Ruby

By Emily Mims

FOR THE REST OF ALL TIME

Forty years ago Lexi Barstow and Collins Wentworth thought they had made the biggest mistakes of their lives. Heartbreaking choices and bitter tears cemented a pact that would shape who they were and what they would be. But now so much has changed...except the passion they share and the differences between them. But some things are fixable, and with forever staring them hard in the face, they learn all their decisions brought them to this place...an ever after filled with love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Boroughs Publishing Group
• Release date: May 24, 2018
• ISBN: 9781948029230

Emily Mims

The author of over thirty romance novels, Emily Mims combined her writing career with a career in public education until leaving the classroom to write full time. The mother of two sons, she and her husband split their time between central Texas, eastern Tennessee, and Georgia visiting their kids and grandchildren. For relaxation Emily plays the piano, organ, dulcimer, and ukulele for two different performing groups, and even sings a little. She says, “I love to write romances because I believe in them. Romance happened to me and it can happen to any woman—if she’ll just let it.”

Book preview

THE SMOKY BLUES

Mountains, music, love.

FOR THE REST OF ALL TIME

Forty years ago Lexi Barstow and Collins Wentworth thought they had made the biggest mistakes of their lives. Heartbreaking choices and bitter tears cemented a pact that would shape who they were and what they would be. But now so much has changed...except the passion they share and the differences between them. But some things are fixable, and with forever staring them hard in the face, they learn all their decisions brought them to this place...an ever after filled with love.

ALSO BY EMILY MIMS

The Smoky Blues series

Mist

Smoke

Evergreen

Indigo

Emerald

Mistletoe

Violet

The Texas Hill Country series

Solomon’s Choice

After the Heartbreak

A Gift of Trust

Daughter of Valor

Welcome Home

Unexpected Assets

Never and Always

A Gift of Hope

Once, Again

Other Romances

Season of Enchantment

A Dangerous Attraction

For the Thrill of It All

RUBY

The Smoky Blues – Book Eight

Emily Mims

www.BOROUGHSPUBLISHINGGROUP.com

PUBLISHER’S NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, business establishments or persons, living or dead, is coincidental. Boroughs Publishing Group does not have any control over and does not assume responsibility for author or third-party websites, blogs or critiques or their content.

RUBY

Copyright © 2018 Emily Wright Mims

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. Unless specifically noted, no part of this publication may be reproduced, scanned, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Boroughs Publishing Group. The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or by any other means without the permission of Boroughs Publishing Group is illegal and punishable by law. Participation in the piracy of copyrighted materials violates the author’s rights.

ISBN 978-1-948029-23-0

E-book formatting by Maureen Cutajar

www.gopublished.com

To Roxy Ross – My favorite sassy, sexy redhead.

Every time Lexi speaks I hear your voice.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I’d like to thank all those who helped me with this story. Edwin Floyd, thanks for another great beta read. Charles Mims, thank you for being the best techie ever. Again you had to replace a computer system in an evening when it failed on me halfway through the book. Thanks to the Boroughs art department for a fantastic cover. A special shout-out goes to my publisher and editor, Michelle Klayman, for probably the most perceptive edit any book of mine has ever enjoyed. Michelle, Lexi Barstow is a better woman because of you! Thanks.

CONTENTS

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

About the Author

RUBY

Prologue

Thirty-eight years ago

Kingsport City Councilman Collins Patrick Wentworth lit a cigarette and looked around Duke’s Place from his isolated booth in the back. Patrons in jeans and flannel shirts were shooting the breeze in the smoke-filled dive bar, playing pool and drinking cheap beer and whiskey. Tonight the stage was empty, but he knew from past visits that on weekends there was always a band on that stage—country or bluegrass, or something along those lines. For the tenth time he checked his watch. Where was she? It was getting late. It was over an hour’s drive to get back to Kingsport from this stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and he had to meet with a potential backer for breakfast at seven in the morning.

He considered leaving but thought better of it. He and Lexi had to decide what the hell they were going to do. What they could do about the mess they found themselves in. Lexi was pregnant with his child, but married to another man. He was engaged to Edna Doreen Easton—Dorrie, of the wealthy and influential Easton family—and was planning a run for Congress in a year and a half. As disasters went, this ranked right on up there.

Collins inhaled deeply and felt the familiar nicotine rush soothe his jangling nerves. His eyes drifted to the now-empty stage. That was where he’d first seen the shapely, sexy redhead who had turned his world upside down. She was the only woman in a small, struggling band calling themselves The Barstows. She had on a spangled, ruby-red dress that night, one that should have clashed with her hair but didn’t. Her fingers flew across the strings of her banjo, and when she leaned into the microphone, her husky, smoky, come-hither alto beckoned him like a siren song. He’d put a twenty in the tip jar and made a beeline for her when the band called a break. She’d gone outside for some fresh air and was leaning against an old Ford Galaxie, a single tear snaking down her cheek. That tear had almost put him off, but he’d taken a breath and approached her anyway.

Collins took in another lungful of cigarette smoke. In retrospect, he wished he had let the tear send him running. If he had left her alone, he wouldn’t have learned that she was crying because her husband was cheating on her again. He wouldn’t have asked her to meet him for a drink the next afternoon. He wouldn’t have kissed her after the drink or fallen into her arms in the Abington motel three days later. He wouldn’t have fallen head-over-heels in love with the beautiful, wild, sensuous Lexi Barstow.

He wouldn’t have gotten a married woman pregnant with his child.

He cussed under his breath and ground out the cigarette. It was humbling to realize he had the morals of a tomcat. He loved Dorrie, but he’d cheated on her, exactly like Johnny Barstow had cheated on Lexi. Collins would do the right thing, of course. He’d man up, break it off with Dorrie, and marry Lexi after she was divorced. He’d do right by the child they’d made and kiss his political future good-bye. Despair tasted like ashes on his tongue as he envisioned everything he ever dreamed of moving far beyond his reach. No way would he get the backing he needed to run for Congress if he was married to Lexi Barstow, a blue-collar divorcée who sang in a dive bar band—if her band even survived the divorce. He needed the contacts and influence Dorrie and her family had to make a successful run for a congressional seat.

But he did love Lexi. She’d reached out and grabbed a part of him that no other woman had ever reached, not even Dorrie.

Lexi had touched him on a level he wasn’t even aware had been there. They shared something special. Something really special.

But would that something special he shared with Lexi make up for forfeiting the future he’d longed for all his life? Would that something special make up for Lexi losing the band she and Johnny had founded?

He was lost in thought and about to light another cigarette when Lexi pushed open the door, a gust of chilly wind coming in the bar with her. She wasn’t alone. A good-looking man Collins vaguely recognized from the band followed her in, carrying a small boy who looked exactly like him. Lexi pointed to Collins and the man gave him a go-to-hell look. Collins looked back, hoping he didn’t appear as stunned as he felt. What were Lexi’s rat-bastard husband and five-year-old son doing here tonight?

Lexi and Johnny weaved their way through the closely packed tables to the relatively isolated booth. The adults slid in across from him and Johnny signaled a waitress. The little boy looked at Collins curiously. Who are you? he asked.

Your soon-to-be stepfather? Collins swallowed and looked at the trusting face of the child. I’m—I’m a friend of your mother’s.

Oh. I’m Cooper.

The tired-looking waitress came to the booth. Johnny murmured something to her and she took Cooper by the hand. Let’s go see if we can find you a glass of milk and that coloring book you had so much fun with last week, she said cheerfully.

The child went with her willingly, making Collins wonder how many nights the boy had spent in the back rooms of bars while his parents performed. Collins swallowed again as he watched Cooper walk across the room and disappear into the back. The ugly reality of the situation slapped Collins upside the head. If he and Lexi ended up together, little Cooper would become the product of a broken home. The innocent child would either lose his father, or if Johnny Barstow decided to play hardball, he could end up losing his mother. The same thing that had happened to Collins when his mother took up with his father’s best friend and his parents divorced.

Not a pretty picture any way you looked at it.

Collins turned back to Lexi and Johnny. He waited expectantly. Lexi’s face was pale and tense and Johnny’s was furious. I guess this is the point at which I’m supposed to beat the shit out of you for getting my wife pregnant, he said tightly. Real classy of you, Wentworth.

Or maybe this is the point where your wife beats you in the head with a cast-iron skillet for cheating on her with a University of Tennessee lineman. Not too classy on your part, either. Johnny turned a dull shade of red.

Gentlemen, this isn’t getting us anywhere, Lexi murmured tiredly. Maybe we should stick to business tonight.

I’m prepared to do that, Collins replied. Mr. Barstow?

Johnny nodded. Okay, here’s the deal. The only reason I haven’t kicked your ass three ways to Tuesday and thrown Lexi out on her ear is that I figure on some level I brought this on myself. I’ll be the first to admit I’m a shitty excuse for a husband. If Lexi sought comfort elsewhere, I have to take some of the blame for that.

Collins looked at him in surprise. He wasn’t expecting that kind of honesty out of the man. Okay.

Johnny cleared his throat. I know it doesn’t look like it, with some of the things I’ve done, but I love Lexi, and I’m not willing to give her up. Not without a fight.

Even though she’s pregnant with my child?

Even though. Besides, aren’t you engaged to some fancy society woman? One who can help you with this political career Lexi says you want?

I’m prepared to give it up.

No, I don’t want you to do that, Lexi stated a little too quickly. You don’t have to give up your political future for me.

And you won’t have to, Johnny added. We’re offering you an out. You go on with your life. You marry your society girl and have your political career. Lexi stays married to me. She and I go on making music together.

What about my child? Collins asked.

You walk away, and I’ll raise that child as my own. Nobody will ever know the baby’s not mine.

Yeah, and how will you treat that child? Like the redheaded step-kid? Do you really think you can love my baby like you love that little clone you carried in here?

Johnny glanced over at Lexi and then looked Collins in the eye. Any child of Lexi’s is a child of mine. As far as I’m concerned that baby will be as much mine as Cooper is. And Wentworth, I may be a shitty husband, but I’m a damned good father.

Collins looked over at Lexi and she nodded. He is. He’s an excellent father. Too bad he can’t be that good a husband, she added tartly.

Collins looked from Lexi to Johnny. The man was right. They were offering him an out, a golden opportunity to forge ahead with the grand future he envisioned for himself. He glanced at the door where Cooper and the waitress had disappeared. If he took the deal, he wouldn’t be breaking up a home and costing a five-year-old his father. Lexi could continue making the music that meant everything to her.

It might be the best thing for all of them.

Should he take them up on their offer? Was it going to bother him to turn his back on the baby Lexi carried? Could he trust Johnny Barstow to raise the child right?

Collins took a deep breath. I guess I should be thanking my lucky stars for this, he said slowly. But I have concerns. He looked Johnny in the eye. This whole thing started when I caught your wife out in the parking lot crying because you were cheating on her again. Tell me, is this the atmosphere my child is going to be raised in? Where daddy cheats on mommy and mommy’s lonely and unhappy? Yeah, I know I’m being a hypocrite, he added when Johnny started to object. But you sat here and admitted you’re partly to blame for what happened. I guess I’m asking if you learned anything, or are you going to go right on cheating on Lexi in front of the kids?

I’d like to know the answer to that question myself, Lexi murmured.

Johnny’s face turned red again. I figured out how to make a go of it, and I’m gonna make some changes. He turned to Lexi. Honest, sugar. I’ll clean up my act. Collins waited for Lexi to respond. She took a deep breath, looked down at her stomach, and then gave one quick nod. Johnny turned back to Collins. So do we have a deal?

Collins nodded slowly. We have a deal. He wondered at the strange expression that flickered across Lexi’s face before she smiled wanly. Listen. he turned to Lexi. I’m trusting your husband with the baby. But if he or she ever needs anything, or there’s ever something I can do or help you with, all you have to do is ask.

Lexi nodded once then gave Collins a small smile. He and Johnny shook hands then Collins left enough money on the table to pay for the drinks and a tip before he slid out of the booth.

His eyes burned as he walked out of the bar. Cold wind stung his cheeks and chilled the tears running down his face. He should be relieved, he reminded himself as he walked across the parking lot. He had been absolved of all responsibility. He wouldn’t be breaking up a home. Johnny Barstow would raise the child. Lexi could keep on singing, and with Dorrie, Collins could have the future he’d always dreamed about. Things were going to be all right after all.

So why did he feel like he was leaving a piece of himself behind?

Four Years Ago

THE TRI-COUNTY CLARION

Wednesday, January 25th

SENATOR COLLINS WENTWORTH DIVORCING,

DAUGHTER WITH LEXI BARSTOW DISCOVERED

Staff Report

Senator Collins Wentworth’s office confirmed today that the senator’s