Love, Second Chances and Other Nonsense

Prologue

Adam

The farmers’ market buzzes with life, stalls piled high with colorful produce.

I trail a few steps behind Caitlin as she winds her way through the crowds, stopping at each vendor to inspect what’s on offer.

I’m more interested in the way the sun turns her hair to burnished gold than I am with the displays of vegetables.

Her fingers hover over a pile of new potatoes before selecting one, testing its weight in her palm.

She’s completely in her element, determined that the dinner she’s planning to welcome my parents and sisters to Colorado tomorrow will be perfect.

The thought of introducing Caitlin to my family sends a wave of both excitement and apprehension through me.

“Let’s get some of these,” Caitlin turns to me with the potato she’s holding. “I’ll make those roast potatoes with parsley butter that you like.”

I nod, stepping closer. “That sounds great.” The truth is, I couldn’t care less about the specifics of tomorrow’s dinner.

She could serve cardboard with that butter, and I’d probably ask for seconds.

But I love the joy she gets from planning the meals she serves. Caitlin Hughes shows love through food.

“I want everything to be perfect,” she says, selecting a handful of the potatoes and placing them in her canvas bag. Her hazel eyes are serious, scanning the next row of produce. “These tomatoes look incredible. I’ll make a salad with shallots and fresh basil.”

“It’s going to be amazing,” I assure her, resting my hand on the small of her back. “You know that, right?”

She shoots me a quick smile but doesn’t pause her methodical selection of tomatoes. “Dinner or meeting your family?”

“Both.”

The morning sun is gentle on her face, highlighting the spray of freckles across her nose and cheeks. I still notice them every day, even after two years together. Still lie awake counting them sometimes when she’s sleeping.

“I just…” She pauses, a tomato suspended in her hand. “I know how important your family is to you, Adam. I want them to like me.”

Someone asks about the price of sweet corn behind us, and a dog barks nearby, but I focus only on her. “Hey,” I say, taking her free hand. “They’re going to love you. How could they not?”

Caitlin places the tomato in her bag and gives a small shrug. “People don’t always love me right away. I talk too much when I’m nervous. I’ll probably knock something over or say something stupid without thinking.”

“That just means you’re human,” I laugh. “Nobody is expecting perfection here.”

She doesn’t laugh back, just gives me a look that says she’s genuinely worried. Sometimes I forget how much having my family accept her means to her. She has so little family of her own.

“Seriously,” I say, more gently now. “They just want me to be happy. And you—” I pause, squeezing her hand. “You make me happier than I’ve ever been. They’ll see that.”

We move to the next stall, where Caitlin stops to examine some peaches.

“You have two sisters,” Caitlin says as she adds the peaches to her growing produce collection. “Lauren is the oldest; she’s thirty-two. She works with your dad at the family rental company. She’s married to Jake. Hailey is twenty-eight. She’s an accountant.”

“You’ve got it.” I nod, feeling a surge of affection knowing she’s committed these details to memory.

She moves toward a stall selling fresh herbs. The scents of basil and mint mingle in the air between us. “And your mom’s the one I need to impress the most.”

I can’t help but laugh at how accurately she’s zeroed in on the family dynamic.

“My mom can be a little intense. About everything. But especially about her children’s lives.

” I choose my next words carefully. “She can be a bit much sometimes, but it’s because she cares. She just wants us all to be happy.”

“Is this your diplomatic way of saying she’s nosy?” Caitlin asks, selecting a bunch of basil.

“Maybe,” I concede with a smile. “But I’m serious; once she sees how happy you make me, she’ll be completely won over. She might try to plan our wedding by the end of the weekend, but that’s just how she shows love.”

Caitlin freezes momentarily at the word “wedding,” and I realize what I’ve said. We’ve talked about marriage in abstract terms, but I haven’t proposed yet. The ring is hidden in my sock drawer at home, waiting for the right moment. I feel my ears getting hot.

“I just meant…you know, eventually. She gets ahead of herself.”

Caitlin recovers quickly, paying the vendor for the basil. “I need some sort of fruit to make a dessert,” she says, changing the subject. “And maybe we should get some extra herbs just in case? Rosemary for the roast?”

I follow her to another stall, watching the way she moves through the crowd with easy grace despite her claims of clumsiness.

It strikes me how completely she has changed my life.

Before Caitlin, I was just going through the motions without really knowing what I wanted.

Now, all I want is her. I want mornings like this and evenings cooking together in our small kitchen.

I want our hiking trips and lazy Sundays and the way she laughs with her whole body when something really strikes her as funny.

“Oh!” Caitlin’s voice pulls me from my thoughts. “Look at these flowers!”

She’s stopped at a flower vendor’s stall, where buckets of colorful blooms catch the late morning light.

In her yellow sundress, she looks bright and vibrant, like she belongs among them.

Her hair falls loose around her shoulders, and she tucks a strand behind her ear as she leans in to smell a bunch of daisies.

“For the table tomorrow,” she says, glancing back at me. “What do you think?”

I think she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

“Adam?” She tilts her head, waiting for my response.

“Sorry, I was just—” I step closer, running my hand down her bare arm. “You look so beautiful today. I got distracted.”

A blush spreads across her cheeks, making her freckles stand out even more. “You’re changing the subject. Flowers? For the table?”

“Get whatever you like,” I tell her. “But I think your cooking is going to be so good, no one’s going to be looking at the flowers.”

She laughs, the sound clear and bright in the open air of the market. “Flattery will get you everywhere, you know.”

I watch as she selects her favorites. She hands over cash to the vendor, then carefully nestles the flowers in her market bag alongside the vegetables.

“I think I have everything,” she says, surveying her purchases. “Potatoes, tomatoes, shallots, basil, peaches, rosemary… I picked up the roast yesterday, and we have everything else at home.”

“Perfect,” I say, taking the bag from her. Our fingers brush, and even after all this time together, I get butterflies in my stomach. “Ready to head back?”

She nods, and we make our way through the market toward where I parked the truck. The sun is higher now, warming the day. Caitlin loops her arm through mine, leaning her head briefly against my shoulder as we walk.

“What if they don’t like me?” she asks quietly, her earlier worries resurfacing.

I stop walking, turning to face her. “Caitlin. Listen to me. There is no version of reality where they won’t like you.

You are…” I search for the right words, needing her to understand.

“You’re everything I never knew I needed.

You’re sunshine and adventure and home all at once. They’ll see that. I promise.”

She looks up at me, her eyes soft. “I just want to belong with you. With your family.”

“You do,” I tell her. “You already do.”

The certainty of it settles in my chest, warm and solid. I’m going to spend the rest of my life with this woman. Nothing can change that.

Caitlin bumps my hip with hers as we reach the truck. “What are you smiling about now?”

“Just thinking about the future,” I tell her, leaning down to kiss her.

“Our future?” she asks, a teasing lilt to her voice.

“Definitely our future,” I confirm, opening the truck door for her and carefully setting her market bags on the floor.

As I walk around to the driver’s side, I catch another glimpse of her in that yellow dress, golden in the Colorado sunshine, and my heart feels too big for my chest. One more day until my family arrives.

Once I’m sure my family knows how perfect she is for me, I’m going to ask this woman to marry me.

It’s a good plan. The best plan I’ve ever had.