Chapter Twenty-Two
Ruby
Ruby stood at the service desk in the arrival hall of the airport and tried not to think about the fact that she was in the same town where Celeste lived and breathed just a short distance away.
Coming back here had been a mistake. The moment she'd crossed the town limits, memories had ambushed her from every direction.
The road where she'd almost hit Celeste on that first day, for one, and the rental place where they'd picked up the car that had carried them through the best and worst week of Ruby's life, among others.
It had felt suffocating.
She'd returned the rental car as quickly as possible and then she'd gone straight to Jackson and Braden's house to say goodbye.
Mary had been there too, and she'd pulled Ruby into a hug that lasted a little too long, as though she knew something was wrong but was too polite to ask.
Jackson had handed her a container of homemade cookies for the plane and Braden had just looked at her with those knowing eyes before saying, “Take care of yourself, Ruby.”
She had promised she would, then fled before her facade could break apart.
Getting out of Cheyenne Valley quickly was the right thing to do, before she did something stupid like drive to Celeste's house and beg for another chance.
So why did it feel like she was making the worst mistake of her life?
You should have just enjoyed what you had while you had it, she told herself for the thousandth time.
But Ruby had never been good at keeping her feelings to herself. She loved hard and completely and pretending otherwise had never been an option.
In the end, Celeste had made her choice and Ruby needed to accept that and move on. Even if moving on felt like tearing out her own heart.
Now she was at the airport, hoping to board a plane that would take her far away from this town and the woman who'd broken her heart.
Sparkle chirped anxiously from her cage beside Ruby's feet.
The airline representative, a middle-aged woman with tired eyes and a permanent expression of professional sympathy shook her head.
“I'm sorry, Ms. Langley, but we can't accept this bird for transport.”
Ruby ignored the panic clawing up her throat. “But I called yesterday. I spoke to someone who said it would be fine if I had the health certificate from the vet.”
“I understand, but the person you spoke with made an error. We require advance booking for live animal transport—at least forty-eight hours. It's airline policy.” The woman gestured to Sparkle's cage. “For the bird's safety as much as anything. The cargo hold needs to be specially prepared.”
“She's small. She could fit under the seat.”
“I'm afraid that's not allowed either. TSA regulations.”
Ruby's eyes stung. She would not cry in the middle of an airport. She would not. “So what am I supposed to do? I can't just leave her here.”
“You could try rebooking for a flight in two days. That would give us time to process the paperwork and prepare the cargo hold properly.”
Two more days in Cheyenne Valley, of suffocating memories and the aching knowledge that Celeste was just miles away, yet at the same time out of reach.
“There's a flight Tuesday morning that has availability.” The airline representative said. “Would that work?”
“It can’t,” Ruby said desperately. “What I need is—”
“Ruby.”
Ruby's entire body went rigid. She knew that voice, heard it in her dreams every night since she'd left New Orleans.
She turned slowly.
Celeste stood ten feet away in the middle of the terminal. Her hair was falling out of its ponytail, and there were dark circles under her eyes. But she looked every bit as gorgeous as she did the last time Ruby had seen her, perhaps even more so.
She looked like she'd run to get here.
Ruby's brain had gone completely offline. All she could do was stare at Celeste, struck by the fact that she was actually present, when Ruby had been so certain she’d never see her again.
“What are you doing here?”
People streamed around them, pulling wheeled suitcases and checking phones, but Ruby couldn't look away from Celeste's face.
“I had to see you.” Celeste said. “Braden called and said you were at the airport. I drove as fast as I could.”
The airline representative glanced between them, then quietly moved away. Ruby barely noticed.
“There was no need to come.” Ruby's hands were trembling. She shoved them in her pockets. “I'm leaving once I rebook my flight.”
“For when?”
“Tuesday.”
Something like relief flashed across Celeste's face. “Then I'm not too late.”
“Too late for what?” Ruby questioned. “We already said everything. You made your choice.”
“I made the wrong choice.” Celeste closed the distance between them and took Ruby’s hands in a firm grip.
“I'm in love with you, Ruby Langley,” She blurted out, her voice gaining strength.
“I have been since—God, probably since the moment you rescued that sparrow and refused to leave her on the roadside. Maybe even before that, when you showed up at that rental lot with your ridiculous grin and made me remember what it felt like to want something for myself.”
Ruby wasn’t the sort of person who could be described as having nothing to say, but in this case, she was too shocked by Celeste’s confession to fill in the loaded air that accompanied the statements.
“I came out to my family,” Celeste continued, undaunted by the silence.
“My grandmother was first and I was terrified she'd reject me, but then she told me I had misunderstood everything. All those years I’d been afraid because of Marco, my cousin from Italy who was cut off from the family. I thought it was because he was gay, but it wasn’t.
He was a thief and his sexuality had nothing to do with it.
At least not when it came to my grandmother.
Then I told my parents, and they—they just hugged me. And said they loved me no matter what.”
A pleased sound escaped Ruby's throat, and she pressed her free hand to her mouth.
“I've spent my entire life being afraid, hiding who I was because I thought it would keep me safe.” Celeste’s eyes shone with a myriad of emotions.
“But all it did was make me hollow. Not anymore. You showed me what it could be like to be whole. You made me brave enough to want more than the average life.”
“Celeste…” Ruby managed to say before the rest of her words deserted her. This was everything she'd wanted to hear and hadn't dared to hope for.
“I cannot imagine living the rest of my life without you, and I'm so sorry for calling you a coward and for not being brave enough from the beginning. You deserved better than that. Now I’m ready to choose us, if you’ll have me.”
Ruby couldn't hold back anymore, and she pulled Celeste into a fierce hug, burying her face in her shoulder.
“I was so scared I'd pushed you too hard,” she sobbed into Celeste's neck. “That I'd ruined everything by telling you I loved you. By asking for more than you could give.”
“You didn't push me. You showed me what I was missing.” Celeste held her tighter. “You showed me what love could look like when it wasn't hidden and made it worth fighting for.”
“I'm sorry too, for judging you when I was just as scared in my own way.”
“Don't apologize for loving me,” Celeste interrupted. “That's the one thing you never need to apologize for.”
They stood there for a moment, both holding onto each other without any intentions of letting go.
“I love you so much,” Ruby said, because she needed Celeste to hear it. “I want all of you—the woman who argues with me about delays and then kisses me to shut me up. I want to meet your kids and your family and be openly, proudly yours. Forever.”
Celeste kissed her then, right there in the airport, with travelers streaming past and the whole chaotic world continuing around them. Ruby kissed her back, pouring all the love she felt into it.
When they finally pulled apart, both breathless, Ruby remembered something.
“Jonas Ford reached out to me.“
“He did?”
“He wants to see my full portfolio and asked if I'd be willing to show some pieces at his Manhattan gallery. I said yes.”
“Ruby, that's incredible!”
“I'm terrified,” Ruby admitted. “But you were right. I can't keep hiding and letting fear make my decisions for me.”
“I'm so proud of you.”
They stood there grinning at each other like idiots until Celeste's expression shifted to an uncertain look.
“You probably have to catch your plane. I would not want to stand in the way of that.”
“Actually,” Ruby said, unable to stop smiling, “I think I'll stay in Cheyenne Valley a little longer after all.”
“You will?”
“Well, I've got this girlfriend now. A very serious, very accomplished lawyer with two kids I'm dying to meet. Seems like I should probably stick around for that.”
Celeste laughed, the sound bright and free. “Girlfriend?”
“Unless you prefer something else? Partner? Significant other? The love of my life who I'm absolutely not going to shut up about?”
“Girlfriend works.” Celeste leaned in for another kiss, this one slower. “Though I'm also partial to ‘the love of my life.’”
“Noted for future reference.”
Sparkle chirped from her cage, and both women looked down at the bird who'd been forgotten during their reunion.
“I should probably explain why I'm still here,” Ruby said, picking up the bird cage. “They won't let me take Sparkle on the plane. I didn't book her transport in advance—airline policy requires early notice.”
“So you’ll rebook?”
“Yes. Tuesday’s the next best date. I was trying to figure out what to do for two more days when you showed up.”
“Stay with me,” Celeste said immediately. “With us. The twins will be thrilled.”
“Are you sure? That's a big step, meeting the kids.”
“I'm sure. I'm done being scared. I want you in my life, Ruby. All the way in, if that's what you want too.”
“That's exactly what I want.”
They drew closer to the airline representative, who was standing off to the side, and Ruby noticed the way Celeste held her hand openly, like she had every right to. There were no furtive glances to see if anyone was watching.
Ruby confirmed the Tuesday booking for herself and Sparkle, and Celeste insisted on carrying her duffel bag as they walked towards the exit.
“Fair warning,” Celeste said. “We’ll stop by my parents’ to pick up the twins before heading to my house. They’re a friendly bunch, but more prone to chatter than the average family. “I can handle that,” Ruby said. “Although I might be nervous. Meeting the family is a big deal.”
“They're going to love you. My grandmother told me to go be brave and fight for my happiness, which means she knows you make me happy and that's all that matters to her.”
“That’s quite admirable.”
“Come on,” Celeste said, loading the duffel bag into her trunk. “Let's go home.”
Home. The word settled over Ruby like a promise.
They climbed into the car, Sparkle's cage secured carefully in the back seat. As Celeste started the engine, Ruby reached over to draw her attention.
“I'm overwhelmingly, stupidly happy. I needed you to know that.”
Celeste's smile was brilliant, transforming her entire face. “Me too. Happier than I've been in, possibly ever.”
They pulled out of the airport parking lot, heading toward Celeste's house and to the future they were going to build together. Ruby watched the town pass by outside the window. The same town that had felt suffocating just hours ago now looked different. Brighter somehow and full of possibility.
Because this time, she wasn't running through it alone. This time, she had Celeste beside her, choosing her.
Choosing them.
She knew with absolute certainty that she'd finally found what she'd been searching for all along.
She'd found Celeste, who represented love and safety.
And she was never letting go.