Wraiths of Winter (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 3) (19 page)

“We had some lunch and then we stopped off at the
ice skating rink where he used to hang out. Nothing exciting.”
Okay, so I had more fun with Lucas than I wanted to admit but
I was afraid to tell him the whole truth. I loved Zach but I
knew he would take it the wrong way.

“Oh.”

No questions? No jealousy? Who
was
this new Zach—
did the real Zach get abducted by aliens? If he didn’t want
details, I wasn’t going to say anything more.

“So Shelly is putting up our Christmas tree tomorrow
and I’m being forced to participate. Will you come over? I
could really use the moral support.”

“Sure. What time?”

It was the first hint of excitement I’d gotten from him
since the conversation started. Please, don’t let him be
another one of those annoying Christmas freaks. You know—
the ones who know every line in the movie Elf by heart.

“How about six? I feel like we never get to see each
other anymore. I miss you.”

 

“I miss you, too, Ruby. More than you know.”

Now I felt bad.
School, work, ghosts, and Lucas—
there were
way
too many things coming between us. I had to
take off
the Scrooge hat and
try
to be festive for him
tomorrow.

I couldn’t think of anything else to say so I said the
usual. “I love you, Zach.”

 

“I love you, too.”

 

I hung up and finished getting ready for bed. The last
thing I did was send him my usual text. “Mwah & goodnite!”

His response? “Goodnite.” There was definitely
something
wrong
in
our
relationship,
something
going
through his mind that he refused to share. I wanted to know
what it was but I was too afraid to find out.

All of my hopes for a nice day of bonding with Zach
were dashed by a knock on the door.
Again. As I watched
Zach and my dad set up the tree, Shelly returned from the
front hall. She didn’t return alone.

“Ruby, you have a visitor,” she announced
apprehensively.

 

Zach nearly dropped the tree on my dad’s head when
he looked up and saw Lucas in the living room doorway.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Lucas said, holding out his hand.
“I found this in my car this morning and I figured you were
probably going crazy looking for it.”

When he opened his fist, my mouth dropped open.
In
his hand was the necklace Zach bought me in Erie. The key to
his heart. How did I not realize it was gone? My face flushed
hot and I felt guilty. Guilty for
what
I had no idea but guilty
nonetheless.

The irony wasn’t lost on me and by the looks of it, not
lost on Zach, either. This was practically the same situation
that brought us together. The first time I lost a gift from Lee
unnoticed and Zach was all too happy to swoop in and return
it. This time he was on the receiving end and I could see that
it hurt him. How did my necklace fall off without me realizing
it?

The room became uncomfortable as everyone could
see Zach’s feelings written plainly across his face. I thanked
Lucas for returning the necklace and quickly tried to usher
him out the door. Not quick enough. He nodded to my father
and stepmother and uttered a polite goodbye. Then he zeroed
in on Zach.

Lucas looked him square in the eye. “Thanks for
letting me borrow Ru yesterday. Zach.”

He paused slightly before saying
his
name
and
pronounced it in a way that brought to mind old Westerns my
dad used to watch when I was younger. You know, it was the
extra polite exchange between gunslingers just before the
lead started to fly. Zach in a white hat, Lucas in a black one,
staring each other down as the whole town came out to
watch. I could almost see Zach’s right hand cocking an
imaginary revolver in its holster at his side. This was
not
the
OK Corral! Hold onto your six shooters, boys—Annie Oakley’s
about to break up this little gunfight!

“Sorry
Lucas, but it’s family bonding night at
Rosewood. I’ll see you in school tomorrow,” I said clutching
his arm and practically dragging him into the hallway.

“Zach doesn’t look like he’s in the mood to bond, Ru,”
Lucas said triumphantly.
He knew he got to him and he
seemed proud of that fact.

“What Zach is or isn’t in the mood to do is none of
your business. Got it?” So this was what it felt like to be a
kindergarten teacher. Both boys needed a time out for real.
And no snack time. I opened the front door and stood there
impatiently waiting for him to leave.

“Seriously though, Ru, he always seems to be in such a
bad mood.
You deserve to be with someone who actually
enjoys
spending time with you. The way I do.”

What did he want me to say to that? Zach wasn’t
always moody, only when Lucas was around. Or when I spent
time with Lucas or mentioned Lucas in any way, shape or
form. It was all about cause and effect—Lucas caused it then
blamed Zach for how it affected me. If he didn’t soon leave
this house, he was going to lose nap privileges, too.

Angry yet still slightly flattered, I announced firmly,
“Goodbye, Lucas.” He left without another word because he
knew he already said everything he needed to say.

The
living
room
was
a
short distance
away
but I
milked that hallway for all it was worth.
Why?
Because I
didn’t want to face Zach. The look on his face when Lucas
held out that necklace would be forever etched into my brain.
It was a look of sadness and betrayal, shock and anger. It was
a look of defeat. What could I do to make things right after
this?
I inspected my necklace while I walked.
The clasp
wasn’t even broken. How did it manage to end up in Lucas’s
car?

What little holiday spirit I had was gone since the tree
lighting had almost become a tree
fighting
ceremony. Shelly
and Dad did their best to lighten the mood but it was far from
adequate.
Just throw that damn angel on the top already,
Dad—Zach and I have things to discuss!

When the tree was finished, Zach said goodbye to my
parents and reached for his jacket. He couldn’t leave like
that—I wouldn’t let him.

“Zach!” I called. “Stay for a little while. Please!” I was
not
too proud to beg!

He hesitated with one arm in his jacket and the other
sleeve dangling. I must have looked pathetic enough for him
to change his mind because he slid his jacket off and hung it
back up. But pathetic or not, he stayed silent and made me do
all the talking.

“Come upstairs with me so we can talk.” I extended
my hand and it met with hesitation.
He should have known
that I wouldn’t give up on him that easily. So I stood there like
a dork with my arm outstretched until he finally took my
hand in his.

Walking
into my
room
with
him
brought back
so
many memories—all of those nights studying at my desk, the
floor where we had our hottest make out session yet, the bed
where we almost had sex the night of the Halloween party.
When I caught him staring at my bed, I knew he had to be
thinking the same thing I was—how did so much change
between us in such a short period of time?

“Zach, I want to talk about what happened earlier,
about the necklace,” I said flopping down onto the futon.

 

Zach took a deep breath and exhaled noisily. “Okay.
Talk.”

Yikes. His words were razor sharp, icicles honed to a
fine point and dangling precariously above my head. “Zach, I
honestly don’t know how it happened. The clasp is still
intact—see for yourself.”

I pulled the necklace out of my pocket and handed it
to him.
With the eyes of a hawk, Zach inspected every link in
the chain before handing it back to me. “Do you swear to me
that you didn’t take it off? It wasn’t getting in the way while
you two were.…”

“While we were what?” I shouted heatedly. “If you’re
insinuating that Lucas and I are more than just friends, you
can leave right now! There’s the door.” I pointed angrily at
the doorway, trying to look and sound strong. Inside, though,
I was crumbling. Crumbling at the thought that he just might
take me up on my suggestion.

And for one excruciatingly long second, I thought he
was
actually going
to
follow my
advice.
He flinched
momentarily like he was about to stand up then changed his
mind.

“Look, Ruby, I’m sorry. But you have to understand
how bad this looks! Unbroken necklaces don’t just fall off, you
know! There’s something else going on here.”

“I swear on our love, Zach! I didn’t take that necklace
off!
Lucas and I haven’t kissed—nothing happened while we
were in Pittsburgh!”

Nothing physical anyway.
But something
did
happen
emotionally. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, Lucas was
exciting, charming, and romantic in a quirky sort of way. My
love for Zach was still there, still strong. But for the first time,
it was shrouded in confusion. Real confusion. The conflicting
feelings I had for both he and Lee were never a true threat to
our relationship before. But this time around, I wasn’t so
sure. I so desperately wanted to return to a time when that
confusion wasn’t there.

The way I see it, Zach had a monumental choice to
make here. Either he believed me even though it looked like I
was hiding something or he took the situation at face value
and walked out of my life for good.
Which path would he
choose?

“Ruby,” he said seriously.

 

I held my breath in anticipation of the crushing blow
that may or may not be coming my way.

 

“I believe you but by saying that, I’m also
acknowledging the fact that it still doesn’t make any sense.”

Sigh of relief. Great big sigh of relief. “I agree that it’s
weird but I’m telling you the truth—I don’t know how it
happened.”

“Me neither but I intend to find out. And when I do,
maybe then you’ll believe me that Lucas isn’t who he says he
is.”

I had to bite my tongue—literally—to not go off on
him. How could Lucas not be Lee’s twin? It’s not like he could
be lying about something like that. This wasn’t some hightech Hollywood thriller—facial reconstruction didn’t exactly
work like that in the real world. But with our last argument
merely seconds behind us, I didn’t want to stir things up
again. Time to fake some holiday cheer.

“I don’t want to talk about Lucas—I want to talk about
us
. You and me. Can we spend Christmas together? I haven’t
decided
what
to get
you
yet
but I promise to make it
something awesome.”

Zach hung his head and mumbled something under
his
breath.
What did I
say wrong?
Seriously,
were we
incapable of having a normal conversation anymore?
“What’s wrong—why
are you
mad at
me
now
?” I
asked in exasperation.

“No, Ruby, I’m not mad at
you
—I’m mad at myself. I
just can’t afford to get you anything for Christmas. I’m flat ass
broke. It would have been okay if I hadn’t blown that tire.
And my paycheck is going to be a little short this time, too.”
He held my hand and looked me in the eye. “Please, don’t buy
me anything. It would just make me feel worse.”

“Zach, don’t worry about it. Spending time with you is
the only gift I need. We don’t see each other much lately.”

 

“Are you sure?” he asked hesitantly.

 

“Positive,” I replied.

“Okay, but I promise to make Valentine’s Day a big
event. A day you’ll remember for the rest of your life. There’s
still enough time for me to pull together something big.”

I leaned against him and we snuggled together until
he had to go home. I felt closer to him than I did in a long
time. It was going to be the
best
Christmas ever.

Worst. Effing. Christmas. Ever. For starters, a twenty
car pileup on the interstate meant all hands on deck at Baker
Regional Medical Center. Even holiday loving Shelly was in a
crappy mood after Dad rushed out the door.
While fussing
over the fact that he was gone, she forgot about the ham in the
oven until the smoke alarm rudely reminded her. End result?
It was burnt to a crisp and we were doomed to have chicken
nuggets as our main course.

For me, the only thing that could turn the disaster
around was seeing Zach’s beautiful face on my doorstep.
When he sent me a text, I assumed he was letting me know
that he was on his way over. Wrong again. As a matter of fact,
he
was
cancelling
our plans
altogether.
Apparently, the
Masons were having an even worse Christmas than we were.
They just got the call that Zach’s grandmother passed away. I
offered to drive to his place to be with him but he declined
saying
there were already
about fifty
family
members
crammed into their too small house.

Lonely, miserable, and desperately craving un-burnt
baked ham, I went upstairs to sulk. I felt sad for Zach and his
family and selfish for even thinking it but Grandma couldn’t
have picked a worse time to die. Today was supposed to be
special for me and Zach—a day where he and I could regain
some of our old magic.
I pictured us building a snowman
together and
making
snow angels.
Instead,
he
was
in
mourning and I was grieving the loss of my ham. I lay down
on my bed, put in my earphones and stared at the ceiling as I
listened to Cold Eternal on my MP3. Christmas sucks.

Forgetting that my phone was laying on my stomach, I
gave a jolt when it started to vibrate. Maybe Zach was coming
over after all!
I grabbed my phone excitedly then nearly
threw it in disappointment and confusion. I didn’t find a text
from Zach. What I found was a cryptic message from Lucas.