The Color of Love Read online

  Please God, don’t let me have waited too long.

  * * *

  Jarrod was driving as fast as the law allowed on his way back to Tennessee, but fuel was low and getting to the critical point. He had taken the ready cash from Ruby’s wallet, but he’d counted on more than the eighty-three dollars she’d had in it. Still, it was enough to get him home. He glanced over his shoulder into the back seat. As far as he could tell, she hadn’t moved, wasn’t crying, or trying to escape. It occurred to him that she might have suffocated, which gave him the creeps. He didn’t want to be driving around with a dead body. As soon as he fueled up, he’d take off out into rural Georgia. First bridge he came to, he was tossing her into the water below.

  About five miles further, he saw an exit road leading to a big truck stop. He took the exit and was thinking about getting something to eat when his phone began to ring.

  * * *

  Ruby had chewed and bitten on the knots until she finally had the last knot loose enough to get her hands free. She’d swallowed enough blood in the process that she’d made herself sick, but her ankles were still tied with the belt from her robe. She couldn’t undo them without revealing the fact that she was conscious, but she could come out of the bedspread fast enough to get her leather belt over Jarrod’s head and around his neck. She was willing to risk the wreck this might cause rather than be murdered later. Just as she was about to make her move, his phone rang. She paused, holding her breath as she listened to Jarrod’s voice.

  “Hello? Oh hey, baby. Yes, I finished my business, and I’m already on the way home but just now stopping to refuel. You made me some ribs? Oh man, I wish I had some now. I’m starvin’. I’m gonna get some snacks to eat on the way. Yes, I’ll be careful, and it’s likely to be midnight before I get home. Okay, yeah, love you too.”

  Ruby heard him disconnect, then drive forward at a much slower rate. That’s when it hit her. Oh my God, if he stops for gas, I have a chance to escape.

  She heard him get out. The click that followed had to be the door locks, then the gas cap being unscrewed. A few moments later, she smelled the fuel rushing into the gas tank beneath the car.

  She didn’t know if she had time to get out before he saw and stopped her, but she would have risked it, if not for the gun. She didn’t want to be shot in the back trying to get away. As difficult as it was, she waited for the gas to shut off. If he didn’t get back in the car right away, she’d know he’d gone into the store for something to eat.

  When she heard him putting the gas cap back on and then his footsteps walking away, she tensed. Thank you, God. Now was her chance!

  Her heart was pounding as she tore her way out of the bedspread, untied her feet, and reached for the door. To her horror, it wouldn’t open.

  But as quickly as she panicked, she realized what the problem was. Nothing but child locks. She leaned over the front seat and pressed the unlock button.

  Moments later, she was out and running, unaware of the cold concrete beneath her bare feet or the chilly air on her face. She was twenty yards away and looking back over her shoulder when she ran straight into a trucker who’d been checking his tires.

  He took one look at her bare feet and battered face—and the fact that she was wearing nothing but underwear beneath the open front of her bloody robe—and grabbed her.

  “Lady! What the hell happened to you?”

  Ruby was shaking so hard she could barely talk. “I was kidnapped. Help me. He’ll be coming out of the station any minute.”

  “Which car? What’s he look like?” the trucker asked.

  “That black SUV with the blue fender, at the back pumps.” And then her heart skipped a beat as she saw Jarrod exit. “That’s him, coming out of the station now.”

  “The skinny guy with the red cap?”

  “Yes, oh my God,” Ruby moaned and tried to pull out of his arms.

  “You’re okay, lady. I got your back. Just stay here,” he said, and hefted the tire iron he was carrying for a better grip.

  “He has a gun!” Ruby said.

  “I hear you, ma’am. Now, when I get his attention, you just run on inside and tell Melvin at the cash register that Joey B said to call 911.”

  Ruby slipped back behind the cab of his truck as the driver started toward the old SUV. Jarrod was eating and walking as if he didn’t have a care in the world, and he didn’t seem to be aware that the man at the pumps was waiting for him.

  When Ruby saw the trucker step out from between the gas pumps swinging that tire iron, she knew Jarrod was startled. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but when she saw Jarrod drop his snacks and go for his gun, she took off toward the station with her bathrobe flapping and her bare feet flying.

  She heard shouts, a thunk, then silence just as she reached the door. Without looking back, she pushed her way inside and ran straight to the man at the register.

  “Melvin!”

  He looked up, startled that a stranger knew his name.

  “Joey B said for you to call 911. I think he just took out the man who kidnapped me.”

  That’s when Melvin focused on her condition. He shoved the cash register shut and reached for the phone as the other men in the station began running outside. She could see Melvin talking, but his voice was fading. People were coming up around her now. A man had his hand on her shoulder, a woman’s lips were moving, but Ruby couldn’t hear what she was saying. The room was spinning. Her last thought was she needed to identify herself.

  “My name is Ruby Dye. I live in Blessings, Georgia, and I think I’m going to faint now.”

  And down she went.

  * * *

  It was almost four o’clock when Mercy Pittman stopped by the police station on her way home from work to bring her husband a piece of her coconut pie.

  Mercy did all the baking at Granny’s Country Kitchen, and pie had been on special today. She’d carried out the last piece of coconut for Lon, and now he was eating it while they talked about Ruby.

  “It’s all anyone talked about today,” Mercy said. “Poor Lovey keeps tearing up when she thinks no one is looking. I know they’re old friends, and she’s scared she won’t see Ruby again.”

  “Nothing like this has ever happened here in my time,” Lon said. “The BOLO has been out a few hours now. I keep hoping some highway patrolman will spot that funky TrailBlazer.”

  “With that off-color front fender, it would definitely stand out,” Mercy said, and then her voice began to shake. “I keep imagining how I would feel. She has to be scared out of her mind…if she’s still alive.” And then Mercy clapped her hand over her mouth. “I can’t believe I said that aloud.”

  “It’s nothing I haven’t thought too,” Lon said, and then the phone on his desk rang. “Excuse me a minute, honey.” He set the pie aside to answer. “Chief Pittman.”

  “Chief Pittman, this is Lieutenant Farley of the Georgia State Highway Patrol. We have your kidnap victim, Ruby Dye. The man who took her was Jarrod Dye, her ex-husband. He is in handcuffs and on his way to jail.”

  Lon stood up, almost afraid to ask for details. “What are her injuries? What hospital will she be sent to?”

  “She’ll be in the local hospital in Dublin, just off Interstate 16. Her injuries are minor.”

  “But there was so much blood at the scene,” Lon said.

  “Probably from your kidnapper. He’s got a mean cut on his forearm and likely a concussion from the trucker who took him down. He’ll be taken to the hospital for stitches before booking.”

  “Thank you. Please tell Ruby we’re coming to get her.”

  “Yes, sir. My pleasure, Chief Pittman.”

  Lon hung up the phone, grinning.

  Mercy ran to him. “They found Ruby, didn’t they? Is she hurt bad?”

  “Yes, they’ve got her. It appears most of that bloo
d at the scene was from the guy who kidnapped her. And get this. It was her ex-husband. She got in her licks before he took her down. I’ve got to call Peanut. I’ll be late coming home, honey. We’re going to get her.”

  Mercy threw her arms around his neck, her dark eyes dancing. “What wonderful, wonderful news! Is it okay if I tell people?”

  Lon grinned. “You can shout it from the rooftops for all I care. This is news I was too scared to hope for. For sure call the Conklin twins, and tell Lovey. They’re best friends. I’m calling Peanut.”

  “Why would she need her lawyer?” Mercy asked.

  “I think he’s more than her lawyer. I think he’s head over heels for the woman. Thanks for the pie. Love you to pieces, and I’ll call you when we head home.”

  He gave her a quick kiss and a pat on the backside as she left the office. He had the lawyer’s info on his cell phone, and Peanut answered on the first ring.

  “Hello?”

  “They found her. She’s on her way to a hospital in Dublin, just off Interstate 16. I’m going to get her.”

  “Take me with you,” Peanut said.

  Lon heard the desperation. “Be there in five,” he said, and disconnected.

  Chapter 2

  Peanut rode in the front seat. After asking for details, learning Ruby’s abductor was her ex-husband, and finding out she hadn’t been the one bleeding, he went silent for miles. He knew she’d been married before, but she’d never once mentioned her ex’s name. Now he was a reality they both had to face.

  Lon drove with his lights flashing all the way to the Interstate 16 connection, which took over an hour. When they reached the interstate, he took the northbound route, turned on the siren too, and accelerated.

  Peanut sent a message to Laurel Lorde, the woman who cleaned his house, to please change the sheets in his guest room and make sure there were fresh towels in the adjoining bath. Ruby couldn’t go back to her home the way it was, and while he hadn’t invited her to be his guest just yet, he was hedging his bets in case she accepted. While he was waiting for Laurel to text him back, he was trying to gather his thoughts, but it was hard to focus. He kept thinking of how quickly their lives had been turned on end, and how close they’d all come to losing Ruby today.

  A few minutes later, Laurel returned a text, letting him know she’d received the instructions. Now that that had been taken care of, he dropped the phone back in his jacket pocket and looked up. The scenery out the side window was a blur.

  Despite the raucous sound of the siren’s scream and the flashing lights, they quickly faded from consciousness and became nothing more than background music to the drama in which they’d been caught. The lights and siren sent cars veering off the highway onto the shoulder, giving the cop car all the leeway needed as Lon flew past.

  Peanut didn’t look at the people in the cars. He didn’t want to see their curious glances or disgruntled faces from drivers who had been forced to stop. Everyone was always in such a hurry to get someplace. They needed to slow down, think about the people they loved, and let them know it before it was too late. Life was too short to waste. He was still thinking about Ruby when something else occurred to him.

  “Hey, Lon, what do you think the odds are of this going to trial?” Peanut asked.

  “I don’t know,” the chief answered. “A sane man would get a lawyer and plead out. He was caught with her, and might get a worse sentence once Ruby got on the stand to testify.”

  “That’s what I was thinking,” Peanut said.

  “Why do you ask?” Lon said.

  “I’d have to ask someone else to advise her because there’s no way I could be rational about the kidnapper. It would take every ounce of control I had not to break his neck.”

  “Can I ask you something personal?” Lon asked.

  Peanut sighed. “If you want to know if there’s anything between Ruby and me, I’d say yes and she’d say no, because everything I feel for her has been left unsaid.”

  Lon frowned. “But why? I see you guys together a lot. I just thought—”

  “That’s because I volunteer for every damn committee she’s on so we can meet for lunch and so I can take pizza over to her house at night while we’re planning the next agenda.”

  Lon grinned. “What’s the holdup?”

  “Mostly me,” Peanut said. “I love her so much that I was afraid if I told her and she didn’t feel the same way, it would ruin the friendship. I’ve been sending her presents and flowers for a while now, but with no card.”

  “Oh, going the secret admirer route? So how’s that working for you?”

  Peanut shrugged. “It wasn’t, and I knew it. I was supposed to take her to Granny’s after church today and then planned to confess it when I took her home. Only all this happened.” He wiped a shaky hand across his face. “I spent the whole afternoon thinking of the time I’d wasted and what she might be going through. I thought I’d lost her.”

  “I thought we had too,” Lon said. “So you got yourself a second chance, my friend.”

  Peanut nodded. “I won’t waste it, either. Do you know how much farther to Dublin?”

  “Maybe another thirty-five minutes or so…maybe less,” Lon said.

  Peanut glanced at the time and then took a deep breath. He was fresh out of patience.

  * * *

  Ruby was in the emergency room at Fairview Park Hospital, trying not to panic. As fate would have it, the patient in the next bay over was Jarrod, with the cops who were guarding him. They’d had to bring him in for stitches and X-rays before they could transport him to jail to be booked.

  Logically she knew she was safe, but being able to hear her ex’s voice didn’t make her feel that way. She was alone and stranded in a strange place. Then when they told her the police from Blessings were coming to get her, she almost cried. Seeing Chief Pittman or one of the deputies would be a godsend. They knew where she belonged. They would take her home.

  She thought about Peanut, wondering what he’d thought when she missed church and then wasn’t there for their Sunday dinner date at Granny’s.

  She closed her eyes, thinking of how the right corner of his mouth tilted up just a little higher than the other when he smiled, and how blue his eyes were. He was a fixture in her life. The hero in all her dreams, and she loved spending time with him. Yet the closest thing between them was when he held her hand to help her in and out of a car.

  He was a lawyer. She cut and dyed people’s hair. He would likely never think of her as anything but a friend…and the lady who was his barber.

  She looked down at her hands—at the scratched and bloody knuckles, and fingers swollen from fighting for her life. She didn’t even want to see her face. She’d lost count of how many times Jarrod had hit her, but the whole incident brought back everything she’d been running from when she first appeared in Blessings.

  All she knew was that one eye was swollen because it hurt to blink, and if her mouth looked as bad as it felt, people would be horrified by her appearance. It would take a while before she’d be able to go back to work. The girls would have to pick up her appointments, at least until her hands healed.

  She heard a scream and then a long round of curses and guessed Jarrod was getting stitches. She hoped they hurt. She had three stitches of her own on her upper lip. They’d hurt when the doctor was sewing her up. He told her it would probably leave a little scar, but she didn’t care. It would be a reminder that Jarrod Dye no longer held power over her.

  A nurse popped into Ruby’s room. “Can I get you anything, honey?”

  “Water? Thirsty,” Ruby mumbled.

  “Be right back,” she said, and hurried away.

  A few minutes later, she returned with a pitcher of ice water, a cup, and a straw. She poured some for her, and then added the straw, making it easier for Ruby to drink.

  “H
ere you go, honey,” the nurse said.

  “Thank you,” Ruby replied, and then winced because talking hurt.

  “You’ll be drinking your meals for a bit, but you’ll heal. Oh…I’m supposed to tell you that your ride will be here soon. They radioed to have all of your paperwork finished so they could sign you out directly after they arrive,” the nurse said.

  Ruby clasped her hands against her breasts, and her breath caught on a sob.

  “Home. I’m going home.”

  The nurse patted her arm. “I can’t begin to imagine how frightening your ordeal was, but I have to say you are a remarkable woman. Talk about wearing scars. You put some on your kidnapper.”

  “Shhh,” Ruby whispered, pointing to the next bay.

  The nurse waved away Ruby’s concern. “Oh, he’s gone. They just moved him out. You rest a bit. You’re going to have a long ride back to Blessings. The doctor has some pain pills for you to take home and a prescription you’ll get filled there, as well.”

  “Thank you,” Ruby said, pointing at the water.

  “Welcome,” the nurse said, and left.

  Ruby closed her eyes, intending just to rest, but she drifted off to sleep. She was still asleep when Lon and Peanut walked into the room.

  Lon stopped in the doorway, stunned by Ruby’s appearance.

  Peanut nearly went to his knees and reached for the wall to steady himself.

  “Son of a bitch,” Lon whispered, then put a hand on Peanut’s shoulder. “I’ll go sign her out,” he said, and closed the door behind him as he left.

  Peanut moved toward Ruby in a daze. He’d never realized how small she was until now. She’d always been such a bright light that he’d seen her as a kind of Amazon, able to take on whatever she chose to do. What the hell did he say to someone who had endured this?

  When he touched her arm, she woke.

  He leaned over and kissed her forehead.

  “I thought I’d lost you,” he said.

  Ruby’s heart skipped a beat. Peanut was here, and he’d just kissed her!