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 darkcircles 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.
