Chapter 172

Tessa’s POV

“Remind me again why you are making me go with you?” Ruby asked as we arrived at her apartment early the next morning.

“Because I need a friend with me,” I told her with a shrug. “And you are kind of the only friend I have.”

“But a farm?” She whined.

I sat on her bed and watched as she rummaged through her drawers and closet to find clothes to pack in her suitcase.

“It’s where I grew up,” I told her for the hundredth time. “My mother’s birthday is on Saturday, and I’d like to see her grave.”

That wasn’t a lie; I really did want to see my mother’s grave. I might not remember much about her, but whenever I look at photos or hear stories, I feel like she’s still with us. I feel connected to her in a way that I can’t really explain.

She felt like my home.

I hadn’t been to her grave in years, but I really needed to feel at home.

With one look at my face, Ruby knew I needed that too and sighed.

“What do I even pack for the farm?” She asked, as she pulled out a bunch of clothes and threw them on the bed beside me.

“Not this,” I said, holding up a very short skirt. “Don’t you have jeans?”

Ruby was a born city girl; she had never really stepped foot outside the city besides when she went to the mountains to save my life. But she doesn’t remember that, and she only spent time either in the car or in the infirmary with me. She didn’t actually go anywhere in the mountain village.

Honestly, I think seeing her at the farm would be kind of funny.

She grabbed a few different pairs of jeans and some T-shirts.

“How about these?” She asked.

She hated wearing jeans; I knew this. I tried hard not to laugh at her disgusted face as she threw them into her suitcase.

“Is there electricity on this farm?” She asked with wide eyes as she whipped around to face me.

“Yes,” I chuckled. “I doubt Penny would live on a farm without electricity.”

“Your father’s wife?”

I nodded, trying hard not to roll my eyes.

“Remind me again why we don’t like her,” Ruby said as she ran into her bathroom to grab her toiletries.

I groaned and fell backward onto her bed, laying face-up.

“She’s just so young,” I muttered. “My dad is in his 60s and Penny is 29. Not to mention all she does is spend his money.”

“Yikes,” Ruby said, scrunching her face as she ran back into the room.

“Our train leaves in 45 minutes and it takes about 30 to get to the subway,” I reminded her as she continued running between her bathroom and her bedroom.

“Why can’t we just drive there?” Ruby asked. “I don’t mind taking my car.”

“It’s a 3-hour drive,” I told her shaking my head. “Plus, there’s a lot of dirt roads in that town. It would destroy your car. It’s much easier to take the train and then have my father pick us up at the train station.”

“Trains are so dirty,” she groaned.

“Ruby…” I said, sitting up in bed to look at her.

She shut her suitcase and began to zip it, but not before looking at me. We locked eyes and said nothing, which was all she needed to cave.

She sighed and gave me a small smile.

“Okay… I’ll stop complaining,” she breathed. “I am sorry.”

I held my arms out for her to hug me and we embraced quickly before she pulled away to finish closing her suitcase.

“Okay… let’s go,” she muttered.

……

The train station was just as gross as Ruby anticipated. Maybe even worse. As we walked down the concrete steps, the mildew scent only intensified.

We quickly walked past the homeless men who lurked in the corner of the station, harassing people for money.

Ruby dressed as if she had all the money in the world, so they had a field day with her. I wrapped an arm around her arm and kept her close to me as we walked.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have worn your designer coat and heels,” I told her. “I thought you packed sneakers.

“I did,” she said with a shrug. “For when we get to the farm.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at my friend.

This was the perfect distraction. This was exactly what I needed to take my mind off Joseph.

By the time we reached our section of the Subway, the train was already there. A man was standing near the train luggage carrier, helping people store their luggage. Ruby looked skeptical at first, but when I went over to him and handed him my luggage, she sighed and did the same.

I thanked him before standing in line to hand our tickets to the ticket master before we were able to board the train.

The ticket master looked at our tickets for a moment.

“It’ll take about 4 hours between stops to get to your destination,” he told us.

Ruby groaned, but I smiled.

“That’s fine, thank you,” I said politely.

“Your seats are in box 5,” he said, ripping off the bottom part of each ticket before handing them back to us. “Once we are in transit, you’ll be able to purchase food and drinks. There are about 4 stops before yours. The conductor will announce your arrival on the loudspeaker. Enjoy the ride.”

I thanked him again before grabbing Ruby’s arm and pulling her along with me. We walked down the narrow aisle until we reached box 5. Each seating group in this part of the train was boxed in to give each party privacy. I had to pay a little extra for this section of the train, but I knew Ruby would appreciate the privacy.

Once we reached box 5, I opened the little door that led to our seats. There were 4 seats in our section. There were 2 and 2 facing one another.

Ruby sat in the sat in front of me, both of us taking window seats. Ruby sat her purse beside her on the seat next to her and I sat my bag down on the seat next to mine.

I grabbed my phone, glancing at it briefly. I was a little discouraged that Joseph hadn’t even bothered to reach out to me. But I guess I shouldn’t have been too shocked considering I did end things with him.

I noticed Ruby was also looking at her phone, except her cheeks grew a light shade of pink as she stifled a smile.

I raised my brows at her.

“Anything good?” I asked.

She raised her gaze to meet mine.

“I might have given Carter my number,” she breathed, biting her bottom lip. “And he just texted.”

As hurt as I was about Joseph, I truly was happy for Ruby. She deserved happiness. I felt bad for taking away her happiness when her memories got wiped after the mountains. But it looked like things were starting to work out after all.

Maybe Carter could be the one for her.

If I was still with Joseph, we’d be able to go on double dates.

As soon as the thought surfaced in my mind, the knot in my stomach tightened.

She must have seen the expression change on my face because her smile dropped, and she placed her phone down on the little pull-out table attached to her seat.

“I’m sorry, Tess,” she breathed.

“Don’t be,” I said quickly. “Don’t ever be sorry for being happy.”

She gave me a grateful smile and then the train started to move her smile dropped immediately.

She held onto her armrests, which made me burst out laughing. I forgot that Ruby had never actually been on a train before. As far as she knew, she never even left the city. I should have known this would be her reaction to a moving train.

When the train grew faster and we broke free from the tunnels, light flooded through the window and the city was soon very clear to us. It was beautiful seeing the city through the windows of a train.

It reminded me of when I first arrived in the city, which was by train, and I was in awe of everything around me. I had never been to the city before and I thought everything was incredible. I couldn’t wait to explore and begin my new life.

Now, I was heading back to the life I once knew and felt most comfortable in. At least for the weekend.

After her initial shock wore off, Ruby was also gazing out the window in awe. I knew how much she loved the city and how difficult this was for her. I was grateful to her for coming with me.

“Thanks, Ruby,” I said to her after a few minutes. “For coming with me, I mean.”

She smiled in return.

“It’s what friends are for,” she replied.

After about an hour of the train ride, a woman knocked on the door and motioned for me to roll down the window that separated us from the aisle of the train.

I pressed the button that rolled down the window and she smiled pleasantly at me.

I noticed she wore a uniform with a name tag that read: Peggy.

“Hello, ladies,” she said in a thick southern accent. “I’m just seeing if you’d like anything to eat or drink off my cart, here,” she said, motioning for the large cart she was wheeling down the aisle.

I wondered how she was able to walk the cart around so easily while the train was moving.

“Water would be good,” Ruby said as she pulled out some money from her bag.

“Two bottles of water and some pretzels,” I said, grabbing some money as well.

“Would that be all?” She asked, typing into her small tablet.

“Yes, mam,” we both answered at the same time.

“That’ll be $7,” she said.

I handed her $5 and Ruby supplied the other $2 for her water.”

After we purchased the water and pretzels, we thanked her and rolled up the window.

After about 30 minutes, Ruby ended up falling asleep. I kind of feel bad I made her wake up so early this morning. I couldn’t sleep though; my mind kept thinking about Joseph. I couldn’t get him out of my head regardless of how hard I tried.

I spent a lot of time scrolling through social media and watching funny videos. But there was always something that reminded me of him and brought me back to that state of sadness I’d been trying desperately to escape.

Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore and I decided to send him a text, despite my better judgment.

Me: Just so you know, I’m fine I’m going to my father’s farm for the weekend. Maybe I’ll meet someone there and not want to return. Someone who actually cares about me.

I reread the text, satisfied with my words, and then I pressed send.