Wraiths of Winter (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 3) (7 page)

Rachel pointed at my pants. “Careful there, Ruby. If
you tell any more lies they
may
spontaneously ignite.”

Since I was already busted, I broke down and told her
everything. “He went to
so
much trouble to make things
perfect, Rachel. If Lucas didn’t knock on the door, we totally
would have slept together!”

“Seriously, you guys
still
haven’t done it yet? After
what I saw at the Halloween party, I thought you’d have taken
care of that by now.”

“Trust me, we tried. But now that Lucas is in the
picture, Zach wants to wait a little longer.” I stared off into
space thinking about the naughty dream I had about Lucas.
Would I ever look at chocolate the same way again? “He
wants to make sure I have Lee completely out of my system
before we go any further.”

The copier spit out the last sheet of paper and Rachel
plucked the stack from the tray. “You are a like a magnet for
bad luck, girlfriend.
You
need
to hurry
up and get the
answers you need from Lucas so you and Zach can get on with
your life.”

Wasn’t
that
the truth! “I know that, Rachel. That’s
why Lucas is coming over to Rosewood tonight—so we can
talk about Lee. I’m hoping Lucas will want to search for their
biological parents, too.”

We stepped out onto the sidewalk just as it started to
snow again and walked down the street, stopping in every
store to ask if they would post a flyer for us. Not a single store
said no.

We walked the full length of Main Street until we
reached the far end.
looming ominously

The street turned into a dead end and
in
front
of
us
was
a large, two story
building with a gothic looking tower. I’d never been this close
to it but I knew what it was—the Bantam Theater.

The theater was creepy looking in a cool sort of way.
It was the kind of place where I could imagine a masked
phantom hunched over an organ immersed in his musical
endeavors.
Buildings
like that held secrets—maybe even
ghosts. The brick façade was old and worn like it had been
abandoned and
neglected for decades
but the
twinkle of
multiple lights in the window told a different story.

“Look, someone reopened the Bantam Theater!”
exclaimed Rachel. “That place has been closed for as long as I
can remember. They started renovating it a few years ago but
they never finished it. I remember being afraid of it when I
was little and crying every time we drove past it.
Mom and
Dad always told me there wasn’t anything to be afraid of in
there, but I never really believed them. I guess that’s where
they went on their first date years ago.” Rachel gave a
shudder and headed back toward her car. “You couldn’t pay
me to go in there.”

I agreed with her wholeheartedly. With one last look
at the Bantam Theater, I spun around to follow her.
But
before my back was turned, I thought I saw a shadowy figure
peering out from the uppermost window of the tower. When
I blinked my eyes, it was gone.

Rachel and
I talked about Lucas
and
my
current
predicament on the walk back to her car.

“Please be careful around him, Ruby,” Rachel said as
we trudged down the snowy walk. “I don’t like the way he
looked at you
earlier—like you
were a piece of meat or
something.”

Really, was there
anyone
who didn’t think he was
dangerous? He was cocky and self-assured but so was Zach
when I first met him. Okay, maybe not exactly in the same
way
but close enough.
Would I have to defend him
to
everyone like this? She was overreacting just like Zach. Lucas
was different in the same way Lee was—misunderstood.

Her dire warnings were unnecessary but I decided to
placate her anyway. “I’ll be fine, Rachel. I’ve handled far
worse than Lucas could ever dish out,” I said as I climbed into
her Volkswagen Beetle. “I won’t even be alone with him—
what’s the worst that could happen?”

6. If I Could Just See the Picture on the
Box…

I booted my dad out of the Man Cave exactly fifteen
minutes before seven just in case Lucas decided to show up
early. Distractedly, I shot a few balls around on the table to
try to take my mind off of everything. It didn’t work.

Ever since I moved to Charlotte’s Grove, it felt like my
life had been broken down into a jigsaw puzzle—a puzzle that
I didn’t feel like I was meant to solve. Pieces that used to fit
didn’t, pieces that never fit before seemed to magically make
sense.
As
soon as
the
picture started to become clear,
someone would dump pieces from another puzzle into the
mix so that I wasn’t even sure what belonged and what didn’t
any more.

Lucas was one of those pieces.
How did I
really
feel
about him? There were moments when he was arrogant and I
wished I’d never met him. Then there were the times when I
could see the same warmth in his eyes that I remembered
seeing in Lee’s. It was like he was two different people. Is this
how Lee would have ended up if he hadn’t had so much pain
and sorrow in his life?

As I was pondering the sheer confusion of it all, there
came a knock at the door. In order to avoid the strange looks
from Dad or Shelly, I ran to answer it first. For a split second
after I opened the door, I would have sworn it was Lee on the
porch and not Lucas. Until he spoke.

“So I bet you have one hell of a bruise from that fall
you took today. You should probably have someone look at it,
you know, just in case you need medical attention.” He took
off his jacket and hung it up. “I’d be happy to volunteer,” he
said leering at my backside, “since it doesn’t seem like that
boyfriend
of
yours
is
helping
you
out
much
in
that
department.”

I snapped. “Zach! His name is Zach! And again, what
makes you so sure he’s not?” Only minutes ago I was thinking
about how much he reminded me of Lee.
Now, I took that all
back. I led him to the Man Cave and plopped down into one of
the reclining chairs. When he didn’t immediately respond, I
took it one step further. “What? Suddenly you don’t have
anything to say?”

Lucas chuckled as he set up the balls on the table.
“That—that right there. That’s how I know. If he was giving
you the attention you needed, you wouldn’t get so defensive
when I said he wasn’t.”

“Zach gives me plenty of attention!” I countered
angrily.

 

“Maybe…but maybe just not the right kind. Not the
kind you need.”

He struck a nerve and he knew it. “So you only met
me yesterday but today you know exactly who I am and what
I need, huh? Don’t be so full of yourself.”

Lucas put the cue stick down on the table and walked
over to me. He sat on the arm of the chair and leaned in close,
so close that I could feel the warmth of his breath on my face.
“Just admit it Ru—you’re hot for me. It’s written all over your
face. And your boyfriend senses it too, doesn’t he? Let me
guess—Mr. Sensitive won’t touch you now because he’s afraid
of getting his heart broken. But just in case you’re interested,
I’m
not
afraid.”

I wanted to argue with him, to prove him wrong. But
that was impossible because he was dead-on right. He was so
close, close enough for me to kiss him. And that was exactly
what he was hoping I would do.
He wanted me to lose
control. He wanted me to get caught up in the moment and
ask from him what Zach wouldn’t give me. What he wanted
most, though, was me—
all
of me. I’ll admit it—I was tempted,
tempted to see what I missed out on with Lee.

But he wasn’t Lee. With my hands on his chest, I
shoved him away and he nearly fell on the floor. “I invited
you here to talk about Lee—not to try to get into my pants!
So if that’s the only reason you’re here, it’s time for you to
leave.”

Just like before, I caught a glimpse of something
unrecognizable in his eyes. It lingered for a moment and then
was
gone.
What
was
that?
Anger?
The
bitterness
of
rejection? I just couldn’t put a name to it.

“Sorry, I’ll back off on one condition—I want you to
admit that I’m right. Admit that you’re attracted to me.” No
smile, no cocky attitude—he was straight up serious.

Okay, so how I was I supposed to answer that?
In
some ways, yes.
In some ways, no.
He looked exactly like
someone I used to date, someone who I used to think was the
cutest boy ever. Until I met Zach. Zach changed everything—
even the way I felt about Lee. But in some ways, Lucas was so
irritating that he became completely unattractive to me. That
was the feeling I needed to go with.

“Look, Lucas, this isn’t a contest—I love Zach and he
loves me. You and I are strictly friends—nothing more, and
honestly, barely even that,” I replied, intentionally ignoring
his question. “So do you want to know more about your
brother or not? If not, there’s the door,” I said pointing to the
hallway.
“Of course I do, Ru! Is it
my
fault that I find you

irresistible?” Lucas relaxed a little and lined up for the break.
After the balls came to rest he handed me the stick. “I want to
know more about my brother than just the fact that he had
excellent taste in women.”

Quick—somebody hand me the pesticide! Swallowing
a gallon of the stuff was about the only way I could see to get
rid of the fluttering
in
my
stomach once
and for all.
“Seriously, Lucas—enough!” I managed to say in spite of all
the beating wings working their way through me. “What do
you want to know about Lee?”

“Everything you want to tell me and even some of
what you don’t. Please, don’t hold anything back.”

So I started at the beginning, as far back as I could
remember, even telling him some things that I’d only heard
from my father. We took turns shooting the ball around the
table until we eventually sunk the last ball and then we did it
again. Lucas listened quietly but became visibly excited when
I told him what a good artist Lee was.

“Really?
I’ve always liked to draw, too!” he
proclaimed.
Then
his
excitement
spiraled
down
into
insecurity. “But I’m not that good at it—I’m sure Lee was
better.”

For the first time, I saw what felt like the real Lucas—
the one that hid beneath all of that bravado.
Death had a
funny
way
of making
people perfect.
It must
be tough
comparing yourself to someone who didn’t seem to have any
flaws. I put Lee on a pedestal not realizing how it might make
Lucas feel.

“I don’t know. Do you want to find out?” I asked as I
tore a sheet out of my dad’s notebook and found a pencil to go
with it. “Here,” I said handing it to him, “Draw something.”

He took the paper and pencil with a grin. “Okay, I
want to draw you. Pose for me.”

In all the time we were together, Lee never asked me
to pose for him.
All he wanted to draw was the cemetery
where his
dad was
buried—headstones, mausoleums, the
crows in the trees. I wasn’t exactly sure how to pose so Lucas
just had me relax back in the recliner and then he positioned
my arms and legs how he wanted them.

I was surprised at how quickly he finished with the
drawing. “There. What do you think? Who’s better—me or
Lee?”

When I caught a glimpse of his work, I gasped. “Lucas!
That’s amazing! How did you
do
that so fast? You’re
definitely the better artist—by far!” The sketch he did of me
was perfect.
It looked just like me except I was pretty sure
that my penciled likeness’s bra size was a full cup size larger
than my own. I decided to overlook that one minor detail.

“Really? Do you think so?” he asked excitedly. “You
can tell me the truth, you know.”

 

“That
is
the truth, Lucas. Lee was good, but you’re
definitely better.”

Obviously overcome with pride, Lucas returned to the
pool table and took his shot. “Tell me more about him. I want
to know everything.”

We continued our game as I related every detail of
Lee’s life that I could think of until I got to the day of his death.
This was going to be the hard part especially since I still
partially blamed myself for what happened that day.
But I
couldn’t hold anything back because Lucas deserved to know
the truth about how Lee died—the whole truth.

When I was
finished explaining
my
role
in
what
happened that night, Lucas had an odd reaction. He started to
laugh.

“What’s so funny? I just told you that Lee would have
turned that car around if I hadn’t turned into a succubus!
If I
hadn’t seduced him, your brother would still be alive!”

“He didn’t die because you promised him something
that night. If you weren’t so uptight, you would have already
given him what he wanted long before that. Then it wouldn’t
have been such a big deal to him that he risked getting into
trouble to get it.”

What exactly was he trying to say here? That Lee died
because I
didn’t
sleep with him? That wasn’t true, was it?
True or false it left me speechless.

“Everyone tries to say that sex is a big deal, Ru, but it’s
not.” Lucas hung my dad’s cue stick back on the wall where it
belonged and sank down into one of the chairs. Game over,
apparently.

I sat down in the other chair and remained silent.
Was he right? I had no way of knowing. Desperate to change
the subject, I looked around the room for something to talk
about other than sex.
My eyes landed on the clock.
Ten
o’clock was only minutes away. How did three hours go by so
fast without me noticing?