Jill Steeples - Hopelessly Devoted To You

‘Everything okay?’

‘Mmm. Yes, fine.’ Ruby flapped a tea towel in front of her face to try and rid the kitchen of the smell of burning and to fan the heat from her glowing cheeks. ‘How would you like your steak cooked?’

Finn widened his deep blue eyes, a bemused smile flickering at the corners of his mouth.

‘Ideally rare, but however it comes is fine by me.’

What made her ask that? She sounded like a disinterested waitress. She knew everything there was to know about Finn, including how he liked his steak cooked.

She’d sat through enough expensive restaurant meals to know what he’d choose from a menu without even asking him. Judging by Finn’s expression, he was as bemused by her question as she was.

‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ His hands found her shoulders, his fingertips massaging her tense muscles as his warmly familiar features observed her closely. A shiver ran the length of her body. ‘It’s just that you seem a bit distracted, a bit uptight. We could always go out to eat instead, if you prefer.’

‘No!’ she snapped, extracting herself from his distracting hold. Why did he have to be so goddam reasonable the whole time? It drove her mad. ‘It’s almost done now. Go and sit down. Take the glasses through. I’ll be there in a minute.’

She could do this. She had to do this. She plonked the steaks on the plate. They were more chargrilled now than rare, to match the potatoes and her mood, but they would have to do. She was really past caring about the state of the food.

Chapter Two

Okay. Here goes, Ruby thought. It was now or never.

‘That was delicious.’ Finn smiled, pushing his plate to one side. ‘Let me go and fetch the champagne. I’ve got some news.’

Before Ruby’s mouth had even dropped open to numero uno unflattering pose, Finn was up and out into the kitchen, opening cupboard doors, leaving Ruby wondering how she’d missed her moment. What news could Finn possibly have? Maybe, just maybe, he’d been feeling the same way as her and wanted to call off their engagement. Wouldn’t that be a result? Only Finn wouldn’t be sweating over what to say or how to do it, he would just break open a bottle of finest champagne and announce it in his inimitable style. They’d raise a toast to the time they’d spent together and to their future separate lives and they would vow to stay in touch and remain good friends and there would be no hard feelings between them.

Now she was delving into the realms of fantasy. One thing she was certain of was Finn’s total and all-consuming love for her.

‘News?’ she said weakly, when he returned with the flutes and champagne bottle, the big smile on his face suggesting it was only good news he had to tell.

‘Yes. Owen Richardson called me into his office today.’ A smile lit up his features, his eyes shining with pride. ‘They’ve made me a partner.’

Ruby’s mouth fell open to say something but there was nothing forthcoming. Her mind ran over this shattering news.

‘Really? Oh, my goodness! That’s…that’s…’

Oh, God, no! Not today. Of all days. Was the God of Coincidences conspiring against Ruby to bring Finn the best news he could ever hope for on the day she was planning to give him the worst news he could ever imagine? She couldn’t have planned it worse if she’d tried.

‘That’s amazing,’ she managed, remembering she was still the devoted girlfriend. She forced herself to leap up from the chair and wrap her arms around Finn for a congratulatory hug.

It was amazing. More than amazing when she came to think of it. It was what Finn had been working for all those years, part of the master plan, but neither of them could have expected it to come now, so soon.

‘I know.’ He pulled back from her embrace, holding her at arm’s length, his eyes roaming her face with barely concealed excitement. ‘It’ll make me the youngest partner in the history of the firm. All those things we wanted to do, Ruby, we can do them so much sooner now.’

‘The youngest partner in the history of the firm.’ She shook her head, trying to take in the enormity of the news. ‘Congratulations, Finn. You really do deserve it.’ She forced herself to kiss him lightly on the lips. ‘Have you told your parents?’

‘Not yet. I haven’t told anyone. I wanted you to be the first to know.’ He squeezed her hand. ‘You know how much this means to me. It’s what I’ve been working for the last ten plus years. For it to come now, just before we get married, well, it’s beyond my wildest expectations. This is not just my victory, Ruby, you know that. It’s our victory. Everything I do, everything I work for, it’s for us, our future.’

He handed her a glass of champagne and she raised it briefly to his before downing the whole lot in one go. She loved champagne, loved the way the bubbles tickled her nostrils, loved its restorative effects, but today it went down without even touching the sides. She was already feeling woozy and light-headed, although whether that was from her earlier glasses of wine or the unexpected turn of events she really didn’t know.

Finn observed her amusedly before quickly topping up her glass to the brim.

‘I know. It took me by surprise I can tell you. I was thinking this would come in a couple of years’ time, but Owen reckons I’m ready it for now. He said he wanted to make sure my future stayed firmly with Richardsons. He didn’t want me being poached by another firm.’

‘Wow!’ said Ruby, feeling her cheeks stinging with adrenaline. ‘That is just amazing,’ she swooned. Although thinking about it, it wasn’t really that amazing. Not as far as Finn was concerned.

He’d sailed through grammar school, amassing a collection of A* in all his exams; he’d been captain of both the cricket and rugby teams and played for the county teams too; he was president of the debating society and went on to win a place at Oxford to read law. For the most part, what Finn set his mind to, Finn got. He was one of life’s golden boys. She wouldn’t be surprised if he became an astronaut one day or the Prime Minister or the President of the United States. And she definitely didn’t fancy being wife to any of those people.

She sighed inwardly at the enormity of the task in front of her. Could tonight be the night his halo was about to lose some of its bling?

‘I’ve got news too,’ she blurted out, surprising herself. Her words cut through the atmosphere and hung awkwardly in the air.

‘Really? That’s great.’ Finn’s jaw did a small sideward shift action. ‘Let’s have it, then.’

You see, that was the thing. She never really had news of her own. Well, not the sort of news Finn was used to sharing. The ‘oh, wow, look at me, look what I’ve just done’ kind of news. Her kind of news was of the ‘I went in town and bought this amazing dress, not my usual thing, it was a bit retro, but then I met Laura for lunch and she talked me out of it, said it made me look like someone’s mother so I decided to take it back and I bought this other one. Much more me. Then we went to that new coffee place on High Street and I had a piece of the most amazing carrot cake’ variety. Not really earth-shattering, attention-grabbing type news.

Although in fairness, Finn always managed to deliver his good fortune with a good helping of magnanimity and humility. It just hadn’t occurred to her before. That she’d never been the one with any discernible good news. Looked as if today wasn’t going to be the exception to that rule either.

‘I can’t marry you.’ The words slipped out before she’d really had a chance to decide whether it was a good idea or not.

Silence. A deafening silence.

‘Sorry?’

She’d said it now. She couldn’t unsay it. Couldn’t pretend that really she meant something else entirely.