Ruby (Orlan Orphans Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

could be half the mother Mrs. Hayes was, she would be thrilled.
    Lewis looked around the store, and seeing he had no customers, he leaned down and kissed her like he wanted to, pulling her body to his and ravishing her mouth.  "I can't wait 'til tomorrow when I won't have to stop at a kiss."
    Ruby blushed.  "I should go."
    He laughed softly.  "You're going to like making love, Ruby.  I promise."
    She hurried from the store, not looking back.  She was halfway home before she realized that she'd forgotten to mention Penny to him.  The other girl was only sixteen, but she wanted to work after school, doing Ruby's job, so she could make some extra money.  Ruby suspected she may have a sweetheart at school, but she had no proof of it.
    When she got home, Edna Petunia was in the kitchen, baking cakes.  The whole house smelled wonderful, and it was all Ruby could do to stifle her sweet tooth, and not beg for some of the cake right then.  "Where's Cletus?" she asked.
    Edna Petunia sighed.  "He's gotten it into his head that he needs to be the sheriff around here.  He's too old, and I don't know what he's thinking, but that's what he says he's going to do."
    "Why?"
    "I think it's because of you girls.  He's afraid that something will happen to one of you, and he'll have to go kill whoever hurts you.  Says it'll be easier to explain away if he's the sheriff."
    Ruby shook her head.  "Sounds like he has it all figured out."
    "Oh, the old coot hasn't figured anything out.  He just thinks he has."  Edna Petunia waved Ruby to the table.  "I made lunch for us.  Are you hungry?"
    Ruby shrugged, eyeing the sandwiches Edna put on the table.  The old woman was usually home alone all day, and Ruby could tell she was pleased to have some company for a change.  "What kind of sandwiches are they?"
    "Chicken salad.  They're one of my favorites, but I don't usually take the time to fix them if it's just me."
    "You know you could fix them for supper.  None of us girls are used to the fancy cooking you do every night."
    Edna shrugged.  "I know that.  I feel like you've all been deprived for years, so you need someone to take good care of you."
    Ruby sighed.  "I know we grew up in an orphanage, but none of us ever felt like we were missing out on anything.  Mrs. Hayes made us all feel loved.  The only time we felt deprived at all was when we were kicked out of the orphanage."
    "I'm still going to do everything I can for you girls.  I want you to have the best lives you possibly can.  Bastard children deserve love!"
    Ruby shook her head at Edna.  "You know most of us aren't really bastards, right?"
    "My love for you is just as strong."
     
    *****
     
    There was much laughter and frivolity that evening as all the girls gathered around while Penny worked on taking in Mrs. Hayes's dress for Ruby. 
    Opal was going to stand up with her sister and was wearing her new Sunday dress that she'd just finished making.  She modeled it for the other girls while they sat in the informal parlor, laughing. 
    "I can't believe Ruby's marrying someone other than David.  It's like the world is coming to an end!"  Hope shook her head as if she were trying to understand what was going on around her.
    "I've realized that falling in love when you're a schoolgirl is a lot different than falling in love when you're a woman."  Ruby deliberately kept her statement vague.  She didn't even want the girls or Edna Petunia to realize that she wasn't in love with Lewis.
    "Is he coming by tonight?" Opal asked. She was the only one who knew the full truth about Ruby's marriage with Lewis other than Mrs. Hayes.
    Ruby shook her head.  "We didn't plan for it.  I think the boys wanted their father to themselves for one more night before I invaded their lives."  She was only half-joking.  She had no idea what to expect from the boys.
    "They're fortunate to be getting a good Christian mother," Sarah Jane told them. 
    Sarah Jane had always gotten on Ruby's