The Way You Are (2 page)

Chapter 3

Ruby Rose McDermott stroked the soft muzzle of her black quarter horse, Midnight Blue. It felt good to be back in the barn at her parents’ house after a week of working at the local library.

The horse grunted and nuzzled her hand.

“Should we go for a ride, gorgeous? I think that’s a great idea.”

She walked down the middle of the barn that had five stalls on each side, inhaling the smell of hay, horses, and saddle oil mixed in with the fresh spring, morning breeze blowing in through the open doors. Upon entering the tack room, she picked up her favorite saddle.

“I can get him ready for you, Ruby,” Hank drawled.

Hank’s job consisted solely of keeping her father’s very expensive horses groomed, fed, exercise
d,
and healthy, even though her father, or any other member of her family, hadn’t stepped foot in the barn in ages. Ruby couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen any of them with a pair of boots on.

“No, I’m fine, Hank, but thank you.”

He tipped his hat and gave her a grin. “Anything for you, Ruby. Y’all let me know if you need some help, you hear?”

She nodded as she watched him leave the barn. He turned and gave her a wave and a wink. In his fifties, Hank’s weathered face had more lines than a roadmap, despite the protection of his cowboy hat from the sun. He wore his standard garb—a black t-shirt hung on his thin torso, worn Wranglers covered his bowed, skinny leg
s,
and a pair of cowboy boots sent up a puff of dust with each step he took. He’d worked for her father since her childhood, and she tried to remember a time where she’d seen him wear something different, but she couldn’t.

As she placed the saddle over Midnight, she hummed, looking forward to her ride on her family’s hundred-acre property. She loved the solitude of being alone with Midnight and her thoughts, and the seventy-degree, sunny weather of Dallas, Texas made for a perfect morning for a ride.

Slipping her foot into the stirrup, she heaved herself up, swinging her leg over the horse. Then she gently nudged the animal in the ribs with her boots. “Let’s go, Blue.”

The horse trotted out of the barn, and Ruby noticed Hank had left the outer gate opened for her. Midnight strolled through the pasture toward the fence and began to pick up speed, obviously seeing his opening to freedom.  Ruby’s heart raced with excitement and apprehension at feeling the wind in her hair as Midnight ra
n
.

“Let’s do it,” she whispered, gently tapping the beast again with her boots.

The horse snorted and took off in a dead ru
n
.

After passing the gate, they moved into a completely natural landscape. Being spring, Bluebonnets bloomed everywhere mixed in with tall, green grasses. Large maple trees littered the area, and she nudged Midnight again, making the horse gallop faster.

On Midnight’s back, tearing across the countryside, that’s where she felt most alive—in her element. She loved the natural beauty of her surroundings, being with her horse, and for a short while, she could forget about how she didn’t fit in with her family or their lifestyle.

According to the family stories, twenty-three years ago, her mother had given birth to her and had wanted to name her Diamond. However, when her mother had seen the shock of red hair, she had immediately changed her mind and named her Ruby with the middle name of Rose.

None of Ruby’s immediate family had red hair—her mother, fathe
r,
and older brother were all blonds. Thankfully, the family had kept excellent records of past generations, and it just so happened a grea
t-
great aunt had also had red hair. Ruby had been told her father hadn’t been sure she was his, but as she grew older, the resemblance had been undeniable. She shared his green eyes, pale skin, high cheekbone
s,
and full mouth, and if she didn’t look so much like hi
m,
she would swear they had adopted her because that’s where the similarities ende
d
.

As the CEO of an oil company, her father had more money than they knew what to do with, hence the stable of horses no one rode, the hundreds of acres of land, and the eigh
t-
bedroom, si
x-
bathroom, te
n-
thousan
d-
squar
e-
foot house she’d grown up in.

A true Dallas socialite, her mother spent her days playing tennis, writing checks to charity, attending seasonal fashion shows, having lunch with friend
s,
and ducking into a plastic surgeon’s every few months for Botox injections and a tuck or two on whatever body part she felt needed work. She also organized important business dinners for her husband with people the United States governmen
t,
as well as dignitaries from all over the world, hiring caterers to serve the food in their massive dining room that seated thirt
y
.

Her brother, John, had followed in her mother’s footsteps, except on a different level. At twenty-seven, he was king of the party scene. Every night consisted of an outing to a different club while women threw themselves at him. He’d established himself as one of the most eligible bachelors in Dallas, and women clawed at each other to try to land him as their own. Of course, he held no interest in being tied down or getting married, and Ruby didn’t blame him. If he could get the milk for free, why make any promises to the cows?

John drove around Dallas in a Mercedes convertible, lived in a penthouse suite in the most desirable apartment complex in the city, and did nothing during the day but sleep off the night before, shop, get facial
s,
and work out.

Her father left at six in the mornin
g,
and on a good day, returned at seven at night.

She, however, differed from everyone in her family.

As a child, her mother described her as ‘husky’ and told her she would eventually ‘thin out,’ as if she were some tree that needed pruning. Ruby recalled the shame as she’d tried to fit into the designer clothes the other kids at school wore, without success.

And, she had red hair.

Her classmates would call her “zitface” even though she had a clear complexion except for a few freckles.

The kids had teased her relentlessly, and many night
s,
she’d sit with her family for dinner and wonder why she didn’t have their natural blond locks and their long, lithe bodies. Why was she so different?

By the time her teenage years hit, she had given up with trying to fit in and realized she would always be ‘husky.’ She began to withdraw, and when she discovered the barn and the horses who accepted her for her size sixteen, her waning interest in parties and fashion disappeared altogether, which bothered her mother to no end. Finally, at age seventeen, her father intervened and told her mother to let her be, which she did, with just a hint of disgust.

Midnight slowed to a trot as they came to a grove of trees. The pink and white spring buds colored the trunks, and the silence soothed her. She relaxed her legs, releasing her grip on the horse’s torso.

“That was a good run, Midnight,” she said as they walked through the grove. “We should do that again on the way back.”

Instead of following in John’s footsteps of living off her trust fund, she had graduated from college with a degree in English and decided she would make her own way in the world. When a hig
h-
paying job hadn’t presented itself after college, she’d gone to work at the Dallas Public Library and found an apartment she could afford on her salary. She’d left her trust fund untouched.

Having been an outcast her whole life, she wanted to show something to herself and her family—that she could make it on her own.

Yes, scraping by proved tough, but it brought her a sense of peace and well-being. The only privilege she took advantage of amounted to the stable at her childhood home.

She loved coming to her parents’ house from her cramped apartment.  Today, after playing catching up with her mom in the kitchen, she had bypassing the home theatre, pool, the tennis court, and headed straight for the barn, where she felt most at home among the gorgeous horses and her Midnight Blue.

Up ahead, a creek trickled through the property. She dismounted Midnight and led him toward the water by the reins. The birds sang in the trees above, and as they drew closer, she heard the water rushing. They’d had a good spring rain a few days ago, and it sounded as if the creek ran a little faster than usual.

“Let’s get you some water,” she said, and Midnight grunted in agreement.

As they approached the creek, Midnight shook his head and whinnied. He pulled back on the reins, his ears twitching all around.

“What’s wrong?” Ruby asked as she tightened her grip on the leather straps. She pulled his face close and rubbed his nose, trying to calm him. “We get you a drink here every time we come out, Midnight. What’s got you so upset?”

She scanned the area for snakes but saw none, nor did she spot any coyotes or wild pigs. Midnight reared back again, almost pulling her off-balance.

“Hey!” she yelled, starting to get angry. “You need to calm down!”

She sensed a presence behind her, and turned around. A man and woman stepped out from behind the grove of trees. One held a baseball bat, the other some rope. Fear gripped Ruby as they approached her. Midnight whinnied again.

“H
i,
Ruby,” the man said, tapping the baseball bat in his palm.

He stood about her height—five-foot-six, his frame skinny. She guessed she outweighed him by at least twenty–five pounds. The woman held the rope and looked nervous as she kept pushing her black hair behind her ears. She was so thin, Ruby could probably snap her in half. Who were these people, and what did they want with her?

“You’re trespassing,” she answered, trying to calm Midnight and sound tough all at once, even though fear raced through her. If she could get on him quickly, they could rush back to the barn and let Hank know about the intruders.

“We’re here for you, Ruby,” the man said in a thick Texas drawl as he approached her. “We can do this the easy way, or the hard way.”

She stepped back next to Midnight, wondering how she could get in the saddle fast enough before the man swung the bat and hurt either her or the horse.

“Do what?”

“Come with us.”

Fear almost paralyzed her, clouding her thinking process and making her sweat. “Why would I want to go anywhere with you?”

“Because, if you don’t go quietly, then I hit you with the bat and she ties you up. We then drag you out of here like a hogtied calf.”

“W-why would you do that?” she asked, her nerves rattling, just trying to keep them talking—that’s what they did in the movies, anyway.

He smiled. “We have our reasons. We aren’t going to hurt you if you come willingly.”

Tilting her head to the side, she considered the situation. Her father had always worried about kidnapping attempts on his kids. After all, his net worth sat in the billions the last time she had bothered to ask, and he’d gladly pay any amount to keep his children safe.

However, this seemed very amateurish. A baseball bat and some rope? She’d never given any thought to kidnapping someone, but it seemed the element of surprise would be a necessity, and she certainly wouldn’t announce her intentions to her target.

She glanced down at the bat the man held and noticed a tattoo on his inner wrist. It looked like a picture of a leaf with some writing circling it.

“So let’s go,” he said, smacking the bat against his palm again.

Midnight reared up at the sound, and Ruby made no attempt to stop him. He pawed at the air in front of him, and the man and the woman turned their backs. Ruby ran towards the hous
e
.

She heard them coming up behind her and she pumped her legs, her lungs burning. The house lay about a half-mile away, but she had to try to get there. Their footsteps closed in on her, and her breath left her lungs as an arm wrapped around her waist and she hit the ground face first.

Twisting and turning, throwing fists and kicks, she struggled to get away from her would-be captors.

“For a fat girl, you can sure run,” the woman said, trying to wrap the rope around her wrists while the man turned her over and straddled her. Ruby lifted her leg and kneed the man in the spine. He yelped and then glared down at her.

“Get her tied up, Rebecca!” he shouted at the woman.

Ruby continued to thrash, determined not to let them totally incapacitate her, a shot of adrenaline fueling her. As she tired out, she wondered how much longer she could fight them off before totally giving in. The sun shone above in the clear blue sky. How had the day gone from near perfect to completely screwed up?

She heard him before she saw him. The ground thundered, and she looked over the man’s shoulder. Midnight barreled across the field, moving at full throttle. She screeched, thinking the horse would kill them all.

Rebecca’s gaze followed hers, and the man glanced over his shoulder. They both scrambled to their feet and leapt to the left, leaving Ruby in his path. At the speed he traveled, she had no time to get out of the way. She wanted to close her eyes and brace for impact, but she could only watch as he bore down on her, her heart beating wildly, her fear paralyzing her. At the last second, Midnight veered to the right and came to a halt. He turned and stared at her attackers and reared up on his hind legs again.