Summer Island

What mattered was not what Nora had tried to give Ruby, but rather what shed taken away.

There had been no seventeenth birthday party for Ruby. On that day, there had only been more silence. No family had gathered around a big kitchen strewn with gifts. Those times . . . those precious moments had died when their family died.

A few nicely wrapped gifts found stuffed in a cardboard box in a closet couldnt change that.

Ruby wouldnt let it.

As Ruby neared her mothers hospital room, she slowed. A man was standing by the door. He was tall and effete, a man who dressed for women--gray slacks, pink shirt, and vibrant navy blue suspenders. His hair was snowy white and thinning. She noticed that he kept running his hand through it, as if to assure himself that it was still there.

At her approach, he looked up. Narrowed, penetrating black eyes fixed on her. “Are you Ruby Bridge?”

She came to a stop. Shed misjudged the distance, and taken one step too close to him. He exuded a sweet, musky scent. Expensive cologne, used too liberally. She could see that he was disturbed by her invasion of his personal space.

He took a step backward and cleared his throat—a gentle reminder that hed asked if she was Ruby Bridge.

“Who wants to know?”

Smiling-as if that was precisely what he would have expected Ruby Bridge to say--he extended his hand. “Im Dr. Leonard Allbright, your mothers doctor. ”

“Wheres your white coat?”

“Im her psychiatrist. ”

That surprised Ruby. She couldnt imagine her mother spilling her guts to anyone. “Really?”

“Ive just spoken to her; and she told me all about your . . . arrangement. ” He said the final word as if it tasted bitter. “Im aware of your past history, so I thought Id caution you to keep in mind that your mother is fragile. ”

“Uh-huh. Are you married, Dr. Allbright?”

A pained expression slipped into the grooves of his face. “No. Why do you ask?”

“My mother collects men who believe shes fragile. Shes a real Tennessee Williams kind of gal. ”

Dr. Allbright did not look pleased by that observation. “Why have you offered to care for her?”

“Look, Doc, when its all over; you can ask Nora all the questions you want. Shell pay you a huge fee to listen to her moan about the bitch daughter who betrayed her. But I”m not going to talk to you. "

“Betrayed” is an interesting word choice. "

Ruby flinched. “If thats all. . . ”

He reached into his pocket and withdrew a slim silver case with the initials LOA etched in gold. Inside lay a neat stack of expensive business cards. He handed her one. “I dont know if it is a good idea for you to take care of Nora. Especially not in her current state of mind. ”

Ruby took the card, tucked it into the elastic waistband of her leggings. “Yeah? Why not?”

He studied her; and she could see by the deepening frown that he wasnt pleased. “You havent seen or spoken to your mother in years, and youre obviously very angry at her. Considering . . . what happened to her; it could be a bad mix. Maybe even dangerous. ”

“Dangerous how?”

“You dont know her. And as I said, shes fragile now-”

“I lived with her for sixteen years, Doc. Youve talked to her once a week for . . . what, a year or two?”

“Fifteen years. ”

Rubys chin snapped up. “Fifteen years? But everything was fine back then. ”

“Was it?”