Luther,” she said. “I’ve trusted you all my life. Sometimes I think you’re closer to me than my sisters are.”

For some reason, he didn’t want to hear that. He wanted some assurance that, when she got to his house, she’d sprawl out on the sofa and go to sleep or, at best, she’d go to the guest room and stay there. He parked in front of his house, walked up the stone path to his front door and inserted his key. He opened the door, and she strolled in.

“Gosh, what a beautiful place,” she said as she dropped herself on the sofa, crossed her knees and began swinging a shapely leg whose slope he knew so well that he could draw it from memory. “You wouldn’t have any champagne, would you?” she asked him. “I’ve decided that I like it. Imagine living twenty-nine years and not knowing how good champagne is.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have any.”

“Then could we have a glass of wine? After all, this is the first time I’ve been here since you bought this place. I like it.”

“Since you’re tired, perhaps you’d like to turn in? I’ll show you the guest room.”

“What about the wine? Don’t you plan to be hospitable?”

“Look, sweetheart, it’s almost midnight.”

She didn’t move. “I’ve been up this late before. Lots of times, in fact.”

He took a deep breath, admitted defeat and went to his kitchen for the wine. When he returned to the living room with two glasses of white wine, she had removed her coat and the jacket to her dress, exposing her beautiful brown shoulders and just enough cleavage to excite him.

He put the glasses on the coffee table. Damned if he was going to let her make a joke of him. “As soon as we drink this, I’m taking you upstairs.”

He must have appeared foolish with his mouth agape as she picked up the glass, drank the wine, put the glass back on the table and said, “Okay. I’m ready.”

She walked up the stairs ahead of him, and he could have told her to save the rear action; he’d been looking at it for years, and he knew it well enough to write a sonnet about it.

“To your left,” he said, doing nothing to squelch the annoyance that crept into his voice. How was he supposed to deal with her? He didn’t know this side of her, wouldn’t have dreamed she had it, and seeing it made her even more enticing. “Not in there,” he said as she strode toward an open door. “That’s my room.”

Without so much as a pause, she turned and entered his room.

“I said this is my room,” he repeated. “You’re sleeping across the hall.”

“Okay,” she said. “Where across the hall?”

He directed her to the guest room, and when she walked in, he stepped out, closed the door and slumped against it. “Thank God, I can breathe.” Once inside his own room he removed his jacket, tie and shirt and sat on the edge of the bed to remove his shoes. Then he heard her knock. Now what? With a bare chest, but still wearing trousers, he got up, opened the door and gazed down at her.

He gulped. “What is it, Ruby?” The voice he heard must surely belonged to someone other than him; he’d never squeaked.

“Would you…uh…unzip my dress, please?” she asked him, managing to appear fragile and helpless. Oh, hell! Maybe it just seemed that way to him.

“Unzip your…Who usually unzips it?”

“Nobody. This is the first time I’ve worn it.”

Instead of turning her back, she stepped closer, and he thought his knees had turned to rubber. “Please,” she said.

“Turn around,” he said gruffly. His fingers shook as he attempted to grasp the zipper, and he fumbled uncontrollably. Finally he managed to hold it, closed his eyes and pulled. He didn’t hear the dress drop to the floor, and shock reverberated through his body when he realized that she had handed it to him. He opened his eyes and stared at the voluptuous beauty before him.

“My God,” he uttered with a groan. He pulled her into his arms, let his hands roam over her breasts, arms, waist and buttocks until she reached up, clasped his face between her palms and parted her lips beneath his. He lost himself in her arms.

Ruby awakened and sat up suddenly, alarmed at the weight of a hand on her bare thigh. It didn’t make sense. And why would a sledgehammer be pounding the top of her head? She looked to her left and gasped. Good Lord, that was Luther. What was…? It came back to her with blinding accuracy. At that moment he awakened fully and propped himself up on his left elbow.

“What’s wrong? Can’t you sleep?” He reached out to put his arm around her, but she slid farther from him.

“Wh-what have I done?”

“Don’t tell me you’re sorry or that you didn’t know what you were doing,” he said. “I’m having none of that.”

She slid off the bed. “I’m sorry, and I apologize for…for…I don’t know what came over me. Would you please close your eyes?”

“Why?” he said in an odd voice that didn’t sound much like Luther’s comforting baritone.

“Just please close your eyes. I want to dress.” She got into her clothes as quickly as possible. “I’m going home. Do you know where my car is?”

He sat all the way up. “In front of the house. Are you telling me you don’t remember me driving your car here?”

“Luther, please forgive me for any pain or inconvenience I’ve caused you.” He started to get out of bed. “No, please don’t. I don’t want you to get up. I can find my way out. I…uh…thanks for everything.” She wasn’t sure why she was thanking him, but she hoped she would upon reflection.

She found her car keys on the table beside the living-room sofa, next to her coat. When she got into her car and put the key into the ignition, she glanced up at the house and saw Luther standing at the window.

“Lord, I must have been out of my mind to make love with Luther. He’s like a brother, and…what can he possibly think of me? She rubbed her forehead in an attempt to ease the pain. “That’s the last champagne I’m ever drinking. No. That’s the last alcohol. From now on, I’m going to stay as sober as a judge.”

She drove home, and after she walked in the door, her first thought was of the lonely echoes of her steps as she headed upstairs. The flashing red light on the phone beside her bed told her that she had messages. No doubt from Pearl and Amber. Tomorrow would be time enough to deal with them.

“What do they think?” she said aloud. “And Lord, what was I thinking? I had no business going to Luther’s house that time of night. I must have been out of my mind.” She showered, put on a nightgown and prepared to get a few hours sleep. She hadn’t been in bed five minutes when the memory of the moments in Luther’s arms came back to her as clear as a bright summer morning.

The man sent her through the stratosphere. For the first time in her life, she had exploded in orgasm after orgasm. And oh, how he had loved her. He’d worshipped every inch of her, kissed her from forehead to feet, and when he finally got inside her…the earth had moved, and it wouldn’t stop. She sat up in the bed and let out a sharp whistle. Then she blinked rapidly; she hadn’t known that she could whistle. She wondered what he’d thought of her wildness, her completely uninhibited behavior. If only she didn’t have to see him again. Well, he would learn that she didn’t plan to chase him. Never!

Luther stood at the window of his bedroom and watched as Ruby pulled away from the curb. What had he done to himself? An ache settled inside of him, more painful than any he’d ever experienced in the years of longing for Ruby. He’d known all along that, if he got a taste of her, he’d need her more than ever, but he hadn’t been able to stop himself. She had stood before him, almost nude, with her lips parted and that look of expectancy, that invitation to madness on her face. He couldn’t stand it. Her gaze had roamed his face and settled on his lips, and he’d pulled her body to his and plunged his tongue into her waiting mouth.

He turned, limped back to the bed—his limp was always most prominent when he was unhappy—and sat down on the edge of it. What a woman she was! She had come to him like a nail to a magnet, responding to his every touch, every kiss. And oh, man, when he’d finally got inside her, she’d gone wild, matching him stroke for stroke and bump for bump, exploding in multiple orgasms that he could feel, gripping his penis until he thought he’d lose his mind. She suited him as no other woman had.

He fell over on the bed, but sat up quickly when the musty odor of their lovemaking aroused him. “What do I do now?” he asked aloud. “She couldn’t get away fast enough. This prosthesis turned her off, and she was in such a hurry to leave that she didn’t even take the pains to hide that from me.” He knew he wouldn’t sleep, so he showered, changed the bedding to remove that reminder, went to his den and turned on the television. On the coffee table sat the two glasses he had placed there earlier, hers empty and his untouched.

“It’s a lesson I won’t forget,” he said. “Neither Ruby nor any other woman who’s likely to interest me will settle for a man with one leg. I might as well accept that and get on with my life.” He went into the kitchen to make coffee, turned on the tap and stopped with his hand suspended in the air. “Maybe it wasn’t my leg. Maybe I was mistaken. I thought I gave her all that a woman could ever want, but maybe I was so carried away with what was happening to me that I got it wrong. Yeah, that’s it. My prosthesis doesn’t look that bad. Oh, I don’t know. I’ll learn to live without…Oh, hell!”

In his semidark living room, Luther sat in the early-morning quiet, thinking of his life, of the woman he loved and had possessed but couldn’t have, of the family he wanted so badly. He had to fight back the threatening depression. He couldn’t let it sink him. And why should he? His mind brought back to him the story of Derek LaChapelle, who had won eight varsity letters at Northbridge High in Northbridge, Massachusetts, while playing with a prosthetic left leg. Derek had lived with it from childhood, Luther said to himself. At least he’d grown up with both legs, and nobody who didn’t know would guess he had a prosthesis.

He punched the sofa pillow and said to himself, “Heck, I’m going back to bed.”

Several afternoons later, while sorting out a problem in her office, Ruby answered a telephone call from Pearl.

“Paige and I are going to paint our bathroom and kitchen,” her sister said. “This yellow on the walls now was Opal’s suggestion. She loves yellow, but I’ve gotten to the place where I can hardly stand it. D’marcus will see so much yellow in his place that he’ll think he’s got jaundice. Say, why don’t you come over and help us?”

“Okay. I can leave here around five-thirty, but I’ll have to run home and change.”

“Good. Paige bought some frozen quiches, and we can make a salad. See you later.”

Ruby hadn’t been in the apartment Pearl shared with Paige more than half an hour when Luther walked in with containers of paint, two rollers and some paintbrushes. She stared at her sister. “Why didn’t you tell me he’d be here?”

Her face the picture of innocence, Pearl merely shrugged. “He who? You can’t be talking about Luther. Anything wrong with you two?”

“Of course not,” Ruby said, so quickly that Paige’s eyebrows shot up. “I mean, what could possibly be wrong with Luther and me?”

“Nothing,” Paige said. “The two of you left Opal’s reception when it was still going strong, and my tongue almost dropped out. Arm in arm is what I saw with my own two eyes.”

“You’re imagining things,” Ruby said.

“Maybe she was, but I wasn’t,” Pearl said. “I also didn’t imagine all that champagne you drank. I know you were happy for Opal, but you didn’t have to drown yourself in it.”

“Now, look here. I—Oh, hello, Luther.”

Pearl and Paige stared at Ruby. “Did you two have a fight?” Pearl asked without looking directly at either of them.

“If we did, I don’t remember it,” Luther said, his gaze piercing Ruby with an unmistakable and unspoken accusation. “Why do you ask?”

“’Cause you’re acting like you just met,” Paige said.

“Where do you want me to put this stuff?” Luther asked Pearl. “If I’d known you planned to paint this evening, I’d have worn something appropriate. If you can hold off till Saturday, I could do most of it myself.”

He went to the refrigerator, opened it and poured a glass of orange juice. “I love orange juice,” he said. “If I thought I could tolerate the local politics, I’d move to Florida.”

“Thank God you can’t tolerate them,” Pearl said. “I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

“You’d manage,” he said. Suddenly, Ruby realized that both Pearl and Paige were staring at her. Wasn’t she the Lockhart who was closest to Luther? Yet she hadn’t reacted to his suggestion that he preferred Florida to Detroit. Her second slipup. The first was not hugging him when he walked in.

Luther seemed preoccupied and in a hurry. “I’ll just set this stuff in the pantry, Pearl. If you need me to help you with it, give me a ring.”

“You going?” Pearl asked him, obviously astonished.

“Yeah. Call me if you need me.”

“Something’s gone wrong,” Pearl said to Ruby after Luther left. “You two are always like two peas in a pod. Did he give you a hard time about drinking all that champagne and playing up to him at Opal’s reception?”

“I didn’t play up to him,” Ruby said.

Paige rolled her eyes. “Girl, if you think you didn’t, then you really did have too much to drink.”

“Right,” Pearl said. “And if you don’t ever get kissed again, he sure laid one on you when you led him out to that little anteroom. Darned if I would have thought he had it in him.”

A frown distorted Ruby’s face. “I don’t believe a word of that, and if you two don’t stop putting me on, I’m going home.”

“My advice to you is lay off the drinks,” Paige said. “If you don’t remember that, you don’t know what you did after you left there.”

“Your imagination is getting out of hand, Pearl,” Ruby said, wondering why she hadn’t stayed home. She didn’t even like quiche. “Get off my case, or I’m leaving.”

“I haven’t said a thing,” Paige said. “It didn’t used to be so easy to yank your chain, Ruby.”

“Leave her alone,” Pearl said. “When I wake up tomorrow, I don’t want to see anything yellow. Let’s get started.”

Ruby wrapped her hair in a hand towel, grabbed a pair of rubber gloves, a roller and a can of paint, and went to the bathroom to begin painting. Luther had hardly acknowledged her presence. Would a man be so cool if he thought you were good in bed? She doubted it. And especially not Luther who, for almost as long as she could remember, had encouraged her in everything she did. Maybe she hadn’t satisfied him. She couldn’t remember how he’d reacted in the end. She only knew that he’d made love to her as if she were the queen of his heart, and she had seemed to float on a cloud, and then go higher and higher until she exploded in relief.

A tear fell on her hand. How could I do that? I’m so ashamed. He doesn’t want to be around me. I drank so much champagne I don’t know what I did to…Why did Luther make love to me?

“What about Wade?” Ruby heard Paige ask her sister, interrupting Ruby’s thoughts. “Maybe he won’t like the gray you’re putting in the bathroom.”

“You can’t get more conservative than gray,” Pearl said, “and you know how conservative Wade is, bless his heart. Gray walls, silver shower curtain, silver frames on the posters, gray carpet and gray and green paisley towels. That’ll be cool, right?”

“Works for me,” Paige said. “By the way, let’s see if we can get Ruby into something other than black and navy blue for your wedding reception.”

“You have to admit that the royal blue she had on on Saturday night was an improvement. I’m going shopping with her tomorrow. I’ll find her something to wear.”

“We’ve almost finished here,” Paige said. “Let’s put the quiches in the microwave, and you start on the salad.”

“Maybe we should call Luther and ask him if he wants to have supper with us. We certainly have plenty.”

“Okay,” Pearl said. “He was so nice to pick up all this stuff for me.”

Ruby put the paint roller on the tray and sat down on the closed commode. Did her family think her dull? She didn’t have anything against bright, fashionable colors. She’d simply been so busy since their mother died trying to be a role model for her sisters that she hadn’t given much thought to being fashionable and to making a life with a man of her dreams. No wonder she hadn’t been able to please Luther. But she had no intention of withering like a rootless plant in the hot sun. She would always be grateful to Luther for teaching her her sexual potential, but now that she knew what she was capable of, she wasn’t going to be timid about exploring it.

Ruby pulled off the rubber gloves and brought the paint and roller to the kitchen. “Where do you want me to put—” She broke off when she saw her sister on the phone. “Who’re you calling? Are you talking to Luther?”

“Just a minute, Luther,” Pearl said. “I think Ruby wants to speak with you.”

“I do not. I didn’t say I wanted to—” Pearl shoved the phone to her face. “Uh…hello, Luther. Actually I didn’t tell Pearl I wanted to speak with you. I asked her if she was speaking with you.”

“So I heard. I never did find out why she called. Let me speak with her.” Ruby listened for a few seconds, long enough to realize that he wouldn’t say anything else, and handed the phone back to Pearl, who, with her mouth agape, nearly dropped it.

“I’m going to skip the quiche,” Ruby told Paige, since Pearl was still speaking with Luther. “I’d rather shower than eat. Tell Pearl I’ll meet her at Saks tomorrow at five.”

She couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

After Pearl’s wedding she told herself she’d take a nice long vacation. That would make it impossible for her sisters and their cousin Paige to pester her about her behavior during and after Opal’s wedding reception. Frankly, she was sick of hearing about it, because she was sure she hadn’t done anything dishonorable. She’d always heard it said that a person wouldn’t do anything when inebriated that she wouldn’t do sober. “I’m definitely counting on that,” she said to herself and walked into her house. Actually, it was the family home, and she’d give anything if her sisters would agree to sell it and share the proceeds. But no, they wanted to gather there on holidays and special occasions with her substituting for their parents. She didn’t mind, because she loved her sisters.

The phone rang as she walked in. She didn’t have to look at the caller ID; she knew she’d hear Pearl’s voice.

“Hi, Pearl,” she said. “What’s up?”

“Hi, Ruby. This isn’t Pearl. This is Trevor Johns. Pearl and Wade sent me an invitation to their wedding, and I…uh…would you allow me to accompany you?”

Well, maybe her life was about to become interesting. “Why, yes. I’d enjoy your company,” she said, seeing an opportunity to show Luther that he had nothing to fear from her, that she didn’t expect anything of him more than usual. “But I have to be there a little early,” she added.

“That doesn’t matter,” he said. “Just tell me what time to come for you.”

She told him, adding that she would look forward to seeing him. She didn’t plan to mention the date to her sisters. Oh, they’d have something to say, but she wouldn’t hear them. She hoped Luther would notice that she wasn’t without a date at the reception. He hadn’t even said goodbye to her when they spoke on the phone, so he wouldn’t ask her to go along with him. Let him wonder about Trevor Johns and what he was to her. She just couldn’t figure out why Trevor had asked her when Detroit was full of younger and flashier women. If he had an agenda, she’d know it quickly.