Strawberry Wine

by Darly Jamison

  I felt Ruby’s grip tighten around me, folding me in. Tendrils of pale blond locks tickled my cheek as she held me close. “I love you, too, Addy.” After a long moment, she stepped back and pressed her hand to my cheek. “My sister.”

  Placing my hand over hers, I gave it a squeeze. After Mags’s funeral I’d stayed with Ruby for a few weeks, trying to make sense of what I wanted when I realized I already knew. Seeing Jake again after all those years woke me up. It made me feel alive in a way I hadn’t in a very long time. And when we were apart, it hurt. Being without him just wasn’t right. It wasn’t natural. And there was no denying it anymore.

  Breaking things off with Christopher had been very difficult, but I’d had no choice. I was in love with Jake, and was not about to lose him again. I had learned my lesson the hard way.

  And Christopher deserved more than what I could give him. He deserved a wife who would love him, understand him, and support a doctor’s lifestyle.

  I took a leave of absence from work and, putting my ego aside, located Jake’s address—courtesy of Google—and packed an overnight bag, certain Jake would turn me away. Then I gathered my courage and made the twelve-hour drive to Houston, like some dreamy, lovesick teenager.

  A million years had passed in the few weeks since I’d seen him last. Fear consumed me, tempting me to turn around as I pulled up to his ranch, but the welcome mat in front of the door beckoned me to stay.

  With my heart in my stomach, I knocked on the door. As the seconds ticked by, doubts flooded my mind. Would he be able to forgive me for leaving him again? My eyes scanned the modest farm surrounding the house. Horses galloped in the pasture and a small pond decorated with lush weeping willows sat at the far end. It was as perfect as I imagined. I could practically see Jake hard at work in the field, his cowboy hat shielding his handsome face from the sun.

  Maybe this was a bad idea? Uncertainty got the better of me and I began to walk away, the thought of rejection too much to bear. I descended the steps and started toward my car.

  “Addison?”

  I stopped. Pulse racing, I turned to face him. His sapphire gaze was kinder than it had any right to be, and the sting of tears pooled in my eyes. “Jake, I’m so sorry. I know I have no right to be here, to ask for your forgive—”

  He took the steps two by two and swallowed me in a hug, not allowing me to continue. “Don’t apologize. You’re here now, and that’s all that matters.” Without another word, he offered me his hand and invited me inside. The passion and intensity between us was stronger than ever and we spent the next two weeks in his bed—in our bed—before I finally made my way back to Georgia to gather my belongings.

  Amidst words of congratulations, I snuggled into the crook of my new husband’s arm as we said good-bye to our guests, who were just starting to trickle back to their cars. Lacing his fingers through mine, Jake traced the silhouette of my wedding band. “I can’t believe the day is already over. It’s been a wild ride.”

  Laughing softly, I looked into the dwindling crowd. “You’re not having second thoughts already, are you?”

  Jake shook his head. “Second thoughts? Not on your life. There’s only one thought going through my mind right now.” He dipped his head closer, his breath warm against my ear.

  “Yes?” I looked up at him, his eyes holding me captive. The expression on his face nearly took my breath away. “What is it?”

  He touched his forehead to mine. “How lucky I am that you’re mine. You—and our baby,” he whispered. Discreetly, he placed his hand on my stomach, and I felt my heart flip-flop.

  A satisfying wave of tingles rushed through me as I sank into his warmth. The ring on my finger caught my eye. I looked down and smiled as it shined up at me, brilliant against the light of the stars. “You know, it’s funny,” I said, glancing up from the halo of diamonds. “For a while there I stopped believing in fate.”

  A lazy smile stretched across his face. “And now?”

  I reached over and grasped his hand in mine. “And now I know that when two people are meant to be together, they will always find their way back to one another, no matter how far apart they might be.”

  My heart surged with happiness and I could almost hear Mags’s voice whispering in my ear. “Life is funny that way, Addy. The road to happiness isn’t always straight and narrow. Sometimes there are bumps along the way that throw you off track. But one thing is certain. Fate is stronger than we are, and in the end things always have a way of working out.”

  After we said good-bye to our family and friends, Jake scooped me up in his arms and carried me to his truck. He opened the passenger door so I could slide inside, then helped pile my dress in around me. Sitting in the center of the front seat was his cowboy hat, the one I had grown so used to seeing him wear. Reaching for it, I placed it on top of his head. His dark waves poked out from underneath the rim and I felt my breath catch, my thoughts racing back to the first time I had seen him, pulling up in that old pickup toward my grandparents’ farm.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, stepping forward so his face was inches from mine.

  I nodded. “I’m fine. I just can’t help but think about how long it took us to get here. How much time we wasted being apart.”

  Jake stepped even closer and gently brushed his lips to mine. “Life started the day you stepped onto my porch.” The whisper of his words tickled my mouth. “Whatever happened before that doesn’t matter. It’s all about the present and the future. No looking back.”

  My heart spilling over, I leaned in and kissed him again, letting my fingers slide through the waves of his hair. When we separated, I swallowed the lump of emotion that was stuck in my throat.

  “I love you, Mrs. Grady.” Jake’s blue eyes pierced through mine as he stroked my cheek with the back of his fingers. “Thank you for being my wife.”

  I counted my blessings and smiled through the tears. “I love you, too, Mr. Grady. Thank you for waiting for me.” Before my emotions and hormones got the best of me, I pulled at the lapels of his jacket. “Come on, husband. Let’s get outta here.”

  “I thought you’d never ask.” Jake kissed my forehead before hopping into the truck.

  Leaning back in my seat, I smiled as he slid in beside me, squeezing my hand before pulling away . . . the boy I’d fallen in love with the first time we met and the man I had waited my entire life to find. The wedding aisle that brought us together was unlike the long, winding road we had traveled to get there. But in the end it brought us here, to this very moment.

  And that is everything.