Chapter Fourteen
Ruby
Ruby blinked awake to Celeste's voice, soft and close.
“Hey. We'll be in New Orleans by nightfall.”
The sun was lower now, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink. Ruby stretched, wincing at the crick in her neck from sleeping in the car.
“How long was I out?”
“About an hour. You snore, by the way.”
“I do not.”
“You absolutely do. It's cute.”
Ruby felt a sharp tug of delight at the casual intimacy of the observation. This was dangerous territory, a kind of comfortable teasing that happened between people who were building something, not people having a temporary fling.
But God, it felt good. Natural. Like they'd been doing this for years instead of days.
“So,” Ruby said, needing to fill the silence before she said something she couldn't take back. “Tell me about your worst relationship.”
Celeste’s eyebrows rose. “That's quite a conversational pivot.”
“I'm curious. You said you dated a few women in college. Any disasters worth sharing?”
“It’s as I’ve said before. There weren't really any relationships, just brief flings. Nothing that lasted long enough for major disasters.”
“I see.”
“What about you? Any disasters I should know about?”
“Oh, I've got disasters.” Ruby laughed, but her voice held an echo of hurt. “My last serious relationship was Sarah. We dated for almost two years.”
“What happened?”
“She didn't want anyone to know about us. At first, I thought she just needed time. That she was working up to coming out to her family and colleagues.” Ruby stared out the window, watching the landscape blur past. “But two years in, I was still her 'friend' at work functions.”
“That sounds awful.”
“It was. But the worst part was that she didn't understand why I was upset. She said I was being dramatic, and our private relationship was what mattered, not what other people thought. But I needed more than that.”
“What did you do?”
“I ended it and told her I deserved better than being someone's shame.” Ruby turned to look at Celeste, needing her to understand this. “And before Sarah, there were other women who wanted me behind closed doors but not anywhere that mattered.”
Celeste was quiet, her expression unreadable.
“I made myself a promise after Sarah,” Ruby continued. “I deserve to be loved publicly. Everyone does.”
The words hung in the air between them, weighted with implications neither of them could acknowledge. Ruby knew what she was really saying, knew that Celeste would hear it too.
I won’t be anyone’s secret. Even though I want you more than anything.
Celeste's jaw tightened slightly, and she was quiet for a long moment. When she finally spoke, her voice was soft. “That's a good promise to keep.”
After they’d driven in silence for a couple more minutes, Ruby spoke up again, desperate to shift to safer ground. Tell me more about the twins. What are they into?”
“Theo's obsessed with space right now. He checks out every book the library has on planets and astronauts. Last week he informed me very seriously that when he grows up, he's going to Mars and I'm not allowed to worry about him.”
“That's adorable.”
“It is. But I'm definitely going to worry. Luna’s a huge reader and in addition to that, she draws constantly. Her room is covered in sketches of animals and gardens. She has an incredible eye for detail.”
“She sounds amazing. They both do.”
“They really are.” Celeste glanced at her. “They're the best thing I've ever done. Even with everything else being complicated, I've never regretted them for a second.”
Ruby could picture it so clearly—Celeste with her kids, patient and loving. The kind of mother who let her children stay up late reading about space and listened to their stories and loved them fiercely.
“I'll find them the perfect gifts at the festival,” she said without thinking. “There's bound to be something space-related for Theo, and I saw in the program that there's this amazing art supply vendor. They sell handmade watercolors and these gorgeous sketchbooks. Luna would probably love it.”
She paused, realizing what she'd just implied: Being involved enough in Celeste's life to give her children gifts. Was this standard one-night-stand etiquette? Probably not.
“I mean—” she started, backtracking. “If that's weird, I don't have to—”
“It's not weird,” Celeste said kindly. “That's really thoughtful. They'd love that.”
“Okay.”
In the following hours, as Ruby shared stories about her disastrous attempts at learning guitar in college, Celeste confessed her brief but intense obsession with competitive Scrabble.
“Wait, competitive Scrabble?” Ruby turned in her seat to look at her properly. “Like, you went to tournaments?”
“Three of them. I was very serious about it for about six months. Studied word lists, practiced tile placement strategies.”
“That's the most Celeste thing I've ever heard.”
“I won second place in the regional championship.”
“Of course you did. Why'd you stop?”
“Law school happened and I didn’t have time for both.” Celeste shrugged. “Besides, I think I was mostly doing it because I needed something where success was measurable and predictable.”
“And winning games wasn't enough?”
“Apparently not. What about you? Any weird competitive hobbies I should know about?”
“Did I tell you about the time I accidentally dyed by hair green? Does that count?”
“You did. And it doesn’t. That's not a competition.”
“It was a competition with common sense. Common sense did not win.”
Celeste laughed, and Ruby felt ridiculously pleased with herself for causing it.
When Celeste pulled into a gas station for a bathroom break and snacks, Ruby stayed in the car, scrolling through her phone. There were missed calls from Ronan and two from her mother. She frowned, confused. She hadn't noticed her phone ringing.
Then again, she'd had it on silent in hopes of putting off communication with her agent. And she'd been so caught up in Celeste that she hadn't bothered checking her muted notifications.
In that moment, a video call came in and Ronan’s face filled the phone screen.
Ruby shook her head affectionately and answered. “Hey.”
“She lives!” Ronan's grin was wide, relief evident in his eyes. “Mom and I have been trying to reach you.”
“So that was what some of the vibrating meant. I had my phone on silent and I just assumed all the notifications were from Nora so I didn’t bother to actually check.”
“You thought we were your agent? I'm wounded. Deeply wounded.”
“I'm sorry! I've been—” she gestured vaguely. “Distracted.”
“Distracted.” Ronan's eyes narrowed, studying her face through the screen. “You look different.”
“I look exactly the same.”
“No, there's something…” His eyes widened. “Oh my God. You met someone.”
She felt her face grow hot. “What? No. I mean, it's not like that.”
“It's totally like that. You have that stupid happy look you get when you're into someone. Tell me everything immediately.”
“There's nothing to tell.”
“Ruby Langley, I've known you your entire life. You're a terrible liar. Remember when you were twelve and tried to convince Mom you didn't eat the entire cake? You lasted approximately thirty seconds.”
Ruby glanced toward the convenience store, making sure Celeste was still inside. “Fine. There might be someone, but it's casual. Just a short-term thing.”
Her brother’s amused expression shifted into concern. “Ruby. You don't do casual. Everyone knows you're a romantic. You spent the better part of your teenage years watching happily-ever-after Disney movies long after everyone else had outgrown them.”
“Maybe I'm changing.”
“Or maybe you're setting yourself up to get hurt.” Ronan’s voice was gentle but firm. “Look, I'm not trying to rain on your parade. If you're happy, I'm happy. But be careful, okay? I don't want to have to fly out to wherever you are and commit crimes because someone broke your heart.”
Before Ruby could respond, their mother's face appeared on screen, squeezing in next to Ronan. “Ruby! Finally! We've been so worried.”
“Hi, Mom. I'm fine, I promise. Just on the road.”
“Are you eating properly? Sleeping enough?” Renee Langley’s eyes were sharp and assessing. She'd always had this way of seeing straight through Ruby's deflections.
“Yes and yes. How are things? How's the community center proposal going?”
“Good! I think we're close to getting approval. Your brother's been helping with the tech infrastructure plans.” Renee's face softened. “Your father would have been so proud of you both. Ronan with his startup, you with your art. He always said his children would do extraordinary things.”
Ruby felt the familiar pang at the mention of her father. He'd died when she was seven in a car accident, but her mother had kept his memory alive, talking about him often, and making sure Ruby and Ronan knew how much he'd loved them.
“The funding round's going great, by the way,” Ronan interjected. “In case you were wondering.”
“I was definitely wondering,” Ruby said, “Tell me about the investors.”
“They're cautiously optimistic. We're in the final stages of negotiation and should have an answer by next week.” Ronan's excitement was evident even through the screen. “If this goes through, we'll be able to scale way faster than projected.”
“That's amazing. I'm so proud of you.”
“Don't get too proud yet, kiddo. There’s a lot that could go wrong.” But he was grinning.
As more conversation flowed easily, Ruby felt herself grow more relaxed. This was what she loved about her family—the way they could pick up where they left off, no matter how long it had been. The way they supported each other, challenged each other and genuinely cared.
“Take care of yourself, sweetheart,” her mother said as they were saying goodbye. “And whoever this person is that has you smiling like that, be careful with your heart.”
“I will. Love you both.”
The call ended just as Celeste returned, arms loaded with snacks—chips, candy, two enormous fountain drinks and what appeared to be half the store's sandwich selection.