Little Red Gem (23 page)

“
Sorry,” I
whispered.

Leo bashed a fist onto the
keys, bringing a sudden end to
Moonlight
Sonata
. His voice went quieter, but it
didn’t lose its hard edge. “Why didn’t she tell me?”

“
I can understand why Ruby
would keep something this big from everyone, but not from
you.”

Liar. I know precisely
why. I’d been scared he’d choose his career over me and a baby, the
same way my dad had chosen his career over my mom and me. I was
scared I’d be left to decide if I even wanted to be a mother. I’d
wanted to know if he was capable of realizing the plot without me
having to supply the spoilers.

Leo leapt up off the stool
and paced back and forth across the room. “Tell me something, and I
need you to tell me the truth. Did you know she was carrying my
baby?”

My breath became trapped
in my throat. Icicles formed in his eyes and I told myself, what’s
one more lie?

“
How could I have known?
We hardly spoke.”

He nodded, satisfied with
my answer, and continued pacing.

“
The night she died she
told me she didn’t want to end up like this spiteful old lady at
the home. She’d said the old lady had purposely refused to have
children.”

I remembered.

He let out a sigh.
“Honestly, I thought she was off her head.”

I wished I was able to
confess everything; what had been going through my head at the
time, what was going through my head now. My confession might not
have won me any favors, but at least I’d have felt purged of
guilt.

“
We were there to write
songs for our demo,” he continued, “and Ruby turns up talking
nonsense.” Leo kicked at the microphone stand, hard enough to make
it wobble but it stayed upright. “She turned up out of the blue,
practically demanding I propose to her and I blew her off. If only
I knew.”

“
Maybe Ruby wanted to find
out what sort of person you’d be when she told you about the baby.
Would you freak out? Would you run away? Would you stand by her? I
mean, look at what her dad did. He ran out on her and her mom. The
sense of abandonment must have played on her mind.”

Leo nodded. “I guess I’d
have freaked out. I dunno, maybe I wouldn’t have. I want to go to
musical college. I want to record CDs and tour the world. A baby
would have meant I’d have to quit music and get a regular
job.”

Up until now, I’d been
fine with being the passive spectator, but suddenly my blood boiled
with rage at his arrogance. I stood up and had to walk over to the
opposite side of the room before I punched him.

“
Do you really believe
Ruby is so shallow and cruel she’d demand you give up your dreams?
Do you really believe she didn’t love you and wouldn’t consider
sacrificing her own musical career for yours? Everything she did,
she did with you and her in mind. Everything. You sound as if you
consider only yourself. She’s dead and yet you’ve still found a way
to make this all about you. I can’t believe it, Leo. I can’t
believe you think so poorly of Ruby.”

Leo stared at me
open-mouthed. At last he snapped his mouth closed and set his lips
into a grim line.

“
I didn’t mean it like
that and you know it, but thanks, Audrey. Now I feel like a total
prick.”

I was tempted to tell him
he deserved to feel that way. But I didn’t stick around to change
my mind.

***

I hurried home by way of
the alley that led to the back stairway because I planned to sneak
off to my room and have a good cry in private. The sound of voices
downstairs in the shop drew me in that direction instead. I crept
down a few stairs and poked my head around the corner to see Teri
and Dad in animated conversation.

“
She’s spending time with
Leo,” Dad said. “Going behind our backs. I followed her to the
studio where he works.”

“
Audrey is a sensible
girl, David. There’s no cause for concern.”

“
I know more about him
than you think I do. More than Audrey does, I’ll bet. He has
problems, that boy.”

“
He also has his reasons.
He’s lost his girlfriend. Do you remember how upset you got when
you were runner up in the art awards? If I recall, you got so upset
you went on a bender and didn’t come home for days.”

“
I wasn’t a
teenager.”

“
You weren’t far off
it.”

Teri was idly sorting
through stuff on the counter and I could tell by the set of her jaw
she wasn’t entirely pleased with Dad butting into her
life.

“
I’ll put a stop to
it.”

Teri laughed. “Really,
David. You do realize that the more you try to keep them apart, the
more you’ll drive them together.”

“
She doesn’t need me to
drive her to him. Have you checked her attitude lately? I can’t
believe the smart mouth she’s developed. His influence, I’ll wager.
Audrey never used to talk back to me.”

“
She’s not eight anymore,
David.”

“
I’m moving to Texas and I
want her to live with me.”

She stopped what she was
doing and stared at him. I detected a hint of worry in her eyes. My
dad was wealthy enough to get a bunch of lawyers who would relish
in proving how it was in my best interests to live with him.
Especially if he decided to use Leo as the pivotal bad
influence.

“
There’s no way I’ll allow
her to leave Providence,” Teri said. “We’ve made a nice life
here.”

“
Then control your
daughter.”

Her shrill laugh sent a
shiver up my spine. “David Parker, what right have you got to start
acting like her father? You’ve missed every major event in your
daughter’s life. You think you can make it up to her by buying her
things. She wants
you
for a father, not Santa Claus.”

“
I wish I
was
Santa.” He sighed
and his shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry for shouting, Teri. It’s just
that a father should never have to bury his child.”

Teri reached for his hand.
The earlier expressions of anger and worry were gone, replaced with
sympathy and kindness. “You can’t replace Ruby with
Audrey.”

“
I’m scared, Teri. I’m
terrified I’ll lose her, too.”

“
Nothing bad will happen
to her.”

“
Then let her come to
Texas with me.”

Dad’s voice had lost its
fight. When Teri sighed I realized the fight had left her too.
Maybe I would end up moving to Texas.

“
I used to let Audrey
decide if she wanted to keep the gifts you bought her,” Teri said.
“She wanted them because they were the only part of you she ever
saw. I know you tried to do the same with Ruby, but Suzanne
refused. She told me so.”

“
Did she tell you I never
gave up trying to reach Ruby?”

This was news to me. I
never knew he gave me gifts and Mom refused them. I guess my mother
had either tried to protect me from turning into a spoiled brat or
discourage Dad from the impression that affections were obtainable
at the right price.

“
Now it’s too late,” Dad
said.

“
It’s never too late,”
Teri replied.

“
It’s never too late,” I
whispered.

“
I’m telling you, Teri, if
he does to my baby girl what he did to Ruby, so help me god I’ll
kill him.”

Teri clenched her jaw. “If
he does to Audrey what he did to Ruby, I’ll let you. But David,
you’ve got to realize that Ruby and Leo genuinely loved each other.
You must also realize that Ruby and Leo were almost the same age
you and Suzanne were when you two met.”

Dad waved his hands in the
air. “And look what happened. I was too young to settle down and I
got scared and ran out on her.”

“
Audrey and he are just
friends. Trust me on this.”

Dad’s back began to shake
and I realized he was crying.

“
He killed my little
girl,” he sobbed.

Teri came around from
behind the counter and put an arm protectively around his
shoulders.

“
Shhh. You don’t mean
that. They had an argument and Ruby drove off into the woods. Put
yourself in Leo’s position. He must be stricken with
guilt.”

I couldn’t listen to
anymore. With a weary heart, I dragged myself off to my
bedroom.

I jumped in surprise when
I saw Hannah was sitting on my bed.

“
Hi,” she said gaily. She
closed the magazine she was reading and swung her feet over the
edge of the bed.

“
How long have you been
hiding out in my room?”

“
Long enough to conjure up
a dozen delicious rumors to explain your weird behavior this past
week. Wanna hear them?”

“
No.”

“
Spoil all my fun, why
don’t you? Seriously, what’s up? You don’t come over to my house.
You don’t answer your phone. Are you all right?”

“
Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?
Umm, how did you get in my room?”

“
Your mom let me in. I
guess she’s forgotten I’m here. Anyway, you know how you had a
dizzy spell and you fell over the hurdle?”

“
It wasn’t a dizzy spell.”
Because Hannah’s face was riddled with suspicion I quickly
back-pedaled. “You’re right. It was a dizzy spell.”

“
Dizzy spells.
Forgetfulness. I’m already speculating a plethora of theories, each
one more fiendish than the last. Are you sure you don’t wanna hear
them?”

“
Positive.”

“
Too bad.” She picked up
her magazine and searched through it with a look of concentration.
“Here we are. There are a few conditions that can cause dizziness
and forgetfulness.”

I snatched the magazine
from her. “What do you mean forgetfulness? Maybe I was purposely
ignoring you.”

Her eyes widened. “You
purposely forgot that today is my birthday?”

An image of a photograph
flashed in front of my eyes. Hannah and Audrey at the mall in front
of a book store. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANNAH was written in Audrey’s neat
writing. There was a date written on the back.

“
Today isn’t your
birthday.”

Hannah giggled, deftly
snatching the magazine back from me. “Okay, so it isn’t my
birthday. That was a ploy to check if you were an alien or not.
Seriously, lately you’ve been acting so weird I’m worried you’ve
been abducted or possessed. You’ve hooked up with Leo, haven’t you?
It’s more than a crush? You’re in love and you’re going to ditch me
to be with him.”

“
Leo and I are just
friends.”

“
The rumors in school say
otherwise.”

Even I could no longer
ignore that I’d heard whispers.

“
There’s something else,”
Hannah added with a serious look on her face. “It’s about Leo.
Nobody will say exactly what happened, but from what I can gather,
you should probably stay away from him. And you’ll never guess what
people are saying about Ruby.”

Lies. Rumors. Gossip.
Didn’t people have anything better to do?

Annoyed, I got up and
circled around the room. “Whatever, Hannah. It’s just gossip. I
can’t believe everyone is spreading vicious rumors about my
sister.”

“
I’m not sure it’s
gossip—”

I covered my ears with my
hands. “Hannah! I don’t want to hear.”

Her lips lifted up into a
secret smile and when she rocked her arms like a cradle, I knew
then that the whole town was talking about Ruby Parker’s
pregnancy.

***

At dinner, I confided in
Teri that Leo had earlier divulged about my dad calling Mrs. Culver
to accuse him of being a bad influence on me.

“
Can you believe his
nerve?” I fumed.

Teri quietly placed her
cutlery on her plate and stared deadpan at me. “I have to agree
with your father. You are too young to hang around a
senior.”

“
Why is everyone so upset
with me spending time with Leo?”

She held up a hand to
silence me. “You said you had a crush on a boy. I didn’t realize it
was him. I’m not usually one to meddle, but in this case, I don’t
think it’s wise for you to get close to him.”

“
Why not?”

“
He’s vulnerable at the
moment.”

His vulnerability was kind
of pivotal to my plan. The love potion and his grieving the loss of
the love of his life were two things I counted on in order to get
close enough for him to see the real me beneath this façade. I
didn’t understand why Teri was siding with my dad. Countless
afternoons had been spent at Audrey’s house, and not a single one
had involved my dad doing anything remotely domesticated. He’d
spent most of his time painting, or reading, and he’d only make his
grand appearances to greet me and send me off. If he’d ever
influenced Teri’s decisions, I was not aware.