Ruby instantly stilled her
body when she heard knocking at the driver’s side back window. She looked behind
her and squinted against the blinding light that immediately followed the
knocking.
Gavin squinted also.
“This is hotel security. Can
you roll down your window please?” a male voice requested.
“Just a moment, officer,” Ruby
replied, thinking that his voice sounded very familiar as she quickly
disengaged herself from Gavin’s body.
“Ma’am, I hope you and your
companion know that sex in a public place is illegal in these parts,” the officer
said, tapping on the window again.
Illegal? Ruby
began to move faster.
“If I get arrested for
something like this, my father will surely have another heart attack. My
conscience couldn’t take being the cause of a second one,” she whispered in a panic. Tears filled her eyes and
spilled down her cheeks as she tried to make herself presentable as quickly as
possible. Though she usually kept a tight lid on her emotions, when it came to
those she cared about or something dear to her heart, her eyes gave her away
nearly every time.
Gavin sat upright and fixed
his clothing, as well. “Try to calm down, Red,” he whispered in a soothing
tone. “Maybe this is one of those laws that they don’t enforce around here. I’m
no lawyer, but my mother is. She told me about several antiquated Virginia laws
that aren’t enforced and/or are actively being challenged in modern courts.”
The flow of Ruby’s tears
instantly slowed at his calm demeanor and soothing reminder about old Virginian
laws. Some of which included laws against sodomy, sexual relations between two
unmarried persons, and cohabitation of two unmarried people.
Ruby’s anxiety would leave
completely if the security guard wasn’t being such a jerk by continuing to
shine his flashlight into the jeep. Was he trying to dissipate the window fog
faster so that he could satisfy some sick voyeur fantasy? And why did he sound
so much like Toby Prestrell, Logan’s best friend from high school?
Ruby hadn’t seen Toby since he
married a girl in Cleavertown and moved in with her parents. That was way back
when she was still driving the blue truck that her parents got her for high
school graduation.
“Ma’am, sir, I’ve given you
all the time I can. I need you to step out of the car now,” the officer
persisted, knocking on the window again.
It is Toby! Why did I have to get caught by the
biggest mouth in two counties? Ruby thought concerning Tattletale Toby as
they used to call him in grade school.
“You take care of wiping those
beautiful eyes while I take care of this,” Gavin told her in that same
soothing tone. When she did as he requested, he rolled down the window. “Sorry
for the delay, officer. I was just trying to make sure my fiancée was
presentable again.”
“Fiancée?” Toby reiterated,
instantly recognizing Ruby through the open window. “I didn’t know you was
getting married, Ruby Dee,” he added, saying her first and middle names.
“I…” Ruby began.
“She didn’t either until
tonight,” Gavin interrupted. “You see, I just proposed to Ruby a little while
ago. When she said yes, well…” He paused and chuckled for dramatic effect.
“Let’s just say that I couldn’t contain my joy long enough to make it back up
to my room.”
Toby grinned. “I reckon not.”
He gave Ruby’s disheveled appearance a slow perusal. Though her nose looked a
tad red and her eyes a bit puffy as if she’d been shedding possible tears of
joy, she was still just as pretty as she’d been in high school. No wonder Logan
never really got over her. In fact, the last time Toby visited him, the man was
still looking at Ruby’s sex video every night in the basement of the house that
he inherited when his mother died.
“Listen, why don’t we just
forget tonight ever happened?” Toby suggested, looking at Gavin again.
Ruby shifted slightly on the
seat. That’s easy for you to say, she
thought, feeling vulnerable and exposed even though no indecent part of her was
showing.
Fortunately she was able to
keep her feelings off her face and out of her eyes. She even pasted a semblance
of a smile upon her lips. About time all those drama classes in high school and
college finally paid off for her. Had Gavin taken drama classes, too? Because
his current performance was Oscar-worthy.
“We appreciate your
discretion, officer,” Gavin said with a grateful smile as he discreetly reached
over to give Ruby’s hand a comforting squeeze.
“No problem at all.” Toby
smiled. “I like you already. You got the proper amount of respect for authority.” He stuck his chest out with
pride.
Says
the flashlight and taser carrying rent-a-cop, Ruby thought,
remembering how many times Toby flunked out of police academy.
“All I ask is that you take
the rest of your celebrating up to your room,” Toby told Gavin. Then he fixed
his gaze on her and added, “And that
I get an invite to the wedding.”
After another comforting
squeeze from Gavin, Ruby forced a wider smile on her face and said, “You’ll be
at the top of our list, Toby.”
“Good.” Toby grinned. “Y’all
have a good night, ya’ hear?” Then he turned his flashlight off and walked
away, whistling as he went.
(c) 2014 by Mi'Chelle Dodson/Suprina Frazier
(c) 2014 by Mi'Chelle Dodson/Suprina Frazier
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