Chapter 23 Lia #2
Determination fills me. For what, I’m not sure.
I want to make this a special night for him, though. I want to lift his spirits.
“Ready to take that walk?” I ask.
He looks at my plate. “You haven’t finished your salmon. You need those nutrients.”
“What if I take it with me?”
He shakes his head. “Salmon doesn’t reheat well. Just finish that little bit for me, and then we’ll head out.”
I squeeze his hand before I go back to finishing my plate, and before I know it, he’s gathering our plates up.
My belly is full, that relaxation of needing to digest is rushing through my veins, and Walker’s scent brings me a certain type of calm I’ve never been able to find for myself.
Where his dinner was hearty and filling, his scent is sweet and earthy, like a healthy dessert.
I wouldn’t mind having him for dessert.
“Whenever you’re ready,” he says as he offers me his hand.
I smile up at him as I take it, and soon our arms are linked.
He leads me out of the restaurant, heading not toward the main doors of the building, but to a side exit.
He opens it up for me, because I think these guys have a vendetta against me touching doors, and the cool spring air smacks me right in the face.
I draw in a deep breath, relishing the way the breeze cascades over my heated skin.
“Dinner was amazing,” I say as Walker guides me toward the rows of vines. “Thank you so much.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. We can walk down our food a little bit as we weave throughout the vines.”
“Do you walk the vineyard a lot at night?”
“Almost every night.”
That turns my attention up to him. “Will you walk me through your favorite pathway?”
He smiles down at me, and with the moonlight etched across his face, he almost looks like an angel. “It would be my pleasure, beautiful. Let me know if I’m walking too fast.”
When we enter the rows of vines, it’s like the world transforms. I’m not sure how high I thought these vines were, but I can barely see over the tops of them.
The vines crawl along stakes and fencing that has to be almost five-and-a-half feet tall into the air.
And they’re all covered with blossoming yellowish-green buds.
It’s like we’ve stepped into a completely different world.
“It’s magic out here at night,” I say as I tilt my head back and look up at the full moon gracing us with its presence. “I can see why you enjoy taking walks at night. It’s very quiet.”
“The silence is what draws me to it,” Walker says as we take a right and navigate further into the vines. “Helps me decompress after my long workdays.”
“I bet it does.”
Silence falls between us again, like a soft blanket tucking us in. The walk helps me to not feel so full, and as I turn around to see just how far into the vines we’ve walked, I realize I can’t see the main building of the vineyard.
Not through the slats in the fencing and stakes that hold up the vines. Not over the tops of them, since I can’t quite see that high, anyway.
I’m surrounded by the smell of my favorite fruit, and it’s intoxicating in a way that relaxes my jaw.
“There it is,” Walker murmurs.
“What?”
He points. “That.”
When I look where he’s pointing, I see a clearing in the middle of the vines.
There’s a gazebo that sits off-center to the clearing, and I realize this must be where they do weddings and special occasion sort of things.
I smile as he walks me toward it. He leads me up the three steps of the gazebo until we’re under the pitched ceiling.
And when I turn, I realize I’m up high enough in the gazebo to see across the entire vineyard.
“Wow,” I whisper.
The main building of the vineyard is off in the distance.
There are a few lights on in the place, but for the most part it cuts a black shadow against the navy sky.
Stars twinkle above our heads in the hundreds, even with the full moon out, and it makes me wonder what the sky out here would look like without any moon in the sky at all.
I bet there are thousands of stars in the sky on those nights.
“Lia.”
“Hmm?” I hum as I whip around to face Walker.
“May I?”
He extends his hands, and I don’t hesitate. I take his hands and he brings mine to his lips. He presses one kiss on my knuckle. Then two. Over and over again, until he’s kissed every single knuckle on my hands.
“Walker?” I ask.
He holds my hands against his chest, and I feel his heart rapidly thumping.
It makes my brows pinch together. “Walker, what’s wrong?”
His forest-brown gaze holds mine as he draws in a deep breath. “When you’re figuring out what to do with the rest of your life, I want you to remember this.”
I swallow hard. “What… do you mean?”
“I mean,” he says before he huffs the breath out of his lungs and draws in another breath, “I know the city is tempting. Even a place like Hollow Mill Junction. It’s flashy, and loud. Lots of foot traffic, which is great for any business. I wholly understand that.”
I want to say something, but I don’t know what. So, I listen.
Something tells me he just needs someone to listen to him.
“But when you’re figuring out where to go and what to do next, I want you to remember all of this.
Tonight. This day. Your time with Eli and Knox.
The peace that sits here on this vineyard.
The stability that Honeysuckle Grove could bring to your life, if you let it.
I want you to remember all of this and factor it into your decision-making. ”
Oh my god.
He’s asking me to choose him.
“Walker, I—”
He shakes his head. “No, no, please let me finish. I’ll never get it out otherwise.”
I flatten my hands against his chest. “Then hold me while you say it.”
I barely get the words out before his arms sweep around me, pulling me against his body. He yanks me so close that I have to stand on the toes of his boots just to keep my balance. My hands are splayed over his chest, and his heart rate ratchets up, thundering against my palms.
“Breathe,” I whisper up to him. “I’m right here.”
“Lia, my great-great-grandfather built this vineyard, back when Honeysuckle Grove was first established. He was the head of this pack, and he took a great deal of pride in making his Omega happy. It’s been that way for generations in my family, taking over this vineyard and providing for the families we create. ”
“I think that’s honorable.”
He nods. “It’s something I wish for my life as well, one day.
So please understand: if you choose me, if you choose to stay, I will make sure you want for nothing.
Your bakery will be successful no matter where you put it because I’ll make sure it is.
I’ll protect you, and care for you, just as an Alpha should.
And in return, all I’d want is you at my side. ”
I have to bite down onto my lower lip to keep it from wobbling. “Oh, Walker.”
He leans down and presses a soft kiss to my forehead.
“That’s my promise to you, beautiful.” He forehead touches down against my own and his voice lowers, as if he’s speaking a dirty rotten secret.
“But if you decide this place isn’t for you, that I’m not for you, I won’t stand in your way, either.
You’ve had enough Alphas in your life dictating what you should do. I won’t become one of them.”
I can’t help the tears that rise to my eyes. “Walker?”
“Yes, Lia?”
I open my mouth to tell him that I choose him. All of them. Never in my life did I think that the romance I read about in those doctor’s office magazines would find me.
But the words get caught behind the knot in my throat as I stand there, trying not to cry. Trying not to throw myself at this man and tell him that I’ve been so lonely for so long and I’m so fucking tired of it.
Tired of having nothing. Tired of being at everyone else’s beck and call without anything to show for it.
But before I can open my mouth and use my words, a tear slides down my cheek as I tilt my head back and gaze up into his face.
“Hold me?” I ask softly, forcing the words through the knot.
He tucks me closer against his lean form, his hand cradling the back of my head as it rests on his chest. I press my ear to his racing heart, taking comfort in the rhythmic thumping.
He runs his long, dexterous fingers through my hair as his body begins to slowly sway.
His feet move with mine on top of them, and soon, we’re turning slowly in the gazebo.
“For as long as you wish, beautiful,” he murmurs.
The vineyard stretches before us, endless and waiting. The wind kicks up again, blowing the lovely smell of grape blossoms in our direction. His arm bands around my waist as the world falls away, cloaked by the night and held at the gates of the half moon that shines down upon us.
As if the world itself is carving out a moment meant for only me and him.
His words bounce around in my mind, forcing me to confront the one issue I’ve had this entire time. If none of them are going to stand in the way of my dreams, what’s stopping me from giving this a shot?
If my ARS isn’t a dealbreaker, then what’s holding me back?