Chapter Thirty-One
Ruby
For probably about the hundredth time, I feel Alayna’s gaze boring into me from across the salon. If I wasn’t with a client, I’d glare right back and tell her to keep her haughty opinions to herself.
Okay, maybe not. But I’d think it.
“How’s this?” I ask the young woman who requested a blowout, similar to the one Danica must have had done. I shove the image of Dash’s perfect sister from my mind and refocus on my client.
“It’s a little flat,” the woman says, pulling on one of the curls. “Shouldn’t it have more…I don’t know…body?”
I hold back a sigh. I’ve already worked a near miracle for this woman, getting her hair to this level of volume. Still, I shove my grumpiness aside and force a polite smile.
“I can try to add a little more, if you’d like.”
“Yes, please.”
I focus on the task at hand, grabbing the round brush once again and praying for heaven’s help to get this woman’s hair to bounce with body by the time I’m done.
Fifteen minutes later, she looks as if she’s trying to revive the eighties.
“Much better,” she says with a wide smile.
The satisfaction I would normally feel in a moment like this is inconveniently absent. I’ve given my client exactly what she asked for, even ignoring my own thoughts and opinions to do so. It’s what I do best. And yet…
I brush the weird feeling aside and paste on my professional smile. “Perfect. If you’ll just head to the counter, I’ll check you out.”
Five minutes later, I’m sweeping up the hair at my station when I feel a sudden presence. I turn and nearly jump a foot off the ground when I find Al standing behind me, arms crossed.
“Don’t you have somewhere to be?”
“Nope.” I ignore the wave of nausea rolling through me.
“Ruby,” she pleads. “He asked you to be there.”
“Al.” I grip the broom and close my eyes, letting out a strained breath.
“I just can’t, okay? I can’t do it. And not because I don’t want to be there for him, but because…
” Blinking up at the ceiling to keep the threat of tears at bay, I release a shaky breath.
Once I’m composed enough to speak, I admit, “Saying goodbye to him is too hard.”
A stupid, single tear slips down my cheek, and I quickly swipe it away. I cannot cry again today, I tell myself. My eyes are still puffy from all the tears I shed before leaving my bed this morning.
“Then don’t say goodbye,” she says like it’s obvious. “Say see you later, then plan a trip to see the man! Ruby, he’s so perfect for you.”
“Al.” A derisive laugh builds in my chest. “He may be perfect for me, but life isn’t. I won’t beg him to choose me over where he’s built his life. That would be wrong. For him and for me.”
Though his time spent with his team in Utah may be ending soon on its own due to his injury.
“My life is here in the salon, with Mom and Beckett. As much fun as Dash and I had, I knew it could only ever be temporary. But I…” I swallow past the hurt.
“I let myself get too caught up and now…” He’s taken all my bravery with him.
“Now, I’m too heartbroken to even utter a goodbye.
And it’s ridiculous because I did this to myself. ”
And I have to make peace with that, despite the ache in my chest.
I begin sweeping again, effectively putting an end to this discussion. Alayna must sense the pain I’m in because she doesn’t say anything else. Only walks away, leaving me to my misery.
The urge to check my phone for messages is almost impossible to resist, but I don’t give in.
I can’t. I’m too afraid I’ll crumble at seeing his name pop up on my phone.
I know I did a horrible thing by not showing up at the airport this afternoon.
I know I let him down. But it has to be this way. A clean break for both of us.
I bend to sweep up the hair on the floor and dump it in the trash. This entire day has felt like merely going through the motions. But I guess that’s what happens when your heart feels as if it’s flying to Utah without you.
I blink away the tears before my next client walks through the door. It’s going to be a long, dreary day.
***
Closing time rolls around, and I’m still too chicken to check my phone. I debate having Alayna do it, but I’d rather not endure another lecture from her.
Okay, maybe she hasn’t exactly lectured me, but her long, judgy looks are enough. I know what she thinks of me abandoning Dash at the airport. And she’s right—I am a spineless coward. Not that she’s used those words, but she doesn’t have to.
I know it all on my own.
I finish counting the drawer, then slip the money into the envelope, marking it ready for the bank.
“All done?” Al asks, grabbing her purse from under the desk.
“Yeah. Everything good in the back?”
“Yep.” Her fingernails tap against the top of the counter with a slow click click click. “Do you…want to grab a coffee or something?”
I force a smile I’m far from feeling. “I don’t think so. I’m honestly pretty tired. It’s been a busy few weeks.” Busy but wonderful.
“Right.” She clears her throat. “Well, I guess I’m headed out, then.” Still, she lingers, staring down at her feet. “Ruby, I just want to say that I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have given you such a hard time today. I know this whole experience pushed you out of your comfort zone and—”
“Al, stop. You did nothing wrong.”
Her frown tugs at my heart. “I just want you to be happy, you know?”
I purse my lips, fighting off another wave of emotion. “Yeah,” I whisper. “I know.”
She backs away from the counter with a goodnight, then leaves through the front door, the bell jingling on her way out.
Gathering my things, I stand and head for the door myself. All I want to do is run a hot bath, crawl into bed, pull the covers up over my head, and sleep until I’m thirty. Is that possible?
A shuddery breath leaves me as I exit the salon and turn to lock the door. The key jams up on me, and I fight with it, frustrated. Why do things like this only happen when you’re desperate to get where you’re going, heart heavy on top of it all?
I yank the key out and try to fit it in again when a shadow appears from behind me. I drop the keys and spin around, gasping when I spot the stranger.
Except…he’s not a stranger at all.
Seconds pass. Minutes, maybe, where all we do is stare at one another.
“Y-you didn’t,” I sob, “g-get on your p-plane?”
Hair a mess, like he’s been running his fingers through it for hours, a sad smile flirting at the edge of his mouth, Dash shakes his head.
“You didn’t meet me at the airport. And you didn’t respond to any of my texts.” A derisive, breathy laugh leaves him. “There are like…a million.”
I swipe both hands under my eyes, knowing my mascara must be making a mess of my face. “But…why?”
Dash takes a tentative step forward. “I couldn’t leave you without saying goodbye.”
Choking on a sob, I rush forward.
Dash catches me, hoisting me up so my legs can wrap around his waist. He holds the back of my head while I cry into his shoulder, shaking with all the pent-up grief I’ve tried to smother throughout the day.
“I can’t believe you missed your plane.”
He strokes my hair, shushing me. “I don’t want to get on any plane that’s going to take me hundreds of miles away from you.”
I squeeze him tighter, clinging to his reassuring words. “What does that mean, though? Are you…you…”
“I don’t know yet,” he murmurs into my neck. “All I know is that what we have is too special to leave behind.”
I ease myself back, just far enough to look into his eyes. They’re dark and brimming with all the same longing I feel. “What we have is special. Isn’t it?”
He nods, smile hitching higher as he tucks a piece of loose hair behind my ear.
His expression sobers. “I don’t have all the answers, Ruby.
Heck, I don’t even know where I’ll be in a year.
I can’t guarantee anything right now. All I know is that I’m not leaving DC without you knowing that this thing between us”—he shakes his head— “it’s not over.
I want to be your boyfriend, even if that means we do long-distance for the time being.
Whatever it takes, I’m willing to do because I—”
He sucks in a breath, and my heart all but stops.
“I care so much about you,” he says gently. “I see a future with you. And I’m not ready to let that go.”
Swelling to an unimaginable size, my heart sighs with relief. “Me neither. I’m not ready to let you go either.”
I bury my fingers into his hair and lean in, resting my forehead against his. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to say goodbye to you at the airport. I know I lied, I just…I couldn’t do it. I knew I’d pour my entire soul out to you, and the fear of getting rejected was all too real. I couldn’t—I didn’t—”
“Shh,” he croons, nuzzling his nose against mine. “It’s over now. I forgive you. We’re together and we aren’t saying goodbye. Not yet.”
“Not yet,” I parrot back.
Dash takes my mouth with a fervor I’ve never experienced before—not even from him. I smile against his lips, giving it all right back. We’re a tangle of heat and warmth, desperate touches, and satisfied sighs. Our kisses slow, turning more languid, more intimate.
It’s at that moment I realize that no matter what happens or where Dash goes, what we have is real and lasting. And more than anything, it’s worth fighting for.