Ruby sat down hard on her thrift store couch and put her face in her hands. I’m so tired, Ethan. I’m tired of being strong all the time. Tired of proving I’m worth something. Tired of doing this completely alone. Ethan sat beside her, close enough that their knees touched. Then stop. Stop being alone. Let me be here. Let me carry some of this with you.
Ruby looked up with tears streaming down her face. Your in-laws think I’m just some girl trying to trap you. That I’m using you. I don’t care what they think, Ethan said, and his voice was steady and sure. Sophie loves you. She asks about Matteo every single day. She saves half her lunch to tell you about at work. And Ruby, I love you.
The words hung in the air between them. And Ruby’s breath caught because nobody had said that to her in so long. She’d forgotten what it felt like. I love you, Ethan said again, quieter this time. I love how you reorganize my disaster of an office in 2 weeks. I love how you sing to Matteo when you think nobody’s listening. I love that you’re stubborn and proud and you don’t need me.
But Ruby, I really, really need you. Ruby was full-on sobbing now. the kind of crying that’s been building for months. I’m scared this isn’t real. I’m scared you’re going to wake up and realize I’m too much work. And Ethan cuped her face with both hands. I’m scared, too. But I’m more scared of losing you because I was too afraid to say how I feel.
They kissed and it was desperate and soft and tasted like tears and three years of loneliness meeting two years of survival. and Matteo made a little sound in his sleep and they both laughed and Ruby whispered, “What do we do now?” The next morning, Ethan called his in-laws and said, “We need to talk about Mia, about what she’d actually want for me and Sophie.
” And 2 days later, they met at the cemetery where Mia was buried under oak tree with Sophie’s drawings in plastic frames by the headstone. Ethan stood there with Frank and Diane and said, “Mia made me promise at the end that I wouldn’t stop living, that Sophie would see joy and not just grief.” And Ruby makes Sophie laugh. She makes me laugh. I’m not replacing Mia.
I’m honoring her by choosing to live. Diane was crying and she said, “We’re just scared of losing you both, of losing Sophie. Mia was our only child.” And Ethan’s voice was gentle. You’re not losing anyone, but Ruby’s part of this now. Matteo, too. They’re family. Frank looked at him for a long time and finally said, “We’d like to meet her properly.
Really? Meet her? Maybe dinner next week.” And Ethan felt something loosen in his chest that had been tightsince they showed up at his office. 3 days later, Ethan picked Ruby up for work and her car was in the parking lot running perfectly. And Ruby stared at it, confused, until the mechanic walked over and said, “All set.
Transmission’s good as new. The guy who paid took care of everything.” And Ruby turned to Ethan, who suddenly found the ground very interesting. “You paid for my car after I told you no charity.” Ruby’s voice was somewhere between furious and overwhelmed. And Ethan said, “It’s not charity, your family. Family helps family.
I’m not your family, Ruby started, and Ethan pulled a house key out of his pocket. Move in with me, with us. The house has four bedrooms. Sophie already cleared out the guest room for Matteo. Separate spaces, no pressure, but you wouldn’t have to take two buses, and Sophie could help with Matteo, and we could just be together officially.
