“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.”
