Their Freefall At Last by Julie Olivia

45

Ruby

It’s all too much. My fingers tap over the screen of my phone as I text Michael exactly that.

Michael:Then, run away.

Ruby: To where?

Michael:Anywhere but there. You know you’ve always got a room at my place.

Ruby:I’m not driving to New York.

Michael:But you could.

It takes exactly two seconds to consider it. Because I’m a new Ruby, one who can just jet off to New York. Ruby, who is now close friends with the old high school football captain with beautiful eyes and a nice beard. Ruby, who can dead lift almost one hundred pounds. Ruby, who cooks meals by herself and has her dream job with her dream mentor.

Ruby, who gets a flat tire on her way out of town.

Crap.

It feels like fate, sitting here on the side of the highway with my feet dangling over the trunk of my car, all alone on my thirtieth birthday.

I consider calling Bennett for help, but the thought drifts away in the wind. I wave it off.

Good-bye, cruel dreams.

Then, I cycle through everyone else in my phone. I consider calling Quinn first, but I know she’d give me some giant sarcastic speech, and I’m a little worn out from the elephant talk. I could call Lorelei, the most responsible of us all, but being the responsible one, she’s playing party host. I can’t pull her away from that.

I end up calling Theo. Theo, who almost eight months ago, secretly eloped with Orson in a courthouse marriage of convenience. She trusted me to be their witness and keep things hush-hush. If she can trust me with that, then I can trust her with this.

She answers on the second ring, agrees to pick me up without question, and says she’ll bring Orson, too, which is good because I’m trying not to freak out about just how quiet the interstate is when it’s just me and the whistling mountains. I try not to think about coyotes—though being ravaged by them doesn’t seem too bad about now—and instead try to admire the stars. The stars that failed me so miserably by aligning my fate with Bennett’s and making our birthdays so close.

I wish I could go back and rearrange the constellations. I wish I could tell little Amelia to avoid Honeywood’s day camp. But, no, I don’t actually wish that, do I? Because I would relive this pain again and again in every single lifetime, if only to experience the good memories with Bennett Shaw as well.

The way he spoke up for me when I couldn’t. The way his eyes traced over my freckles. The way his hand guarded the small of my back. The way his breath caught at the sight of me when I lay bare before him so many years ago.

I sit up when a Jeep rumbles up and parks behind my car. Orson peers out of the driver’s window. I give a wave, and he returns it with a crooked smile. Orson always has the gentlest smiles. He could make anyone feel like a dear friend even if he’s meeting you for the first time. And in eager contrast is Theo, who jumps out from the passenger seat, runs over, hops on my car’s trunk with me, and collects me in her arms.

“Oh my God, you must have been so scared.”

I laugh as she cuddles in closer, like I’m a babe lost in the woods.

“I’m fine. Really.”

“You called the tow company?” Orson calls over.

I give a thumbs up.

Theo nuzzles into my neck. “God, you’re so late for your party.”

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s a tragedy,” she says with dramatic emphasis.

“Really, I’m okay.”

Her eyes flicker to the road, and then it’s like everything registers with her all at once—particularly what side of the road I’m on.

She looks at me and squints. “Wait, were you leaving town?”

“Kinda.” I start twiddling my thumbs and passively tug at my pink bracelet, but then I stop because finding comfort from it feels wrong at this point. I’m not that person anymore.

Theo’s eyes dart down to my wrist, then back up.

She pulls me in for a hug, pressing our cheeks together. I’ve always liked how she smells, like oats and honey. Down-to-earth, just like her.

“Thanks for coming,” I murmur.

“Have you told Bennett you’re not gonna make it?”

I swallow. “No.”

Theo places her hands on my shoulders, looking deep into my eyes. It’s so weirdly intense for her that I let out a nervous laugh.

“Seriously, is everything okay?”

A lump catches in my throat, and slowly, I shake my head.

“No,” I admit. “No, not really. I don’t really wanna talk about it though.”

She puts her fingers to her lips and zips them closed. “Say no more. I hear ya loud and clear. We don’t have to say anything at all about tonight if you don’t want to.” Theo twists at the waist, glancing over at Orson, who is pacing in front of his Jeep, hands deep in his pockets. “Right?”

He blinks when he catches her gaze. His eyes dart between us before he gives another wonderful smile.

“Say what?” he agrees, walking closer, acting like our silent guardian against the whispering winds around us.

When Theo turns back around, his gaze still lingers on her. Orson and Theo might have initially married for practical reasons that didn’t involve love, but it’s so obvious that Orson has fallen for her now. My stomach tugs at the way he leans toward her, like a flower toward the sun.

Maybe that’s my reality with Bennett. A push and a pull. A balloon and its eager string, ever in pursuit. That’s not the future I want though. I don’t want some unspoken longing that slowly guts me from the inside out. I want more. I deserve more. And so does he.

It’s time to move on.

So, I text my new friend instead.

Ruby:Want to be my date to a wedding?

Michael:THE wedding? Red, I’m so honored.

Ruby:And so dramatic.

Michael: Well, you’re asking me out on a date. A fancy date at that.

Ruby:I’ll even wear a fancy dress.

Michael:I love fancy dresses.

Ruby:You’re wearing one too?

Michael:Funny.

Ruby:Sorry. Please be my date?

Michael:Of course I will. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.

“So,” Theo says, pulling me back, “are we headed back to Honeywood for fun birthday times?”

I give a weak smile and shake my head. Her expression falls as she mimics the motion.

“I mean, duh, obviously, we’re not going back to Honeywood,” she corrects. “Yuck. Sounds awful anyway.”

She tosses me a playful wink, and I can’t hide the smile that follows.

The tow truck finally arrives minutes later—because, of course, I didn’t have a spare—with the chains dragging my car by the wheels onto its back.

I pull out my phone and swipe to my messages with Bennett—the jokes and one-liners and shared videos from who knows how far back—and then I send him one single text.