They want a phone interview for the position in Utah.”
Her lips parted. “What?”
“They want—”
“AN INTERVIEW!” Ruby Grace screeched, throwing her arms around me and rolling until she was on top, surrounding me in every way with every limb as she squeezed and squealed. “Oh, my God. Noah!”
I laughed. “If this is the reaction I get, I’m going to apply for every job that exists in AmeriCorps.”
Ruby Grace just squeezed me more before sitting up. She straddled me now, her legs around my waist as she pressed her hands to my chest. Her eyes searched mine, worry etched in the creases. “And you’ll wait for me? If I go?”
“Are you kidding?” I asked, maneuvering until I was sitting up, too. We were chest to chest, then, and I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close. “Anything, Ruby Grace. I’d do anything for you.”
She kissed me, long and slow, our bodies melding together again before she fluttered her eyes open once more.
“I’ll go, if they hire me. But only on one condition.”
“And what’s that?”
“Well, two conditions.”
I chuckled. “Okay. You going to tell me what they are or just keep adding on?”
“One, you have to come visit me. Every chance you get. And I’ll come home when I can, too.”
“That’s a given.”
“And two,” she said, trailing her finger down my chest and tapping it once. “When I’m done, we sail around the world together.”
I threw my head back on a laugh. “It takes a lot of money to do that, Ruby Grace. And a sailboat.”
She frowned. “Fine. Then when I’m done, we go sailing. Period. We can drive down to Florida, or up to Maine. Charter a boat. Whatever we have to do to get you on the open seas.”
I smiled. “Why is this a condition?”
She shrugged, adjusting herself in my lap. “Because you’re making one of my dreams come true,” she whispered. “I want to make one of yours come true, too.”
I swore, if any of my brothers could feel the way my heart melted at her words, they’d punch me in the arm and call me the biggest wuss in the world.
But I didn’t care.
When it came to Ruby Grace, I was the biggest wuss in the world.
“You already did,” I whispered back, brushing her hair from her face. “I dreamed of finding a woman like you, of finding a love like this.” I smirked. “And here you are.”
“Here I am,” she said, giggling. Then, she rolled her hips, eliciting a sharp inhale from me as she painted on a face of innocence. “So, what do we do now?”
“Oh, I can think of a few things,” I said, devouring her lips and pulling her back down into the bean bag.
“I thought you needed water. And a protein bar. And at least thirty minutes,” she teased.
“Shut up and let me make love to you.”
She giggled louder when I flipped her over, kissing her neck and pinning her arms above her head. And for the rest of the night, and well into the morning, we sealed our promises with every inch of our bodies, with every ounce of our souls, with every beat of our hearts.
When you hear the word Tennessee, what do you think of?
Maybe your first thought is country music. Maybe you can even see those bright lights of Nashville, hear the different bands as their sounds pour out of the bars and mingle in a symphony in the streets. Maybe you think of Elvis, of Graceland, of Dollywood and countless other musical landmarks. Maybe you feel the prestige of the Grand Ole Opry, or the wonder of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Maybe you feel the history radiating off Beale Street in Memphis.
Or maybe you think of the Great Smoky Mountains, of fresh air and hiking, of majestic sights and long weekends in cabins. Maybe you can close your eyes and see the tips of those mountains capped in white, can hear the call of the Tennessee Warbler, can smell the fresh pine and oak.
Maybe, like I used to, you think of whiskey.
But after that summer, Tennessee only conjured up one thing in my mind.
A girl.
No, a woman.
One who flipped my entire world upside down in just six weeks’ time. One who gave Stratford the biggest scandal they’d seen since the distillery fire. One who would change the world — because she was destined to do so.