Duskwood - Choose or Lose

Chapter 3

Cindy POV

I slipped into my car and drove straight to the park, having absolutely no idea why she was there. During the drive, I thought about why Jake had changed so much. She was right, I hadn't seen him since his promotion. Only briefly when I picked up Aiden from a group party. But now that I heard him on the phone, I knew she was right. This wasn't the Jake we knew anymore. That was Jake the asshole.

I didn't get it, he was so nervous when he proposed to Ruby. He planned everything with Jessy and me for weeks, he wanted it to be perfect. He invested so much time and money in this proposal. Why was he behaving like a complete idiot now? Didn't he realize that he couldn't keep Ruby with him with this behavior forever? And certainly not if he cheats on her!

Just thinking about how Ruby is feeling right now makes my heart clench painfully. She brought me and Aiden back together by giving him his freedom back and I would never be able to thank her enough for that. She kept our father alive by following in his footsteps and racing on his behalf. He would be so incredibly proud of her. I didn't know how much more pain she could take, though. I really hoped that Jake didn't destroy her.

I arrived at the park's lot, and I parked next to Ruby. Since everyone was still working, the park was pretty empty. I spotted her on a bench in front of a small pond. A duck sat next to the bench, and she let Ruby feed her grass and dandelions. I had to smile, she had always liked doing that as a child. Feed ducks. When she found out that bread wasn't healthy for ducks, she started crying because she thought she had killed ducks. Some things never change.

Before I could go to her, my phone vibrated, a message from Aiden. I opened the message, "Jake didn't cheat on Ruby. He just turned into an asshole. I'm having such trouble calming him down. He asked if you could ask Ruby to call him."

I quickly texted him back, "I don't think she wants to talk to him, but I can try."

It reassured me that it was apparently a misunderstanding. Still, that doesn't excuse his behavior. I arrived at the bench and scared the duck away.

"Aw, man," I whined.

Ruby looked up at me through teary eyes and patted the bench next to her. I sat down next to her and put my arm around my big sister. She laid her head gratefully on my shoulder and let out a soft sob. We said nothing for a while and listened to the croaking of the ducks and the lapping of the water.

A light wind blew, and the colorful leaves of the trees fell down to the ground. A few ended up on the bench too and Ruby picked up a big red one. She turned the leave over in her hand and looked at it. She smiled wistfully and looked at me sadly.

"Do you remember how we used to build snowmen here with dad or collect leaves for our collection in autumn?"

Whenever she was sad, she liked to remember the times with our dad. It helped her forget the pain.

"Yeah, I remember that. Also how we always came home with buckets of chestnuts and mom never knew what to do with all those chestnuts," I giggled.

"It's amazing that we lived so close to Duskwood back then. I never thought I'd end up here in the future."

I had an idea, "How about we make another little collector's book with colorful leaves, huh?"

She smiled a little, "Aren't we a little too old for this?"

"You're never too old for something like that, come on!"

I decided not to tell her about Jake for now, she was so peaceful right now. She deserved some peace after all those stressful months with Jake. The months have only been so stressful because of Jake.