Page 112 of Meant to Be
“Is that what I think it is?” She held the jar and studied it as if moonshine had special properties.
“It is. The real stuff too. Created under the moon in some Appalachian hollow.”
She laughed. “As a law enforcement professional, aren’t you worried about having this?”
He shook his head. “Nah. It was a gift.”
One beautiful brow rose. “Isn’t that illegal too?”
“Not a bribe. A gift.” Of course, it was still illegal. In Virginia it was okay to make beer and wine at home for personal consumption, but not moonshine. But Mitch figured risking a class 6 felony was worth it this one time. If caught, hopefully he’d only get a year in the pokey. Of course, he’d lose his job, but, in this moment, he was ready to risk everything for the woman sitting beside him.
“I told you the story about the star grove, right?”
“About how Jasper Cahill built it for his true love Lucy Mae, who then betrayed him and ran off with Sam someone?” Sydney opened the box of cookies, plucking a few and popping them in her mouth.
“Shifflet.”
“Right.” Her eyes narrowed, wary yet curious.
“Well, I didn’t finish the story.”
“There’s more?”
Mitch pulled her to him, maneuvering her to sit between his legs, leaning back against him. “One night, a night sort of like this one, old Jasper is here in the grove, feeling pretty down about losing Lucy, when all of a sudden, a vision in white appears. Right over there.” Mitch pointed toward a gap in the trees backed by the river. “As she drew near, he saw it was Lucy in her nightdress.”
“She decided to betray Sam too?” Sydney’s tone suggested she didn’t like where the story was going.
“I’m telling a story here. In the south, you don’t interrupt a good story.”
She tilted her head to look at him and pressed her lips together.
“That’s more like it. Now where was I? Oh, right. Turns out Lucy Mae left Jasper because Sam, the coldhearted banker, was going to take Jasper’s farm unless he could have Lucy. But deep down she loved Jasper and didn’t want him to lose his farm. Old Jasper said he’d give up everything he had to Sam just to have Lucy Mae as his wife.”
“That’s romantic. Did Sam take the farm?”
“Well, he tried. But coldhearted bankers are also susceptible to dying, especially when they take a woman that doesn’t love them. The official cause was a heart attack, but some believe Lucy Mae used her knowledge of plants and herbs to poison him.”
“So love won in the end.”
Mitch took her hand, looked in her eyes, and hoped beyond hope she was ready for a happy ending. “Was there any doubt?”
“You kissed me here during the fair. Does that mean our love will last?”
“Yes.”
Her lips parted in an O, as if she hadn’t expected him to agree so readily.
“In fact…” He slid his finger down her neck and hooked it around the chain where she wore the engagement ring he’d given her ten years earlier. “I was thinking it was time you wore this in another way.”
Her eyes widened.
“But then I thought, this ring is the past. It represents the love we had before, but it’s different now.”
To make sure she wouldn’t misunderstand, he pulled the platinum and diamond ring from his pocket. “This ring, on the other hand, represents the commitment I want to make to you now and forever.” He took a deep breath. “Sydney? Will you marry me?”
Sydney didn’t needmoonshine to feel giddy and dizzy. She stared at Mitch, not quite believing what he was saying. How long had she hoped this moment would come? And now that it was here, she was speechless.
The hopefulness in his eyes dulled. “I know I haven’t always been good to you. And I have a reputation that suggests I can’t be faithful, but I can, Syd—”
