and she heard Frank say, “You can’t replace Mia with the first struggling single mother who needs rescuing, Ethan.” Ruby’s face burned and she picked up Matteo in his diaper bag and left for the day without saying goodbye. And that night, Ethan texted, “I’m sorry about today. Can we talk?” And Ruby didn’t answer because what was there to say? Frank was right.
She was a charity case. And eventually Ethan would figure that out. She showed up to work the next day, keeping everything coldly professional. And it took Ethan 3 days to corner her after everyone else had left. Ruby, what’s going on? Talk to me. What is this? Ruby gestured between them, her voice shaking. Because I work for you. That’s it.
I’m grateful for the job. I am. But I’m not going to be your rebound or your project or your way of feeling like a hero. Ethan stepped back like she’d slapped him. That’s what you think this is? And Ruby felt tears coming. I’m a 28-year-old waitress. Sorry, ex-waitress with a baby and half a teaching degree I can’t afford. You own a company.
Sophie needs stability, not her dad’s broke employee hanging around confusing everything. You think that’s how I see you? Ethan’s voice was rough, and Ruby said, “I think that’s how everyone sees me, and eventually you will, too.” And she grabbed Matteo’s stuff and left. and she kept showing up to work because she needed the money.
But she found cheap daycare and stopped bringing Matteo and kept every conversation purely about invoices and schedules. Two weeks of this painful professional distance and Ruby’s cardied, transmission gone, $1,800 she absolutely didn’t have, and she started taking two buses to work, 90 minutes each way.
One night she was late picking up Matteo from daycare, hit with a $25 late fee for every 15 minutes, and she sat at the bus stop at 8:00 p.m. with Matteo asleep in her arms, completely broke and exhausted and trying not to cry when a truck pulled up and Ethan got out. Sophie tracked your location. She was worried when you didn’t text her good night. Get in, Ruby said.
I can’t keep accepting help from you. And Ethan’s voice was soft and wrecked. Ruby, please just get in the truck. And she was too tired to fight anymore, so she did. Ethan drove Ruby home in complete silence, except for Matteo’s soft breathing from the car seat Ethan kept in his truck now, just in case. And when they pulled up to her apartment building, Ruby said, “You don’t have to walk me up.
” But Ethan was already out of the truck, reaching for Matteo. Let me at least carry him. You’ve been on two buses for 3 hours. Just let me help. Her apartment was a studio on the second floor. One room that served as bedroom and living room and kitchen all smashed together. And it was clean but sparse in that way that screamed, “I can’t afford furniture yet.
” Ethan laid Matteo in his crib as gently as he could. And the baby didn’t even stir. And when he turned around, he noticed the light bulb in the bathroom was burned out. And Ruby had a stack of bills on the counter with past due stamped in red and Sophie’s drawings on the fridge, crayon pictures labeled to Ruby and Mateo with hearts and smiley faces.
And something in his chest just completely shattered. Ruby, let me help with the car, with the bills, with whatever you need. And Ruby spun around with fire in her eyes. Why? Her voice broke on the word, “Why do you care so much? You barely know me.” Ethan took a step closer and his voice came out raw and honest in a way he hadn’t let himself be in 3 years.
Because when Mia died, I forgot how to be a person. I was just Sophie’s dad, just a business owner going through the motions. I was fine with that. I was surviving. And then you showed up at that restaurant apologizing for having a baby. That was something to be ashamed of. And I remembered what it felt like to want to protect someone, to make someone smile, to have a purpose beyond just existing.
