“Sure, you say that. But if it wasn’t for Nita, would you have still married me?”

Yvonne hesitated. Did she even know the answer to that?

Ruby threw her hands up. “See, this is what I mean! You act like you’re this awful, cold-hearted person when you’re not. You act like you don’t care about anyone when you do. You’re always pushing everyone away so that you’ll end up all alone because that’s what you think you want, when really you’re just trying to protect yourself.”

Yvonne raised an eyebrow. “When we met, you said you were a therapist. Is that what this is?”

“You’re avoiding the question. I’m not wrong, am I? You’re afraid of people hurting you, rejecting you.”

Yvonne crossed her arms. “What do you want me to say, Ruby? That I’m all hung up on the fact that I spent most of my life being shoved aside, being resented just for existing?”

“It wouldn’t be surprising if you were.”

“I’m not. I don’t think about any of that.”

“Maybe you don’t think about it,” Ruby said. “But you feel it. I know you do.”

Yvonne opened her mouth to protest, but she found she couldn’t. It was true. Yvonne did feel it. She’d never stopped feeling it. And she felt it more than ever now that Ruby had come along and made Yvonne want to open up to her.

But how could Yvonne open up to anyone? Every time in her life, when she’d sought love and acceptance, she’d been abandoned, rejected, hurt. Her mother had left her alone in the world before she was old enough to find her own way. Her father, the one man who was supposed to love her, had seen her as a nuisance, something he wished he could get rid of. Her stepmother, her brother, had treated her with such contempt, had made her feel alone and unwanted like she wasn’t deserving of her father’s love, or anyone else’s.

“Believe me, I understand how hard it is to trust after you’ve been hurt. But if you give people a chance, you’ll see that it’s worth it.” Ruby placed her hand on Yvonne’s arm. “You need to stop pushing everyone away.”

Yvonne sighed. “It’s hard to break old habits. I’ve become so accustomed to living this way.”

“Lucky for you, I’m one person you can’t push away. I’m not going anywhere. We signed a contract. Two, in fact. And we took a vow. You’re stuck with me.” Ruby planted a gentle kiss on Yvonne’s cheek. “Now lie back down. I need to finish that massage.”

Yvonne felt a spike of irritation at Ruby’s bossiness. Nevertheless, she lay down again, closed her eyes and rested her head in her arms once more.

As Yvonne surrendered to the other woman’s touch, Ruby’s words played in her mind. I’m not going anywhere. That wasn’t quite true. Their arrangement had an expiration date. When the year was over, Ruby would be gone.

Could Yvonne really let Ruby walk out of her life?