Claiming His Nine-Month Consequence

Then he saw her.

Ruby was wearing a 1950s-style red dress. Her long dark hair was pulled back by a red headband that matched her red lips. Her cheeks were rosy, her big brown eyes sparkling as she beamed at her friends standing around her. Then she laughed, kissing something that was snuggled in her arms.

Ares felt his heart in his throat.

The baby. His baby.

With an intake of breath, Ares pushed through the crowd. People fell back as they recognized him, and the whispers began just like always, just like they had back at the Atlas Club, the night they’d first met.

“Ares Kourakis…”

“He’s here…”

“I knew he’d come for her…”

Ignoring them, he focused only on Ruby. As if she felt his gaze, her eyes met his.

Her smile dropped. Her beautiful face went blank.

Despair rushed through Ares’s heart. He’d never seen her face so devoid of emotion before. He was too late. He’d waited too long. She’d given up on him. She’d found someone else, someone worthy of her. That was what she’d been trying to tell him when she sent back the ring.

“What are you doing here?” Ruby said.

She deserved to know, Ares thought bleakly. Even if she no longer loved him back. But it was hard to speak the words.

Then the tiny baby in her arms gave a sneeze, and Ruby looked down and smiled, stroking her daughter’s downy head. And all Ares could think was that he’d lost everything, everything that mattered a damn, because of his fear, denial and selfish pride.

Coming closer, Ares looked down at the baby. “She’s beautiful.”

“Yes,” Ruby said in a low voice. “I love her.”

He wanted to ask Ruby if she’d stopped loving him. But the words felt like a razor blade in his throat.

Ares looked at the shop around them. “This place is incredible. It reminds me of you.”

Ruby blinked fast, then set her jaw. “Why are you here?”

Ares looked around the boutique, filled with color and joy and music. Filled with her friends. Filled with everything he’d never let himself want, because he’d been too busy protecting himself with walls of money. And in front of everyone, he turned to Ruby, and humbly spoke the words directly from his heart, loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Because I love you, Ruby. And I couldn’t live another second without telling you. I love you.”

* * *

Ruby had worked hard all her life. But the last four months had tested even her limits. And since her daughter had been born, she’d been getting by on fumes, sleeping at two-hour intervals. She’d never been so tired.

Or so proud. Tonight, she’d planned her vintage boutique’s opening party to mark the end of one dream—her desperate love for a man who hadn’t loved her back—and the celebration of another. A new dream she’d created for herself and her daughter.

For so many years, she’d dreamed of having her own little shop, but she’d been scared to try. What if she made a fool of herself? What if she failed?

But after doing both so spectacularly—loving Ares, and having her heart crushed so completely—when she’d returned to Star Valley nearly four months ago, she was no longer afraid.

Encouraged by Ivy and her friends, she’d started working for her dream. She’d learned how to start her own business, checking out books from the library, researching online. She’d written out a business plan and finally asked her friend Gus at the bank for a loan.

“About time, Ruby,” Gus had chided with a shake of his red beard. “Dude. Everyone’s been waiting for you to do this. You’re going to make a fortune.” Grinning, he’d rubbed his hands together. “And so will the bank.”

Loan in hand, she’d sweet-talked her way into a lease in downtown Star Valley, with very good terms from the owner, her old boss Paul Vence, who still told her she was the best damn employee he’d ever had. The lease included an apartment on the second floor. She did much of the remodeling herself, but also got her friends to help for the price of beer and pizza. She’d hoped to open her shop in December, but that was delayed by the birth of her daughter. Bringing her baby home to a snug little apartment that was theirs, all theirs, with her business taking shape downstairs, had made it the best Christmas ever.