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kind.” Ruby
smiled mildly, making her laugh more. “Like I ain’t had it that
good in years, kind.”
    “ Okay-Okay.” Madeline held
up her hand catching her breath.
    “ I thought that might make
you feel better. If Brook makes a mistake, distance does seem to
cure us, at least emotionally. She’ll do better than we
did.”
    Madeline’s voice held no humor as she
stared at Ruby saying, “I don't want her doing anything in Copper
Creek.”
    “ My friend, she’s going to.
You had better save your energy for that. Get close to her, support
her, because she‘ll need you.”
    “ Oh, Ruby, how can I when I
know what’s waiting for her at the end of the ride?”
    “ Maybe not. Coy seems
smarter than Jude, and they’re just dating. It’s not serious. If
you would lighten up, she would probably get tired of him. Half the
fascination is the forbidden.”
    “ You know how complicated it
is, with Mitch and our past.”
    “ You could make it worse if
you’re not careful.”
    “ I know.” She told her how
Mitch came off on Friday when she’d gone to Copper Creek, as if she
were the one who broke things off all those years ago.
    “ That Deena is a piece of
work. Hell, I wouldn’t put anything past her. She brown-nosed Dovie
to get what she wanted. I am glad she moved out of this place and
two towns away. She’s still a gossip and troublemaker, no matter
how wealthy.”
    Ruby took a big bite of the last
doughnut. “I hear her kids can’t stand the way she manipulates
their lives, the same way old Dovie did. Word is, her oldest girl
ran off and got married at fifteen, and Deena had it annulled and
hushed up.”
    Madeline cut in, “Except, Jude said the
same thing. Said that Mitch told them he didn’t love me, wanted me
to leave him alone and stop chasing him.”
    Ruby snorted. “Jude, in those days,
probably thought he’d done right by helping Dovie fix Mitch up with
Ronda. He had some problems that I can’t tell you about. Trust me
when I tell you not to bank on whatever he said back
then.”
    “ I can’t believe it. I just
can’t. Jude is tough, he doesn’t seem as though he could be made to
lie.”
    “ We don't know how it went.
I’ve met them all too, remember? Even Dovie. I swear another woman
doesn’t exist as harsh as that one.”
    “ Did she know about you and
Jude?”
    “ Yes. She came to my house
and chewed me out. ‘Course, I deserved it. I was chasing
Jude.”
    “ You could have had any boy,
Ruby. Why Jude?”
    Her friend’s attractive features went
still. “You know why. It’s something you taste and can’t get enough
of.”
    “ Yeah, but I still... I
can’t believe everything fell apart with Mitch and me without his
knowing it. He married and had kid and—”
    Ruby smiled almost sadly. She looked
down the road a moment and mused in a half-humorous tone, “Do we
ever ask the mature questions when we are kids?” she glanced again
at Madeline. “Look, you and me, we didn’t have the kind of
emotional maturity to handle the sex we were having. Be honest,
considering your mother, my cold parents, we didn’t know anything
but need.”
    “ I suppose.” Madeline
nodded, knowing they had admitted as much in prior talks about
their teen years. It was something they did have in common,
something that bonded them from the get go.
    Ruby arose eventually to leave, handing
her the empty box and cup. She lingered on the steps a moment,
obviously shaking off the mood and waiting for Madeline to give her
a look that said she too wasn’t going to be depressed all day
now.
    As soon as Madeline tossed the box and
made some joke about her funky toe ring, Ruby laughed then walked
into the yard saying, “Next Friday night, remember? We do girls
night.” At Madeline’s nod and thumbs up, Ruby walked to the van and
left soon after.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter 4
     
     
    The week stretched out long and full,
with Madeline running to the school most evenings, trying to
deliver