Page 1 of Tastes Like Watermelon Moonshine
Prologue
Raegan
Ihumalong.Ican’t help it. The tune is so catchy. And the words…
“Watermelon Moonshine” is my song. Okay, it isn’t really my song, but it could be. It really could be. From right after senior year, to thinking the high of love would last forever… I’ve lived it all.
Tears begin to form, just like they always do when this song comes on.
I don’t want the memory of my first love to be like it is in the song. I don’t want us to go our separate ways, never to see each other again. All she had left in the song were the memories. I want more than memories. I want him. Forever.
Watermelon moonshine… The sweet memory of his gentle heart, his sweet words, his tender touch, the taste of his kiss. The bitter memory of making a mistake, of not knowing when or if I’ll see him again.
My fingers hover over his contact info. Do I have the guts to do it?
My thumb shakes from my nervousness and the screen reacts. Then the sound of a phone line ringing echoes through the silence of my car.
It rings. But he doesn’t answer.
He was the one. I was so sure. And now… it just tastes like watermelon moonshine.
Chapter 1
Raegan - The Present
Sixweeks.It’sbeensix weeks since my life changed. Since my world cracked, right down the middle. I knew it was possible. But I never expected it to happen. Never expected him to actually leave me without a backwards glance. I sit in my car, soaking in the silence after a long day at the café.
I would say it came out of left field, but I’m not in the punny mood. Because my heart is broken. Because my boyfriend is gone. And I don’t even know if I can call him my boyfriend because we haven’t talked since he left.
Ashamedly, I’ve tried only once to contact him. He didn’t answer. Why would he? Not after the fight we had, and not after what we’d done. Instead of facing our problems, instead of talking, making it work… I turned and ran away.
And he left. But he had to. He’d made a commitment to the Atlanta Bottle Caps. And my home is here, so it’s not like I could follow him nearly seven hundred miles away. I’m not his wife,so I’d have to find my own place, find a job. And I'm not ready for that. I like the job I have here. I like seeing and interacting with people from church, folks around town, my family, and my besties as they all come in for coffee and pastries.
I’ve followed his progress on the team website, and even paid to watch one game. Watched the way he swung the bat perfectly. The way his strong legs ran as fast as they could to earn him an amazing double–a beautiful slide into second.
I’ve done everything that I can to push away thoughts of him. There’s enough guilt and shame and every thought of him takes me back to that night. But the giant pile of guilt and shame in my mind grows, much like a stack of laundry that keeps getting put off.
Should I reach out again? Or would that make me seem desperate and clingy? I’ve been doing my best to stay busy with running the café, and he’s clearly busy as well.
But in those quiet moments while I scrub the dishes, or scoop cookie dough onto the baking sheets… Austin makes his way into my thoughts. I’ve probably tainted a dozen batches of cookies with my salty tears by now.
I’ve tried taking it to God. But there’s a disconnect there as well. That closeness that I once had–those times that I had no problem taking my cares and concerns and laying them at Jesus’ feet–it’s gone. And sometimes I think that I’ve ruined that relationship beyond repair just like I have my relationship with Austin.
My stomach rolls. I need to get out of the car. But I’m sort of comfortable sitting here, pinching the bridge of my nose with my thumb and index finger.
My stomach shifts again.Ugh.This has been happening for about two weeks now. I work long days. I’m on my feet from four in the morning until I finally close the café around two in the afternoon. I'm cranky. I’m anxious. It has to be the exhaustionfrom working this hard, and trying to remove Austin from my mind.
I slide from my Jeep and my boots kick up gravel as I make my way to my parents’ ranch house. The squeaky hinges on the screen door are a comforting sound.
“Rae, how are you feeling? Busy day?” Mom asks as I toe off my boots in the foyer. I know if I were to ask she’d have a snack waiting for me, just as if I was a kid returning from a long day of school.
“I’m tired, and just feel… off. I never realized how hard Ms. Rosa worked to run the café.” I can’t lie to her. We’ve always been close, and she knows everything that has happened with Austin. I shake my head, hairs from my golden blonde braid wisping across my face. “I’m sure all the crying I’ve been doing doesn’t help.” I let my shoulders slump and let out a sigh. I’d love to fall face first into my bed right now.
Mom studies me and slides a finger down my cheek. I look away, avoiding her all-knowing gaze. I know she’s going to ask or say something serious. “Rae, I hate to ask this, but have you had your period? Since Austin left?”
Silence surrounds us as she waits for me to look at her. I bring my head up sharply. Her words fully sink in. She thinks I might be pregnant. I stare at her like she grew another head. My blue-gray eyes have to be huge, like a dark deep pool with rocks at the bottom.
I can’t breathe. I’m panicking. And my stomach is rolling,again. I clap a hand to my mouth and make a beeline for the powder room. Bumping into my mom’s shoulder in my hurry. As the heaving of my stomach wracks my body, my mind does its own somersaults as I wrap my mind around the possibility of being pregnant. Not possible. I mean, yes, it is possible. But… I don’t want it to be possible. I want Austin back. I want our relationship mended.
