Page 23 of Hold You Close
“She’s scared,” I explain. This little girl has had her entire world flipped upside down. I have no idea why I’m the only person she’ll come to right now, but that’s not my worry—Ruby is.
Ia
n sits on the floor beside me, his hand reaching out, tucking the strand of blond hair behind her ear. “I’m here for you, princess. Uncle Ian loves you and just wants you to smile. That’s all.”
Ruby’s little arms tighten. “Milk?” she asks.
“You want some milk?” I repeat.
She nods.
“Can I get you some milk?” Ian tries again.
She glares at him. “Aunt London.”
This poor kid. And since I refuse to move in with Ian to be his daily translator, I have to find a way to make this better. I rub Ruby’s back and think. “Ruby,” I say softly. “If you want Auntie London to get your milk, then I need you to help me, can you do that?”
She smiles.
“I need you to sit on Uncle Ian’s lap,” I explain. Her tiny body goes stiff. “I’m not going anywhere but to the kitchen. You’ll be able to see me the whole time. Okay?”
Ian watches me, and instead of the normal hatred in his eyes, I see appreciation. I know coming to me for help couldn’t have been easy for him. I don’t know that I would’ve gone to him if the tables were turned, but his love for Ruby overshadowed his own desires.
I gently lift Ruby, and her arms start to slide from around my neck as I transfer her into his lap. Ian doesn’t move or say a word, he allows me to control the situation, which is totally unlike him.
Ruby rests her head on Ian’s chest, and I sit there for second. Both of us watching each other. Both of us saying so much in a simple look. Both of us lost.
I catch myself before I let my heart soften too much. Ian is the kind of guy who takes advantage of people’s vulnerability—or at least mine.
I get to my feet and go into the kitchen. Opening the fridge, I look around for a carton of milk but don’t see one. “Ian,” I call out. “Where’s the milk?”
“Isn’t there some in there?”
“Not that I can see.”
He stands and takes Ruby by the hand, leading her over to one of the stools at the kitchen island. “Wait right here, baby. Uncle Ian is going to get you some milk.”
“I don’t know how, unless you’ve got a cow in your garage.”
He barely looks at me as he elbows me aside and opens the fridge wider, leaning down so he can see inside. “Hmm. Maybe I don’t have any milk.”
“Then why would you offer it to her?” I toss a hand in the air.
“I thought there might be some in here, okay?” He shuts the fridge and glares at me as he makes excuses. “My housekeeper does the shopping for me. I don’t even eat dairy, so I wasn’t sure if she’d bought milk this week or not.”
I roll my eyes. “Well, maybe you should put it on your housekeeper’s list, now that you are a responsible parent and all.” I use little air quotes around the words just to get deeper under his skin.
He looks like he wants to spit nails at me, but he goes over to the counter where a little pad of paper and pen sit next to two open boxes of pizza. Both pies are half-eaten and need to be put away.
Ian grabs the pen. “Milk,” he says, shooting me a dirty look as he writes it down. Then he looks over at Ruby and softens his tone. “What else would you like from the grocery store, sweetheart? I’ll run out right now.”
“I can go to the store,” I offer.
Another dirty look. “You’ve been drinking. You’re not going anywhere.” He turns back to Ruby. “You didn’t eat any pizza, honey. Would you like something else for dinner?”
Ruby shakes her head and starts to weep again, her little shoulders trembling.
Immediately I go embrace her, tucking her head beneath my chin, rocking her gently. “You know what? I have milk at my house, sweetie. I’ll go get it for you. I even have the chocolate syrup you like.”
