Page 156 of Again, In Autumn

I’m scared for when it’s not. For what comes next. But, as my therapist has been telling me, it’s not my responsibility to worry about future events that haven’t happened, and I can’t let fear affect my relationship.

Because I love him. If that means his Instagram gets bombarded with questions about the woman’s elbow that appears sometimes in his stories, I’ll take it. He was right – we have the same life, one where we want to be together. Whatever comes, comes, and I’ll handle it with Adam by my side.

With the porch light on, Grayson and Alice come onto the lawn in their pajamas. Francesca says, “The kids have come to say goodnight.”

Alice comes up beside my chair and says, “Auntie Vee, read us a story.”

My left hand is tangled up in Adam’s next to me.

“Oh, I’ll take the night off and let mommy read to you,” I say. “Show her where I keep my books.”

Grayson gives me a six-year old’s version of a forced hug.

Before can he leave, I say, “You can sleep back in your old room tonight, Gray. My room.”

He frowns. “But where will you sleep?”

Adam runs his thumb along mine. He teases, “Yeah Vienna. Where will you sleep?”

“I’ll find a spot,” I tell Grayson.

He walks off and Adam leans into my ear. “Speaking of…” he whispers. He stands from the lawn chair, pulling me to my feet. “Vee and I are going to turn in, too,” he tells the others.

From the door, Francesca shouts, “Boo!”

Maggie smiles. “You don’t want to hang out and watch the fireworks across the lake? I can make more margaritas?”

I sink into the side of Adam. We’ve already begun walking backwards towards the woods. “I think I’m good,” I say.

“We’re very familiar with fireworks, thank you for your concern,” Adam replies with a turned head.

His arm squeezes into my waist and I lean my head against his shoulder. Our feet crackle leaves and snap twigs. I feel the weightlessness of my own body as it presses safely into his. The soft touch of his fingers. The smell of his skin.

I used to see his face in my mind at the first mention of summer. He belonged in the sunshine, ice cream, the splash of the lake. I don’t think that anymore. To me, Adam is the coziness of winter, the freshness of the spring.

He’s autumn.

Old pain has fallen, died off, making room for new blooms. The regret and animosity I carried for years has become something new – forgiveness and boldness, the realization that I don’t exist in one season, either. Every version of myself deserves to have its day in the sun. Without the past, I’d have no future.

And, oh, what a future it will be.

Read on for a sneak peek at

BELLS ARE RINGING

Available October 2024

Last Christmas, Brooke Potter met her soulmate. Well, maybe not her soulmate, but a man who kissed her like his life depended on it. They spent a perfect, fun-filled, spontaneous day together, but her soulmate probably would have gotten her phone number. He wouldn’t have walked away without explanation, which is exactly what Danny Anderson did.

One year later, Brooke’s best friend Effie has a surprise. She’s getting married to a man she just met! She wants the perfect Christmas wedding and only an organized, Type A perfectionist like Brooke can pull it off, something Brooke desperately wants to do. Effie needs stability, and Brooke needs a break from playing mother hen. Planning an impromptu wedding is no problem…if the best man would stop trying to interfere.

Danny Anderson might not want his best friend to marry Effie, or remember the perfect day he spent with Brooke, but she refuses to let him get in the way. This meddlesome man is not her happily ever after, that’s for sure. But, as wedding preparations get underway, Brooke starts to doubt her ability to give Effie the dream day. If she was so wrong about Danny, what else is she wrong about? Maybe he’s right. Maybe love can’t happen fast.

Chapter Two

Santa’s mouth falls open, staring at the coffee spilled all over my new white sweater.

My jaw slack as well, I freeze, feeling a twinge of heat and a flash of shock. I can’t look at it. I can’t believe this happened. All the air has been swept out of my lungs and replaced with stagnation, brain cells wondering what to do next.

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