Chapter One #2
“Thank you. For everything. For being my best friend when I needed one. For giving me the cover to figure myself out. For the twins. For not hating me.”
“I could never hate you.” The words caught in her throat. “You're stuck with me, divorce or not.”
His hug was tight and brief, smelling of his expensive cologne and something new—Jackson's laundry detergent, probably. When he pulled back, his eyes were wet.
“New Orleans is going to be good for you. I promise.”
“How do you know?”
“Because you need to remember who you are underneath all the roles you play. And sometimes that takes getting away from everything that defines you.”
Then they were gone, and the house swallowed her in silence again.
Celeste stood in the hallway, listening to the grandfather clock in the living room as it ticked steadily. The refrigerator hummed. Outside, a dog barked.
She was alone.
She'd been alone in this house before, plenty of times when Braden worked overnight shifts. But this felt different. More permanent. Like the silence had teeth.
Her phone buzzed. A text from her mother: School let out early for spring celebration. I picked up the twins. Come by? Nonna's making her chocolate cake.
Celeste grabbed her keys, grateful for the interruption.
The drive to her parents' house was familiar enough that her mind wandered.
Who had Braden roped into this trip? Probably someone from their college days, though most of those friends had scattered across the country.
Maybe one of his colleagues from the hospital? The mystery gnawed at her.
Traffic slowed ahead. Two cars had nearly collided, now sitting at angles in the intersection while the drivers argued through their windows. One was a middle-aged man in a suit, the other a young woman who looked barely old enough to drive. Neither seemed hurt, just angry.
Celeste eased off the gas, leaving plenty of space. No point in adding to the chaos. The car behind her didn't share her patience.
The horn blared, long and aggressive.
She ignored it, watching the arguing drivers gesture wildly. The horn sounded again, even longer this time.
“Unbelievable,” she muttered.
The car swung around her, pulling up alongside. The passenger window slid down, and Celeste's stomach contracted.
She knew the driver.
She hadn’t seen her face in years, but she would know it anywhere.
Ruby Langley.
She looked exactly the same and yet completely different.
Those sharp cheekbones, that knowing smirk.
But her hair was shorter now, styled in a spontaneous way that probably cost less than Celeste’s daily tipping budget, a pair of sunglasses perched on her head as if forgotten.
Even her car, a rental, seemed somehow chosen to compliment the overly relaxed air around her.
Ruby Langley, who'd beaten her by two points to claim the highest grade in sophomore year and convinced Gerald Hutchinson to ditch Celeste as his date for junior prom, doing it again for senior prom. Although, thankfully, her family moved before that could be executed.
She'd made Celeste feel like she was playing catch-up, always one step behind.
“Still the cautious one, Russo?” Ruby called out, voice bright with amusement. “Some things never change.”
The old irritation flared instantly. Ruby had known exactly how to get under her skin. Always had that easy confidence, that smirk that suggested she knew something Celeste didn't.
“Some of us value safety over being reckless.”
“It's a minor fender-bender. They're fine.” Ruby's smile widened. “God, it's good to see you. I just got back to town this afternoon. We should grab coffee, catch up on—”
“I'm actually running late. Family emergency.”
Not technically a lie. Her mother had texted and the twins were waiting. That counted as family business.
Ruby's expression flickered with some unspoken emotion. Disappointment, maybe? But Celeste looked away before she could be sure.
“Right. Of course. Well, I'm sure I'll see you around. It's a small town.”
The window slid up. Ruby's car pulled ahead smoothly, disappearing into traffic.
Celeste's hands were tight on the steering wheel. Her face felt hot, skin prickling with something she refused to examine too closely. Annoyance. Obviously annoyance. Ruby had always made her feel off-balance, competitive, like she had something to prove.
That was all this was.
She shook her head, forcing related thoughts away. Ruby was ancient history. High school drama that shouldn't matter anymore. They were adults now and whatever teenage rivalry they'd had was long over.
So why did seeing Ruby again make her feel seventeen and awkward all over again?
Celeste drove to her parents' house, where her mother would ask too many questions, her grandmother would slip her an extra slice of cake and the twins would demand her attention with the single-minded focus only seven-year-olds could manage.
But as she pulled into the familiar driveway, Braden's words echoed in her head: Maybe it's time to figure out what you want.
The real question—the one she'd been avoiding for thirty-three years—was whether she had the courage to find out.