Strawberry Wine (Strawberry Inn Book #2)

Chapter 1

BLAIR

“Do you have everything you’re going to need?”

“Yes, Mom.”

“What about your lunch?”

“Mom,” Hayes pleads, “I’m not a toddler. I’m fully capable of getting myself ready for the day.”

I sigh and cradle his face in my hands. He may be taller than I am, but Hayes is always going to be my baby boy. “I know you’re grown, but this feels like your first day of school all over again. Can you just humor your dear old mom?”

“You’re not old, Mom,” he says with a grin.

“I appreciate that, but you just graduated from high school and you’re starting what could be a career and you’re just a few months from being considered a grown-up, so I’m having a bit of a hard time right now.”

“The good news is I’ll be back tonight for dinner and I’ll tell you all about my day. I need to get going through.”

“I know,” I kiss his cheek. “I love you, Hayes.”

“Love you too, Ma.”

I had just turned eighteen when Hayes was born. His dad, Cody, and I thought that we could conquer the world. Neither of us planned on me getting pregnant our senior year of high school, but when it happened we adjusted our life plans. I was on track to play Division 1 softball when I found out I was pregnant. Obviously, I couldn’t play my final year of high school and I had to kiss the chance at a scholarship goodbye. It took a long time to come to terms with my original plans being foiled, but Cody and I were in it together.

The problem was that we were young and in the honeymoon phase when we came up with our future plans. Neither of us was prepared for the real world. Cody never did land that huge major league contract. I didn’t need the fame and the fortune of being an MLB wife, but it was something he could just never give up. At the end of the day, the addiction to The Show is what ended up tearing us apart.

As much as I want to blame him for the demise of our marriage, I think we were destined to end up that way the night we drank a bit too much wine and forgot the condom. Would we have made it if Hayes had never come into our lives? I don’t know, but I think we would have had a better chance at it. I wouldn’t trade it for the world, though. Even through the stress, the anxiety, and the heartbreak, Hayes was my saving grace. Now he was getting ready to start his own adult life and I was struggling to figure out who I was.

Strawberry is a small town known for the large strawberry fields and our once-a-year Strawberry Festival. I’m pretty sure the median age of residents is in the 50s. Not a lot of people my age are still here. Most kids graduate high school and high tail it out of here, only returning to visit their families and an occasional high school reunion. When I moved back to town it was hit gossip for quite some time.

It didn’t take long for the gossip to spread and it only got worse once the divorce was finalized. To protect me I just focused on what I could control and that was mostly raising Hayes and working for my dad’s home improvement store. After years of having no stability, moving from studio apartment to studio apartment with Cody and Hayes, being back in Strawberry gave me the support that I needed.

My parents welcomed us back with open arms and so did Cody’s parents. They seemed to understand their son’s need to chase the big contract more than I did, but never blamed either of us for what happened. Hayes grew up with both sides of grandparents equally active in his life. As much as I wish it was Cody and me doing it together, I feel like raising Hayes with all his grandparents nearby and involved was the next best thing.