excerpt
“Hello Mrs. Harrison,” Millie said, “I saw you come in, but I’m sure you don’t recognize me. I’m Millie Harper, Tyne’s aunt.”
Ruby hesitated, then swallowed. “Oh yeah, I didn’t notice you.”
“Ronald will be happy you’re here,” Millie said. “I’d just been telling him that you’d be coming again soon.”
Tyne glanced from her aunt to Ruby, and then to the boy whose wide open eyes were darting between them. Her anger had dissipated, just as she was sure Aunt Millie had intended, but now she felt annoyed with her aunt for defusing the situation so rapidly.
Why did you have to stop me from giving Ruby a piece of my mind, Auntie? It would have felt so good.
Ruby was looking at her, waiting for a greeting, but Tyne simply nodded in her direction and walked away. She stayed at Bobby’s bedside for several minutes after she saw Ruby leave. Aunt Millie touched her on the shoulder.
“Bobby’s just gone to sleep, so he probably won’t wake for a while. He seemed a little more comfortable. I’m going for a coffee. Want anything?”
“No, I’m fine, thanks. Moe and I had coffee with Carol Ann.”
“Good. I won’t be long.”
Millie went out, and Tyne soon followed to return to the waiting room. She had a lot to think about, not least of which was the fact she hadn’t heard a word from Morley since he left for Medicine Hat two days ago.
But her thinking would have to wait, she discovered as she entered the waiting room. Ruby stood inside, her back to the door, staring at the wall where a print of a little girl sitting in a field of daisies hung above the sofa.
Tyne’s head went up. “Well, Ruby?”
The woman swung around, and Tyne saw that her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, her face bare of makeup.
“I have to talk to you,” Ruby said quietly. She reached into her handbag for a pack of cigarettes, glanced at Tyne, then sighed and stuffed them back in her bag.
Libros Libertad 