Must-Have Husband

sticking to black coffee and a dry piece of toast. He worried she was still upset with him over his foot-in-mouth comment about her wearing that wedding dress, and hoped to clear the air about his intentions. He couldn’t really do that before a full crowd of onlookers, though. And they were watching closely, especially Connie’s mom, he thought, taking Connie’s hand in his once again as Elizabeth shared a pleased smile.
    “So after breakfast, I was thinking you might take Mac on a tour of the vineyard,” Elizabeth said.
    Linda heaped extra flapjacks on her plate. “That’s a great idea, Mom.”
    “It is indeed,” Connie’s dad agreed.
    “Yes. Why don’t you show him around a bit,” Wendell Senior added. “Let him get the lay of the land.”
    Connie turned her eyes on his, and Mac was once more caught up in their magic. “Mac? Would you like to?”
    This seemed like a good plan. There were lots of things they had to discuss, and having a bit of privacy for a change would prove helpful. “That sounds great.”

    Connie led Mac through the rows of vines, explaining the different varieties. It was a pleasant day with a light breeze blowing over the hills and strumming its way through the grapes climbing the supports all around them.
    “You know a lot about this business,” Mac told her. “Ever consider going into it yourself?”
    Connie laughed lightly. “About as far into it I go is opening a bottle of wine. Seriously? It’s interesting to me, but it’s not the way I want to spend my life.”
    “How do you want to spend your life?”
    She looked over the landscape, growing serious a moment, then met his gaze. It occurred to Mac again that her eyes were the color of the sky as it opened up in summertime splendor above them, speckled by just a few billowy clouds. “Like I said in the car, I’m still figuring that out.”
    “But you enjoy working at the kids’ museum?”
    “Oh yeah, I love it. It’s just not… I don’t know. I’m looking for something more. Something I can feel a passion for. Do you know what I’m saying?”
    He looked deep in her eyes, and his heart skipped a beat. “I think I do.”
    “Like maybe the way you feel about your store.”
    “It’s not just a store to me,” he told her.
    “What do you mean?”
    “It’s more like…” Hmm. How can I explain this? “More like I get to help folks develop excitement about connecting with the great outdoors. So much of people’s lives are spent inside. Inside of buildings, inside of cars or subways, just traveling from place to place, within very tight spaces. A lot of constraints, you know?”
    “I know all about constraints, believe me.”
    “Then maybe you’ll understand how liberating it can be for someone to escape all that and get back to basics. Climb a mountain, hike a trail… Paddle a canoe down a quiet stream.”
    “I’ve never thought about it like that.”
    “Sometimes it’s good to get away from it all, just to hear yourself think.”
    “What if I don’t like what I have to say when I hear myself think?”
    “Well, you’re in trouble, then,” Mac said with a laugh.
    She studied him a moment, the sunlight glinting in her hair. “The truth is, I didn’t feel calm at all out in nature. I was terrified.”
    “That’s because you didn’t know what you were doing. Or, maybe…” He lowered his voice and leaned toward her. “You just needed the right guide.”
    “Oh yeah?” she asked, looking up.
    “Yeah.” He was near enough to kiss her again, and, man, didn’t he long to, but they had things to clear up first. “Connie,” he told her sincerely, “I’m really sorry I hurt your feelings last night. About the dress. I really didn’t mean to.”
    “I know you didn’t.” She hung her head with a blush. “I was being oversensitive.”
    “It’s a very tough position your family’s put you in.”
    She raised her head, meeting his eyes. “It wasn’t really them. I caused the problem myself.”
    “I don’t see how.”
    Her lips trembled as she appeared to weigh how much she should tell him. “By making myself believe I loved someone when I didn’t.”
    “Your last fiancé?”
    “All of them,” she answered quietly.
    “Then why? Why did you say yes when they asked you?”
    She searched his eyes a lingering moment. “Because maybe I thought I’d never find someone to feel that way about.” And when Mac looked in her eyes, he could see it was true. Connie Oliver was someone