The Vaudeville Star

“You shouldn’t have been. As you see, I can take care of myself.”

Ford smiled. “You’re a spitfire, Ruby Mae. A true, honest-to-goodness spitfire.”

Ruby tried to ignore the way her heart flip-flopped when he spoke her full name that no one else ever used. “Maybe I was just too much for Mississippi.”

“I think you might be too much for New York as well.”

“Ford?”

“Yes, darling?”

She knew he let the “darling” slip as a Southern endearment. It meant nothing to him. But his honeyed words caused a shiver of desire to race through her.

“Thank you for caring. I know it was daring to leave everything behind, but you see now. You see I had to go. There’s nothing for me there. Nothing at all.”

“Well you know, Pernetta. God love her, but I think your Momma must miss you.”

“Maybe. Maybe when things are settled, I’ll write to them. But with Daddy gone, I just couldn’t face the two of them together.”

Ford nodded and picked up his hat.

“Just know that you aren’t alone in New York. I’m here for you. Whatever you need, I’m here. I want you to know that. You can always reach me through the agency.”

“Thank you, Ford.”

He reached for her, and when he enveloped her in his arms, she closed her eyes, relishing his masculine smell. She loved him still. Nothing had changed.

When they separated, he kissed her lightly on the forehead and then departed.

8

Ruby sat down upon her bed after Ford left. She must move forward. Whatever else Ford thought about her, their one night of passion had obviously been a mistake in his eyes. Perhaps the alcohol and the loss of her father had made her seem pitiful to him. She must not make any more of it. He viewed her as a family friend and nothing more. She must bury her love for him deep inside her heart.

She moved to the closet and pulled out the orange-and-cream-colored gown. She picked up her small sewing kit and the small bag of rhinestones she had been able to procure from the costume department and took them all to the window seat.

She had threaded the needle and begun to place the rhinestones strategically along the bodice when a knock sounded at the door. Bessie entered and joined her at the window seat.

“What a beautiful gown, Ruby!”

“Vernon helped me pick it out. He said I needed something special to wear onstage.”

“Well, this is it!”

Ruby placed the rhinestones where she thought they would get the most light along the neckline and bodice, and Bessie made suggestions as well. When she was finished, she slipped into the gown and waited for Bessie’s reaction.

“I can’t wait to tell everyone I was the one who discovered Ruby Sutton,” Bessie giggled as Ruby twirled around in her dress.

“Do you really think so, Bessie? Truly?” She had stopped moving, and her eyes were upon Bessie.

“It’s true that you are no one now, but we all start out that way. Do you think Sarah Bernhardt became the most famous actress in the world overnight? Or Lillian Russell? Of course not. Even those who seem to rise to fame quickly do not. It takes time.”

“I suppose.”

“And just like our reigning diva, Zeta Riggi, who has been on the stage for twenty years, it has taken her time to gain a following and have people want to see her. You will be the same.”

Ruby looked down at the gown that fit like a glove, rhinestones glittering on the bodice. The bodice skimmed along her curves, showing off her breasts, and the skirt flounced out in a bright orange flash of color.

“You’re a vision,” Bessie assured her.