Sugar Moon (Vermonters Forever)

by Ali Dean

  “It’s already got electrical in here?”

  “Yeah, it was the first thing I did. I thought I’d give the Hartlands their barn back and move everything over here.”

  “Huh, so where do you store all your drugs now?”

  I pulled her to me. “Charlie, the idea of permanence with you doesn’t scare me at all. The only thing that scared me was telling you I’m Virginia Rose.”

  She rubbed her chin against my chest, purring a little like a kitten. I’d missed her so much.

  “It’s not permanence with you that scares me. It’s just, permanence in general,” she explained. But she didn’t have to, I knew her. She was fine with permanence in her friendships, her job, her town. It was permanence with intimacy that scared her, and while the reasons for that were surely complex, I think I got her there, too. Both of us had been cut off from family members for reasons outside our control or understanding - for her, it was her parents’ parents, siblings, relatives. For me, my biological dad. I hadn’t realized how much it had impacted me until I recognized the same thing in Charlie.

  “I didn’t think you were scared of anything, Charlie.” I said it like a challenge, and it took a few seconds, but I felt her smiling against my heart.

  “You really have me pegged, don’t you?”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Charlie

  “You guys go ahead.” We’ve hit mile eighteen in the Vermont Marathon, and instead of getting to stop at the top of the hill with the runners who are doing a relay leg, we trudge onward. One runner after another passes us as my pace slows to a shuffle. Some of the people around us are hobbling along as well, but then there’s the surge of runners with fresh legs, just starting their leg of the four-person relay.

  We’d done a relay last year, and must have lost brain cells since then to think it was a good idea to do the entire thing ourselves.

  Neither Mia on one side of me nor Tanner on my other acknowledges my words.

  “Guys, I’m dying and there are still eight miles left. Just go. Finish strong.”

  “I’m dying too,” Mia tells me. She never lies, and crushed me in the half marathon back in October, so I look over at her in surprise.

  Her face is a little ashen and she doesn’t look like she’s holding back by keeping this pace that’s not much faster than a walk. “That hill killed me,” she admits.

  “You guys have this.” I look to my other side and find Tanner, on the other hand, is definitely forcing himself to run an unnaturally slow pace. “That was the last hill.”

  He doesn’t pat us on the back and go ahead though. I’d assumed he would run with Oliver and Jamie from the beginning. But when they took off from the first mile, he stayed with us. I knew he was as fast as they were. He’d been training with them, doing long runs with them while me and Mia went separately. We’d see them out on the roads, all three of them together. When Tanner and I did run together occasionally, I had to push myself harder than I normally would.

  I’d already tried to convince him several times to ditch us in this race. He clearly meant to stay with me until the finish line, and the truth is, if he wasn’t here, I’d be tempted to walk. My natural competitive spirit must be as beaten down as my legs, because I don’t even feel the tiniest spark.

  Mia looks at her watch. “We were on pace the entire time, and I left a seven-minute buffer so we can afford to slow down a little.”

  “You left a buffer?”

  “Yeah, I knew you wouldn’t pay attention to the splits very closely so I didn’t tell you. I thought it would be a nice surprise when we hit a wall at the end.”

  Mia had set a goal of beating our relay’s time from last year. I’d thought that was an outrageous goal, since all four of us had run hard on each of our legs. But then she pointed out our times from the half marathon we’d done back in October, and it didn’t seem entirely impossible.

  We’d improved a ton since our first race a year ago.

  I hadn’t been expecting her to run with me on race day either when I first decided to do this. But even with my setback from the broken wrist, I was able to train with her and we were always just about the same pace.

  “I thought the whole point of training so much was to prevent hitting a wall.”

  “Everyone hits a wall in the marathon, Charlie,” Tanner says. “Maybe people who have done them hundreds of times handle it better or the pain isn’t as bad, but I think it even happens to professionals.”

  “There can’t really be people who’ve done hundreds of marathons.” No one is that crazy.

  “You know the goal time of under three and a half hours is also the qualifying time for the Boston Marathon for women our age,” Mia tells me.

  “It’s weird we’re having a conversation right now. Why does it feel like I might collapse but I can still talk pretty easily?” When we do our harder runs in training and go at a faster pace, I can never talk at the same time.

  “Because you have great endurance,” Tanner answers. “Your legs might even hurt less if you pick it up just a little.”

  Mia seems willing to try this advice and starts moving ahead of me. I guess there is still a spark in me somewhere because my body instantly reacts, catching up to her.

  My legs don’t necessarily feel any better going a little faster, but they don’t feel any worse. After that hill, I was afraid if I didn’t slow down they’d cramp up and I’d fall over. But I’m still vertical, somehow.

  The weather is really odd for late May. There’s a blanket of fog and mist, and a drizzle so light you can barely feel it. But it’s enough to make my feet soggy after almost three hours out here, and the skin underneath my sports bra and by my armpits is chafing. It’s happened before on a couple of our really long runs, but it’s worse today with how soft my skin is from this misty drizzle.

  Mia tries to pick it up even more but backs off fast. “Okay, any faster and my legs are going to seize up.”

  We hold it at that pace, for one mile after the next, each mile marker a reminder we’re getting closer. All of my energy is going toward moving forward, putting one foot in front of the other, and even if I’m not gasping for breath, there’s nothing left in me to form words. Mia’s grimacing every time I take a peek at her, and knowing she’s right there with me, continuing to push on despite excruciating pain, it keeps me going. That and Tanner’s voice, saying just the right things at just the right time.

  He’s our cheerleader, not necessarily jumping up and down and shouting enthusiastically, but telling us there’s only a few more minutes, how strong we are, that we’re still on pace to hit the goal time.

  At first, it’s demoralizing with all these relay runners passing us with more energy than is fair, but then my attitude starts to shift. Some of them cheer us on as they run by, and I realize we’re the ones impressing and inspiring them, even if we’re barely hanging on at this point. Or because we’re barely hanging on but still moving forward.

  Each time my foot hits the ground, my muscles clench in pain, begging me to give in already and put myself out of this misery. I pretend like my own legs are daring me to finish this damn race with every step. It does the trick and before I know it, we’re at the waterfront park in the finish zone, and the cheers from the sidelines silence, or at least quiet, the pain roaring through me. My moms are standing beside Morgan and Grace and I manage some version of half-smile-half-cringe as they scream our names, yelling like we’re about to win a gold medal at the Olympics.

  Mia must have another gear in her because as we turn the corner, she busts out in a sprint, and even though I’m so damn proud of her, I can’t just let her outkick me without a fight. I didn’t think there was anything left in me, but I’m wrong, because I start to close the gap. My lungs protest at the effort just as much as my legs do. I keep going though, the burn taking over, and finish right on Mia’s heels.

  Mia’s wobbling around and half collapses into me in a hug. “Don’t sit down. We’ll never get up,
” she gasps.

  “Yeah,” I agree, half delirious but trying to listen to her and keep upright.

  Tanner puts an arm around me and I lean into him for support.

  “Did you see the clock?” he asks.

  “Did we make it?” Mia asks.

  “I think so. By two or three seconds.”

  “Make it? The goal time?” I ask what they mean. Tanner is half carrying me as we walk through the corral after the finish line. My legs have forgotten how to walk and I feel like a newborn calf, off balance and shaky.

  “I saw the clock as we came around the corner and just reacted, sprinting. I didn’t know I could do that,” Mia says as a volunteer puts finisher medals around our necks and wraps these aluminum blanket things around us that keep us warm or something.

  “I didn’t see it. But I had turned into a robot at that point and I was programmed to follow you, apparently.”

  “You both got in under the qualifying time,” Tanner tells us, showing us his watch for proof, even though he could have stopped it at any time.

  Mia finds Jamie as soon as we get through the end of the finisher’s area and go through the other side of the fence. Before joining the others, I turn to Tanner for a real hug.

  He holds me tight, and I close my eyes against his chest. The words that I can feel vibrating from within him reach my ears. “I love you so much, Charlie.”

  It’s the first time he’s said it aloud, but he’s said it in so many other ways, it’s not a new revelation. He was telling me for the last 26.2 miles as he ran at my side, giving me that extra boost of strength and confidence.

  “I love you more.”

  He chuckles beneath me and I lift my head, grinning. “I think I actually beat you by a second too.”

  Tanner rolls his eyes, since we both know he could have beaten me by thirty minutes if he wanted to.

  “But you have to do another one now, you know that, right?” I challenge.

  “Why?”

  “So you can qualify for Boston too. The men’s time is a lot faster, isn’t it?”

  “I don’t need to qualify for Boston. I’m good with checking a marathon off my bucket list now and being done with it.”

  “But that was actually kind of fun, wasn’t it?” I’m as surprised as he is that I’m saying this.

  “Why don’t you tell me tomorrow when you can’t walk up or down stairs.”

  He takes my hand and we start to move toward our group of friends and my parents. I spot Mia’s parents with her siblings, who did a relay of their own. I’ll have to find out if we beat them.

  “I told the guys,” Tanner tells me, stopping us again before we reach them.

  “Oh yeah?” I know he’s been thinking about it, not wanting to lie to our friends. Wanting them to know the real Tanner Moon, all layers and sides to him.

  “They were asking about the technical writing work they’d heard I did, so it felt like the right time. I told them not to, but they said they’re going to read my books.”

  “You want me to tell Grace and Morgan or you want to do it yourself?”

  “Maybe I’ll rip the Band-Aid off right now and tell everyone. As long as no one else around here overhears. I’m still keeping this to the locals. No website announcements.”

  “Good. I don’t want a bunch of your avid readers creeping up on us in our new house trying to get a look at you.”

  He squeezes me harder and I lean more heavily into his side.

  “But don’t judge me if I head straight to the beer garden to calm down after telling everyone.”

  “Oh please, they’ll love it and fawn over you.”

  “They might hate me for lying about the nameless great-aunt.”

  “Did Jamie and Oliver?”

  “No. Jamie gets it, since he kept his last name from Mia at the beginning too.”

  “And Mia understood why he did. There wasn’t even anything to forgive. It will be the same.”

  “Always so confident, Charlie.”

  “Well, if they don’t, I’ll force them to. So don’t worry about it.”

  He leans down for a kiss but pauses when his lips are an inch from mine. “You know you can’t always get your way, right?”

  “I have so far.”

  “Good, then so have I.” He brushes his lips lightly against mine and we join our friends.

  But it turns out we’re not the only ones with an announcement. Mia and Jamie lift their joined hands and Mia shouts, “We’re getting married!”

  We cheer and hug, and I find there’s still enough salt and water in my body to shed a few happy tears. Tanner squeezes my hand and whispers, “I’ll tell them another time. Soon. Don’t want to take over their moment.”

  Grace is on my other side and elbows me. “What are you two whispering about?”

  “We’ll tell you later,” I promise.

  Her eyes widen. “You’re getting married too, aren’t you?” she loud-whispers, but Morgan hears and turns around.

  “I called it first,” she says, her competitive instincts as bad as mine. “I knew as soon as you two figured it out and got together again, it would happen fast. I just had a feeling you were a real romantic, Tanner. I love being right.”

  “Whoa. I didn’t say that’s what we were whispering about. Settle down.”

  Morgan still looks a little smug and Grace’s eyes bounce between me and Tanner. How do they know we have a big secret anyway? Couples whisper all the time.

  Tanner attempts to dispel notions of marriage. “She still thinks moving in with me is scary permanent, so one step at a time.”

  “I’m not scared anymore.”

  All three of them give me skeptical looks.

  “I’m not.” At first, the words came out automatically. But as I look at Mia showing her ring to my parents, I picture myself in her shoes. Hopefully she doesn’t have as many blisters as I do, but the rest? I want it.

  “You can propose anytime,” I announce, patting Tanner on the back with a winning smile.

  He narrows his eyes, wondering if I’m joking. I don’t think I am. I want it all with him. Not for this week, this summer, or until I get restless. I want to get restless with Tanner. How could I ever get bored of this guy? His words and music alone would keep me coming back, but his imagination, his stories, it’s never-ending. Plus, not many guys can keep up with all my athletic pursuits, or teach me some new ones. It’s just a bonus. So many bonuses I’m discovering come with the man.

  “Will I have to dare you or can I ask it like a question?” he hedges, playing along.

  “Maybe I’ll beat you to it and ask first.”

  “If I say yes, you’ll be stuck with me forever.”

  “I want that. I want you stuck with me.”

  Morgan loud-whispers to Grace, “Are they proposing to each other right now? What’s happening?”

  “No, there’s no ring.”

  “Not today,” I assure them. “It’s Mia’s day today. Come on, let’s see if they’ve got any champagne at the beer garden.”

  But soon, it will be our turn. And it doesn’t scare me. Not even a little bit.

  About the Author

  Thanks for reading Sugar Moon! Don’t be shy! Please consider leaving a review on Amazon! Have you read Mia and Jamie’s story? You can grab Sugar Bright today and stay in Sugarville a bit longer.

  Ali is a USA Today Bestselling author of sports romance books. She has always loved to read, especially when there's a happily ever after, but found that there weren't enough books out there featuring girl athletes. So, she decided to work on that. Like the heroines in her books, Ali is an athlete, with running and skiing her favorite sports these days. Ali hails from Vermont and now lives in her own happily-ever-after in Colorado with her husband, two sets of twins, and golden retriever Pancake. When she's not pursuing an outdoor adventure, Ali's less healthy passions include ice cream, coffee, and beer.

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  Also by Ali Dean

  Vermonters Forever

  Sugar Bright

  Pepper Jones Series

  Pepped Up (Pepper Jones #1)

  All Pepped Up (Pepper Jones #2)

  Pepped Up & Ready (Pepper Jones #3)

  Pep Talks (Pepper Jones #4)

  Pepped Up Forever (Pepper Jones #5)

  Pepped Up & Wilder (Pepper Jones #6)

  Pepper Series Standalone Spinoff

  Chasing Indigo

  Stark Springs Academy Series

  Black Diamond

  Double Black

  Black Ice

  Spark Sisters Series

  The Line Below

  Kick

  Defiance Falls Series

  Defiance Falls

  Defiance Falls Revolution

  Defiance Falls War

  Brazen Series

  Brazen Rush

  Brazen Steele

  Brazen Girl

  Brazen Tricks

  Standalones

  Elusive

  Doubles Love

  Brazen Rush Sneak Peek

  Chapter One

  Jordan Slattery is a skateboarding phenom, but no one’s heard of her. That is, until she starts college in California, and heads begin to turn each time she hits the skateparks. She tries to avoid the attention, waking at the crack of dawn to ride before anyone else arrives. That plan backfires when none other than Beckett Steele, skateboarding world champion, shows up at the same park with the same plan to avoid the crowds. Too bad his initial interest in her disappears when he realizes she’s only seventeen to his twenty-five.