Chapter Thirteen
Celeste
Celeste woke up early, same as always. Her clock didn't care about hotel rooms or life-altering sex, or the warm body currently sprawled across three-quarters of the bed.
Ruby was still asleep, one arm flung over her head, blonde hair a mess against the pillow. She looked younger like this, peaceful and beautiful in a way that made Celeste's chest ache.
She slipped out of bed, gathering her clothes from where they'd been scattered across the floor in last night's frenzy. Her body felt different. Sore in places, yes, but also alive in a way she'd forgotten was possible.
The bathroom tiles were cold under her bare feet. She turned the shower to just shy of scalding and stepped under the spray.
Her first sexual experience since college, and it had been…
She pressed her forehead against the cool tile, letting the water cascade over her shoulders.
Mind-blowing didn't begin to cover it. Ruby had touched her in a way that was golden and devastating all at once.
Had learned her body with focused intensity, memorizing what made Celeste gasp, what made her arch, what made her forget her own name.
And Celeste had done the same, exploring Ruby's body with a hunger she didn't know she possessed.
A giddy laugh escaped her lips, surprising herself. This was what she'd needed. Sometimes life was about feeling and being present in your own body instead of constantly thinking three steps ahead.
Maybe Ruby had been right all along.
She finished her shower and dried off her wet hair with a towel.
When she emerged, Ruby was still sleeping, her face turned toward the pillow Celeste had vacated.
The sheet had slipped down to her waist, and Celeste allowed herself a moment to just look, appreciating the curve of Ruby's spine and the way morning light painted her skin gold.
Then she grabbed her phone and slipped into the hallway, closing the door softly behind her.
She needed to hear her children's voices. She needed that anchor to reality, to the life waiting for her back home. Not because she regretted last night—she didn't, not even a little—but because it was important to remember why this thing with Ruby couldn't be more than temporary.
Her mother answered on the second ring. “Darling! How's the trip?”
“Good. Really good, actually.” Celeste leaned against the wall, picturing her mother in the kitchen back home, probably making breakfast for the twins. “How are the kids?”
“Wonderful. Hold on, they're right here fighting over who gets to talk first—”
She heard muffled voices, Luna's patient tone trying to reason with Theo's excitement.
“Mama!” Theo's voice burst through the speaker, and Celeste felt her throat tighten with love. “Nonna taught me how to make pasta from scratch! Real pasta, not the box kind. And I only dropped the dough on the floor once!”
“That's amazing, sweetheart.” Celeste closed her eyes, imagining his flour-covered face and gap-toothed grin. “Did you eat it?”
“Yeah, and it was so good. Way better than your pasta, no offense.”
“None taken.” She responded amidst laughter. “I'm glad you're having fun.”
Luna's voice came next, quieter but no less excited. “Mom, guess what? I drew a picture of the garden and Nonno hung it on the fridge. He said it's museum quality.”
“I bet it is, baby. I can't wait to see it. What did you draw?”
“The roses Nonna planted, and the lavender. I tried to get the purple just right.” Luna's voice held that thoughtful quality she got when talking about her art. “It's hard to make purple look real, you know? It always comes out too dark or too bright.”
“I'm sure you did beautifully.” Celeste's eyes were definitely teary now. Her children were growing up so fast into two distinctly amazing humans. “You have such a good eye for color.”
“That's what Nonna said too. She said I get it from you.”
She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Tell Nonna thank you for me.”
They talked for another ten minutes, stories exchanged about the garden and the movie they'd watched last night. Every detail made Celeste's chest ache from missing them, but also with gratitude that they were happy and loved.
“We miss you,” Luna said finally. “But Nonno says you need this vacation. He says you work too hard.”
“Your Nonno's probably right. I miss you both so much. But I'll be home soon, okay? I love you.”
“Love you too, Mama!”
“Love you infinity!” Theo added. It was their special thing, something they'd been saying since he was three.
“Love you infinity plus one,” Celeste finished, wiping her eyes.
After they hung up, Celeste stood in the hallway for a moment, composing herself.
This was why she couldn't have more with Ruby.
Because she had these two beautiful children who needed the stability she provided, and a mother who didn't upend their lives because she'd finally admitted who she really was.
Her phone rang again and Braden's name flashed on the screen.
“Hey, there.” Why was he back to early?
“So.” His tone was casual, but she could hear the barely contained excitement underneath. “How are things going with Ruby?”
Celeste's face reddened and she was grateful he couldn't see her. “The trip's fine.”
“That's not what I asked.”
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Celeste.” Now his voice held amusement. “I've known you for a long time. I know when you're deflecting, which usually means something is definitely happening.”
She walked further down the hallway toward the window overlooking the parking lot. The morning sun made everything look clean and new, like the world had been washed overnight.
“It's nothing too serious,” she said finally.
“But it's something.”
“Braden—”
“Come on,” he wheedled. “Give me something. I set this whole thing up. I deserve details.”
Celeste smiled, unable to help her amusement. “You're impossible.”
“I'm invested. There's a difference.” She heard him shift, probably settling in for a long conversation. “So, do you like her? Is there chemistry? Are you having fun?”
“Yes, I like her.”
“And?”
She grinned to herself. “And…we may have a little something going on.”
The delighted whoop that came through the phone was loud enough that she had to pull it away from her ear.
“I knew you two would hit it off! Tell me everything. Well, not everything. But you know, the appropriate amount of everything.”
“There's nothing to tell. We're just…we're enjoying each other's company.”
“Enjoying each other's company,” Braden repeated wryly. “Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”
“Stop it.”
“I'm just saying, you sound really happy. I haven't heard you sound like this in years.”
“It's temporary,” Celeste murmured. “Just for the duration of the trip.”
“Does it have to be? Why can't you just... keep seeing her?”
Because her family would never understand and she'd spent thirty-four years building a life where she was safe and accepted. Because the risk of losing everything was too high.
But she couldn't say any of that, not to Braden, who'd been brave enough to choose himself.
“It's complicated.”.
“Everything worth having is complicated.” His voice softened. “I'm not pushing. I'm just saying that you deserve to have what you want. And if Ruby makes you happy, even temporarily, then I'm glad. Just... don't close yourself off to possibilities, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Now go and enjoy your trip. Be safe, and for God's sake, let yourself be happy for once.”
After they hung up, Celeste went downstairs to grab breakfast from the continental spread in the lobby.
The Peabody's breakfast area was elegant with fresh flowers and the scent of coffee and pastries filling the air.
She loaded a tray with coffee, fruit, an assortment of pastries, and headed back upstairs.
Ruby was awake when she returned, fresh from the shower, her hair damp and curling at the ends. She was wearing one of the hotel robes, and Celeste's mouth went dry at the sight. The robe gaped slightly at the top, revealing the hollow of her throat.
“Morning,” she said. She grinned as if she could read Celeste’s thoughts.
“Morning.”
Ruby crossed to her, tugging the tray out of her hands and setting it on the desk before pulling Celeste into a kiss that tasted like toothpaste and a hint of something more.
“Missed you,” Ruby murmured against her mouth.
“I was gone twenty minutes.”
“Twenty minutes too long.”
They kissed until the coffee went cold and the pastries went stale, only breaking apart when Celeste's stomach growled loudly enough to make Ruby laugh.
“Okay, okay. Food first. Then more kissing.” Ruby’s eyebrows danced with mischief.
“You have a one-track mind.”
“And you have a problem with that?”
“Not even a little bit.”
They ate sitting on the bed, legs tangled together. Ruby told her about a dream she'd had, involving a talking raccoon and an art heist, and Celeste found herself laughing so hard she nearly choked on her croissant.
“Can I see more of your work?” Celeste asked when they'd finished eating. “Particularly the pieces you don't usually show people?”
Ruby hesitated, her expression shifting to something more guarded. “Why?”
“Because I want to understand you better and I think your art is part of that.”
Ruby clearly weighed the idea in her mind, then she nodded and pulled out her phone, scrolling down to a folder labeled ‘Mine’.
“Here are more of the ones I paint when I'm not thinking about what will sell or what people will like. Only what I need to express.”
Celeste took the phone, swiping through image after image.
They were stunning—abstract pieces that somehow captured emotion in color and texture, landscapes that felt alive and portraits that seemed to stare into your soul.
But more than that, they were honest and vulnerable in a way that made Celeste's throat tight.
“Ruby, these are incredible.”
“You're just saying that.”