Spirits of Spring (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 4) Read Free

to have face to face. I just needed
to find him. The second thing I noticed was the time on the
clock.
    8:47. As I got out of the car, a freak gust blew past and
sent the car door slamming shut behind me.
The wind was
gone as quickly as it came but the chill it cast on me lingered.
As I stepped inside the front door to the country club, my entire
body convulsed in a violent shiver. I felt like I’d just walked
over my own grave. While I would have gladly followed Rachel
into a walk in freezer just so I could ask her where her brother
was, I was relieved to find her by the roaring fireplace engaged
in conversation with one of the country club employees.
    “Rachel!” I called out as I approached, “I need to talk to
you— now !” Still overwhelmed with coldness, I cast the
warmth of my breath on my hands in an attempt to heat up at
least one part of my body. I’d often used the phrase “chilled to
the bone” but that didn’t even come close to describing how
cold I was. That wind cut to my bones then sliced even deeper.
I was chilled to my very soul.
    Rachel cut her conversation abruptly when she heard
my voice. With a look of pure anger on her face, she replied,
“You’re damned right you do! Get over here, Ruby!” When she
caught sight of Lucas following behind me, she added, “I can’t
believe you brought him with you!”
    How could I blame her for being so mad at me?
She
obviously thought that I chose Lucas over Zach. If I were her, I
would hate me right now, too. I turned around to face Lucas. “I
have to talk to Rachel— alone .
Go get
some
punch
or
something,” I hissed as I gestured toward the buffet table while
simultaneously walking away.
    “Whatever,” I heard him mumble behind my back. He
could “whatever” me all he wanted to—I simply didn’t care. He
overstepped the bounds of our friendship by kissing me the
way he did. As far as I was concerned, that friendship was now
officially over. Unfortunately, by the look on her face, mine and
Rachel’s might be as well.
    As I approached the fireplace, Rachel reached out,
grabbed me by the forearm, and dragged me behind her toward
the ladies restroom. She’d dragged me here and there with her
a million times before but this time there was none of the air of
exuberance that usually marked our little excursions.
This
time, she meant business. While the warmth of her hand felt
good on my ice cold skin, her demeanor was purely frigid. I
decided to allow her a few minutes to blow off some steam
before I explained my side of the story. I knew her well enough
to know that until she got everything off of her chest, she
wouldn’t listen to a word I had to say anyway. She quickly
checked the stalls to make sure we were alone then locked the
door behind us. One verbal whiplashing coming right up.
    “How could you do that to him, Ruby?! He sat through
that entire play gushing about how good you were and how
proud he was of you!
I made sure he knew ahead of time that
you and Lucas would have to kiss at the end but I swore to him
that it was nothing major. How do you think it made him feel to
have to watch you guys play tonsil hockey in front of the entire
town? I told you a long time ago not to break his heart but you
had to go and do it anyway, didn’t you? He’s not like other
boys, Ruby!
If you wanted to be with Lucas, all you had to do
was tell him the truth. You didn’t have to destroy him the way
you did!”
    Wow. I’d never seen Rachel so mad before. The anger
flashing through her eyes was reminiscent of the look in Zach’s
eyes the day he pummeled Ryan in the hallway at school.
Thank God she
had better impulse control than Zach did
because if not, they probably would have been hauling me out
of the country club in a body bag. My plan to let her cool down
first before trying to reason with her wasn’t as practical as I
originally thought it was going to be. If I waited for that, we
would still be in this restroom five days from now—if