Strawberry Summer

by Melissa Brayden

  All was right with the world.

  All was right.

  I buried my nose in her hair and took a deep inhale of the vanilla, never wanting to be away from her for so long ever again. I refused to think about the fact that I only had her for a month before she headed back for the fall semester. She’d just completed a summer internship at Carrington’s Corporate in Chicago and would continue with them for the remainder of the school year.

  But I had a month.

  “You’re one hell of a sight for sore eyes,” she said. There were tears in her eyes, and now I realized there were tears in mine, too.

  “I can safely say the same.”

  Her lips were on mine and mine were on hers because there was so much time to make up for. The familiar tingles hit, and I welcomed them fully. When we came up for air, I rested my forehead against hers and smiled. “You’re here. You can finally see my place.”

  On cue, Courtney popped her head up and looked around. “It looks just like the photos! You have a truly precious house.”

  I winced. “And that’s what I was going for, precious.”

  She laughed. “Fine. How about attractive? Quaint. Rustic. Are any of those better?”

  “I can get on board with quaintly rustic.”

  “Show it to me,” she said and peeked in through the screen. “I know you’ve been putting in a lot of time.”

  I opened the screen door. “Follow me.”

  “If there’s not Beatles memorabilia somewhere in this place, I’m going to be incredibly disappointed.”

  I looked back at her. “This tour comes with a lot of pressure.”

  I led her inside my new home and instantly saw it through her eyes for the first time. The door opened immediately to the living room, which was joined to the kitchen and the breakfast nook at the back of the house. The cottage’s only bedroom and bathroom were down the hallway to the right. I’d done my best to keep the cottage rustic but modern, finding as much beige driftwood furniture as I could and then punctuating it with turquoise accents in the form of throw pillows, complementary art, and curtains that hinted of color. I wasn’t into clutter, so the surfaces were mostly clean and sparse with only an occasional knickknack. I had an apple crisp candle burning in the kitchen and Courtney took a deep inhale as she looked around, moving through every inch of the space. I gave her time to explore all of it and enjoyed watching her take in each detail.

  “It’s fantastic,” she said at long last, pausing in the center of the living room, turning in a circle. “Every detail is so very Maggie, which means I love it.”

  I felt the pink on its way to my cheeks. “I love it, too. I couldn’t wait for you to see it.”

  “No Beatles, though,” she said in disappointment.

  “But wait!” I raised one finger. “The closet door was open. Follow me.” She trailed me down the short hallway to my favorite room in the house. I’d gone with a fluffy white bedspread and pale blue walls. Hanging to the right of the bed and behind the closet door was a framed photo of the Beatles’ Abbey Road album. I closed the closet door, revealing the artwork, and watched her smile take shape.

  “Now I can rest easy. All is right with the world.” She scanned the rest of the room and paused, her eyes landing on a familiar frame on the wall. She’d sent it as a Christmas present earlier that year, but I hadn’t waited until Christmas to open it. When I did, I fell madly in love with the scene before me. A pencil sketch of Courtney and me sitting along the bank of the creek, the way we had countless nights last summer. The detail was so precise, so shockingly accurate that I had simply stared at it for days. I considered it my most treasured possession, and I’d hung it across from my bed so that it was the first thing I saw when I woke up in the morning and the last thing I saw before switching off the light.

  She turned back to me. “I love that you hung it up. That means a lot.”

  I shrugged. “I mean, it’s okay.”

  She laughed and it felt like us again. “Come here.” I moved into her arms and we stood there for a moment. “Remember when I arrived last summer and couldn’t believe how beautiful you looked?”

  I met her eyes, and smiled. “Vaguely.”

  “Well, it’s happened again. How am I so lucky that you’re mine?”

  I rolled my eyes playfully. “How do I know that’s not a line, that you don’t say that to all the girls?” And there were a ton of them in her life. Heather, Jorie, Tonie, Simone, to pinpoint just a few of the names she often referenced on our phone calls. Not to mention the string of guys that seemed to run with their group. The time apart had me feeling a little vulnerable, wondering if she’d met someone fabulous she could do fabulous things with and forget about tiny little Tanner Peak. About me. I wasn’t sure I would have blamed her either. Courtney’s life seemed pretty exciting compared to what I offered her.

  “All of the girls,” she replied, nodding. “All the time. Except the truth is so very different from that, Maggie.” I shook my head and watched as she undid my top button and traced my collarbone. “For me, there is only you, and that will never change.” She undid my second button, exposing part of my bra and running her finger across the top of my breast. I hissed in a breath. Another button.

  “We have dinner reservations, remember? To celebrate?” My shirt hung completely open and Courtney tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. Her eyes dropped to the skin on display. I was starting to care less and less about that dinner.

  “Don’t take this the wrong way, because I love how much of a planner you are, but I would much rather order a pizza and stay right here, getting…reacquainted.”

  “Sold,” I said, and looked around for the phone.

  She took a seat and watched me call in a pizza order to the café. Danny, the delivery driver, would bring it our way shortly. I hung up and grasped my shirt, prepared to button it once again.

  “Don’t,” Courtney said, her gaze beckoning me. I walked to her willingly, wantonly, and allowed myself to be pulled into her lap. I knew that look on her face, and I loved it. Her hands settled inside my shirt on the sides of my waist. She slid her thumbs up my torso to just beneath my breasts where she readjusted, allowing them to fill her palms. She looked up at me with eyes of wonder, and I ran my thumb along her bottom lip. She kissed it and squeezed my breasts through my bra. When I dropped my head back as the wonderful pinpricks of pleasure assaulted my senses, Courtney took the opportunity to kiss my collarbone and then sat up taller, kissing my neck, holding the back of it, as I pressed against her stomach with my hips.

  “God, I’ve missed you,” she murmured, unbuttoning my jeans.

  I grabbed her wrist halfheartedly. “The pizza guy will be here in just a few minutes. Small town. Short distance.”

  “I’ll be quick,” she said, and silenced me with a searing kiss I could not argue with. The best kind of kiss, where her tongue stroked mine, leaving fireworks in its wake. At the same time, Courtney pressed with her palm against the seam of my jeans and I was hers, surrendering to anything she wanted. She smiled at the little noises I made and slid down the zipper on my jeans. When she eased her hand inside, I swore quietly and held her shoulders for support. Quite honestly, she didn’t have to do much. It had been so long, and I was so far gone already. After a few quick strokes, I was ready to tumble over the edge. When she slid inside and pressed against me with her thumb, I did more than that. I shattered entirely, squeezing her shoulders and tightening around her. Powerful waves of pleasure hit one right after another, a pattern that seemed to keep giving.

  “Fuck,” I breathed, my forehead resting on her shoulder.

  “Exactly that.” Courtney chuckled and kissed my cheek. “It has been way too long since I’ve done that. And in a few short minutes, we can eat pizza.”

  Fifteen minutes later, that’s exactly what we were doing.

  Courtney sat cross-legged on the couch facing me, pulling off one pepperoni at a time and popping them in her mouth as soft tunes play
ed from the radio in the kitchen. She held up a hand at my raised eyebrow. “Can I just take a moment to say how nice it is to be sitting here in front of you? Enjoying a meal as fantastic as this one and not counting down until we’re together again because we already are?”

  “It’s surreal, though, at the same time.”

  “It is.” We shared the moment, taking each other in.

  I grinned. “So tell me more about the internship.”

  She nodded and took a moment to finish chewing. “Corporate was even more interesting than I thought it was going to be.”

  “So you started off in marketing and then rotated into…”

  “Operations, which is what I’m most excited for. It seems to be what I excel at. Big-picture stuff.”

  “I had a sneaking suspicion you were going to rock at bossing people around.” She tossed a pillow at me, which I caught handily. I smiled and swallowed back the disappointment that we now had so little of the summer left. She’d be heading back to Chicago in just a few short weeks. “What does your dad think?”

  She considered the question. “He’s been surprisingly hands off. Isn’t talking to me much these days.”

  “Because of me, you mean.”

  She attempted a smile but didn’t quite make it. “He knows I’m still seeing you, yes. I think he’s also aware that he’s not going to be able to stop me.”

  “So he’s freezing you out?”

  “A good way to put it. I mean, he picked me up from the airport, said a couple of words. We’re living in the same house, but he’s made his disapproval clear. All of my communication at Carrington’s now goes through Jonathan Voorhees, the COO. He’s really taken an interest in determining my strengths and how that translates to a future role with the company.”

  “Jonathan’s your mentor, huh? Is he handsome? Are you in love with him?” God, could I be any more insecure? I hated that part of myself.

  “Well, he’s sixty, but I’ve always been into the older ones.”

  Now it was my turn to launch a pillow. “So would they ever give you control of your own store?”

  She nodded. “Once I’m ready, yes. That’s the goal. Provided my father doesn’t put himself in the way of it.”

  “He would do that?”

  “It doesn’t matter. He’ll have to come to terms with you and me sooner or later. I’m an adult and I will date whomever I want to. Which brings me to my next topic.”

  I set my empty plate on the coffee table. “And that would be?”

  “Us.”

  Okay, this could go a lot of ways. It wouldn’t completely shock me if Courtney was over the long-distance headache and maybe wanted to ease up on things between us. But judging from the earlier chair encounter, sex didn’t seem to be one of them. My stomach dropped out beneath me and I asked myself if I was capable of casual sex, and honestly had no clue how I would—

  “I want you to come back east with me.”

  I didn’t follow. “Come back east with you where?”

  She sat a little taller as if making a presentation. “I want you to move to Chicago. You could transfer to Northwestern. Finish school there.”

  I laughed. “I’m not sure it’s that simple to get into Northwestern, Court.”

  “It’s not as hard as you might think. Plus, there are tons of schools in the area. Take your pick. I just know that I want you there with me, and I will bend over backward to make you comfortable with the idea.” I raised an eyebrow at the provocative visual, which pulled a grin from Courtney. “See? That right there, that sly sense of humor, is one of many reasons I can’t be apart from you anymore. I don’t just love you, I like you.”

  A long silence enveloped the room.

  “You’re serious about this?” I asked.

  “I’m very serious.” She took my hand, and that’s when I noticed that she was trembling. When I put together everything I knew about Courtney, the girl who didn’t let a lot of people in, it made sense that she’d be nervous. In fact, she was probably terrified. For once, she was putting herself out there. But at the same time, I wasn’t sure this was a move I was prepared to make. What about the farm? School? Timothy? So many thoughts zigzagged across my brain that I needed a moment to process the whirlwind.

  “While not having to say good-bye to you sounds like a wonderful idea,” I squeezed her hand, “this is such a huge decision. Can I think about it?”

  She nodded and I watched the color drain from her face. “Yes. Yes. Of course you can. I probably should have picked a better time, anyway. I didn’t mean to spring that on you.”

  I placed a calming hand on her knee. “You didn’t.” But she wasn’t looking at me anymore, and that stung.

  “Good.” She stood and collected our plates. I watched her walk into the kitchen, understanding that she now felt wildly off-kilter. Vulnerable, and she didn’t like that. I decided I needed to help as best I could.

  “Do you know how off the charts in love with you I am?”

  She turned to me and smiled that perfect smile that got me every time. The one that had my heart. “It’s nice to hear the words.”

  “Well, I’ll say it again: I love you, and I will make sure you know it every day.” I walked to her and took her hands in mine. “I will buy you flowers to say so.”

  “I do love flowers.”

  “And chocolate.”

  She looked skyward. “It’s hard to beat chocolate.”

  “Then I’ll hire a chorus of singers to follow you wherever you go.”

  She held up a finger. “That might get creepy. Flowers and chocolate are just fine.”

  “Gospel ones, and they’ll sing really loud. Mainly just your name entirely in high notes.”

  “Probably not the wisest idea.” But she was laughing, which was key. Mission accomplished. I followed her around the kitchen as she attempted to escape.

  “And they’ll all wear blond wigs in your honor.”

  “You’ve lost your mind.”

  “What about choreography?”

  She turned around, walking backward now as I pursued her. “No.”

  “I’m thinking they could do the shopping cart dance move in homage to you.” I demonstrated.

  “I’m going to kill you.”

  I pulled her to me. “I’ll die happy.”

  Chapter Twelve

  I started the next week off at Bag of Beans, where I laid out my notes and plans for streamlining the Pick-Your-Own. The checkout process had become too time consuming when we were in the midst of a busy afternoon, and I had some definite ideas about expediting the whole process.

  “Aha, the Pick-Your-Own shuffle is in full effect.”

  I glanced up and smiled at Berta and instantly held open my arms for little Timothy, who didn’t begrudge me. I loved that he recognized me and reached for me readily each time he saw me. “Good morning. Yes, the rumors are true. The Pick-Your-Own is in need of some restructuring. How are you two?” I asked, referencing her and the baby.

  “One of us is a little less frustrated than the other and hasn’t had their hair pulled eighteen times, but we’re both here.”

  “I don’t know how you can beat not having your hair pulled,” I said to Timothy. “You’ve got the good end of this stick, buddy.”

  “Hold him while I grab a coffee?”

  “Just try wrestling him from me.” As I cooed at Timothy, I caught sight of Louis through the window sitting on a curb across the street. He looked awful and wore the clothes I’d seen him in the day before.

  “What’s with Louis?” I asked Berta when she returned, gesturing out the window to where he sat.

  She followed my gaze and shook her head. “He’s been so distant lately. I’ve tried to talk to him, but he doesn’t seem to want anything to do with me. I still don’t think he’s forgiven me for Travis.”

  “His heart is still broken. That makes me so sad.” I watched as he got up and walked away and decided, then and there, that I needed to be his friend.
Go out of my way to show him that his life still had meaning even if he didn’t have Berta. There were so many great girls out there for him to go and meet. Given, Tanner Peak was small, but he needed to realize that there was a life out there for him. He just needed to reach out and grab it.

  “I just want him to be happy, you know?” Berta said wistfully. “I can’t stand that I’m the reason he’s not. He’s too sweet a person.” Timothy squirmed in my arms, and Berta took him from me. “Someone wants his breakfast. Say good-bye to your Aunt Maggie.” She looked to me. “It was nice having a conversation with someone who is verbal. Thank you.”

  “Likewise,” I told her. With a wave, Berta was off and I was back to work in the gritty world of strawberry procedures. Courtney had some phone appointments scheduled, so I had most of the morning to work at my own pace. I was only a few minutes in when I felt that awkward sensation one gets from being stared at. I threw a glance to the front of the store and saw Melanie tear her eyes from me instantly. Weird. I shook it off and went back to work, only to jump five feet out of my skin when I discovered her standing right next to my chair.

  “Oh my God,” I said, grabbing my chest. “You teleported yourself from the counter.”

  “I didn’t mean to sneak up on you,” she said, and took a seat next to me. This was odd. What was happening? I was still in the same body, right? Why was Melanie seeking me out? “Do you have a second to chat?” She forced a smile.

  “Sure,” I told her, glancing around the relatively empty shop to see if there was anyone else around to witness this rare event. Melanie Newcastle was approaching me for an actual conversation.

  She paused a moment and then jumped right in. “I don’t want to seem nosy or like I’m prying into your personal business…”

  Oh, this was off to an interesting start. I braced myself.

  “But you and Courtney Carrington are an item, right?”

  “We are,” I said slowly. I wasn’t sure where this was going or how I felt about it.