Read Online Ruby (Orlan Orphans Book 2) by Kirsten Osbourne - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kirsten Osbourne
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a big mistake. It's you I love, and I always have. Maggie is nothing in comparison to you, and I won't have anything else to do with her. Please say that you'll forgive me. I've saved enough money for your train ticket home, and will send it as soon as I hear you still want to come home to me. Please, Ruby, forgive me.
All my love,
David"
Ruby stared at the letter in her hands for a moment, before sitting back in her chair, staring straight ahead. She couldn't go to him. She was married, and she had two boys. Even if she hadn't already married, though, knowing he was so fickle with his emotions wouldn't have allowed her to go back. What was he thinking?
She allowed her mind to compare her feelings for the two men for a moment, something she hadn't really done before. As much as she had thought she loved David, she realized that it had been nothing but a schoolgirl crush. No, she was in love with her husband, someone who provided her with constant emotional and physical support. Someone who had rescued her from the embarrassment of being jilted, and was a good father and provider. Not to mention he made her blood sing.
David was a boy, and Lewis was a man. She didn't need to marry a boy and start a family with him. If things had turned out differently, and she'd never received the letter saying David was marrying Maggie, she would have married him without qualms. She knew now, though, that her life would have been much more difficult as David's wife.
She belonged in Texas, where her sister, Mrs. Hayes, and Edna Petunia were available when she needed them for long talks. There was nothing left for her in New York except a boy who couldn't decide if he was in love with her or someone else.
She got up and whipped up the batter for a cake. The boys would be hungry when they got home, and as their new mother, it was her job to see to it that they were fed.
Chapter Eight
Lewis sat on the banks of the river with his boys, a picnic basket behind them, waiting for them to eat. Edna Petunia had insisted on feeding them lunch, so they'd taken the basket after giving Ruby her share. The woman was determined to fatten up the whole state of Texas, apparently.
"So what do you boys think about your new ma?" Lewis asked.
Robert shrugged. "She's pretty, and she's always nice to us, even when she's getting onto us. She's a good ma."
James nodded. "She is a good ma, but I don't think she's as pretty as our real ma." He sounded hesitant, like he was saying what he thought he should say and not what he was really thinking.
Lewis nodded at that. "What do you remember about your real ma, James?"
The boy shrugged. "Just that she tucked me in at night and kissed my forehead, and then one day she was gone."
James had only been five when she left them, so his memories weren't nearly as clear as Robert's. "What do you remember, Robert?"
Robert frowned, looking at the fishing pole in his hands. He was obviously trying decide what the best way to answer the question was. "I remember her yelling at me a lot. She did kiss us goodnight, but she threw things when you weren't home. One day she threw my cup at me."
Lewis closed his eyes. He'd known Roberta was volatile, but he hadn't realized she'd been violent with the boys. "I never knew that."
"She told me if I told you, she'd spank me. She said that you didn't need to know how she disciplined me, because you were never home anyway."
Lewis sighed. That much was true. Until Roberta had left him, he'd been a traveling peddler, doing whatever he could to earn a living. He only went home once a month or so, long enough to check on his family to make sure they were all right. One day he'd gone home and found his wife had left the boys with his mother and filed for divorce. It had been a blow, but he'd always blamed himself for it, because he'd been gone. She'd said that was why she left.
"If
All my love,
David"
Ruby stared at the letter in her hands for a moment, before sitting back in her chair, staring straight ahead. She couldn't go to him. She was married, and she had two boys. Even if she hadn't already married, though, knowing he was so fickle with his emotions wouldn't have allowed her to go back. What was he thinking?
She allowed her mind to compare her feelings for the two men for a moment, something she hadn't really done before. As much as she had thought she loved David, she realized that it had been nothing but a schoolgirl crush. No, she was in love with her husband, someone who provided her with constant emotional and physical support. Someone who had rescued her from the embarrassment of being jilted, and was a good father and provider. Not to mention he made her blood sing.
David was a boy, and Lewis was a man. She didn't need to marry a boy and start a family with him. If things had turned out differently, and she'd never received the letter saying David was marrying Maggie, she would have married him without qualms. She knew now, though, that her life would have been much more difficult as David's wife.
She belonged in Texas, where her sister, Mrs. Hayes, and Edna Petunia were available when she needed them for long talks. There was nothing left for her in New York except a boy who couldn't decide if he was in love with her or someone else.
She got up and whipped up the batter for a cake. The boys would be hungry when they got home, and as their new mother, it was her job to see to it that they were fed.
Chapter Eight
Lewis sat on the banks of the river with his boys, a picnic basket behind them, waiting for them to eat. Edna Petunia had insisted on feeding them lunch, so they'd taken the basket after giving Ruby her share. The woman was determined to fatten up the whole state of Texas, apparently.
"So what do you boys think about your new ma?" Lewis asked.
Robert shrugged. "She's pretty, and she's always nice to us, even when she's getting onto us. She's a good ma."
James nodded. "She is a good ma, but I don't think she's as pretty as our real ma." He sounded hesitant, like he was saying what he thought he should say and not what he was really thinking.
Lewis nodded at that. "What do you remember about your real ma, James?"
The boy shrugged. "Just that she tucked me in at night and kissed my forehead, and then one day she was gone."
James had only been five when she left them, so his memories weren't nearly as clear as Robert's. "What do you remember, Robert?"
Robert frowned, looking at the fishing pole in his hands. He was obviously trying decide what the best way to answer the question was. "I remember her yelling at me a lot. She did kiss us goodnight, but she threw things when you weren't home. One day she threw my cup at me."
Lewis closed his eyes. He'd known Roberta was volatile, but he hadn't realized she'd been violent with the boys. "I never knew that."
"She told me if I told you, she'd spank me. She said that you didn't need to know how she disciplined me, because you were never home anyway."
Lewis sighed. That much was true. Until Roberta had left him, he'd been a traveling peddler, doing whatever he could to earn a living. He only went home once a month or so, long enough to check on his family to make sure they were all right. One day he'd gone home and found his wife had left the boys with his mother and filed for divorce. It had been a blow, but he'd always blamed himself for it, because he'd been gone. She'd said that was why she left.
"If
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