Seduce Me Sweetly (Heron's Landing Book 1) (25 page)

“Joy?” he asked, his eyes widening. “What are you doing here?”

She shrugged as he came up to her, stopping within a few feet. The distance seemed gigantic, though, and Joy had never felt as far away from him as she did right then.

“Surprise,” she replied lamely. “I’m not even sure why I’m here, to be honest.”

“How have you been? Chicago? Grace said you were still writing.”

“Yep, as always. Not much else to do these days.” Joy’s voice trailed away as she took him in: he looked tired, and thin, and downtrodden. He looked like he’d been run over by a tractor, if she were honest.

He rubbed the back of his neck. Then his eyes bored into her as he said, “I saw the retraction. I wanted to thank you for it. I’m sure you were the one behind it. How did you do it?”

“Oh, some threats here, and a little blackmail there. The usual. I wasn’t going to let Jeremy get away with doing something like that, you know.”

Adam nodded. He stuffed his hands into his pockets. His voice low, he said, “I’m sorry, Joy. I’m so sorry for thinking those things of you. I can’t make it up to you, I know that. But I am sorrier than you’ll ever know.”

The chill encasing her heart thawed slightly. She stepped closer to him. “You thinking that I’d betray you like that—you don’t know how much that hurt me.” Her voice suddenly became choked with tears, and for once, she let them fall without trying to hide them. “I thought that at least you would believe me.”

He looked like he was going to reach for her but then thought better of it. “I know. Grace told me that I did it to protect myself. That I found an excuse to push you away because I was falling in love again, and I’d already lost love, you know? It’s not an excuse, but it makes sense.” He smiled sadly. “My little sister, the armchair shrink.”

“She is rather astute for her age,” Joy said, feeling the tears drip off of her chin.

“And what you said to me, about waiting for the ax to fall? You were right, about everything.” Adam reached out and caught a tear on his finger.

Joy closed her eyes.

“I read your story, too, you know,” he said. “And I’ve wanted to tell you: I love you. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted, Joy McGuire. I don’t deserve you, and I don’t expect you to take me back, but…” He reached into his back pocket, pulling out his wallet and handing her a small bundle of papers. “I wrote you something in return. No one would publish it because I’m an awful writer, but I wanted you to know.” He brushed a tear from her cheek, so tenderly that Joy’s heart was about to burst.

“I love you. You are the mermaid who showed me that dreams can come true.”

She laughed, and then she cried harder. She then took the papers and smoothed one out. She could barely make out the words, but the words caused even more tears:
Joy McGuire broke my heart. She broke my heart in the best possible way, and rebuilt it again because I was broken. You see, I’d lost my wife in a tragic accident, and I’d pushed people away. Joy brought me out into the light again.

Joy brought me joy. She is my joy. And I wanted her to know, that I love her—no matter what happens.

Joy sobbed, and now she tried to wipe the tears away. “But what about the vineyard? Grace says you’re selling it?”

“She’s right. It’s falling apart, and it can’t be salvaged. Better to sell it now than let it deteriorate.” He said the words in a clipped voice, but Joy could hear the anguish there.

“It’s your life, though. How can you give it up?”

He smiled sadly. “Is it my life? I’d poured so much into it, and look what I got out of it. A failing business and the woman I love hating me. I can’t…it can’t go on like this.” He stepped close enough to take her hands: gently, linking their fingers together, the papers he’d given her crinkling between them. “I’ve failed it. The vineyard. I accept that. Time to take that failure on the chin and face facts.”

Joy searched his face, and she realized that Grace had been right: he thought he didn’t deserve the vineyard. And not only that, but perhaps he thought giving it up meant some kind of penance for hurting her.

Oh Adam. You foolish, loving, ridiculous man.

Tossing the papers into the wind, Joy threw her arms around his neck and hugged him close. He stiffened, but soon embraced her so tightly she couldn’t breathe. But she didn’t care. She buried her nose in the crook of his shoulder and cried until her body shook.

“I love you, Adam,” she said over and over again. “I love you.”

“How can you? After everything I’ve done.” He muttered the words into her hair, touching her back, her shoulder, as if he couldn’t get close enough to her. “I don’t deserve you.”

“We both messed up. Well, you messed up more, but…” Adam laughed a little. She said into his neck, “I was terrified of loving you, you know. I’d already gotten hurt. I should’ve fought for you. But when you said it was over, I didn’t. I just…left. Because that’s what I do: I run.” Pulling away, she gazed up at him, tears streaming from her eyes. “But I’m not going to run anymore.”

He took a deep breath. Then he leaned forward and touched his forehead to hers. “Thank God,” he muttered.

Then he kissed her.

It was a kiss of homecoming. It was a kiss that bespoke everything that happened and everything that would happen. It represented the future, and it helped wash away the past. Joy cried, and she felt wetness on Adam’s cheeks too, and she kissed him so hard they had to gasp for breath before kissing again.

“I love you, I love you,” he kept saying against her mouth. He kissed her neck, fingers sifting through her hair. “Don’t ever leave me again, Joy. I couldn’t take it. You’ll stay, won’t you?”

She nodded. “Yes, I’ll stay. But only if you promise me one thing.”

“Anything.”

“You won’t sell River’s Bend. At least, not until we can figure something out. If selling ends up being in everyone’s best interest, then we’ll talk. But don’t sell simply because you think you don’t deserve what you have.”

Adam shuddered a little. He kissed her forehead. “I don’t deserve
you
, you know.”

“I know. Does anyone?” She laughed at his expression, but then she sobered. “I won’t act like what you did, what you said, didn’t hurt. It did. It hurts to think about it. But I think…I know that I love you enough that it doesn’t hurt as much. Does that make sense?”

He hugged her close, and she wrapped her arms around him. She’d thought the safest place she could ever be would be within Adam’s embrace—and she’d been right.

“Yes, it makes sense,” he replied. “You make me want to be a better man, Joy. A man who doesn’t run away. A man who does everything to right the wrongs he’s done.”

She sighed against his shoulder, feeling the autumn breeze brush against the bare skin of her neck. She inhaled the scent of leaves, and of harvest, and of Adam. She felt the warmth of his arms and the strength there, as well.

And as she closed her eyes, all she could think was:
I’m home. I’m finally home.
      

Chapter Nineteen

Joy couldn’t help but smile as she sat outside at Sadie and Robert’s wedding reception a week before Thanksgiving. After the ceremony, which had been held overlooking the river at the vineyard, the wedding party had walked a few yards to the reception. A large tent had been set up across the green, and the fall leaves provided a fairy-tale like backdrop. Luckily, it wasn’t too cold despite it being November.

Initially, Joy hadn’t been sure she even wanted to attend Sadie’s wedding, given what had happened at Trudy’s. But Sadie herself had come to Joy’s place to apologize and invite her personally. That had been the general tenor of Joy’s return to Heron’s Landing: lots of apologies, even more meals sent as apologies, and a true attempt by the locals to get back on her good side.

It felt good, she had to admit, to have people realize they were wrong about her after all. Especially Adam. She smiled wider. He’d worked especially hard to show how sorry he was.

“What are you smiling about?” Adam sat down next to her at one of the reception’s tables, kissing her cheek. “Do I want to know?”

“Probably not. Although it’s a shame that I wasn’t consulted about the wedding party’s color scheme. Turquoise and canary yellow? Yikes.”

“This is Heron’s Landing. We like our colors bright and garish.”

She laughed. “And why is everyone barefoot? Is that a new trend in weddings that I missed?”

Adam looked at her. “Does it really matter?” he finally asked.

Wrong question. “Of course it does! I get not wanting to kill your feet in heels, but barefoot, and outside?” She made a face. “Oh well. The dresses are pretty.”

“I’m sure Sadie appreciates that you approve of the dresses.”

Joy couldn’t help laughing. She couldn’t help laughing all the time now, if she were honest. Adam did that to her, and being in a place she could finally call home. Seeing people she cared about and having them be a part of her life. It was a revelation, really. She thought she’d had that with Regina and Jeremy, but she knew now that that couldn’t compare to what she had in Heron’s Landing.

A slow ballad came on, and the couples on the dance floor began swaying back and forth. Twinkly lights had been hung overhead, giving the tent a magical kind of glow. Joy picked up her glass of wine and gazed at Adam over the rim.

“Are you looking at me because there’s something on my face, or because you want to dance?” he asked, trying not to smile.

“Try one option and find out.”

He stood, offering out his hand. “Joy McGuire,” he said in a low voice, “will you do me the honor of this dance?”

“Yes, I will.”

She took his hand, and he led her into the group of swaying people. She wrapped her arms around his neck, his hands on her lower back, and they gazed at each other as they moved slowly across the makeshift dance floor. The ballad was some ‘90s pop ballad that Joy hadn’t heard in years, and she mouthed the lyrics as they danced. Adam laughed, dipping her backward. But she kept lip-syncing.

“Did I tell you that you look beautiful tonight?” He brushed a thumb across her lower back.

Wearing a dark blue, strapless dress, her bright hair in a French twist, Joy rather thought she looked like Audrey Hepburn. A delicate pearl necklace was her only jewelry; and unlike the wedding party, she wore strappy heels in a pink champagne color.

“You did tell me that, but thank you all the same.” Leaning closer to him, she added softly, “You’ll like what I’m wearing underneath it even more.”

Adam just groaned. “Can we get out of here now or would that be rude?” he muttered.

“Very rude. You’ll just have to wait.”

In revenge, he pinched her ass, and she burst out laughing.

When the dancing returned to the usual wedding kind of dances, Adam pulled Joy off the dance floor and out of the tent, taking her to a bench not far from the recently harvested vines. Ever since Joy had returned, she and Adam had worked tirelessly to book events at River’s Bend using Joy’s contacts in Chicago for assistance. They weren’t absolutely sure they wouldn’t have to sell the place, but things looked much better than they had initially.

The moon bright and shining, Joy pulled her shawl closer around her. It was finally that time of year when it got cold at night. Seeing her shiver, Adam wrapped an arm around her; she snuggled into his side.

They sat like that for a while, simply gazing out into the horizon, the moon slowly moving across the sky. They heard owls hooting, and the sounds of laughter and conversation from the tent behind them. Adam rubbed her arm.

“Joy,” he said. “I wanted to ask you something.”

Being pressed up against Adam like this had made Joy sleepy. She stifled a yawn to reply, “What?”

He shook her a little. “Don’t fall asleep on me yet.”

“I’m soooooo tired. I feel like I was the one who got married, but I didn’t. You better be quick, otherwise I’m liable to miss everything you say.”

He tipped her face up toward him. She could just make out his expression in the moonlight. “Then I’ll be quick.”

To her utter astonishment, he moved down off the bench and went down on one knee in front of her. At first her brain couldn’t compute what he was doing—she was rather tired—but then she gasped like a ninny. “Adam!” she blurted.