be born. And whatever happened, she knew she’d never trust Zack again. That hadn’t changed from the day before, and she didn’t think it ever would. What was she going to do now? She had two babies with a man she was sure had cheated on her and probably still was, and perhaps had all along. Zack was turning into his father. He had cheated on Zack’s mother for their entire marriage, and Zack hated him for it. He had lost all respect for him when he found out. And now Ruby wondered if he was doing the same thing.
As she thought about it, he handed her a familiar little gray box. She knew something was in it that she didn’t want. She didn’t want gifts from him now. When she opened it, it was the biggest ruby she’d ever seen, a cushion-cut fifty carat pigeon’s-blood ruby, the best there was. He was trying to buy her off. The measure of his guilt was in the size of his gifts. She understood that now. She wanted to give it back but she didn’t.
When her grandparents came, she couldn’t even pretend to be happy. She just cried and clung to her grandmother. Eleanor could see in Ruby’s eyes how upset she still was. She knew why she had gone into labor so quickly, and hadn’t called anyone, and so did Zack. Eleanor looked at him and he could tell that Ruby had told her. Alex was very quiet too. They admired the baby, talked to Ruby for a little while, and then they left, and Ruby was alone with him.
“You can’t let this come between us forever, Ruby. You just can’t.”
“That’s why you gave me the car,” she said miserably, and knew she’d never touch it again. It was spoiled for her, just as he was now.
“That’s ridiculous. I just thought it was fun,” he said, but they both knew it wasn’t true. She was onto him. She wondered how long he had been cheating on her. Maybe the whole time. They had two children now, and they needed two parents. She wasn’t going to do what her mother had done, and abandon them, or deprive them of Zack. She had to stay with him, for them. Kendall and Nick needed their father, but something in her was so deeply wounded she doubted she could ever forgive him. Their whole marriage seemed like a sham now. She didn’t know how long he’d been cheating on her, but she suspected that the blonde in his office was not the first one, and maybe not the only one.
Ruby went home two days after Nicholas was born. The mood was somber as soon as they got home. There was none of the joy that had accompanied Kendall’s birth. The baby was healthy, but their marriage no longer was.
Zack set out to prove she was wrong. He was gentle and kind to her and apologetic, wonderful with the baby, thrilled to have a son. He was patient with Ruby, and lavished attention on her. He was home with her every night. Eleanor could see how big an effort he was making, and Ruby made none. She was completely closed off.
It was August and they were in Tahoe when she finally began to soften a little and warmed up to Zack again. They went for long walks, and she didn’t say anything, but he could tell she had begun to forgive him. Whatever he had done, Eleanor was well aware that Ruby had made him pay dearly for it, and she felt sorry for both of them.
By the time they got back to the city at the end of August, things were almost back to normal again. Ruby was more reserved with him than she had been before, and more cautious, but she was inching toward Zack again, and he clung to her like a drowning man. He didn’t want to lose her, and he was willing to do anything to restore their marriage to what it had been before, if that was possible. She finally slept with him again in September. It had taken three months after Nicholas was born.
They spent Thanksgiving with Alex and Eleanor, since Zack’s parents didn’t celebrate holidays with him anymore, and hadn’t for years. He had usually spent it with friends until he and Ruby were married. His mother went to her husband’s family, and his father went on a trip with his girlfriend of the hour every