Seasons of Her Life (19 page)

Still, Andrew hated what he was doing for his colonel. This move and promotion, if it ever materialized, would get him out of the colonel's clutches. He had to make it work, had to zero in on Ruby and go on from there.

 

On his way from Quantico, in a friend's car that he'd managed to appropriate with an appropriate line of bullshit, he wondered what Ruby would say if she knew how he was advancing his career. He also wondered if she would be impressed with his speedy promotion to captain in a year or so. It wasn't till he drove across the 14th Street Bridge that he admitted to himself that no matter what he did, he would never impress Ruby Connors. He wondered why that was.

He should have made some lasting friendships in the Corps by now, but he hadn't. He could go to the Officers' Club with the guys, have a drink or a beer, but it never went beyond that. He was a loner. Ruby could change that. Ruby would make friends with other officers' wives and they'd cultivate a circle of friends that would make him appear stable. Marriage. Andrew snorted derisively. A kid would clinch everything. A big step, but he was ready for it. His career demanded it. If Ruby would just cooperate, they could be married by the end of the year and get a good tax deduction. Thanksgiving or Christmas. For sure, he'd never be able to forget an anniversary.

Andrew tooled along, enjoying the major's car. Marriage would necessitate a vehicle of some kind, a clunker, a rattletrap, something for Ruby to drive. Of course, Ruby didn't know how to drive, which meant he'd have to teach her.

Jesus! He was acting and thinking as if marriage were in the works. Ruby could still dash it all with one word.
No!

He turned onto Monroe, and his bright blue eyes, behind dark glasses, searched for house numbers. He saw her the same moment he saw the brass numerals attached to the white column atop the banister. She was rocking in a wicker chair and wore the same kind of sunglasses he wore. A chill washed over him. His hands grew sweaty on the steering wheel. This was the way Ruby would look when she got old. She'd sit placidly and rock in a chair on the front porch. His mouth suddenly went dry, and it became hard to swallow. How badly do you want to be a captain and how bad do you want to get away from Colonel Lackland? “Damn bad,” he mumbled as he pulled the car to the curb.

The moment Andrew reached the rocking chair, he lifted Ruby bodily out of it. “Don't ever let me see you rocking in a chair again until you're ninety-three years old.” He smiled, but there was no humor in his voice.

Ruby laughed. “It's so nice to see you again, Andrew. I've been looking forward to your visit. How long will you be here?”

Andrew sucked in his breath. Nice to see me? he thought. This was a new Ruby, a very new Ruby. “Till eleven o'clock Sunday night. If you're amenable and don't have anything else to do, we can cover a lot of ground between now and then. Sixty dollars' worth.” He grinned. “I've been saving up to show you a good time.” Actually he'd won forty-six dollars in a crap game two days before. As far as lies went, it was a small one; he had saved the money for two days.

“Where did you get the car?” Ruby asked happily. She was almost giddy as she settled herself.

Andrew threw back his head and laughed. “There's a long story to how I got this car, and I'm not sure I won't end up in the stockade when I return it. It belongs to a major at Quantico. I wanted this weekend to be special, so I sort of ... what I did was ... hell, I stole it, is what it boils down to. I did fill out some papers ... maybe they'll pass muster if the major doesn't have anything to do this weekend. On the other hand, if he, too, had some kind of date planned, it's safe to say my ass is grass. Let's not think about it.”

Ruby giggled. “I've never been in jail before.”

“Me, either.” Andrew grinned.

 

Fourteen hours later, Andrew steered the Nash to the curb outside the house on Monroe Street.

“I had a great time, Ruby,” Andrew said softly as he leaned closer to her. He'd expected her to move away, but she didn't. He was puzzled at the change in Ruby.

“I did, too, Andrew. You can be a lot of fun when you aren't being overbearing and pushy. Don't go getting any ideas now, either. But if you want to kiss me good night, that's okay.”

“Who said I wanted to kiss you?” Andrew teased.

Six months ago Ruby would have been flustered by the remark. Now all she did was shrug. “Your loss, Lieutenant,” she said airily as she made a move to get out of the car.

“Hey, hold on here,” Andrew drawled. “I always walk my dates to the door, and that's where I kiss them. I don't mess around in car seats. When are you going to get it through your head that I'm not the kind of guy you think I am?”

Ruby smiled in the darkness. “Right now, Andrew,” she said, leaning over and kissing him full on the mouth. She was out of the car in a flash and halfway up the steps before Andrew stopped groaning. He tried to flatten his instant erection. His long legs propelled him up the steps, where he caught Ruby by the door. “You're a tease, Ruby,” he said irritably.

Ruby threw up her hands. “I don't understand, Andrew. Do you want to kiss me or not?”

“Goddammit, Ruby, for two years you've held me at arm's length, and now all of a sudden you're giving off signals.”

“Oh, shut up, Andrew, and kiss me good night!” Ruby ordered. He did and Ruby swayed. She told him she wanted to kiss him again.

Something surged in Andrew, but he pushed her away. “Not on your life, Ruby. First thing you know you'll have me on that rocking chair and you'll be on my lap and then ... oh, no. I'm leaving you here safe and sound, the way my mother taught me to do. I have to hit the road. I'll see you tomorrow bright and early. Get yourself all Mickey Madooded, and we'll go on from there.”

“Huh? What's Mickey Madooded?”

“An old Indiana saying. Get dressed up, spiffed up, you know . . .” he said, taking the steps two at a time. “See you tomorrow.”

Mickey Madooded! Ruby giggled all the way up the steps to her apartment.

 

At six o'clock the following evening, over a candlelight dinner that he had just enough money to pay for, Andrew asked Ruby to marry him. Ruby didn't blink, didn't simper, didn't look away or pretend to be flustered. She thought about how much fun they'd had the day before. She thought about how good it felt to have someone. She thought about how satisfying it was not to think about Calvin. She looked at Andrew across the tip of the candle flame and said in a normal-sounding voice, “It sounds like a good idea.”

“Huh? Does ... does that mean yes?”

Ruby nodded.

Andrew looked like he'd been kicked in the gut, but he still smiled.

She smiled back. He looked ill. She felt ill. She wanted to run screaming from the restaurant.

“When?” she asked in a matter-of-fact voice.

Andrew shrugged. “Isn't it up to the girl?” he said in an identical-sounding matter-of-fact voice.

It was Ruby's turn to shrug. “I don't have anyone to invite except my roommates and landlords.”

“I don't know anyone here anymore. Why don't I leave all that up to you? We should do it before the end of the year, though. Is that okay?”

“Sure.” Anytime before the end of the year meant she could settle on the two houses and make arrangements for Rena to take over as manager. Forty-five days till she closed. A few days to get her clothes together and give Rena notice. Time to give the girls a chance to find a new roommate.

“Where will we live?”

“I'm waiting for orders. Don't worry, I'll see to housing wherever I land. Military housing isn't the greatest, but it will do for now. I have some money saved, not much, but it will see us through. If we get married by a justice of the peace, we can save on a wedding. We can honeymoon for a weekend and go away somewhere later. I guess we'll need money for furniture, that kind of thing.” Ruby nodded. “Do you mind not having an engagement ring?” Ruby shook her head. “I'll get you one later,” he promised. Two years ago he could have won all kinds of diamond rings from busted romances in a crap game. Now the girls were getting smarter; they kept their rings. He hadn't seen one in the pot for a very long time.

“Are you going to ... will you wear a wedding band?” Ruby asked nervously. He damn well better, she thought.

“Hell yes. I want the whole damn Corps to know I'm married.” It sounded like a lie to Ruby, but she didn't say anything.

“Let's get out of here,” Andrew said. “It's a special night. We should spend some time alone.”

The candles on the table were at the halfway mark now. Ruby stared across at Andrew. She wanted to remember this evening. I should take a souvenir, she thought. A matchbook, something. It occurred to her to blow out the candle and stick it in her purse, but she didn't realize she had spoken her thoughts aloud until Andrew snuffed out the candle with his bare fingers and handed it to her. “It's romantic of you to keep it. I'll take the matchbook.”

He plastered a wide smile on his face and rose to help Ruby from her chair.

 

Andrew settled behind the wheel of the major's car. “How about a walk around the tidal basin? It's a nice night, too nice to spend driving around, unless you'd rather take in a movie?”

“I'd like that,” Ruby said shyly. Shouldn't they be talking about the wedding, or making plans, or holding hands or ... or something? She should be sitting closer to him instead of leaning up against the door. Maybe with her hand on his thigh. Something intimate, either by gesture or word.

“Do you like autumn, Andrew?”

“Yeah. I think it's my favorite time of year.”

“It's mine, too. I love walking down Rhode Island Avenue under the tunnel of trees in the fall. It's so gorgeous, it takes my breath away. I'm going to miss Washington,” she said with a catch in her voice.

“It's just a place, Ruby. It's not like it's home.”

“To me it is. My home was ... not like other people's. I've made this place mine. I really will miss it.”

“The military is a great life. You'll make all kinds of friends. It's always new and exciting. And there's a real camaraderie among Marine families. It's great!”

“I know it is,” she said, convinced he had just given her a line of bull. “Do you want to talk about ... about setting the date? We really should discuss a few things. Like, are we going to have children right away or wait? Will I be able to get a job? I assume we're going to need money for furniture and things. You know, Andrew, I've been on my own for the past few years. I like controlling my own money and not having to ask ... will I have to do that with you? I've read some stories in magazines where the wife gets an allowance from her husband but has to tell him what she does with the money. We have to talk about my ... about the money I still owe my father. It's my debt, my only debt, but I have to pay it, so I guess I'll have to work. Do you have any objections?”

“Jesus Christ, yes! What do you mean, you have to keep paying it? I thought when he left that day, you said you weren't going to pay it.”

Ruby didn't like the hard edge that had crept into his voice. “Yes, I did say that, but it's a debt ... sort of a debt of honor on my part. If I don't pay it, that makes me no better than him. If this is going to cause trouble between us, now is the time to say so.”

Andrew clenched his teeth. “How much do you send every month?”

“Ten dollars a week. Forty dollars a month except the months that have five weeks. I've hardly made a dent in the total. So far I've paid off only twelve hundred dollars. It's going to take a very long time. I don't expect you to pay it. I will. Just don't ask me or expect me to renege on it, because I won't.”

“Let me ask you a question, Ruby. What if we had only fifty dollars to get by on for the month after the bills are paid, even with you working. Would you still send it?”

“I don't know, Andrew. Maybe half and do without something else. I
have
to pay it. I know you don't understand, and that's all right. I want it out in the open and I don't want us quarreling about it later.” This was the time she should tell him about the two properties. Now, she should tell him now, so his face would relax. He looked so angry, so upset. Her shoulders squared stubbornly, but she didn't confide. The houses were
hers
, negotiated for before Andrew asked her to marry him. Surely there would be enough left of the rent to pay her debt, even if she didn't work.

“You handle it, Ruby,” he said, rolling up the window of the car. “It's your problem. Mine is that I'm starting to worry about the major's car. I might be able to get a flight out if I can hitch a ride over to Andrews.” He reached across to take her hand. He squeezed it and said, “Would you mind if I took you back?”

Ruby moved closer, her shoulder touching Andrew's.

“Not at all,” she said softly. “It's been a wonderful weekend and you have a long trip ahead of you. Sunday nights I have a lot of things to do to prepare for the week. I might do some studying,” she said lamely. This was a fizzle as far as romance went. She felt as though she had a pile of rocks in her stomach. Something was wrong. Andrew looked as if he felt it, too.

“Are you sure you want to get married?” Ruby blurted out.

Andrew almost ran the car off the road with the question. “Now, why are you asking me such a ridiculous question?” he barked in annoyance.

“Because,” Ruby said in a matching tone, “you don't seem too happy. In fact, all of this seems a little too cut and dried. I ... neither one of us is smiling, we're not making plans, we're not excited ... you didn't say you love me. Why do you want to marry me?”