Chapter 12

Parker watched Ruby’s retreating back. How could he have been so stupid? She was right. How else had he thought she would react? Ruby was trying to get away from all the crap she’d held bottled up, and instead, he’d brought her face to face with one of her greatest fears—flying. It had taken a lot to convince her to come when she thought they’d only be watching the balloons. But now that she knew he was flying his own? Parker would be surprised if she ever spoke to him again. Up until a week ago, that wouldn’t have been a problem. In fact, he would have welcomed it. He had washed his hands of Ruby a long time ago. But all it had taken was one chance meeting, and she had once again brought him to his knees.

“Dude, what was that about?” Andy asked.

“And who is Clark?” Rafael added. They stared in the direction Ruby had left in.

“Her husband,” Parker said quietly.

Andy laughed. “You are here with a married woman? That is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard. You’re the last person I’d have expected something like that from.”

One glare from Parker was enough to wipe the smirk off Andy’s face. “He’s dead. He died in a plane crash a few years ago.”

All joviality officially fled their table.

“And you didn’t tell her why you were coming here?” Rafael asked.

“Nope.”

“No wonder she’s mad,” Andy said. “She should have socked you right in the nose.”

Parker rolled his eyes. “Thanks. Love you too.”

The waitress approached their table and asked if she could get their order, but Parker’s hunger had vanished.

“You guys go ahead and eat,” he said. “I’ll be outside when you’re done.” He slid out of the booth and pushed through the front doors.

Ruby looked beautiful, leaning against the hood of his car with one foot propped up on the bumper. And yet she looked so sad. And it was Parker who had caused it.

Ruby didn’t look up when he leaned up against the car next to her.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “That was thoughtless of me.”

Ruby didn’t respond. She didn’t even acknowledge she had heard him.

“You don’t want anything to do with me. Believe me, I get it.” Parker glanced at his watch. If they left right then, he’d be able to get her back to Amor and be back here in time to get a few hours of sleep. He didn’t relish the idea of flying while sleep deprived, but he couldn’t make Ruby stay. It wasn’t fair to her. “As soon as Andy and Rafael are done eating, we’ll pick up your bags and I’ll take you home.”

Ruby finally looked at him, her eyes wide in surprise.

“It’s my fault you’re here in the first place,” Parker said. “I don’t think things through sometimes, and it gets me into trouble. I didn’t think about the sleeping arrangements, I didn’t think that it might be a big deal that I’m flying my own balloon—I put you in an unfair position, and I need to make it right.”

Ruby nodded slowly. “I would appreciate that. Thank you.”

They waited in silence until Andy and Rafael showed up, both carrying big bags.

“What are those?” Parker asked. “Did you clean the place out?”

Andy shook his head and grinned. “We got food to go. We didn’t feel right about eating while you guys stood out here, starving.”

“I didn’t think they did takeout orders,” Parker said, taking the bags from them and placing them in the trunk.

“They don’t,” Rafael said. “They brought out all the food, and then we said we were ready for our check and asked for some boxes to take the food home in.”

“They were so mad,” Andy said. “I don’t know why it’s a big deal, but they said something about treating them like a fast food restaurant or something dumb like that. I bet they were just annoyed that we didn’t order dessert.”

Parker laughed and shook his head. “Well, I guess that means we better eat here tomorrow night to make up for it.”

“Yeah…about that. We’re not allowed back,” Rafael said. “But they’ll probably forget us by next year.”

That just made Parker laugh harder, until he saw that Ruby was already sitting in the front seat of the car, and her hands covered her face.

“Hey, do you guys mind waiting out here for just a moment?” he asked his friends.

They glanced in the car and nodded. “Of course. Take your time.”

Parker slid into the driver’s seat and closed the door. He could just make out a tear that dripped from Ruby’s chin.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked. “I promise, I’ll get you home as soon as possible. I’ll even speed, if you want me to.”

Ruby dropped her hands and rummaged in her purse until she found a tissue. “I’m the reason you guys can’t go back to this place.”

Parker stared. “That’s why you’re upset? These guys get us kicked out of places all the time. Trust me, with or without you, they would have been banned by the time the night was through. And they were right, people forget by the next year and it starts all over again.”

Ruby laughed through her tears, though her eyes were still puffy and mascara streaked down her cheek. “I don’t want you to take me home.”

“Are you sure?” Parker asked, and, for some reason, he was more worried about her staying than her leaving. It seemed natural for her to want to high-tail it out of there. What reason would she have to want to stay? Besides, if Ruby didn’t go home, he’d spend the rest of the weekend worried about another mis-step. He definitely hadn’t thought this thing through when he had invited her. It had only been a few hours and it had already been disaster after disaster.

Ruby nodded. “I’m tired of being afraid.” She paused. “It makes me nervous, the thought of you flying next to a giant blowtorch. No, it’s more than that. It makes me so anxious I want to puke.” When Parker grabbed a plastic bag from the back seat, she laughed through her tears. “I’m not actually going to throw up. The point is, the world is full of scary stuff. There is inherent risk in everything we do. We could get food poisoning from eating. We could walk outside and be hit by a freak hailstorm. And if I try to hide from it all…I’m going to miss out on everything that’s worth experiencing in life.”

“Those are some pretty brave words there,” Parker said with a smile. “But I don’t want you to feel like you have to do anything you’re not comfortable with.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I won’t,” Ruby said. “Just because I want to experience all that life has to offer doesn’t mean I’m ready to go out and do something like skydiving today—or ever. But it does mean I’m not going to make you drive six hours when you have a balloon to fly tomorrow morning.” Ruby glanced out the window. “Uh, you should probably let your friends in.”

Parker glanced out his window and saw that Andy and Rafael had each other in a headlock. Parker lowered his window and shouted, “Hey love birds, get in the car.”

Andy and Rafael let go of each other and, breathing hard, jumped into the back seat. As Parker backed out of his parking spot, he looked at Ruby, who was watching him with a small smile. He had convinced himself he would be better off if she went home and he could enjoy his weekend stress-free. She would only be a distraction that he would have to constantly worry about. He had been wrong. Yes, Ruby was a distraction. But she was the type he needed. The type who pushed him to be a better person than he would be if he was left to rely on Andy and Rafael for a moral compass.

Inviting Ruby to the balloon festival had been the right decision.

* * * * *

Ruby and Parker stared at the bed. Sure, it was big, but it wasn’t the same as having two separate places to sleep.

“Not even a couch, huh?” Ruby asked.

Parker snorted. “Have you seen this place? We’re lucky they have a bathroom instead of an outhouse.”

“I’m still not convinced they don’t.”

After they had all eaten their steak—even Ruby—they had played card games in Andy and Rafael’s room until the dim motel lights weren’t enough to see by. And now they had to confront the issues they’d been avoiding all night.

“I would offer to sleep on the floor,” Parker said, “but I’m not sure what’s been down there—or might still be.”

“What, like corpses?” Ruby asked.

Parker raised an eyebrow. “You sure went morbid quick.”

Ruby laughed. “Sorry, I haven’t been able to get the visual out of my mind since I first saw the place earlier.”

“I meant like rats and cockroaches,” Parker said.

Ruby gave an exaggerated shudder. “I don’t know which is worse, rotting bodies that can’t move, or the disgusting rodents and insects that can.”

“Regardless,” Parker said, “it’s safe to say that I’d rather not be on the floor with any of them.”

Ruby nodded, her expression thoughtful. “So, what are we going to do?”

Parker hesitated. He only saw one option, but he was nervous about how Ruby would react to it. “If there are extra pillows, would you be okay if we built a barrier between us?”

“We would both sleep in the bed, but with a wall of pillows,” Ruby said, more to herself than him. “That seems like the only way, doesn’t it?” Her gaze landed on Parker and she blushed.

Parker’s pulse skyrocketed and he busied himself with searching the closet for extra linens. He found two extra pillows and a blanket. “Will these be enough?” he asked, pulling them out and laying them on the bed.

Ruby shrugged. “If that’s all you could find, then it will have to be. And don’t forget, I brought one of my own.”

“Oh, yes,” Parker said with a chuckle. “You always were prepared for anything.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Ruby said, sounding defensive. “The pillows at hotels are weird, and I wanted to be able to sleep.”

“It was a compliment,” Parker said.

“Oh. Well, then…thank you.”

Parker piled the pillows next to where their heads would be, and then rolled the blanket up like a burrito and laid it down the middle of the bed. That was the easy part; now came the personal questions, and Parker wasn’t sure how to approach it.

“So…random question, but do you shower at night or in the morning?” He’d rather not be fighting Ruby for bathroom time at four in the morning.

Ruby’s eyebrows popped up. “Why do you ask?”

“I figured it might be better if I shower whenever you aren’t.”

Ruby turned bright red and Parker realized how his words had come across.

“That’s not what I meant,” he said, tripping over his words. “I would never imply that showering at the same time was even a possibility. I just thought if we took opposite shifts, it might work better for the bathroom situation.” He covered his face with a hand. “Never mind.”

“Mornings,” Ruby said quickly. “That way I don’t have to worry about going to bed with wet hair.”

“Then I guess I should hop in,” Parker said. “We’ll need to wake up at four o’clock.”

Ruby gaped. “Four? Why on earth would we do that?”

“Early mornings are best for flying because the air is more stable,” Parker said. “I want to avoid running into any thermals, if I can help it.”

“Thermals?” Ruby asked with a blank expression.

“A column of warm air that happens when the sun heats the earth unevenly. And because air is the only way I can steer—”

“Thermals are bad. Got it,” Ruby said.

Parker grabbed a scratchy white towel from off the sink and, with one last look over his shoulder, shut the bathroom door behind him. This was either going to be the best two days of his life or the most difficult.