Cruel Heart

PART 12

"He showed up at your work?" Ruth exclaimed, her eyes flared wide.

Mia nodded. She rearranged the blanket along her legs, the tattered quilt one of Ruth's botched crochet attempts. "Right after my date with Harlan." Mia shrugged. The whole thing had felt surreal.

Just too ridiculous to be reality.

She knew Lake had a hard time letting things go. But this was too much. Even for Lake.

"He just stepped out of the shadows like he was waiting," Mia continued.

Ruth shivered. "Fucking perv," she mumbled while reaching over Mia's lap for another handful of popcorn. "I never liked that guy," she admitted with a mouthful of butter and salt.

Mia snorted. "No way," she exclaimed dryly. "I never would have guessed." It wasn't a secret Ruth hated Lake. Ever since Mia introduced the two to one another it had been an instant feud.

It's like she had a sixth sense for sniffing out losers.

"Get rid of him," had been Ruth's first words after she'd first met Lake. Now if only Mia had actually listened to that sage advice.

No. The only one that seemed to actually genuinely like Lake was Gigi. Again, another red flag that Mia should have been more primed to notice.

"Enough about Lake," Jan, Ruth's girlfriend, chimed in while strolling into the living room. She plopped herself onto the couch beside Ruth. "I want to know how the date with Mr. Dream Boat went," she teased with a wink.

Ruth clapped her hands together with a giggle. "Yeah! How was the date?"

Mia sat back, a soft smile pulling at her lips. One thought of Harlan had every Lake related topic melting away like snow under the winter sun.

"It was..." Mia signed. She'd never been at a loss for words before. Especially when it came to a guy. "Amazing," she said at last.

Jan snuggled under Ruth's arm with a lazy grin. "Where'd you two crazy kids go?" she asked. Mia liked Jan. She was smart, she didn't party, and she'd made Ruth a better person over the past few years.

How Ruth managed to snag a girl like Jan was beyond Mia. She loved her sister, but Ruth's typical type was ditzy blondes who thought JFK was the chicken guy, Colonel Sanders, from KFC.

Jan was different. She was light and happy and everything Ruth tended to forget was important. It took her sister too long to realize that stone cold facts and logic couldn't formulate happiness.

Mia was just glad that Ruth had finally found her Juliette.

The only one that had a problem with Jan was their Dad. But as far as that man's opinion went, Mia couldn't care less what the guy thought.

He was a homophobic SOB. And that was only one of the reasons she hadn't talked to him in almost over a year.

Mia shook her head. No reason to spoil a good night. Well, what would have been a good night if Lake hadn't shown up.

"We went to this place called Twyla's," Mia said with a dreamy smile. "It was magical."

Jan and Ruth both burst out with barks of laughter.

Mia frowned. "What's so funny?"

Jan shook her head with a wave of her hand. "Nothing, nothing."

"We're just really happy for you!" Ruth chimed in.

"Yeah," Jan urged. "It's been a while since you've seemed so...happy."

Ruth nodded. "Too long, sis."