April 21, 2012

I have not forgotten this story! I'm sorry I've had to put it on the backburner for awhile, but I'm back, and hoping to finish this story off soon. Thanks to those who are still following the story and here's chapter 9.

Chapter 9

Once in the privacy of her bedroom, Ruthie opened the black box. Inside contained a silver necklace and diamond earrings. A note was at the bottom. She took it out and opened it.

Dear Ruthie,

Happy Valentine's Day.

Love always,

Peter

Ruthie was infuriated. Why did they keep this from me? She ran downstairs where Savannah and Jen were helping her mother clean the dishes from the cookie making activity. "Why?"

Her mother turned to look at her. She knew Ruthie was referring to Peter's gift. "I'm sorry, Ruthie." She looked at Jen and Savannah. "Would you girls give Ruthie and I minute?" The girls nodded and went upstairs.

"Did you it ever occur to you to give me this? Were you ever planning to?"

"We didn't want to – upset you. We wanted to, but we just didn't know when would be the best time."

"So you've kept it hidden from me all of these years?"

"We were only doing it to protect you!"

"That's ridiculous! When were you given this?"

"Paris found it in Peter's room, when she was cleaning out his belongings. She gave it to us. She wanted us to give it to you, but…" Annie sighed. "It just seemed like now was the right time."

"I can't believe this," Ruthie muttered, just as the doorbell rang. "Hi everybody!" Carlos' voice filled in the air.

"Carlos!" a bunch of voices called out. Ruthie detected Lucy, Sarah, and Sarah's kids among them.

Ruthie went to join them. "Hi Carlos."

Carlos looked at Ruthie and smiled, but she could tell he wasn't going to make a big deal of having not seen her for quite some time. She knew she had always liked him. "Hi Ruthie, how are you?" he asked, giving her a warm hug.

"I'm good, how are you?" she asked, letting go of his embrace, just as Mary came down the stairs.

"Doing great, thanks." He smiled at her and then looked at Mary. "Hi honey."

"Hey," she said, giving him a kiss. "How was your flight?"

"Long. Tiring. But I'm here."

"Just in time for dinner too," Annie said.

"Dinner? Sounds great."

Everyone made way into the dining room. The table was already set – Lucy and Mary had done that earlier. Their father said Grace and as the meal was being passed around, light chatter about Carlos' job was discussed. Ruthie wasn't really interested in hearing about it, though, so she just zoned out. Finally, when she couldn't take it anymore, she excused herself. "Sorry, I'm still kind of beat."

Her mother wasn't buying it. "Ruthie, we know how upset you are, but…"

"Upset? How many years did you know? When did Paris go through Peter's things?"

"You were only sixteen, Ruthie. You still had so much to learn."

"But clearly I was smart enough to leave Glen Oak and get into college!"

"You didn't give us any warning!" her father yelled.

"Yeah, well, no one gave me warning that Peter killed himself! And then all of a sudden I disappear, and then you guys expect me to come home and pretend like nothing ever happened? No, thanks!" Ruthie stood up. "Let's get real!" And with that, she went upstairs.

"Maybe I should go talk to her," Lucy said.

"No," her father replied. "Leave her be. It's her choice."

"Dad, she's just going to leave again."

"As upset as she is, I think she knows what she's here for, and doesn't really want to leave."

"Peter made a mistake."

"They both did."

There was silence for a few moments. Mary cleared her throat. "Did I tell you what Dean did last week?" And with that, the conversation changed to more light chatter. But when Lucy looked at her father, and their eyes met, she could tell that he was just as worried as she.