“Shhh. It’s time!” Maggie says.
We all turn to look at the screen as it pans down the long red carpet with media and fans lining either side of the walkway. You can hardly hear anything through the cheers and chants of celebrities’ names. The camera returns to the media correspondent with a microphone in hand, and two familiar figures standing next to her.
Ruby’s wearing a head-to-toe silver sequin jumpsuit with cutouts on the sides. It dips below her cleavage, giving us a peek of her new sternum tattoo in the same style as the floral ink on Liam’s arms. Her blonde hair is down in loose waves with one side pinned back, and her makeup is flawless soft glam.
Liam’s wearing black on black suit with satin lapels and a sequin brooch. He has one arm wrapped possessively behind her back, and his eyes haven’t strayed from Ruby’s face. He’s down bad, and everybody can see it.
“I’m here with the Country Music Darling herself, Ruby Lynn Hayes.”
Ruby giggles. “Are y’all still calling me that?”
“Listen, it doesn’t matter what they’re calling you when you’re up for the most awards of the evening. You are absolutely killing it. How are you feeling tonight, Ruby?”
“I feel incredible,” she says, glancing up at Liam.
He smiles back at her like she’s the only woman in the world.
“Happy to be here,” she says.
“What are you most looking forward to tonight?”
“Oh gosh. I don’t know. I’m just excited to perform my single and see some of my friends again. It’s always an amazing show, so I’m just here to have a good time.”
“Well, good luck tonight, Ruby. I have a feeling you’ll be going home with a few big wins tonight.”
“I’ve got all I need right here.” She leans her head on Liam’s shoulder and there's an audible ‘awww’ in the room with us.
The reporter turns to Liam then. “You’re a lucky man. Back to you, Ryan.” The camera pans away just as Ruby and Liam disappear from view.
“Oh shit,” Miles says. “That was smooth as hell. I would’ve dropped to my knees right then and there if Maggie said that shit about me.”
“We all know how you love to get on your knees, Barlow,” Luca deadpans.
Later in the evening, when the awards show is in full swing, Ruby is introduced by one of her idols, and she performs a stripped-down version of Heaven-sent and Hellbound that transitions into a full-blown production of Bad Bitch Scorned with an entire cast of female country music stars accompanying her. It’s feminist as hell, and the entire audience rises to their feet.
The show cuts to a commercial, and the conversation picks back up.
“Dean and Cara aren’t coming?” Ivy asks.
Cade’s shoulders slump and he shakes his head. “Dean is…” he blows out a long breath. “He’s been struggling. Cara says the depression is getting worse. The fire really fucked him up.”
“You’d be fucked up, too, if you lost a leg,” Miles says. “Dean used to run damn near every day. I can’t imagine what it’d be like to have my whole world rocked like that.”
Liam’s told me enough about the fire to know that Dean and Cara will never be the same again. It’s not really my place to comment, so I turn back to the screen in time to see the host introducing the next presenter.
“I’m proud to stand up here tonight and present an award that over the last sixty years has gone to some of the all-time greats of country music: Album of the Year. This year’s outstanding nominees are…”
She lists off some of the biggest names in country music today, but the only one that matters to me is the woman sitting next to my brother with her hand locked in his, and that sparkle in her eyes.
“And the winner is… Ruby Lynn Hayes, Skylines and Sanctuaries.”
Ruby’s hands dart up to cover her face as shock washes over her features. Liam stands and holds out his hand to help her up, with so much pride written on his face. She takes his hand, and an unmistakable ‘I love you’ forms on his lips. She kisses him and makes her way down the aisle.
The crowd quiets as Ruby takes the stage in a gorgeous red satin gown with beaded draped sleeves and a thigh-high slit, holding her Album of the Year award. Her eyes are glassy as she leans in close to the microphone.
“Thank you so much. Thought for sure I was gonna trip up thestairs in this gown,” she says. A chorus of soft laughter fills the room before it goes still again. “A year ago, I was ready to pack it all in. This thing I loved, this dream I had for as long as I can remember, had been tainted by five years of suffocating control and mistreatment. You know who you are,” she says, pointing straight at the camera. “So, I took my life into my own hands. I went back to my roots. Found solace in the hometown I love so much, and in the process, I found you, Liam.”
The camera pans to my brother in the audience; his arms are crossed over his chest. When he notices the focus is on him, he kisses the tips of his fingers and holds them out to her. The camera pans back in time to catch her reciprocating the gesture.
