Ruby swiftly parades through the door with a ball gown enclosed in plastic wrap, draped over her arms. “She wants me to give you this dress,” she says, clearly irritated with something. “It must be thirty years old.”

“What is it?” I ask, stretching and climbing out of bed.

“This is what she wants you to wear tonight.” Ruby looks at me, her lips tight and an expression on the brink of a major eye roll.

It takes me a moment to put it together.

The gala is tonight. I nearly forgot with the emotional iceberg of what happened last night, but now I remember that there was more than the deed on my mind keeping me awake. The gala is not my scene, at all, and something about being out of this house, cavorting with the wealthy business owners and city council members makes me nervous.

There is no chance of Hugo being there, but we really aren’t all that far from Newport, and if I left this house, drawing attention to myself, he would find me like a shark finds blood.

“This is really what she wants?” I ask, hoping Ruby will find a loophole in Hazel’s wishes.

“You know she does.”

Knowing what I know about the deed, Hazel’s plans of pushing me and Murph together makes so much more sense. She’s sending us off to this gala, and she probably orchestrated that whole thing too, pulling out the invitation like she was putting on a show.

I should be angry about it, but her heart is in the right place. And I hate to break her heart, but this love connection isn’t going to happen. Especially now with the keys to my future in my hand. Letting her down breaks my heart, but I don’t have much room for that either.

“Is she awake?” I ask, as I head toward the hallway, eager to greet her, maybe to let her know I know the truth. That I found her cryptic letter.

“No, she’s still out,” Ruby answers, avoiding my eyes. “Hospice nurse is coming in an hour.”

My feet stop on their own accord. The hospice nurse feels like the grim reaper. She comes more and more frequently, a constantly returning omen that the end is near, and the feeling of giving up just makes me irritable. I can only imagine how this will go over for Murph.

“Maybe you could occupy Mr. Murphy today?” Ruby says, her tone half-joking. She must have read my mind because she’s clearly nervous about his reaction too.

“Occupy him?” I ask, turning my nose up.

“You know what I mean,” Ruby answers, the lilt in her voice teasing.

“If he misses the hospice nurse, I’m afraid there’s nothing either of us will be able to do to make him happy.”

It’s quiet for a moment as Ruby finishes doing whatever chore she’s currently working on. “I wouldn't be so sure about that,” she mumbles.

“There is nothing between us like that.” My voice comes out bolder and harsher than I mean it too. It gets very awkward after that, and I almost feel bad, but the events of the evening have me on edge. I cannot—cannot—get romantically involved with anyone right now, most of all, the person that’s about to despise me very much.