She washed her face and tied back her hair. Too eager to get going, she skipped any makeup and went to her closet. She didn’t even bother looking at pants. If he wanted to fuck, God help her, she wanted to be ready.
She settled on a mini-floral-print fifties sundress and ballet flats. Grabbing a cardigan from a hanger, she headed to the kitchen where Mark was cleaning up the melted ice cream they’d abandoned earlier.
He dumped the carton into the garbage. “Wow. I’m impressed. I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman who could get ready as fast as you can.”
Shrugging, she dumped cold coffee from their neglected mugs into the sink. “It’s an old habit, I guess. I never had time to primp when I was growing up.”
“Because you were taking care of your sister.”
“I guess. So, everything okay with Yvette?” she asked lightly.
He shrugged, but she saw a tension in his body that hadn’t been there before. “Everything’s fine.”
It obviously wasn’t, but she ignored the subject and pulled some bread off the counter. “You want something to eat? Coffee? Toast?”
“I’d love both.”
She threw out the old coffee filter and added a fresh one, measured out the appropriate amount of grounds, and turned on the machine. Then she stuck four slices of bread in the toaster. They fell into a relaxed silence until she placed their afternoon breakfast on the table.
She watched him take a huge gulp of coffee. “So tell me more. What was it like growing up Mark St. Crow, musical prodigy?”
He rolled his eyes. “Considering I could barely play ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ on the piano until I was five, I’d hardly call myself a prodigy.” He pointed a half-eaten piece of toast at her. “Not that I didn’t try. I’ve been playing since before I can even remember. But that Mary and her lamb were so damn elusive.”
Laughing, she just shook her head at him. “And your parents were supportive?”
“Yeah. Sometimes I think Dad’s living vicariously through my career. You know, achieving what he couldn’t because he had to settle down.”
She nibbled her toast, wanting to hear more. “What do your parents think of your lifestyle? All this travel? The instability?”
“They’re proud of how hard I work, but I don’t think they quite get how tough life on the road is. It’s not all sex and drugs and rock and roll. Well, it’s not the last two things, anyway,” he said with a wink.
“And what about you?” she asked gently, not wanting to scare him but needing an answer. “Don’t you ever want to settle down? Have a family?”
He shifted in his seat. “And give up my glamorous lifestyle?” he said with a laugh. “No way.”
“I’m serious. You can’t live out of a suitcase forever.”
“I’m only twenty-nine; I have plenty of time to get tied down.”
She raised her brows. “You mean when you’re old? Like in your late thirties?”
A tinge of red actually stained his cheeks. “I didn’t mean it like that…”
“Don’t worry, I know what you meant. You want to enjoy it while you can.” She sipped her coffee. “And I think you should.”
He looked surprised. “Really?”
“Why not? Like you said, you’re young. Free. You have the world at your fingertips. Why shouldn’t you enjoy it?”
“Right,” he said. “Maybe one day I’ll slow down, but not now.”
The words hung in the air for a few minutes before Ruby asked, “Are your parents still together?”
“For better or worse. Despite everything, even after all these years, they’re still pretty into each other. Every year at Christmas I catch them kissing under the mistletoe.” He gave a mock shudder.
“That’s so sweet! They sound perfect.” Ruby had a flash of she and Mark sharing a comfortable holiday kiss and quickly shoved the disturbing image aside.
He laughed wryly. “Far from it. Sometimes I think they want to kill each other. Hell, Mom’s packed his bags more than a few times.”
She sat back. “Really?”
“You look shocked.”
“Well… your childhood just sounds so ideal, so wonderful. You had mistletoe, for God’s sake! But then you say your mom’s kicked your dad out of the house—more than once. I don’t know, it’s just confusing to me.”
“Why? It’s pretty normal when you think about it. You take two people from two totally different backgrounds, give them a baby and tell them they have to live together for the rest of their lives. Forever.” He shrugged. “There’s bound to be problems. And then the question becomes, what are you gonna do about it? Stay together, or get a divorce?”