fridge and plops them down on the stump table.
âThis looks great!â We dig spoons into yogurt with bananas and granola. Rocky meows, wanting some. âHe really shouldnât be eating anything other than his special-diet food. âCourse, I wonder if mouse would be considered special diet . I should talk about diet!â
âEve, youâve been fussing about your bloody weight ever since I met you. I think you should face the fact that youâreâ¦well, youâre a fine figure of a woman. Who the hell wants to be as skinny as I am, anyway?â Ruby asks through crunching granola.
âI appreciate thatâI do. Iâve fought with my weight forever! Dietsâ¦food plans, rice-only, protein-only, liquid dietsâ¦you name it. The only thing that ever really worked was Weight Watchers. But I cheated every chance I could.â
âWe need to back off women nowadays. Thereâs nothing wrong with just being the best and healthiest you can beâ¦without killing yourself.â She scoops up Rocky under one arm and carries her bowl with the other. âLetâs finish eating out on the porch. Seems a shame to waste all this nice morning sunshine.â
âI love the porch.â I follow her and sit on a cushy love seat.
âI enjoy eating out here when the sun is just beginning to come full force.â Ruby pulls up a wooden stool. âWhere were we? Oh yesâ¦women and weight.â
âItâs all a part of fitting in and not being different and God, I used to hate taking showers in gym class. I had breasts way before the other girls did. I could feel their curious eyes on me. Made me feel soâ¦busty.â I absently pull my sweatshirt out a bit.
âIn my day,â Ruby says with a sigh, âit was pretty much the sameâ¦the âfitting inâ part. Everyone trying to look like everyone else. I was short and skinny.â
âI know the short partââ
âIn high school it was more important to have your hair rolled just so, your blouse pressed right and a wool skirt with shiny shoes.â
âFor some reason I thought Ed was a high school romance. Were you doing all that fussing for him orâ¦?â
âI met Ed my second year of college. I saw him coming out of the library and just knew he was the one for me. That and the fact that he was the most handsome man I ever laid eyes on. Had the most stubborn head of wild black hair, always falling into his eyes. Greenâthe greenest eyes.â She looks out to the lake.
âA college romance. Details, I want details!â
âWell, itâs really very simple: we started dating and before you could say âPrince Charles has big earsâ we fell madly and completely in love. After he graduatedâ I still had two years leftâwe married. I dropped out; the natural thing in that day was to get busy making a family.â Ruby fidgets with her fork.
âThe kid thingâ¦right?â
âWe tried and tried, they didnât have the fertility drugs that make you have litters back then. No matter what, we couldnât get me pregnant.â Ruby shakes her head. âThough I have no regrets of all the effort put into it, mind you.â She winks.
âDid you ever stop to think that maybe it was him?â
âI have never told a soul this.â She leans way in. Like someoneâs going to hear us out here in the middle of nowhere. âIt was him; he was so embarrassed.â
âAh ha!â
âAnd you know, I wasnât as fired up about having children as Ed was anyway. I think a part of me was so relieved I wouldnât have to face some possible dread or resentment I may have had towards anything that took time from Ed and me.â
âYou wouldâve made a fabulous mother, but Iâm glad you couldnât either. I wouldâve been out to lunch as far as you and Iâ¦the cottage. Things would have all been