Free Strawberry Wine by Kristy Phillips Page B

but didn’t spill over. “I’m sorry...” Her voice was barely more than a whisper.
    They stood a moment, angst filled sculptures of broken people. Neither one sure this was really happening.
    “Why are you here, Alli?” Jason’s voice was rough but steady.
    “I had to know... I recognized your style in one of your paintings and I had to know if it was you.”
    “Well now you know.” His voice wasn’t cold - even worse - it was apathetic.
    “Is that it? Do you want me to go?” This was not the reception she had envisioned. Where was the Jason she remembered? Her Jason? This man looked the same, right down to his faded flannel paint shirt and perfectly worn jeans, but his eyes were different. Shielded.
    He stepped toward her, his boots crunching on the ceramic debris. When he spoke, his voice was low and intense. “I waited for you, Alli. I waited for you, and when you never showed I pined for you.” There was great emotion being held in check, visible as a fire in his eyes. “But longing only takes a man so far, and eventually I began to rage at you.” He was only a step away from her by now. “The mere thought of you ate away at me like an acid.” The tears finally spilled over Alli’s eyes, but she made no move to wipe them away. She was too captivated to move even the slightest bit. Jason sighed and looked away. When he turned back he seemed more composed. “Then I mourned you, Alli. I mourned you, and I let you go.”
    Alli nodded her head in what to her felt like large, sweeping movements, but what in fact was a barely noticeable quivering of her jaw. Jason was so close she could feel his hot breath on her face when he spoke. “So you see, Alli, I have nothing left to give you. You are a ghost to me.”
    Having Jason so close was causing a stirring in Alli. It was as if she had spent the last six years with a rubber band attached to her heart, being stretched painfully far away. Now that she was here, she could imagine that rubber band easing and relaxing, and she could see the other end had been with him the whole time.
    “I looked for you, Jason. I tried to find you.” Her voice was wavering with her tightly bound emotions.
    His eyes flashed something she couldn’t read. “I wasn’t hiding.” He shifted his weight, bringing his shoulder a fraction of an inch closer to her. “I stayed, Alli. I stayed in town and bore the looks of disgust - or worse, pity . I bore the pain in my parents’ eyes when they were forced to watch their son walk among old friends like a pariah. I stayed .” His lips pressed into a hard line. “You never showed.”
    “Jason, I couldn’t. Please believe me-” Alli grabbed his arm and he stiffened. He was hard as granite, and equally unwelcoming. He looked down at her left hand clutching tightly at his bicep. Light from the skylight winked against the grey sapphire in her ring, causing a six point star to flare brightly from within the stone. When he looked back at Alli his expression was frightening enough to cause her to release him and jump back.
    “I need you to leave now, Alli.” Jason’s voice was soft, in stark contrast to his lethal glare. “You are unwelcome here.”
    “You’re upset. That’s understandable.” Alli’s mind was racing, trying to come up with the right words. It was of the utmost importance that she find the right combination of words to make him listen. He had to listen to her. It couldn’t end like this. “I’ll go. You need some time to process this. It was unfair of me to show up like this without warning...” She hedged toward the door. “But I’m coming back, Jason. I will say my peace.” She fled before he could argue.

 
     
     
     
    Alli was acting distant. Jason didn’t know why, but he knew something was definitely up. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as he drove them to the auction yard. He decided to keep the conversation light, and hope she let down her guard a little.
    He had no idea that she was