Page 81 of I Hate You More

Epilogue

“The thing is, Ruby, you’d really be doing us a favor. We don’t have anyone else.”

Ruby sat cross-legged in the middle of Spencer’s bed, her phone on speaker. Not only had Spencer come in to hear what Parkwood Manor had to say that was so urgent it interrupted dinner, but Caleb, Mrs. Orson, Eva, and at least two of her children also seemed to be pushing their way in.

The room was packed. It was a good thing Spencer was so tidy.

“I appreciate the offer, I really do, but I’m no longer interested in being a nursing assistant. I don’t know if you heard, but I recently started college classes and—”

“We’ll give you a raise. You can set your own hours. We’re really struggling here. Harry left us in a huge mess.”

A muffled cackle arose from the assembled crowd. Ruby mistrusted that sound almost as much as she mistrusted this unprecedented show of begging and generosity from her former employers.

“What kind of mess?” she asked.

“You haven’t heard?” A groan sounded on the other end of the line. “There was a sting operation. An exposé. Someone uncovered a drug ring that Harry was running behind everyone’s backs.”

All those things sounded less like Harry Gunderson and more like Rosemary Orson. Ruby turned to the older woman with a glare. Sure enough, Mrs. Orson was laughing to herself and stroking her chin like a cartoon villain.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Ruby said, trying to keep her voice from wavering. “But if you’ll recall, I warned you about him.”

“Yes, and that’s why we’re prepared to offer you—”

“You told me to stop being so dramatic.”

Her former boss cleared his throat nervously. “I apologize for that, but at the time—”

“You said I wasn’t qualified to make those kinds of judgment calls.”

“Did I? I don’t recall—”

Ruby decided she was done with the groveling. She was only a few weeks into her new classes at the community college, and getting into the groove of higher education after her disastrous high school career was a lot more challenging than she’d thought it would be, but that was half the fun. There was no way she was going back now—not for anything Parkwood Manor had to offer.

“What kind of sting operation was it?” she asked.

“That’s confidential information, I’m afraid.” Now that her ex-boss had been rejected, he was back to sounding stiff and pompous. “I can only tell you if you come back as an employee.”

Considering how hard Mrs. Orson was struggling to keep her composure, Ruby was pretty sure she had access to all the confidential information she needed.

“As tempting as the offer is, I’m a solid no,” she said sweetly. “But I’m sure I’ll see you around. Now that I’m just a visitor and all. Buh-bye!”

She hung up the phone before the voices around her broke into a babble. Amid the exclamations, Ruby zeroed in on the one person who had all the answers.

“Mrs. Orson, what did you do?”

“I don’t know what you mean, dear. Have you started the new novel for book club yet? Darla and I aren’t sure about it yet. The hero is a touch milquetoast for our tastes. We like a man who takes control in the bedroom. Don’t you agree, Spencer?”

Spencer took a step back, his hands up. “I’m not touching this one.”

“And I’m not letting you change the subject,” Ruby said. Xavier crawled up onto the bed and placed himself in Ruby’s lap. Ever since the news of his mother’s fourth pregnancy, he’d been feeling a little overwhelmed, so he popped a thumb in his mouth and settled in. Ruby put an arm around him but refused to be distracted. “What kind of sting operation did you run, and why wasn’t I invited to be a part of it?”

“I told you we had it handled.”

“Did you plant drugs on him? Put dye in the fake pills so his mouth turned blue? Poison him?”

Mrs. Orson laughed. “Poison didn’t occur to us. That would have been fun, too.”

“Please don’t give her any ideas.” Spencer groaned and joined Ruby on the bed.