“He has a heart of gold, and he and Pauline treat me like family,” Deanna retorted.
“If you mean Joey overworks you and underpays you, I agree,” Ruby replied. “And I notice you didn’t mention your other boss as having hero potential.”
Deanna and Ruby both worked at a small law firm in the neighborhood, Deanna as a full-time receptionist, Ruby as a part-time clerk. Their boss, Jordan Hodges, was not the kind of man who invited a lot of personal chitchat on the job. He was all business. Deanna wasn’t even entirely sure he was aware she had a son, and she did her best to make sure that Kevin didn’t interfere with her job performance. She needed that minimal salary and her tips from working at Joey’s in the evenings just to scrape by.
“Mr. Hodges would be a great role model,” she said stiffly, “assuming he was the least bit interested in being one.”
“Yeah, right,” Ruby scoffed. “Come on, Dee. Think about it. Don’t you think a friendly fireman would be a better choice in the hero department than either Joey or stiff-necked Hodges?”
Deanna thought about the man who’d befriended her son that afternoon. Goodness knows, even covered with soot and sweat, he’d been the most handsome male she’d run across in years. Coal-black hair, blue eyes, square jaw, well-defined muscles. Definitely the stuff of fantasies. He’d been kind to Kevin. He’d even loaned her money. Beyond that, though, she knew absolutely nothing about him. How much could you really tell about a man’s character in a twenty-minute encounter? She’d known Frankie Blackwell for a year before she’d married him, and look how that had turned out. Better the devil she knew—Joey, or even Jordan Hodges—than the one she didn’t.
Besides, Joey would never in a million years hit on her. His wife would strangle him. Deanna wasn’t so sure about this Sean Devaney. If what Ruby said about the way he’d looked at her was true—and Ruby definitely had reliable instincts where men were concerned—how long would it be before he wanted more from her than she was interested in giving? And how long after that before she made the second-worst mistake of her life by starting to count on him, just as she had once foolishly counted on Frankie Blackwell? Nope, the status quo was definitely safer. Since Frankie had walked out on her and their son, she’d learned to rely on no one except herself. Ruby was the one exception.
Studying her friend’s tight jeans and stretched-to-the-limits tank top, Deanna understood why people got the wrong idea about Ruby. But Deanna knew better. She would trust Ruby with her life. She did trust her with Kevin’s safety almost every single afternoon and evening. Ruby had never let her down. Deanna counted herself blessed to have such a friend in her life.
“I have more pressing things to worry about than a role model for Kevin,” she said, dismissing the entire uncomfortable topic. “In case it’s slipped your mind, I’ve lost my home and everything I own.”
Suddenly the enormity of that had her knees buckling for the second time that day. This time there was no strong firefighter there to keep her from collapsing. Instead, she sank onto the sofa, blinking back the hot sting of tears.
“Ruby, what am I going to do?” she asked, relieved that Kevin had stopped off downstairs to play with a friend. He clearly didn’t understand just how dire things were, and she didn’t want him to witness her distress. There were more than enough uncertainties in his life as it was, things she had no more control over than she did the rise and fall of the moon each day.
“You’re going to do exactly what you always do,” Ruby said with complete confidence. “You’re going to draw on that unlimited reserve of strength that has gotten you through in the past, and I’m going to do everything I can to help you. We’ll manage. That’s what friends do in a crisis. You were there for me when my world crashed down around me. Now it’s my turn to return the favor.”
Ruby’s reassuring words barely registered. Deanna was mentally calculating dollars and cents for the bare necessities. Even with Sean’s hundred dollars in her pocket and a tiny bit of savings in the bank, she was going to come up short. Way short. She sighed wearily.
“I was barely making it as it was. How can I find a new place, pay a security deposit, furnish it and buy all new stuff for Kevin and me?” she asked, overwhelmed by the task ahead of her. “We don’t even have a toothbrush.”
“Stop worrying. Kevin has a toothbrush here. He also has clothes and toys here,” Ruby reminded her. “And you wear those blah uniforms at Joey’s. At least one’s got to be at the laundry, right? You can pick up a couple of skirts for your job at the law firm with that cash Sean loaned you. And my blouses will fit you. You can borrow anything in the closet. As for finding a place to stay, we’ve already discussed that. You’ll stay right here.”
“For a night or two, maybe, but you can’t have us underfoot indefinitely.”
“Why can’t I?” Ruby asked indignantly.
“For one thing, you only have one bedroom.”
“So? We can share it, and Kevin can sleep on the sofa,” Ruby insisted, determinedly putting the best possible spin on the situation. “He’s been falling asleep there on the nights you work late, anyway.”
“I’m grateful for the offer, I really am, but won’t that play havoc with your social life?”
Ruby shot her a wry look. “It’s not like it’s all that hot at the moment, anyway. An excuse for a break will do me good. I can use the time to reevaluate the way I’m going about choosing the men I date. Clearly I’m doing it all wrong.”
Ruby
