Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 55550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
I’ve never seen someone move as fast as he does right now. He’s off the bed, digging through his pants pocket for a condom while simultaneously removing his briefs. I shimmy out of my panties and toss them on the floor, in time to welcome him into my arms.
Wade hovers above me, his fingers caressing the side of my face. “I love you, Lemon.”
nineteen
wade
Someone pinch me because I’ve gone to heaven, in a lovely wicker basket, and without a care in the world. I lay there, with my hands behind my head, staring at the ceiling, with undoubtedly the biggest shit eating grin I can muster, while Lemon . . . yes, my Lemon . . . rests her head on my bare chest.
We’ve slept, maybe a couple of hours, spending most of the night and a.m. hours in each other’s arms, rekindling and rebuilding, and making up for years of lost time. In hindsight, I should’ve pushed for this years ago, but I’m not sure she was ready. Hell, I don’t think she was ready until life forced us together. Life being Goldie moving here. Funny how my daughter was the catalyst for us not getting back together and reuniting. I’m going to have to take her on a shopping spree or vacation to Disney or something. She deserves all the credit for this.
I pull my hand out from behind my head and drag my fingers up and down Lemon’s arm. She snuggles deeper into me.
Last night, I told her I loved her before I made love to her. The words came tumbling out before I could stop them. I don’t wish I hadn’t said it but do wish I waited a bit. The thing is, I’ve never stopped loving her. There hasn’t been a day in my life when I’ve woken up feeling like I wasn’t in love with her. I believe wholeheartedly she’s my soulmate.
The other night in my truck—I don’t want to call that a hook-up but that’s what it felt like, almost like she had an itch, and I was the scratching post—was different. That was us, giving into the temptation. This is different. It’s like I can feel we’re on the path to forever.
Being with her is like being home. My memories of our time together didn’t fail me. I remember everything perfectly. Which spots drive her crazy, what positions she likes, and how she likes to take control. Thinking about her, pushing me onto her bed after we had a late-night snack, brings a smile to my face.
“What’s so funny?” she asks.
I hadn’t realized I laughed a little.
“Nothing,” I tell her. “Just thinking about us. Last night, throughout the night, this morning. All of it.”
“Are you happy?”
Her question catches me off guard, and I don’t like it. I readjust so we’re both on our sides and brush her hair away from her face.
“Lemon, the day you stomped through the school yard to ask me what the hell I’m doing on the grounds made me happy because you were talking to me. I knew, deep down, if I could get you to just talk to me then we’d find ways to be in each other’s paths again.”
“I’ve done everything I could to avoid you.”
“I know and I’ve given you the space. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you or put you in an uncomfortable situation.”
She smiles kindly.
“Can I ask you something?”
Lemon nods.
“Why did you come back to Magnolia Grove when you could’ve gone anywhere with your degree?”
Her shoulder starts to lift and then drops immediately. “I’ve often asked myself the same thing and depending on my mood, the answer changes. At the beginning of the last couple of school years, I questioned my decision each time the school board awarded you the landscaping contract. Jean would remind me they weren’t going to give it to anyone else, regardless, so why did I put myself through the drama of caring.
“Then I wouldn’t see you for months, not even a glimpse and I’d find myself driving by places where I’d know you be like River’s End or the hardware store because I freak out when I thought you had moved, even though that was always in the back of my mind.
“But then, come summer, I would leave because I couldn’t see you with your daughter . . .” she pauses and inhales. “With Goldie. Seeing her here reminded me of what I lost and at times that pain was crippling. So, I’d travel and come back in time to get things ready for the upcoming school year.
“To get back to your question though, I think I came back because this is where I was the happiest. Call me naïve but my time with you was the happiest I’ve ever been. I know we were young, but I feel like we were perfect together and part of me needed to have those memories in order to feel alive again.”