Her blue eyes are wide with surprise, and the afternoon sunlight shines through the window, hitting her long, dark hair, making it shine.I used to spend hours running my fingers through the silky strands.My hands twitch at my sides, yearning to feel her tresses with my fingertips once more.
She’s not supposed to be here.Not in this house.Not in this kitchen where we spent so much time together back then.It’s where I first kissed her.The memory slams into me like a punch to the gut.
It was Christmastime, and we were helping my mom bake cookies for the town's holiday bake sale.We’d just started dating, and I hadn’t done more than hold hands, but that day, it changed everything.I’d wanted her for so long, danced around the idea of us, but held off because I was three years older than her.That day, my resolve broke.She was standing in my mother’s kitchen, flour all over her hands and smeared on her cheek.She was smiling, her blue eyes were sparkling, and I just knew that was my moment.I didn’t care that my mom was in the same room, pretending not to notice.All I could see was Ellison.
I remember the slight tremble in my hand as I gently dusted the flour from her cheek.She smiled up at me, and my heart became hers.Nothing could have kept me from kissing her.I bent my head slowly, giving her time to turn away, but instead, she licked her lips.When my lips touched hers, my chest expanded, my cock throbbed painfully behind my zipper, and our fate was sealed.
She was my future.I didn’t care that we were young.We would defy the odds, of that I was certain.
I blink once, twice, three times to push away my thoughts.Maybe, just maybe, I’m imagining that she’s here, but with each blink, she doesn’t fade away.Instead, she sits at my mother’s kitchen table, eyes wide, and her chest rapidly rising for each breath.
“Ellison is here,” my mom says, as if I can’t see the love of my life sitting in front of me.“She stopped by to say hello and brought me some cookies that Courtlynn made,” Mom explains.
Silence settles around us so thick it feels as though you can drown in it.None of us knows what to say.I, for one, have lost my ability to speak as I catalog everything I can about her that’s changed over the years.
She’s older, of course.There’s confidence in the way she squares her shoulders.The girl I loved, the one I willingly handed every single piece of my heart to, has become a woman who’s lived her life without me by her side.She is still my Ells, just more mature, and her eyes… they are exactly the same.Her baby blues can still hold you captive, like staring at the deep blue sea.They are clear, steady, and impossibly kind.When she used to smile at me, she made me feel seen.
I open my mouth to speak, but words fail me.All I can manage is a rough, unsteady breath as my eyes stay locked on hers.
She’s single.
My mother’s words keep racing through my mind.
Finally, Ellison lifts her hand and waves.“Hey,” she says.Her voice is soft and carries a tremor that doesn’t go unnoticed.She carefully places her hand back on her lap as if one wrong move might break us both.
Seventeen years, and here she is before me, and all I can do is stare.That thought prompts me to open my mouth and try again.
“Hey,” I reply, my voice gruff.
Ellison stands and pushes her chair in.“I’ll get out of your way.Mary, please call me if you need anything.”She smiles kindly at my mother before her eyes find mine once again.“Cope.”Her voice cracks.“Welcome home.”She bites down on her bottom lip, and her eyes grow glassy with tears.
She moves to walk past me, and I want to reach out and pull her into my arms.I want to press her body against my chest so she can feel how rapidly my heart is racing.I want to glue her to my side and never let go.
I knew that I still cared about her.I knew that she would always be the only woman I would ever love.We might have been young, but a love like ours is not something you can bounce back from.
What I didn’t know was how alive that love still was.Not until the moment I stared into those big blue eyes.I’ve never wanted anyone or anything the way I do Ellison Moran.
She rushes past me, and I stand still.Frozen in time as memory after memory washes over me.
“Son, what are you doing?Go after her,” Mom says, waving her hands in the air.
I open my mouth to tell her that Ellison and I were a long time ago, that what was between us is water under the bridge, but the tears in her eyes tell another story.One that suggests there might be a part of her that still loves me, too.
My feet are moving before I can think better of it.I race out the door, and as soon as I hit the front porch, I call out, “Ellison!”
She stops, but doesn’t turn around.I take the steps two at a time until I’m standing right behind her.The wind blows her hair, and her floral scent wraps around me like an embrace.
“Ells,” I say, my voice gravelly.
“I’m glad you’re home, Copeland.She’s going to need you,” she says, keeping her back to me.Her words, barely a whisper, tremble.
Unable to stop myself, I reach out and grab her hand.Shocks race up my arms.Seventeen long years since I’ve touched her soft skin.“Ells, can you look at me?”
“I should go.”
“Please?”
There’s a long pause, but finally, she slowly turns to face me.I grip her hand tightly, afraid that if I let go, I might never see her again.I know that’s not going to happen, not with me back in Magnolia Ridge, but tell that to my heart.
