CHAPTER ONE
Cherry red nail polish, cherry wine, and pink champagne facial masks. Rom Com Movie Club was in full swing. Ruby couldn’t have been more disappointed that they didn’t have cherry facials to go with her theme, but when did anything ever work out for her in that way? Not that it was a deal breaker for having a great time, but just for once, Ruby would like to have that perfect moment.
Sitting with her friends in her living room, Mamma Mia! paused on the TV, the four women, laughed at the expense of Tina’s tales of pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood as she nursed her daughter.
“I have a list for all of you,” Tina said. “Things no one mentioned to me—at all.”
Mindy, newly engaged to her next-door neighbor, stared at Tina with wide eyes. “Never, in my entire life, have I heard someone say you might poop when you give birth.”
“That’s what I’m telling you,” Tina confirmed through gritted teeth in a hushed tone, as to not stir her daughter who suckled at her breast. “There are these little things that people keep secret. They want you to think this is glorious, and it is not.”
Lisa wiggled her cherry red polished toes. “You’re making me think that if Ryan and I want to have babies, maybe I should adopt.”
Ruby nodded in agreement. “Thank God I’m single.”
Tina blew out an annoyed breath. “First of all,” she directed the comment toward Lisa, “you’d better be thinking about a baby, and soon. I’m not carrying this alone. Their mother wants a house full of grandkids and that’s up to you and me now.”
Lisa wrinkled her nose, her mask cracking. “I reconsider my marriage to your brother-in-law,” she said and that warranted a laugh.
“You’ll be a good mom,” Ruby said, playing with the ruby slipper charm on her wine glass.
“You think so?” Lisa asked.
“You’ll take your childhood as the example of what not to do. You’ll be attentive and loving. I mean, you’re already ahead of the game. You’re married to an amazing man who understands love and commitment. You’ll be okay.”
Lisa batted her eyes, as if tears had begun to sting them. “Thank you,” she said, and Ruby knew it would be true.
Lisa had been brought up in foster care. The first family to really take her in and love her hadn’t happened until she was twelve, and they moved to England when she was sixteen, having to leave her behind before they could officially adopt her. But the impact they had on Lisa in those few short years changed her life. Ruby knew that Lisa would take those lessons to heart, and create a wonderful life for her own children.
Just as Lisa started in on some story about the foster family that had loved her so dearly, the front door opened, and her foster brother, who was also Ruby’s roommate, Jason, walked through.
Dressed in scrubs, his hospital ID clipped to his pocket, he stopped and looked around the room. His face was unshaven, eyes dark with lack of sleep, but he smiled when he saw them all.
He’d moved in with Ruby shortly after he’d returned to America to work in a local hospital. So far, he’d only been there a few months, and already he’d lasted longer than some of her other roommates had.
She still wasn’t sure what made all the others just up and leave, but Jason seemed to be stable enough to stick around.
Since he was a doctor, and worked crazy shifts, Ruby didn’t see much of Jason at all, and she thought it was a shame he wasn’t around more. With all of her friends being otherwise in committed relationships, these days she spent more nights alone than she’d have liked. Her mother would argue that it meant she should spend more time with her, but Ruby needed her space, too. When Jason was around, though, they cooked dinner together, took walks around the lake not far from their place, and watched her beloved rom coms together.
To his credit, coming home to four women with pink masks on their face, and Tina with her boob out, he didn’t look all that surprised.
“Movie night,” he said matter-of-factly. “I forgot that was tonight.”
Ruby stood, walking on her heels to keep her toes from touching. “I thought you were working a twenty-four.”
Jason scanned a look over her, smiled, then nodded. “I got lucky. Someone wanted the second half of the shift, and I’ll cover for them next week. By the way, nice T-shirt.” He tugged on the sleeve of the Oxford University T-shirt which was his.
“It was in the laundry,” Ruby said quickly in defense of her T-shirt choice.
Jason winked, then moved toward the couch and kissed Lisa on the top of the head. “I won’t bother you all,” he said before lifting his head and sniffing deeply. “Is that a Lisa pizza in the oven?”
Lisa stood, also walking on heels, she moved to Jason. “I made two pizzas just so you’d have left-overs. Would you like some, fresh from the oven?”
Ruby watched as he licked his lips and nodded, as if the offer had made his mouth water and rendered him unable to talk.
Of course she understood the reaction. Lisa was a food blogger and an amazing cook. They were all lucky when she wanted to cook for them—even pizza.
Lisa linked her arm with her brother’s. “C’mon. Mama Rose would want me to take care of you.”
Ruby watched until they disappeared into the kitchen before she plopped back down on the couch next to Mindy.
“I’m going to go change her,” Tina said, lifting her daughter onto her shoulder and righting herself back into her T-shirt.
They both watched Tina walk toward Ruby’s bedroom, and when she was out of sight, Mindy pulled back and slapped Ruby on the arm.
“What the hell was that for?” Ruby gritted her teeth.
“What’s going on with you?” Mindy whispered loudly.
“I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about.”
Mindy sat there staring at her from behind the cracked pink champagne mask. Her eyes were wide, and the smile on her lips cracked the sides of the mask even further.
“You and Jason. What’s going on between you?” she asked again in a whisper.
Ruby stared at her, and then turned her eyes toward the kitchen where she could hear the muffled sounds of Lisa and Jason talking.
“Nothing is going on between us. Why did you hit me?”
“What’s going on?” she asked again.
“Nothing.”
Pieces of Mindy’s mask were falling off into her lap. “There will be,” she said. “Did you see how he looked at you?”
“Like his roommate in a facial mask?”
“Like his roommate in his T-shirt. That’s a sexy thing, you know. Wearing the roommate’s T-shirt.”
Ruby shook her head. “It’s only sexy if you’re wearing it in lieu of clothing.”
“So when we leave…”
“I’ll put the T-shirt in the hamper and wash it. Then it’ll go back with his laundry.”
Mindy shook her head. “I’m not one to say don’t get involved with the guy next door,” she laughed since that was exactly what Mindy had done, and now she and Vic were engaged. “I have to take this mask off.”
Mindy stood and started toward the bathroom, before she turned and looked at Ruby. “You could do worse.” She winked, and disappeared as she closed the bathroom door behind her.