by MJ Duncan
She had not been back to Boston since that day in November, and her mother’s phone calls demanding she do so stopped the day she worked up the courage to come out and tell her mother that her girlfriend was moving in with her. There was a part of her that mourned the loss of contact, but it was a very little part, and it did not take long for the family she had found for herself in a sleepy town in southern Washington to fill that void. She was happy—incredibly, blissfully happy with every facet of her life—and there were times that she was genuinely shocked that so little time had actually passed between then and now.
It did not take them even a week to move all of Anna’s things out to Spectrum, and Bryn got to begin each day with a sleepy “Five more minutes” murmured against her shoulder as Anna pulled her close and snuggled deeper beneath the covers. Though she would never admit it to anyone, she had read all of Anna’s romance novels that had found their way amongst her own on the shelves surrounding the fireplace, and she even looked fondly upon the smattering of medical journals and climbing magazines that seemed to constantly litter the coffee table.
From the moment Anna’s car found a new home beside Bryn’s Range Rover in the garage, Spectrum became the go-to place for their gatherings—and the best weekends for Bryn were the ones were Kendall and Jen would come out to join in the fun. The house seemed like it was constantly filled with music and conversation and laughter, and she would occasionally find herself taking a step back from it all to just soak it all in, genuinely awed by how incredible her life had become.
It was almost hard to believe that so much good could come from such a terrible beginning.
Bryn was pulled from her reverie by Anna beckoning her over to the fire pit, and her heart soared at the sight of the diamond band sparkling on Anna’s finger that was identical to the one on her own.
Anna had insisted they go on a ride to celebrate Grasshopper Day—the name she had given the day they had first met—but from the moment they had left the barn, she had become increasingly quiet, rubbing the reins between her thumbs and fingers as they rode around the property. The longer it went on, the more worried Bryn became that something was wrong, and she was just about to ask Anna about it when she stopped Figment at the top of the hill that overlooked the section of vineyard near the road where Anna’s car had crashed. The sky was lit with the brilliant reds, oranges, yellows, and blues of the setting sun, and the air was surprisingly warm for it only being early June, but Bryn was more focused on Anna than the beautiful scenery around them.
She watched as Anna slipped from her saddle and looped Figment’s reins around the thick arm of a vine that bore the telltale signs of budding fruit, confused as to what she was doing.
“Come on, beautiful,” Anna said, her voice trembling slightly as she held a hand out to Bryn.
Bryn’s brow wrinkled with concern as she did as Anna asked, sliding quickly from her saddle and tying Morgana’s reins onto a vine near Figment.
“Is everything okay?” she asked as Anna took her hand and threaded their fingers together.
“Of course.” Anna’s smile lacked her usual confidence, but she led Bryn through the rows of vines until they came to a small section of land near the edge of a small cliff that had never been planted. A red and black checkered blanket was spread over the pliant wild grasses, and Bryn could not contain her smile when she saw the bottle of champagne in an ice bucket and wicker picnic basket beside it.
“This is incredible,” Bryn murmured as she took it all in. She turned to Anna and captured her lips in a slow, sweet kiss that left no doubt about how touched she was by Anna’s efforts. “You’re incredible.”
“I’m glad you think so,” Anna said softly. Her smile was small, a little forced and a lot nervous, and Bryn finally understood why when Anna slowly lowered herself to one knee in front of her. Anna took a deep breath as she adjusted her hold on Bryn’s hand so that Bryn’s fingers were curled over the side of her index finger, and lifted Bryn’s hand to her lips.
There was only one thing that could come from a scene like this, and even though Bryn’s heart was racing wildly with anticipation, Anna looked so scared that she could not resist reaching out to gently stroke Anna’s cheek with her free hand. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Anna murmured. She rolled her eyes. “I’m ruining this already, aren’t I?”
Bryn shook her head. “No,” she whispered as she traced her finger over Anna’s lips, the touch a wholly inadequate replacement for the kiss she desperately wanted to place there instead.
Anna took a deep breath and smiled. “Good.” She swallowed nervously and then shook her head. “I…” She cleared her throat. “I know that I’ve apologized plenty of times for crashing into your vineyard down there,” she said, tilting her head indicatively, “but I have a confession to make that is long overdue: every time I said that I was sorry was a lie. I’m not sorry it happened. Because if it didn’t, I might never have met you, and you are the best thing to have ever happened to me.” A hint of her usual cocky smile tugged at the right corner of her lips. “I love you. I have loved you from the moment I first laid eyes on you, and I will love you for the rest of my life. Will you please make me the happiest woman in the world and say that you’ll marry me?”
Bryn’s throat was so thick with emotion that she could not speak, and she nodded vigorously as Anna got back to her feet and kissed her so tenderly that they both had tears in their eyes when they broke apart.
“Thank you,” Anna whispered as she brushed a light kiss over Bryn’s lips. She smiled bashfully as she pulled a small black velvet pouch from her pocket. “I was so nervous that I forgot to do this part,” she apologized as she reached into the pouch and withdrew a diamond platinum band.
The ring was beautiful—eye-catching and somehow simultaneously understated in its simplicity—and Bryn’s heart leapt into her throat as she watched Anna slip it onto her finger. It was the ring she had surreptitiously ogled when they had stopped by the Tiffany’s in downtown Portland to do some window shopping with Kendall and Jen after a late brunch the month before, and she could not help but wonder if the entire thing had been an elaborate set-up. “I love it.”
“I love you,” Anna said as she lifted Bryn’s hand to her lips and placed a lingering kiss to stone and metal and skin. “And yes, the entire window shopping thing was a set-up. I didn’t know for sure what you’d like, so Kendall helped me come up with the nefarious scheme to find out.”
Bryn laughed and captured Anna’s lips in a lingering kiss. “I love you.”
“I love you.”
Bryn shook her head and forced herself to focus on the present as she made her way across the patio to where Anna was sitting. She smiled as she took the glass of wine Anna held out to her, and did not think twice about the, “Thanks, sweetie,” that slipped past her lips.
She was long past worrying about people would think of her for being with Anna.
She smiled at Bridget, the writer for Wine Enthusiast who had been sent to interview her and cover the event, and lowered herself into the chair beside Anna. She waved a hand in the direction of the DJ who was busy setting up, and shook her head. “I’m sorry about having to interrupt the interview to go deal with that.”
“It’s perfectly fine. I know putting on an event like this takes a lot of work. I’m honestly surprised you don’t have somebody who handles it for you.”
“I like to be involved,” Bryn demurred as she sipped at her wine.
“And it shows.” Bridget smiled and set her empty glass onto the edge of the fire pit and picked up her phone that she had been using to record their interview. “Should we wrap this portion of the interview up so you can finish getting ready for the party tonight?”
“Of course.” Bryn crossed her legs and relaxed in her seat. Anna’s arm was draped across the back of her chair, and she smiled whenever Anna’s fingers would slip from the frame to stroke lightly over her shoulder.
It di
d not take very long at all for Bridget to get through the rest of her questions for the article, and she looked around the winery as she turned off the recording app and dropped her phone into her purse. “It really is beautiful here.”
“We think so too,” Bryn said as they all got to their feet.
Bridget slipped her purse onto her shoulder, and smiled at the couple. “If you don’t mind, can I ask how you guys met?”
Bryn laughed and looked at Anna. “That one’s all you, Fitzpatrick.”
Anna rolled her eyes. “Of course it is. I am never going to live that down, am I?”
“Never,” Bryn assured her.
“Fine.” Anna huffed dramatically and smiled at Bridget. “Like pretty much all acts of life-changing stupidity, our story begins with a dare…and a grasshopper.”
Bridget laughed. “That sounds like quite a story.”
Bryn nodded and took Anna’s hand into her own. Her heart fluttered as their eyes locked, and she could not keep from smiling as she said softly, “It is.”
Acknowledgements
Many heartfelt thanks go out to all of my amazing betas who worked with me at varying stages of this story’s progress. To Amy, who was there with me from day one, providing encouragement and suggestions, and who was willing to point out when there were things I needed to do better—and then riding my ass until I got it right. To Jade, who was kind enough to take the time to read this thing in bits and pieces and find all the words I thought I typed but didn’t. To Wye, who once again bravely risked thrown objects in order to make sure that this story was everything that it needed to be. Your honesty, as always, is greatly appreciated. Thanks also go to Clom for fitting me into your busy schedule and taking the time to give this thing a read and let me know what you thought of it, as well as to KJ, for whipping my punctuation into submission. You are all incredible. Thank you.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Epilogue