Page 42 of Lovewell Lane (Honeyfield Dreamers #1)

Margo

Eight Years Later

“Vodka soda, please,” I said to the bartender.

He didn’t even ask to see my ID, which I wasn’t sure if I should take offense to considering it was my thirty-fifth birthday. I tapped my fingernails on the countertop while I waited patiently. Only to be interrupted by a man swooping in to sit on the stool next to me.

“What’s a beautiful woman like you doing all alone in a bar?” he asked. I looked him up and down. He was about my age, maybe younger.

I laughed in his face. “I only like old men, but thanks for the compliment.”

Derek groaned next to me. Already sick of this bit that I used nearly every time we were out together. “I’m not fuckin’ old,” he grumbled under his breath.

He leaned back to look at the man who hit on me, and with one look, the man was sent running. I ran a hand through Derek’s salt and pepper hair lovingly. My wedding ring glinted in the neon lights behind the bar.

“I love you,” I whispered in his ear. “Even if you’re old and grumpy.”

He sighed, but his eyes gave him away. He looked at me with pure fondness in his gaze. “We should probably get home soon.”

“You miss our babies?” I asked.

“Mhm,” he nodded while checking his phone. “Tessa says they’re still asleep. We can stay, I just don’t want to stay for too long.”

His hand came up to wrap around my waist as he pulled me closer. “Want to dance first?”

I nodded and stood to pull him over to the dance floor with me. They were doing the only line dance I’d managed to learn in my nearly ten years of living in Honeyfield.

“Let’s finish this one song and dip. I miss our babies, too.”

The bartender returned with my vodka soda, and I did my best to drink it as fast as possible while Derek pulled out his wallet. Something caught my eye as he pulled out his card. I snatched his wallet from him and pulled out the picture stuck in the back.

It was the Polaroid. The one he took of me when we had our first date that his father set us up on.

In the picture, I was laughing without any care and soaking wet from head to toe.

On the bottom in his careful handwriting was the date and Honeyfield, Georgia.

The picture was worn, and there were creases where he’d folded it at some point.

It was weathered, like he pulled it out often to stare at it. I flipped it over to the back to read what he’d written.

There I found five simple words.

The love of my life.

I gasped softly and looked up at him. He was already looking at me, undying love swimming in his eyes.

“When did you write this?” I asked.

“That same day,” he answered.

My heart fluttered. “I want to go home. Do you think our friends will judge us?”

“Who cares. Let’s go,” he said happily.

The bartender returned his card and he gently took the picture from my hands to place it securely back in his wallet. Then he grabbed my hand in his and led me outside into his truck.

At home, we found Tessa asleep on the couch.

Her homework was laid out in front of her, but Derek leaned down to lift her in his arms and carry her to bed.

I tried to remember the last time he’d done that.

She was fourteen and slightly too big for it, but she would always be Derek’s baby girl.

I sat down and took in what part of her homework she’d finished and carefully piled the papers together to put safely on the kitchen island.

If I didn’t, our twins would surely get to it in the morning. At five years old, they got into everything. Tessa was the coolest person in the world in their eyes, so just the fact it was hers would grab their attention. I walked up the stairs to follow Derek and gave Tessa a kiss on the forehead.

“Goodnight, Mom.” I heard her say quietly as I walked out of the room.

I turned to look at her roll over in her bed to smile at me. “Night, Tess,” I whispered before closing the door behind me.

Derek was already in the babies’ room. John and Hannah were sound asleep in their beds. We each sat and listened to them sleep soundly, something that I caught Derek doing when they were newborns and started doing myself.

I stood up first and went to our bedroom to get into comfier clothes. While changing into sweatpants, I turned to find Derek already watching me from the doorway. When I caught him staring, he stalked toward me with a hunger in his eyes.

“Happy Birthday, baby,” he murmured.

I fluttered my lashes at him playfully. “I’m still waiting for my present.”

Derek laughed into my neck and nipped at it teasingly. “Follow me.”

He led me out to the backyard and into the guest house where I once stayed. “I had to hide it in here since you’re so nosey.”

“I am not nosey,” I defended.

He turned to raise his eyebrows at me. “I found you rummaging around in the attic last week. What were you doing that for?”

“Christmas decorations,” I blurted.

“Uh huh, in July?”

“I like to prepare ahead of time.”

“Right.” He said suspiciously. “Anyway, here is your present,” he said.

He handed me a giant wrapped box. It was so big it was slightly awkward to hold, so I balanced it on the breakfast table to start ripping back the wrapping paper.

I gasped on the first rip and continued pulling back paper as fast as I could. “Oh my God, Derek,” I breathed out. “It’s perfect.”

In the picture frame were dozens of Polaroids of us.

Our family. Our lives and adventures. Even a picture of Cheddar Jack when he returned home after getting lost for a couple of days.

It was the last eight years of our lives laid out plainly on a piece of board.

Each one was labelled with a date and location.

I couldn’t wait to pull the back off of the frame and read what he wrote underneath each picture.

“The one in my wallet is mine,” Derek added. “But these can be for all of us.”

I hugged him tightly and wiped off a few tears. “You even have our Seattle trip here. And Disney. And that’s when we went to Maine with Sam and—”

My tears stopped me from continuing. “I love you so much, Derek.”

He laughed at my declaration. “I love you too.” His hand tilted up my chin to look into my eyes. “I love you more than anything. I meant what I wrote on that picture, and I still mean it now.”

He reached down for my left hand and lifted it to kiss the wedding ring he’d put on my finger years ago. “You are the best decision I’ve ever made.”