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“I never stopped thinking about you, Maureen.Not for one day.You were it for me.”
The idea that Adam had been alone for all these years struck her as terribly sad.“You never married?”
He shook his head.“There were women over the years.Some I was quite fond of.”
“But?”
“None of them were you.”
Maureen sucked in a breath.“You don’t mean that.”She could see by the look on his face that he did.
“Your husband?”
“Ex.”
“Ex-husband,” he corrected himself.“He—”
“Wasn’t you.”
ChapterTen
Present
The band,the Lost Ridge Ramblers, was fun and upbeat.
They could have stayed at the restaurant and talked all night about the years they’d spent apart, filling in the blanks from the letters they’d written, but Maureen had meant it when she’d asked him to dance.So they braved the storm that had lightened up considerably and made their way the short distance to the pub right next door to hit the dance floor.
It had been years since she’d danced with a man, but together, they fell easily into step.Just like everything about them, it felt like no time had passed since they’d been together.
The main difference was that so many years later, they were older and didn’t have the same type of stamina to stay on the dance floor, despite their best efforts.
After a few songs and spins around the dance floor, Adam led Maureen to a table in the corner.He excused himself to the bar and returned a few minutes later with two tall glasses.
“Is this lemonade?”She accepted the glass with a smile.
“Of course.”Adam’s boyish grin made her laugh.“It’s our drink, after all.”
She took a sip of the sweet liquid, closed her eyes, and savored the moment.“It’s delicious,” she said when she opened her eyes again.“Do you know that I haven’t had a glass of lemonade since that summer?”
“What?But you had kids.How did you manage that?”
“I know it’s ridiculous.”She shrugged.“But I think it was self-preservation.”
He reached for her hand.“I hate that we wasted so many years.”
She hated it, too.But at the same time…
“I think things work out the way they’re supposed to.”She twined her fingers through his.Touching him felt so natural, she never wanted to let go.“If we’d reconnected any sooner, you might not have ever been able to start your charities and continue with all the good work you’ve done in Africa over the years.And I, well…I don’t think I would have been in a place where I was ready for this.It’s taken a lot of years of healing after Harold.Time I needed with my children and now with their partners, and the girls…” She let herself drift off as she thought of the last few years and everything that had changed both with her family and with herself.“It was important time,” she said.“Because now I know without any uncertainty what I want and what I need.That’s why I’m here.”
A smile played at the corner of his lips.“And what is it that you need and want, Maureen?”
There were a million reasons she should slow down, proceed with caution, or play it cool, or even think about what her children might say about her relationship with a man she hadn’t seen or spoken to in almost forty years.
But there was one, very important reason she shouldn’t.
Tomorrow wasn’t guaranteed.Time was finite, and they’d already let so much time go by.
“It might be crazy.”She shook her head.“But I don’t care.”She took a breath.She’d already taken the biggest risk by getting on a plane mere days before Christmas and her son’s wedding to meet with Adam; there was no bigger risk.Besides, judging by the way he looked at her, Maureen was pretty certain there was no risk at all.“I want to be with you, Adam.”Her free hand flew to her mouth, and she chuckled in disbelief at her brazenness.It also emboldened her.“After all these years, I want to see what we could be together.”
