Part of Me
? The Last Time - Taylor Swift
? The Last Time - Taylor Swift
Liam
Country Star Caught in a Sex Scandal
Ruby Lynn Hayes: Darling or Disgrace?
Rising Star Falls From Grace
I scroll through article after article, each confirming the fear that my relationship with Ruby has inadvertently orchestrated her downfall. I reconciled with my past a long time ago, but I never anticipated that it would come back to haunt me a second time, hurting the only woman I’ve ever loved.
We knew there was no guarantee that Bree wouldn’t go back on her word, but I had hoped there was a bit of humanity left in her, that she would consider how this could affect her son and listen to her better angels.
Instead, she took the jagged remains of our past and stabbed me in the back with them.
Anger fades to numbness the longer I sit with the betrayal. For a little while, I fooled myself into believing this could work, that I could have the life I once thought was beyond my reach.
Love.
Family.
Ruby.
For a fleeting moment, I had it all. It was a beautiful illusion, but I have to let her go. I can’t be the reason she loses everything she worked so hard for.
Ruby finds me a short while later, staring at the floor with my elbows draped over my knees, steady in my resolve to let her go.
The sofa shifts as she sinks into the cushions, curling her legs under her body, her warm vanilla scent surrounding me. Her delicate hand slides up my spine. “Hey. Thought I might find you here.”
I glance up at her with a blank expression on my face and pure agony gripping my heart. “You found me.”
“I take it you saw the news?”
“Hard to miss,” I say, emotionless.
Her face falls, and an uncomfortable silence settles between us for several long moments.
“This too shall pass,” she murmurs. I can’t tell if she’s trying to convince me or herself.
“I spoke to Abby and Adam. Bree never intended to keep her word. Her point of contact received the video before your meeting. Since the funds were still pending in her account, I reported it to my bank as fraud. She won’t get a penny.
Legally, there’s not much we can do. We just have to ride it out.
I’ll put out a statement. Eventually, it’ll be drowned out by another headline. ”
She’s trying to sound hopeful, but I can still see the weariness in her eyes. She’s putting on a brave face like she always does.
I let out a huff of air and shake my head.
She pulls her hand back and shifts away from me. “Are you mad at me?”
I don’t respond. Maybe if I let her believe the worst, it’ll be easier when she leaves.
My fingers itch to reach out and touch her, but I keep a tight hold on my impulses.
Just one touch and I’ll fall to my knees for the chance to keep her.
She deserves better, someone who won’t drag her down.
Someone with a name and a life that fits seamlessly with hers, who doesn’t have enough baggage to tear her entire world to shreds.
I swallow against the spark of jealousy threatening to consume me. Whoever he is, he doesn’t deserve her either. Nobody will ever be good enough, least of all me.
“I’ve just been thinking."
She huffs out breath. “Just say it, Liam. Let me hear the I told you so and I promise never to let you fuck me in public again.”
My resolve almost crumbles at the lighthearted teasing—she’s always had this uncanny ability to brighten even the darkest days—but not this time. There’s no coming back from this.
I inhale a steadying breath, bracing myself for the inevitable pain to come. “This isn’t going to work.”
“What do you mean?”
“We should end this. You can go back to Nashville and record your album. Any press is good press, right? If you release a new single in the midst of the scandal, it’ll shift the narrative.”
She looks at me, brows furrowed in disbelief. “N-no. I don’t want that. You said we’d try.”
I scrub a hand over my beard, distracting myself from the intense need to touch her. “That was before all of this. You have to think about your career.”
She stands and wraps her arms around herself protectively. “I don’t give a fuck what people think of me. I never have. All I’ve ever wanted was the freedom to make my own choices, and now you’re taking that away from me, too!”
The pure defeat in her voice is like a stab to the heart, but I can’t let it get to me. I steel myself and look away, at the wall, the floor, anywhere but at the woman I love more than life itself. It doesn't last long; her presence draws me in again like she always does.
“I’m not good for you. I can’t be what you need.”
“All I need is you,” she says, her eyes shining with unspoken emotion.
“I have to consider how this will affect Aiden. He comes first. I can’t let this thing between us cause him any more pain.”
She looks right through me, like she’s not even seeing me anymore. I know it’s wrong to use my son against her, but it’s the only way I can think of to get Ruby to stop fighting me.
“Right. So… should I pack my shit and go now? Or can I wait until morning?”
There she is. Strong as hell. I’m so goddamn proud, but I won’t give in. “Goldie…”
“No. Don’t.” Her bottom lip trembles almost imperceptibly, but the fire in her eyes never dims.
After a moment, she nods, spins on her heel, and rushes out the door. Her clipped footsteps fade down the stairs, carrying the ashes of my heart right along with her.
No goodbye. No longing glance. She’s just… gone, and I made the biggest goddamn mistake of my life.
When the truck door slams, I rush after her, stepping outside in time to see her headlights disappear around the corner as the first flash of lightning illuminates the sky. I don’t stop to think; I rush back inside the house and snatch my keys off the hook.
I drive for several long minutes as the rain pelts down on the windshield. Halfway to the ranch, self-doubt creeps in, and my determination wanes.
Part of me wants to get on my knees and beg for forgiveness, but a much larger part—the protector, the savior—is telling me to let her go.
I have two choices: I could be a good man or a selfish one.
I’m locked in a stalemate with no way out.
In all of the indecision, my conscience is nowhere to be found.
I’ve always been the one to do the right thing. I put others before myself when faced with difficult choices, except where Ruby is concerned. With her, the line between right and wrong has always been blurry. I’ve toed that line too many times to count.
Uncertainty wins out, and I swiftly change directions, heading back the way I came, only I don’t head home. Instead, I turn down that familiar side road.
I glance at the passenger seat, my mind conjuring images of a carefree Ruby with her hair whipping in the wind and a smile across her sun-kissed cheeks. The image fades faster than it came, replaced by the version of Ruby that stormed out of my house and disappeared into the night.
Another flash of lightning illuminates the sky as I pull up to the muddy bank of Ruby’s creek. I need time to think—time to sort through the confusing mess of emotions.
My mind travels back in time of its own accord, conjuring memories I thought I’d buried with time and distance.
Liam, 21 years old
I twirl my house keys around my finger, eager to tell Ruby about the new place. She broke up with Connor for good over the summer, and she’s been distant, but as soon as I signed on the dotted line, there was only one person I wanted to tell.
The house is a fixer-upper near the lake, but it’s mine. I worked my ass off to afford it, and with my mom’s insurance payout, I finally have a place to call my own. Somewhere stable where I can build a life for myself and keep an eye on Connor.
I pull up outside the creek with the waterfall and check my phone.
She told me to meet her here at seven o’clock, and I still have five minutes to spare.
I glance at her guitar in the passenger seat—it’s past time I get it back to her.
Now that Connor is out of the picture, I don’t want to let her go, but we can’t be anything other than friends.
It’s a fine line—one I’m not willing to cross, even if she tempts me like no one ever has.
A shock of blonde hair comes into view in the mirror, and I turn to see Ruby on horseback, galloping into the small clearing. She looks wild and untamed, and so goddamn beautiful it hurts. There’s something lighter about her now that she doesn’t have my brother weighing her down.
I step out of the truck as she ties the horse to the hitching post nearby.
When she turns around, I momentarily forget how to breathe.
It’s been too long since I’ve set eyes on her, and she looks more gorgeous than ever.
I pop open the tailgate and climb into the back. She joins me without hesitation.
“Hey, Grumpy,” she says with a smile.
My mouth curves up at one corner. “Why do you call me that?”
She laughs. “The first time Connor brought me to the apartment, you spent the whole night scowling at me.”
I remember that night. They’d been together almost a year by that point.
I’d seen pictures of her, but I was so busy between school and my part-time job that I hadn’t officially met her yet.
Connor walked in with this curvy blonde on his arm.
She had the most gorgeous blue eyes I’d ever seen, and when she smiled, it felt like my heart might beat out of my chest. Nobody had ever smiled at me like that.
“I wasn’t scowling at you.”
“You were.”
“No. I wasn’t. I was trying to figure out how the fuck I was going to survive dinner with my brother and his girlfriend when she’s the most gorgeous girl I’ve ever seen.
I wasn’t grumpy, I was jealous.” The words are out before I can stop them, but even if I could take them back, I don’t think I would.
She shakes her head and huffs out a breath. “Whatever you say, Grumpy.”
I could take that moment to say more—confess my feelings and hope they’re reciprocated—but Ruby’s not meant for me, so I let the moment pass.
She leans forward with her hands clutching the edge of the tailgate, her legs swinging back and forth. “I have something to tell you.”
“Yeah? I have something I wanted to tell you, too.”
“You go first,” she says.
“I bought a house.” I hold up the keys as if the house is going to magically appear if I jingle them.
As pathetic as it sounds, I didn’t have anybody else to share the news with apart from Connor, and it’s been weighing on me lately.
There’s nobody in my corner, and if I’m honest with myself, it’s lonely as fuck.
“That’s amazing! I’m so happy for you!” she says. “Where is it? What does it look like?”
“You know the old Landry house near the lake? It’s been empty for years. Needs a lot of work, but I’ve always been decent with my hands.”
“I bet you have.” She smirks. “I can’t wait to see it someday.”
I slide a little closer on the tailgate, and our fingertips brush. She glances down at where we’re touching. Her pinky slides over mine as our eyes lock.
“I could show you this weekend if you want,” I say.
Her expression sobers, and she pulls her hand away. I instantly miss the fleeting connection. “I’m… moving to Nashville on Friday. That’s what I wanted to tell you. I got a job at one of the bars downtown. They have open mic nights.”
A lump lodges itself in my throat, but I swallow it down. I try to school my expression so she can’t see my disappointment. This is it. The moment I’ve been dreading. Ruby is leaving.
“That’s amazing, Ruby. I’m proud of you.” I smile weakly and hop off the tailgate.
“You’ll probably be needing this.” I reach into the truck and hold out her battered guitar, covered with stickers.
She pushes it back against me and shakes her head. “Keep it. A little something to remember me by.”
“I don’t need a guitar to remember you.” I place it back in the truck anyway, greedy to keep some part of her with me when she’s gone.
She wraps her arms around my waist and rests her cheek over my racing heart. After a moment, I reciprocate the embrace and inhale her scent, memorizing the feel of having Ruby in my arms for the first, and likely the last time.
Unable to resist, I tuck an errant strand of golden hair behind her ear, reminding myself why I started calling her Goldie all those years ago. She’s always shone brighter than anybody I’ve ever met.
“Keep in touch. Even when you’re out there touring the world.”
She smiles, and a piece of my heart falls into the palm of her hand. “I will. Send me pictures of the house. Keep me updated on the progress. I want to see it when it’s all finished.”
“Yes, ma'am."
She rises onto her tiptoes and kisses my cheek. I wish I didn’t have a beard in the way so I could truly feel her lips on my skin. “Goodbye, Liam.”
“Bye, Goldie.”
She mounts her horse and rides back to the ranch, taking my heart right along with her. Regret settles in the pit of my stomach as I watch her go. When she’s nothing but a speck in the distance, I finally get in my truck.
That night, I drove to the tattoo shop in Willow Valley and inked three words into my skin. Ruby will never be mine, but she’ll always be a part of me.
The memory fades, but the distant pain lingers in my bones. For ten long years, I thought about that night. The memory of a younger Ruby riding off on horseback blurs with the image of her headlights disappearing around the corner.
I put my truck in drive and head back home. It’s killing me to let her go, but I knew this day would come. I knew I couldn't keep her this time. I was a stop along the way. A placeholder for something better. It’s what I’ve always been—
Stable.
Reliable.
Temporary.