The Way You Are Read Online Free PDF Page A

cup of green tea. Ruby hated the stuff, and preferred a cup of ho t, black coffee, but her mother insisted on the tea.
    “After you finish that, you should get in the shower, Ruby. You’re a mess.”
    She sighed, guessing her mother worried about getting dirt and dust all over the pink bedroom. As far as she was concerned, her mother had a little OCD going when it came to cleanliness and had no tolerance for anything she deemed ‘dirt y. ’ Horses and dust definitely fell into that category.
    “Are you sure you’re okay, honey?” she asked as she ran her hand over Ruby’s hair, as if she petted a cat.
    “I’m fine, Mo m. Just a little shook up.”
    “Good. Your dad will be home soon. He’s very concerned.”
    “Well, I was almost kidnapped.”
    “Yes, honey. I can’t imagine how frightening that must have been for you.”
    Her mom sat down on the cushion across from he r .
    “If it weren’t for Midnight, they might have gotten away with it,” Ruby said.
    Her mother scrunched her nose, her distain for the ‘large, smelly beasts’ palpable. “Ruby, it’s a horse. I doubt it can process the need to aid someone. It understands food, defecatin g, and running around.”
    She stared at her mother and shook her head. Mom had never really liked animals, finding them all dirty. “You’re wrong, Mom.”
    “Well, I don’t think—”
    “Ruby!” her father’s voice bellowed from the foyer.
    Her mother rolled her eyes and went to the door. “She’s up here, Stewart!”
    He quickly climbed the stairs and ran down the hall, his footsteps muffled by the carpet. Barging into the room, he looked her up and down as she stood. “Honey! Are you okay?”
    She nodded as he embraced her and she laid her cheek against his crisp, white dress shirt.
    A moment late r, he let go of her, holding her at arms’ length so he could study her again.
    “I’m fine, Dad. Just a little freaked out.”
    “I bet,” he said, just as she noticed the dirt smudges on his shirt. Her mother would have a fit once she saw them. “I’ve decided not to involve the police in this, Ruby. I’m going to handle this myself.”
    “What do you mean?” she asked, confused. She had almost been kidnapped, so it seemed a phone call to the police should be Priority Number One.
    Her father sighed. “The police aren’t going to be able to give this the responsiveness that I’m going to require. They’re understaffed and overworked. I don’t want this to become another case number—I want someone’s full attention on this until it’s resolved.”
    If the police weren’t called, then the kidnappers could never go to jail. Therefore, how would this be ‘resolved?’
    “What does that mean, Dad?”
    Her father pulled her to him again and she heard his heart thumping in his chest.
    “It means, no one messes with my beautiful daughter. You let me worry about it, okay?”
    Ruby nodded, uncertain if she liked the sound of that.

Chapter 6
    “Mr. McDermott, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Joe Smith.”
    After shaking her father’s han d, the man in the wheelchair rolled himself through the front door and into the foyer, followed by another man wearing a tracksuit. Joe Smith glanced around at the black marble floor and white marble columns that reached up to the twenty-foot high ceilings.
    “It’s nice to meet yo u, as well,” Ruby’s father said. “I’ve heard great things about you.”
    Joe nodded as his gaze met Ruby’s. “I assume this lovely young woman is Ms. McDermott?”
    “Yes. That’s my daughter, Ruby. The one I contacted you about.”
    Ruby stepped forward and extended her hand. Joe’s cool, smoot h, and firm handshake sent a shiver through her as his warm blue gaze studied her. She’d met more than a few world leaders and oil barons, and Joe gave off the same air as they did—powerful and confident, with an undercurrent of something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Danger, perhaps?
    And maybe she was just