One Night of Your Life
Copyright 2012 Misty Reigenborn
Smashwords Edition
Winter rolled her window down a crack. The rain was pouring down. She almost rolled it back up, but she’d never been able to stand being cooped up anywhere with the windows closed when she smoked. She took a drag of her cigarette and wondered how much longer she could drive before she fell asleep behind the wheel.
She turned the radio up and happened to glance to the side of the road as she passed the exit sign. It was the middle of nowhere, but there had been a man standing by the side of the road, not carrying an umbrella or wearing a coat. Winter had never in her life thought of picking up a hitchhiker but before she could talk herself out of it, she braked and then backed the van up.
She rolled the passenger side window down. “Get in. Please. You’re drenched.”
He gave her a grin. He had straight white teeth and a beautiful pair of green eyes. She noticed as he got in that his t-shirt was plastered to his chest. It looked to be a very nice chest.
He shut the door. She rolled both of the windows back up and turned the heater up a notch. “You can put your bag in the back if you want. Where are you headed?”
“Anywhere but here.” He laughed.
“That makes sense since it’s the middle of nowhere. How long have you been out here?”
“Hours that felt like days. What’s your name? And thanks for the ride by the way. I never expected a woman to stop, especially one who looks like you.”
“Uh huh. My name is Winter. And you are?”
“John.”
“It’s nice to meet you John. I’m rather exhausted and was thinking about pulling over for the night. What do you think about sharing a room?” The last part had come out completely without thought. While the sensible part of Winter’s brain wanted to take it back, the hormonal part that knew she had a very attractive man beside her did not.
“Is that some kind of a cheap come on line?” John chuckled. “You can drop me off wherever you decide to stop. I wouldn’t want to put you out like that. You’ve already done enough. I was beginning to think that no one was ever going to stop.”
“I insist. Who knows when it’s going to stop raining? You can take a shower, put on some dry clothes. Please tell me that you have a jacket.”
“It’s in my bag. You sound like a mother. Where are your children?”
“I don’t have any. My ex and I had trouble conceiving. Sometimes I think that was a blessing.”
“Was he really that bad?”
“No. He wasn’t that bad. I wasn’t that bad. We just tended to bring out the worst in each other instead of the best.”
“I see. My ex wife walked out on me about a year ago. We tended to do the same thing I think. We were separated for about six months and we were perfectly civil. We got along better than we had when we were together. So we tried to get back together. It didn’t work. Within two days we were at each other’s throats again. So I left. Been kinda drifting ever since.”
“Isn’t it hard? I wouldn’t think that a lot of people would want to pick up hitchhikers.”
“You’d be surprised. But if I get stuck somewhere for too long, I just buy a bus ticket out.”
“Oh. Are you hungry? That exit coming up should have a drive through. I’d say we could go to a diner but I’m not in the mood to wait.” She yawned. “I’m so tired.”
“I am hungry but you don’t need to bother. If you’re tired just find a motel and get some sleep. Where are you headed?”
“To my niece’s graduation. I can’t believe she’s eighteen. It seems like the last time I looked she was just a baby. I am a little hungry myself so we’ll see what we can find. I’ll pay for the food and the motel. It’s no big deal. I’m doing pretty well right now. Somehow I’m able to balance my budget a lot better now that I’m divorced.”
John chuckled. “My wife was better at that than me. I always had this idea in my head that no matter how broke I got, there would always be more ya know?”
“Hmm.” Winter pulled off at the exit. She could see two drive through fast food restaurants and a motel within sight. “Do you prefer burgers or tacos?”
“I don’t care. Get whatever you want.”
Winter sighed. “Give a girl a break. I don’t care. I’m easy.” She turned to look at him when she stopped at the stop light. “Well, not easy like that. Although I was a little back in high school. I was a chunky and that seemed to be the only way I could get a guy to like me. Wow, I did not need to tell you that.”
“It’s not wrong to like sex. It feels good. I considered myself a sex addict for a while. I cheated quite a bit. Sometimes I wondered why my wife didn’t leave me long before she did. But I’m trying to be a better man. I wanted to be a better husband, but it’s a little hard once you figure out that you really are better off apart. She’s dating some actor now. I can’t even remember his name because he’s the third one. The divorce was final and she wasted no time. Anyway, I would prefer tacos. Thank you.”
Winter smiled as she pulled away from the stop light. “An actor huh? When I first got divorced, this was right after my first novel was published, this actor that I had a crush on when I was a teenager hit on me at this party. It was kinda gross because he’s like twenty years older than me and he did not age well. I turned him down and then regretted it since I heard he’s supposed to be fantastic in bed. I’ve been rather high and dry since my divorce.”
“I find that hard to believe. You’re beautiful. What do you write? Anything I’ve heard of?”
“Nothing on the best seller list and definitely not the great American novel. I write mostly romance. Down and dirty bodice ripping romance with lots of sex. Which I find to be totally ironic most of the time since I have no love life or sex life to speak of.”
Winter pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and joined the line behind three other cars. John cleared his throat. “So I’m thinking that you just don’t want a man in your life?”
Winter snorted. “Oh, there have been times that I felt like I would have taken any man, even if it was just for the night. Then I decided that I wanted to do it right the second time around. Do you think you’ll ever get married again? Do you have kids?”
“I don’t know about marriage. I kinda feel the same way that you do. If I do it again I want to make sure I get it right. No kids. I wanted them and she didn’t. She won.”
“I’m sure you’ve had plenty of women out on the road. You’re gorgeous. Many women must have invited you into their house for the night, into their bed.”
“I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t true, but it was just meaningless sex. It was about one body helping another body get off. I always thought that if it was right, even if you just met someone, it didn’t have to be meaningless.”
Winter swallowed hard as she pulled up to the speaker. She didn’t look at him because she was afraid of what she would see written on his face. “So what do you want to eat? Anything you want.”
“Oh I don’t think you’d be comfortable giving me what I really want Winter. But that’s okay. I’m not going to try to talk you into something you don’t want to do. I’m not that kind of man. Let me look at the menu.”
He leaned over her. She could smell his cologne. She suddenly wanted to kiss him like she’d never wanted to kiss a man before. He was crazy if he thought she didn’t want what he wanted she thought. He told her five items that he wanted. She laughed and had to tease him even though they were all a dollar or less. “Are you sure that’s all you want?”
“To eat yes.” He winked at her as he moved back to the passenger seat.
She closed her eyes briefly and then waited for the voice to come back on the speaker. She placed their order and then pulled forward. She felt like the tension was so thick in the car that you could probably cut it with a knife. The food seemed to take forever and the last two songs on the radio had been about sex. She reached over and shut the radio off.
John gave her a lazy grin and pushed his dark hair out of his eyes. “Do you believe in signs Winter?”
“If you want to see them you can find them anywhere. If you look for them everywhere you can eventually turn them into whatever suits your purpose at the time and end up driving yourself crazy.”
“I suppose you could. Have you ever picked up a hitchhiker before?”
Winter shook her head. “No. I never even really thought about it. I don’t see them that often. When I do it’s usually somebody who looks like they’ll rob me or something.”
“Do you believe in destiny?”
“I guess. But I don’t believe in all that romantic bullshit. It probably sounds kind of dumb coming from a romance writer, but it’s true.”
“I see.” He paused as she took their food from the girl at the window. She handed him the bag, then pulled out of the parking lot and headed up the road to the motel. “So you wouldn’t believe me if I told you that I thought we had been destined to meet tonight?”
“No. I should have actually already been there. My sister is kind of nontraditional. She had the graduation party before the actual graduation. I was supposed to leave two days ago but I had a deadline to meet. I got behind when I got an idea for this other novel that just wouldn’t leave me alone. The party was tonight. I missed that, but the graduation isn’t until the day after tomorrow so at least I won’t miss that.”
“Does it not seem strange to you that you should have already been there but you’re not, and you happened to decide to pick up a hitchhiker when it’s against your nature?”
“It’s not exactly against my nature. I’m not a bitch, or at least I don’t like to think so. I’m just cautious.”
“Normal behavior for a single woman. I’ll shut up now. It’s obvious that you’re not interested. I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s okay.” She pulled into the parking lot of the motel and parked next to the office. “I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
A pretty woman in her twenties was behind the counter. She gave Winter a bright smile. “Good evening. How can I help you?”
“Your sign says that you have vacancies. Please tell me that you do. I’m exhausted.”
“We do. Smoking or non smoking?”
“Smoking please. With two beds.”
The girl raised an eyebrow and glanced at John. “Tell me you’re related to him. There is no way I wouldn’t share a bed with a guy that looked like that if I wasn’t.”
Winter fought an eye roll. “I’m not. Do you have a room with two beds?”
The girl sighed. “You’re a lesbian aren’t you? Or he’s gay. All of the really good looking ones seem to be.”
“No. I don’t mean to be abrupt, but do you have a room with two beds? I really am very tired.”
“Sorry. My husband is in the military. Sometimes I think I like to look a little too much. Um, let me check.” The girl looked at a sheet of paper. She ran her finger down and then looked at Winter and shook her head. “The only smoking rooms we have only have one bed. Actually, the only rooms we have left period have one bed. There’s some convention in town.”
Winter sighed. “Damn. I guess we’ll take a smoking room then. It’s $39.99 plus tax right?”
“It’s $68.12 with tax. Will that be cash, or credit?”
Winter stifled a groan. “That seems like an awful lot of tax.”
“That’s the ‘and up’. I told the manager that he should change it since there are only three rooms in the whole place that are $40 a night but he won’t do it. People usually end up paying it anyway. We’re a lot cleaner than the other places on this road.”
“Fine. Credit.” Winter gave the girl her credit card and her license. “Do you need to see his ID too?”
“I’d like to see a lot more of him than his ID, but no. You’re fine. Just one night?”
“Yes.”
The girl made a copy of her license and then processed the card and handed her the receipt. She pulled a key off a hook behind her and handed it Winter. “Second floor, all the way to the right. Are you sure you’re not a lesbian? If I had a guy like that even for the night, there’s no way in hell I wouldn’t have sex with him. If I wasn’t married and you told me you didn’t want him, I’d be all over him right now. You wouldn’t have to worry about sharing a bed with him because I’d have him in mine.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-three. Why?”
“He’s too old for you.”
“Not for one night he isn’t. Are you blind? I can see his shirt sticking to his chest through the window. I can only imagine how good he looks without it on.”
“So he’s good looking. It doesn’t mean that we need to hop into bed with someone every time we find a member of the opposite sex attractive.”
“Before I got married, it was really good when I did a few times.”
Winter turned away and rolled her eyes. “Have a good night. I hope your husband comes home soon.”
“Me too. I’m not gonna let him out of our bed for three days straight.”
Winter laughed. “I’m sure you won’t.”
Winter shook her head as she walked outside. John grinned at her. “That took long enough. Did they not have the room that you wanted?”
Winter cleared her throat as she got back behind the wheel. “Uh, the only rooms they had available only had one bed.”
“I can sleep on the floor. It’s not like I haven’t slept on worse.”
Winter pulled into an empty parking space. “You don’t have to do that. I’m sure the bed is big enough for two.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
She didn’t look at John as she retrieved her bag out of the back of the van. After he had retrieved his bag from the back seat she waited for him to get out of the van. After he had shut the door she pushed the button to lock the vehicle.
“I can carry your bag,” he said.
She shook her head. “It’s not heavy. We’re on the second floor.”
He grinned at her. “Would you have let me carry it if it was heavy?”
“Probably not. Yours looks heavy.”
He threw his bag over his shoulder. “I’m used to it. The rain seems to be letting off. Are you sure you want to share your room with me?”
Winter gave him a look as she headed to the stairs. “I’ve told you that I’m fine with it more than once. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. But you’re more than welcome. With what I paid and the state of this place on the outside at least, it was more than enough for two people.”
John followed her up the stairs. “You go to California the rooms are almost a $100 a night. And half of those are dumps.”
“I don’t like California. Not my kind of place. I grew up in a small town. You can still buy a house there for a years’ wages, not two or three or ten.”
John chuckled as she put the key in the door. “Yeah, it’s pretty sad. Sometimes all of the beauty in the world is hard to see around all the shit.”
“Yeah.” Winter opened the door and turned on the light. The room was clean. It wasn’t quite the dump that she thought it would be. She immediately walked over to the window and pushed it open.
John gave her a look as he shut the door. “Are you some kind of a fresh air buff?”
“I can’t stand to smoke without a window open. Sounds kinda dumb even to me but it’s true. I should quit smoking I know.”
John shrugged as he deposited his bag on the floor. “Everyone has their little idiosyncrasies. I love the smell of the air when it’s raining. Fresh and clean.”
Winter sat down on the bed and took the bag of food that he offered her. “Not always. I’ve been in cities where the rain just made it smell worse. It kicked up all the nasty smells on the ground, especially in certain parts of town.”
“I’ve been in those kind of towns too.”
“I bet you’ve been just about everywhere.”
“A lot of places. When I find a place that feels like home I’ll settle down.” He took the bag back from her after she’d removed her food. “Thanks. I can cover my part. I’m not quite that broke.”
“Don’t worry about it. How will you know it feels like home?”
“I guess I’ll just know.”
Winter nodded, though she wasn’t quite sure that she understood. They were silent as they ate their food. They both finished quickly. She had been hungrier than she’d thought. John got up from the chair he was sitting in and stretched. His shirt rose enough so that she could see the edge of his boxers. She swallowed hard.
“You don’t mind if I take the shower first do you?”
Winter looked at her feet. She was already imagining him naked and it was driving her crazy. It wasn’t just because she had just met him and disapproved of her strong attraction to him. It was also because she really wanted to know what he looked like naked.
“Go ahead.”
“You okay?”
“Yes. Go. I’ll turn the heat on a little bit.”
“Okay. Thanks.” John rummaged in his bag for clean clothes. He was headed to the bathroom when he turned. “I don’t suppose I could talk you into joining me.”
Winter couldn’t speak for a moment. Her hormones were a complete threat to her sensibility. She felt like a horny teenager. She cleared her throat. “No thank you.”
John sighed. “You don’t need to be afraid of this Winter. I feel it too. I’ve never felt quite this way before. The physical attraction, sure. But there’s something more here. Don’t tell me that you don’t feel it. We were meant to be together tonight.”
Winter forced a laugh. “You sound like some kind of a romantic prophet.”
John shook his head. “I’m no prophet. I just listen to my heart. And right now it won’t shut up.”
Winter snorted. “Are you sure what won’t shut up doesn’t reside a little bit lower in your anatomy than your heart?”
John chuckled. “That doesn’t want to shut up either, but I can deal with that. Men learn to ignore their little heads. If you want to pretend that this didn’t happen for a reason, go ahead. But you’ll always wonder. What could have been. What should have been. If you change your mind, feel free to join me.” He winked at her.
Winter held her groan until she heard the shower start. Her heart was beating fast and her palms were sweaty. She lit a cigarette, but only took one drag before she put it out in the ashtray beside the bed. She was on edge, but nicotine wasn’t going to help her. Nicotine wasn’t what she was craving. She was craving the touch of a man. One man in particular who just happened to be naked about 15 feet away from where she sat.
Winter closed her eyes. But she couldn’t shut out the picture of John’s naked body that her head kept trying to create. She took a deep breath and then let it out. Fuck it she thought. She was going to join him in the shower.
She undressed quickly and stepped into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. She pulled the shower curtain aside and drank in the sight of John’s body. He looked even better naked than she’d thought that he would. He gave her a wide grin.
“I was beginning to think that you’d changed your mind.”
She raised an eyebrow as she stepped into the shower. “Changed my mind? I think someone has a big ego.”
He reached over and pulled the shower curtain closed. “I can tell when a woman wants me. You wanted me the moment you saw me.”
Winter laughed. “That sounds suspiciously like your ego talking.”
John reached out his hand and brushed it over her arm. “It’s okay Winter. The feeling is very, very mutual. We can fight this inexplicable feeling that we both know is right and we’ll always wonder. Or we can let go and let ourselves feel and have a night that neither of us will ever forget.”
Winter sighed as he moved his hand to her face. “I’ve never had a one night stand before.”
“If it’s meant to be darlin’ we will meet again.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Some things a man just knows.”
“Uh huh.”
“Shh baby. That’s your head talking. Let your body take over. I’ll give your body anything that it wants tonight.”
Winter smiled. “Within reason of course.”
“Within reason.” John smiled. He ran his hand down her arm again. It sent shivers down her spine. He kissed her, slowly and softly. “Tell me what you want baby.”
She whispered into his ear. His smile grew wider. “Mmm. That I can most definitely handle.”
When they finally made it out of the shower, they couldn’t seem to get to the bed fast enough. Winter had never had such an erotic shower in her life. Neither bothered to take the time to dry off.
John paused. “One thing darlin’.”
Winter looked up at him and wanted to groan. “Yes?”
“I don’t have protection.”
Winter sighed. “Damn.”
“There was a convenience store back by the drive through wasn’t there?”
Winter bit her lip. She’d never had unprotected sex besides with her ex-husband, but she really wasn’t in the mood to wait. She felt like she was on fire with passion and she didn’t want her sensibility to take over. And if she wanted to be completely honest with herself, she wanted to feel every part of John in every way possible. “Um, I’m okay with it if you are. I’m clean.”
John chuckled. “I would think you would be more worried about things that like than I would be, but I am as well. Are you sure Winter? If you say yes, I’m going to make love to you to all night long.”
Winter felt color rise to her cheeks. She gave him a half smile. “Promises, promises.”
“I keep my promises darlin’. Now shall we start with that sexy suggestion that you whispered into my ear?”
“Oh yes.”
John smiled. Winter had never had a night so filled with passion in her life. John was an incredible lover. Her ex-husband hadn’t been bad in bed by any means but he wasn’t the best at foreplay. John was fantastic at foreplay. He pleasured her fully with his hands and his mouth. She couldn’t get enough of the feeling of his body underneath her hands. He had an incredible body. She’d never realized that a man could feel so good or smell so good. He hadn’t put cologne on after their shower he just smelled so much like the essence of a man to her that it drove her crazy.
When they finally made it to the love making, Winter never wanted it to end. She felt like a horny teenager that had lost her virginity to an incredible lover and just knew that it could always feel that good. She had thought that she was tired before, but by the time they had taken their third shower of the night together, she was truly exhausted.
She lit a cigarette with a hand that had a slight tremble to it. John grinned at her. “So it was good for you too huh?”
She hit him with the pillow that her head wasn’t on. “Ha ha. I thought you figured that out somewhere around my fifth orgasm.”
He chuckled. “It took that long for you to figure out that it was good?”
Winter rolled her eyes at him. “I knew the second you touched me that it was going to be good. I just didn’t think that you needed another ego boost. I bet women tell you that all the time.”
John brushed his hand over her hair. “Darlin’ it doesn’t matter how many times I’ve heard it. You took me to another level tonight. What we had together was hands down the best sex I’ve ever had in my life. You’re so passionate. I bet you’re not always like that though. What made you decide to let go?”
Winter turned away from him and put her cigarette out in the ashtray on the nightstand. “I figured that every woman deserves at least one night of unbridled passion in her lifetime. It should give me some good material.”
John chuckled, but then he touched her shoulder. When she turned her head, he took her chin in his hand and forced her to look at him. “Hey beautiful, no need for that. Like I said if it’s meant to be we will meet again.”
Winter stroked her hand over his chest. “Do you really think so? I’ve never felt this way before. I feel like I’m going crazy.”
“You’re not crazy. We should get some sleep. Do you want me to shut the window?”
Winter shook her head. “No. It’s fine.” She kissed him. “Goodnight John. Thank you.”
He smiled. “Anytime. Thank you too.”
She twined her fingers through his. He reached over to the turn the lamp off. She settled back against his chest and was soon asleep.
Winter woke a few hours later. John was still breathing evenly beside her. She resisted an urge to reach out and touch him. What she wanted to do was to spend the hours until checkout time making love to him, what her sensible side knew she needed to do was leave before he woke up. She eased out of bed and dressed quickly.
When John still hadn’t roused, she wasn’t sure whether she was relieved or disappointed. She shook her head at herself and slipped her feet into her shoes. She grabbed her cell phone and double checked to make sure everything was in her bag. She hid a sigh as she took a moment to watch him sleep. She worried about him living the life that he was living. There was a part of her that was tempted to wake him up and ask him if he wanted to go with her.
That thought really made her shake her head at herself. Not only would her sister never stop giving her crap if she showed up with a strange man at her daughter’s graduation, but what was she supposed to do with him afterwards? What if they didn’t get along after they spent more time together? She didn’t want to spoil what they had had.
She bit her lip. Finally she made the decision that she had known was already coming. She decided to let him sleep. Before she left, she took all of the cash out of her wallet and laid it on the night stand. It was several hundred dollars. She hoped that John didn’t take it the wrong way. She wasn’t trying to make him feel that their night together had been cheap she was just pretty sure that he could use the cash more than she could.
She took one last look at him and then exited the room. She closed the door quietly behind her, pausing for a moment outside the room. There was no movement so she continued toward the stairs. She made it to her van and stowed her bag in the back. She took one last look at the motel and then started the van. She felt tears prick her eyes and felt like even more of an idiot. It wasn’t because she’d had a one night stand. She figured that a lot of people had probably had at least one in their lives. It was because even though she knew that it was the right choice to make, it didn’t make it any easier to walk away from him.
She stopped at a diner on the edge of town and got breakfast. Her sister called her. She was tempted to tell her about John, but her older sister was rather conservative. Veronica had been married to her high school sweetheart for 20 years. Winter wasn’t sure how she would take the news that her little sister, though a grown woman, had had a night of passion with a total stranger, let alone a man that she had picked up hitchhiking.
The rest of the drive was uneventful. Watching her niece graduate gave Winter a strange feeling. Most of the time, she wasn’t sure that she wanted kids. But when she saw Treylisa accept her diploma, she felt a mix of emotions sweep over her. She found herself fantasizing about what it would be like to have John’s child. By the time she left Veronica’s house, she had already pictured running into John on the way back home a dozen different ways.
But she didn’t meet him anywhere on the road. She made sure she took the longest route possible and made many stops that she didn’t need to make, but there was no sign of the handsome almost stranger that had made love to her like no man before him ever had. So Winter went back home and continued her normal life.
Six weeks later, she got out of bed and rushed to the bathroom. Nausea had never hit her like that unless she had drunk heavily. She hadn’t had a drink in weeks. As she raised her head from the toilet, she realized she had missed her period. She laughed a little as she flushed the toilet. She had wondered what it would be like to have John’s child and now she had a sneaking suspicion she was going to find out.
Two hours later, she stood in her bathroom with a positive pregnancy test in her hand. She was not upset at the fact that she was pregnant with John’s child. She put her hand over her stomach and wondered at the life that was now growing inside of her. She just had no idea how she was going to explain to her sister and her parents that the child she was carrying was created during a one night stand with a hitchhiker. As she pondered what she would tell them, she realized that it was going to be interesting when she gave birth to list the name of the father of her child since she didn’t know John’s last name.
Her sister took the news better than Winter had thought she would. She confessed to having an incredible one night stand early in her marriage when she and Justified had been fighting. He knew about it, and had accepted it. Veronica also told Winter that she had thought about the man for years afterwards and had never known even his first name.
Her parents did not take the news well. They yelled at her for being irresponsible. They brought up the idea of adoption to avoid the embarrassment that they believed would inevitably befall her. Though all of her books had done very well lately and her last was actually close to reaching best seller status she wrote under a pen name, and she certainly didn’t believe that she was so much in the public eye that people would know about her child, let alone take the time to wonder who the father was.
Winter thought a lot about John as her pregnancy progressed. She drove a lot to random locations. She was always on the lookout for the father of her child, but she never saw him. She did most of her writing from motel rooms. She had a feeling that her parents were starting to believe that she was crazy. Veronica thought that it was very romantic and was rooting for her sister to find John again, but it didn’t happen. As the days passed, Winter wished more and more that she had thought to leave John her phone number. She held out hope that they were meant to meet again but secretly thought she was acting like a romantic fool.
Three days after Jonnie Chance Trinity was born and given her mother’s last name, Winter made the decision to move. It wasn’t fun packing and moving with a newborn especially since she was nursing, but she found her home to have turned into a prison. She realized that she couldn’t run from her memories of John. She saw him every day when she looked at their daughter’s face. Jonnie had her father’s beautiful green eyes. But Winter felt an overwhelming feeling to start over in a new place. She and Jonnie moved to the east coast and found a nice house in a beautiful small town. The people were wonderful and no one questioned the paternity of her child, though she did find several of her fans living there.
Time went on. Winter felt herself healing from the heartache of what felt like the loss of the love of her life. Jonnie brought so much joy into her life. Watching her daughter grow was a feeling like no other. She still thought about John, but it became more distant. She held true to the belief that if they were meant to meet again, they would.
It was a Tuesday in June. Jonnie had just turned three and they were at the park down the street from their house. They had a big yard, both front and back, but Jonnie had always loved the park. Winter was sitting on the grass a few feet away from the playground where she could still keep a close eye on her daughter when she looked up and saw a man. She blinked, thinking that her mind had conjured him. It still did that sometimes. She’d think she saw John on the street or in a local store or restaurant. But until now, she had always known that it was just her heart seeing what it wanted to see.
She tilted her head, her heart starting to beat fast. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, but he was still there and he was coming her way with a slight smile on his face. The smile was questioning but there was something else behind it. She had a feeling that it was hope and felt a smile drift to her own face.
He crossed to her. She glanced back at the playground. Jonnie was still running around with the little girl that lived down the block from them and went to the same preschool. The man looked down at her. “Winter?”
Her heart felt as if it was going to beat out of her chest. “John?”
His smile widened. “Yes. So it was meant to be.”
She let out a nervous laugh. “I guess so.”
“I assume that you live in town?”
“I do. Right down the street actually.”
“I’ve been here for almost a year now. I can’t believe we haven’t run into each other before.”
Winter started to speak, but Jonnie was suddenly headed her way and she was wailing. “Mommy I hurt my knee.”
John looked back and forth between Jonnie and Winter. Winter didn’t know what to say. Would John recognize his eyes in his daughter’s face? “Come here sweetheart. Let Mommy see your knee.”
Jonnie sat down beside her mother and put her leg on her Winter’s lap. “It hurts bad.”
“I’m sorry baby.” The knee was scraped but it wasn’t bleeding. “Let’s get you cleaned up. Then you can go back and play for a little while longer if you’re still feeling up to it.”
Jonnie nodded, then looked up at John. “Who’s he?”
Winter cleared her throat. “This is John baby.”
Jonnie gave her father an inquiring look. “My name is Jonnie.”
John gave Winter a look that she couldn’t quite read. “That’s a very pretty name for a very pretty girl.”
“Thank you.”
Jonnie’s attention was suddenly elsewhere. Winter cleaned her knee with supplies from the first aid kit that she always carried in her purse, and then applied a bandage. “Is that better baby?”
“Yes Mommy. Thank you. I’m going back to play now.”
“You’re welcome sweetheart. I’ll be right here.”
Jonnie ran off. John dropped down into the grass next to her. “She’s beautiful. Jonnie huh?”
Winter looked him in the eye. “She was named after her father.”
John swallowed hard. “I had a feeling. It’s strange to see your eyes looking out from someone else’s face. I don’t know what to say Winter.”
Winter held back a sigh. This was not how she expected their reunion to go. She couldn’t tell by the look on his face how he felt about the fact that she had just told him that he was a father. “Look John, if you’re worried about me wanting child support, the thought never crossed my mind. I’m doing very well. My books are selling better than I ever imagined possible. Every new title gets closer and closer to the best seller list.”
“Do you write under a pen name?”
“I do. What does that have to do with anything?”
“This is a small town. I can’t believe that it would be kept quiet that a famous writer lived here. I don’t understand how we haven’t run into each other. It’s crazy.”
Winter laughed. “I’m not exactly famous. I may be well known but it’s mostly by women that devour trashy romance novels. Men don’t pay attention to that sort of thing.”
“I would have. I think about you all the time. There have been other women, but no woman could ever hold a candle to you. I love you Winter. Shit. You’re probably married.”
Winter shook her head. She couldn’t speak for a moment. Then she cleared her throat. “I haven’t been with a man since you.” She let out a shaky laugh. “I was afraid none of them would compare to you either. I love you John. Wow, I can’t believe that I actually said the words out loud.” She laughed, and it was a little less nervous. “The heroes in my novels are all starting to sound a bit like you.”
John grinned. “Damn. I think this is the best day of my life. My business loan just came through, and then I find you and find out that I have a daughter. I think we should go buy a lottery ticket.”
Winter smiled. “What kind of business?”
“I am going to paint houses. The houses around here tend to be rather boring. A lot of people seem excited with the idea.”
“I’d love for you to do mine. It is pretty boring.”
John laughed. “I’ll make sure you’re first on my list.” He looked at Jonnie. “Um, does she know about me?”
“In a roundabout sort of way. You can’t exactly explain a one night stand to a three year old.”
“I’ll give you a lifetime if you’ll let me.”
“Be careful John, I might hold you to that.”
John winked at her. “You’d better.”
The talk between them was easy after that. They made plans for dinner. When Winter told him where they lived, John told her that he lived a few blocks away. She was beginning to believe that she hadn’t been imagining things when she’d thought she’d seen him around town.
They ate dinner together. Jonnie chattered at her father, but Winter caught her daughter giving John questioning glances all night long. She wasn’t quite sure how to tell Jonnie that John was her father. And she figured that it was something that she needed to discuss with John anyway.
They watched TV together for a while after Jonnie was tucked into bed. An embrace turned into a heated kiss, which turned into a night in Winter’s bedroom that rivaled their first night together. John was still the passionate lover that she remembered him to be. Winter found herself looking forward to many more orgasms at the hands, mouth and member of her lover.
Jonnie took the news that John was her father in stride. She was soon calling him Daddy and he had soon moved into their house. They were married three months later and Winter was pregnant six months after that. When she looked back on it, Winter still marveled over the fact that she was married to the hitchhiker she had picked up when he was standing by the side of the road in the rain with no umbrella and no coat.