Once Upon a Wine Read Online Free Page A

rickety wooden fruit stand across the square. “Look! Fresh strawberries.”
    Cammie sucked in her breath and grabbed her seat belt’s shoulder strap with both hands. The sunlight filtering through the windshield suddenly seemed unbearably warm on her skin.
    Kat frowned as she reached for the door handle. “What’s that face about?”
    Heat prickled all over Cammie’s arms. “Um, nothing.”
    â€œYou love fresh strawberries. In fact, didn’t you once say that Delaware strawberries ruined you for all other strawberries? Remember that?”
    â€œI remember.”
That and so much more.
    Comprehension clicked as Kat studied her face. “Oh. This is about that guy.”
    Cammie tried to keep her expression neutral. “What guy?”
    Kat raised one eyebrow. “You know what guy.”
    â€œOh, you mean . . . Ian?” Cammie had to force the words out. “This isn’t about him.”
    Kat smiled archly. “Uh-huh.”
    â€œThat was ages ago.”
    â€œIf you say so.”
    â€œAnd he didn’t grow strawberries. He was all about the sweet corn.” Sweat beaded on the nape of Cammie’s neck. “I don’t know if he even lives out here anymore.”
    This was another lie. She was certain of very little in life, but she knew with one hundred percent certainty that Ian was still in Black Dog Bay. Staying here was the one thing she couldn’t live with and he couldn’t live without.
    Kat craned her neck, trying to scope out the strawberry stand. “It’s just two little kids.”
    â€œAll by themselves?”
    Kat shrugged one shoulder. “It’s Black Dog Bay. They don’t have helicopter parents out here. Come on, let’s go.”
    Before she got out of the car, Cammie made a cursory effort to straighten the wrinkles out of her sundress and wipe the powdered sugar from her lips. She tried to slow her racing pulse, reminding herself that what happened seven years ago no longer mattered. Ian had forgotten about her long ago. He probably wouldn’t recognize her even if he saw her—which he wouldn’t, because he wasn’t here.
    Two girls—maybe ten and twelve—sat behind the makeshift wooden stand, lining up boxes of berries and engaging in an epic battle of “No, it’s
my
turn to sit on the good stool.”
    â€œHey, guys!” Kat sauntered up and helped herself to a sample. “Mind if I try one?” she asked through a mouthful of strawberry.
    The younger girl looked from Kat to Cammie and back again. “Um . . .”
    â€œOh my god.
Oh my god
. These are amazing.” Kat reached for her wallet. “We’ll take a pint. Two pints. Three pints.”
    The younger girl straightened her shoulders. “That’ll be twenty-four dollars.”
    Kat looked scandalized. “Twenty-four dollars? That’s ridiculous.”
    The older girl came to her sister’s side, her eyes blazing with indignation. “Twenty-four bucks. Take it or leave it.”
    Cammie hid a smile and handed over a ten-dollar bill. “We’ll take one, please and thank you.”
    The young girls glanced at each other. “We don’t have change for a ten.”
    â€œI have change.”
    Cammie recognized the voice immediately, and once the man came into view, she recognized the face. The tall, lanky frame he’d had in adolescence had filled out a bit and his posture was steadierand more confident, but his brown eyes, the thick brown hair, the hint of sunburn on his cheeks looked just as she remembered.
    For a moment, she was twenty-two again, full of hope and hormones, falling hard and fast, so sure that he would catch her.
    And then Ian’s eyes met hers. His expression hardened.
    She couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but she knew without touching him how it would feel to rest her hands on his soft gray cotton T-shirt. Her body remembered