Forgiving You: A Bluebell Valley Novel

by

  “You’ll love it there. It’s such a beautiful country.”

  “You’ve been in Italy?” Sam asked in disbelief. “That makes my life even more depressing.”

  “You know what? I’ll take you. Whenever you want to go.”

  “Don’t do that…”

  “Do what? If I can make you happy, I’d love to do it. Money doesn’t make me happy anymore, but if it can do it for you, please let me do it.”

  “Austin…” Sam whispered. “Why are you doing this? Spending time with me, saying you’re going to take me to Italy?”

  He could feel Sam’s eyes on him, burning to know the answer. And he had to give it to her. Was she ready to hear it? He didn’t know, but there wouldn’t be a better moment.

  “I haven’t been entirely honest with you,” Austin started, gathering his courage to tell Sam the truth. “Before I left for college, I… I had feelings for you too.” He looked at Sam’s face, searching for a reaction. Her eyes were wide open, like she didn’t believe him. “And I’m not sure those feelings are gone.”

  He waited for an answer from Sam, but it never came. She stayed silent, and he couldn’t blame her.

  “I want you to be happy, I really do,” Austin added, not sure what to say anymore. When he peeked at Sam’s face, she looked serious, like she was weighing her options.

  “But you’re leaving tomorrow,” she finally said, meeting his gaze. It was a fact that he stopped shooting the next day and was supposed to take a plane back to New York. That was the original plan.

  “I’ll push it back. Leave next week.” He didn’t have a clue if this was what Sam wanted, but he was ready to do whatever it took to be with her. Even if it meant he would miss a week of work. Especially if it meant he would miss a week of work.

  Sam was analyzing him and he didn’t stop her. She was staring boldly, but even if it made him a bit uncomfortable, he didn’t say anything. He simply waited.

  “Okay,” she said as she let go of the pipe she’d been holding on for a while. She took a step back, a smile slowly dawning on her face. “I have to head back to town, but pick me up tomorrow.”

  Austin’s heart was pounding harder than ever. He wanted to grab Sam and kiss her so badly, but it was too soon and he knew it. She gave him one last smile before turning around and walking back to her car. As much as Austin wanted to stop her, he had to keep some pressure on the pump while the glue he had put on it was drying.

  But it didn’t matter, because he was going to see Sam again tomorrow.

  And for the first time since they’d known each other, he would be taking her on a date. A real one.

  Chapter Ten

  Sam

  As she grabbed the steering wheel, Sam felt lighter than ever. She had come to Austin’s house with a bad excuse and left with a date set up for the next day. She still couldn’t believe how that morning had turned out, but she was happy about it. Happier than she had been in months. Her life was going forward again, after being stuck in the same routine for years.

  Glancing in the rearview mirror, Sam noticed how wide the smile was on her face. She finally had the chance she never had to be more than Austin’s friend. After the way they had left each other, she had never thought that she would have a second chance. But after that morning, she wanted to be with him more than ever. The fact that he cared for her made her feel special, something she hadn’t felt in a long time. It was something that only Austin could make her feel.

  And he cared about her. Even if he had left her life a long time ago, he had never stopped loving her.

  Those words echoed in her brain and she couldn’t believe them. He had loved her. She felt so silly, realizing ten years later that she wouldn’t have gotten her heart broken by Austin if she’d just said something. Maybe they would have had a completely different life…

  But then maybe there was also a reason for everything that had happened.

  Sam tried to concentrate on the road in front of her as she drove back to Bluebell Valley, but she just couldn’t stop thinking about Austin. She wanted to kiss him. She imagined his arms around her body, how warm his embrace would be, how she would hide her face in his neck and stay there forever. She wanted more of Austin, more than she ever had of him, but she had to wait.

  A day was too long for her. She had to go through the rest of her Saturday and find something to keep her busy on Sunday afternoon. How was she going to do that?

  “Where’s that stupid shirt?” Sam whispered as she dug in her top drawer. Austin was going to be here any minute, and she wasn’t even close to being ready. She had a pair of jeans on, but she was still looking for the right shirt all over her apartment.

  When she heard a car park below her window, she started freaking out. She was still in her bra and couldn’t find anything decent to wear. She’d been so impatient about this night, and now she couldn’t even find anything to put on.

  “No, no, no,” she said as she locked herself in the bathroom. She still had to tie her hair. She looked at her face in the mirror, wondering when she had become such a mess, and she couldn’t help but laugh. She wanted to be perfect for Austin tonight, but it probably wouldn’t even matter to him.

  Sam took a deep breath in and let it out. It was going to be okay. She could let her hair down and there was definitely something she could find in her closet that would work for tonight.

  She turned to get out of the bathroom when she noticed the cream tank top she’d been looking for was hanging behind the door.

  “There you are!” Sam slipped the shirt on, grabbed her purse, and bounded out of her apartment, ready for a night of fun.

  When she arrived down the stairs of her apartment building, Austin was leaning against his car, waiting for her. She couldn’t help but smile at the plaid shirt he was wearing. She was fairly certain he didn’t get to wear those much in New York City. But she was happy he was wearing it here. It fit him better than a suit.

  He was more handsome than ever, which was probably due to the fact that he looked so relaxed. When she had seen him for the first time in the liquor store two days ago, he was looking tired and lonely. But tonight, as Sam got, she saw Austin looked content.

  “Do you know how gorgeous you are?” he said with a charming smile on his lips. It made Sam blush.

  “Thanks,” she murmured, nervously putting her hair behind her ear. She wasn’t used to being looked at the way Austin was looking at her right now. She could feel his eyes on her body, taking in every ounce of her. “You don’t look too bad, yourself.”

  Austin smiled back at her as he opened the door of the car. Sam recognized the blue truck and looked at Austin in disbelief.

  “This thing still works?” she laughed. It was the truck Austin had driven ten years ago in high school. He drove it all the way to Boston, so Sam was even more surprised to see it here today.

  “Yep, it does. The first summer I came back here, I drove it back. I have to be honest, I didn’t want it anymore. It’s been rusting in the yard since then, but let’s just say I had some free time yesterday…”

  “Weren’t you busy being interviewed?” Sam asked as she jumped on the passenger seat.

  “I was. But apparently, they changed their minds and wanted me to work on something while they asked questions… So I worked on this truck!”

  Sam shook her head, looking over his handiwork. The truck was in a very good shape for having been abandoned for the better part of a decade.

  “You did a good job,” she said with a smile. Whatever Austin did, he always made sure it was done as perfectly as possible. It was something she liked about him, even though it had taken him away from her once already. Even with their history, she still approved of how patient and dedicated he was. That wasn’t something she found very often in a man.

  Thinking about it, Sam couldn’t even remember the last time she had been on a date. After Austin had left, she hadn’t felt like falling in love again for a while. When everybody around her
told her to move on and meet some people, she had half-heartedly followed their advice. She had been on a few first dates with men April or her mother introduced her to, but she never found anybody she liked.

  And looking at his face now, she wondered how long it would take her for all those feelings for him to come back. Maybe, she realized, they were already there…

  “So, where are you taking me?” she asked as she noticed that they were driving by the river, toward the west side of town.

  “I’m taking you for dinner, first,” Austin replied. “But that’s all I’m telling you for now.”

  Sam had nothing against a little bit of mystery, so she leaned back in her seat and let Austin drive her to where they had to go.

  The truck finally slowed down and Sam looked at the building they were parking in front of.

  “That’s where you’re taking me?” she said, laughing.

  “I thought you’d like a slice of the past. I mean, of pie.”

  Sam looked at the diner in front of her, where she had spent so many evenings with Austin. They both loved Mrs. Frank’s blueberry pie and her burgers. They were the best in town.

  “I love it,” Sam said as she grabbed Austin’s arm. They hadn’t seen each other in a decade, but he still remembered how much she loved her pie.

  As they entered in the restaurant, Sam noticed a few heads turn in their direction, but she decided to not care. Of course people were going to whisper about them, especially since the Cole family was well-known in Bluebell Valley and everybody knew what had happened with Austin.

  He took her to a faraway booth, where they could talk without having everyone eavesdrop on them. Sam was thankful for that.

  “I’m sorry about that,” Austin said, looking around the diner. He had noticed too how quiet it had become when they had come in. People were starting to talk again and there was again a comfortable humming around them.

  “It’s okay, don’t worry,” Sam replied with a smile. She wanted to forget about it and concentrate on her time with Austin.

  “Are you hungry?”

  “I’m starving,” she admitted as she grabbed the menu in front of her. She wasn’t only going to eat pie. She needed a real meal. “Is this what you missed most about Bluebell Valley?”

  Sam might have been avoiding Austin’s eyes, but she could feel his on her. She blushed as she realized how intense his stare was.

  No, you’re the one I’ve missed the most, she wanted to hear. Was it what Austin was thinking about? He was taking a bit longer than she thought he would to answer such a simple question.

  “Mrs. Frank’s pies? I guess nothing in New York can compare with them. But no, what I’ve missed the most is how slow life is here. You can really enjoy it and you don’t have to be in a rush all the time.”

  Sam sighed as she allowed herself to look at Austin. He was smiling at her, his eyes full of the sweetness she knew he had.

  “But there are plenty of other things I just started realizing how much I miss. Like spending time with you,” he admitted. Sam felt her heart skip a beat as he said that, his words making the butterflies in her belly more intense than before. “Do you remember when we used to come here as kids?”

  “How could I forget?” Sam answered. She tried to sound as casual as she could, but she knew there was something inside of her that she couldn’t control anymore. Looking at Austin’s handsome face, she knew her feelings for him were back already. “We’d beg our moms to give us money, then we’d run here to order a milkshake and a slice of blueberry pie.”

  “And you’d always order a chocolate milkshake that you’d drink with two straws. I never understood the straws part.”

  Sam couldn’t help but laugh as it all came back to her. She had forgotten about her obsession over having two straws instead of one.

  “Everybody knows two straws are better! You can drink a lot more at once,” she replied with a grin. The more they talked about the past, the more she missed it. Those times were so simple. She was just a carefree girl who loved to do whatever she wanted, dragging her best friend around with her.

  “It’s been a long time since I ordered a chocolate milkshake with two straws,” she admitted. Since she’d been working at the bakery, she didn’t have much time for fun. Actually, she didn’t know how to have fun in Bluebell Valley anymore.

  “So, what can I get you?” said a waitress who had just appeared next to them.

  Sam looked down at her menu for a second, still wondering what she was going to order.

  “I’ll get the burger with a vanilla milkshake and a slice of blueberry pie,” Austin said. Sam noticed that he hadn’t even opened his menu since they’d been here. He still knew it by heart. Sam put hers back on the table, looking at the waitress with a grin on her face.

  “I’ll take the same thing, except make it a chocolate milkshake. And make it two straws, please.” The lady wrote her order on her notepad and left as quickly as she had appeared.

  “I can see you still have the appetite that you used to have,” Austin said with a smile at the corner of his lips.

  “That’s something that hasn’t changed,” Sam said. “I love food and I always will. I have to work out a bit more often to make sure it doesn’t go in my hips in a few years, but that’s fine with me.”

  “You still do a lot of sports?”

  “I run, that’s all. It’s not as entertaining as being on a soccer team, but it’s too complicated with my schedule at the bakery. Running is easy and free.”

  As she had gotten older, Sam had started to appreciate running a lot more than when she was a teenager. Back then, she wanted to sweat with other people and loved the feeling of a team. Now, running by herself brought her peace of mind. It was her time to think and reconnect with herself.

  “You started working out,” Sam mentioned as she looked at Austin’s arms. She was still impressed by how big they were. When they were teenagers, Austin had a bit of muscle from working on his parents’ orchard, but nothing compared to how he was built today.

  “Yes, well… I have access to the best gyms in the city, and I also have a personal trainer.”

  “So you mean that money buys you muscle?” Sam joked.

  “No,” Austin replied with a laugh. “But having a personal trainer helps a lot with motivation. I have someone to kick me in the butt if I don’t lift as much as I should.”

  “That’s not a very hard job—to kick you in the butt, I mean. I did that so many times in high school.”

  “That’s not true,” Austin huffed. He knew Sam was right, but still wanted to argue.

  “I don’t think you would have had any other friends if I didn’t push you so much.”

  Sam could still remember those nights where she would practice small talk with Austin so he could approach other people and have a conversation with them. He had never been good at it, and even though she knew he often felt stupid doing that, it had done him a lot of good.

  The waitress came back with their burgers. They looked delicious and Sam had already grabbed a French fry when her eyes met Austin’s.

  “I didn’t need any other friends back then,” he said earnestly. “I had you, and you were more than enough.”

  Sam had devoured her meal way too fast. After Austin had taken care of the bill for them, they had decided to go for a quick walk by the river. From their side, they could see a few houses and fields.

  As they slowly walked next to the water, Sam found herself getting closer and closer to Austin. Even if the night was still warm, she wanted his body close to hers. As their arms brushed against each other, she could feel the warmth on her skin, wishing it was all over her.

  And as if Austin could read her thoughts, his hand reached for hers. Sam smiled in silence as she walked even closer to Austin, happy and confident for the first time in a long time.

  “I have another surprise for you, but we have to wait for the sun to set,” Austin admitted as he stopped in front of a bench overloo
king the river.

  “And I guess you won’t tell me anything about it?”

  “You’re right about that.”

  They both sat down as Sam wondered what he could have planned for the rest of the evening. Everything that had happened so far was perfect. She believed that it was going to be the same for whatever came next.

  The sun was already low, barely over the horizon. There was a warm orange glow around them, which made everything more romantic.

  “This is lovely,” Sam said as she leaned her head against Austin’s shoulder, looking at the sunset. She hadn’t appreciated the beauty of Bluebell Valley in a long time. She couldn’t have been more thankful to Austin for showing it to her again. Maybe this part hadn’t been planned―or maybe it had―but she was enjoying it very much. It was like time had stopped all around them.

  Austin put an arm around her shoulders as she watched the magical sunset. This night couldn’t have been more perfect, and it wasn’t even over.

  Chapter Eleven

  Austin

  “Come on,” Austin said, extending his hand to Sam so she would stand up too. “It’s time for your next surprise.”

  The sun had set a few minutes ago and it was getting dark already. Austin didn’t need more darkness than that for what he had planned.

  Sam grabbed his hand and pulled herself up, laughing at the same time. The sound of her laughter made Austin’s heart skip a beat. To him, that was the most beautiful sound. He had always loved to hear his best friend laugh―and he’d always been looking for a way to make her laugh, too.

  “So, can I ask now where you’re taking me?” she asked as she slid her arm around Austin’s waist. He put his own arm around her shoulders, knowing he wanted to stay in this position forever. He still couldn’t believe how far they’d come in only a few days.

  “I’m sorry, I’m not at liberty to discuss that subject,” Austin said, grinning. As they arrived back to the car, he opened the door for Sam to slide in. Walking around the car, he glanced at her through the windshield, feeling like the luckiest man in the world.