“Holy shit, Mom, that was close!”

“Adam, what did I say about cussing,” Meredith Greene took her eyes off the wheel to stare daggers at her fourteen year old son, “If you can’t keep it clean …”

“Then keep it quiet,” Adam rolled his eyes, “But, it’s not my fault that you can’t drive.”

“I am driving just fine,” Meredith snapped, as she returned her eyes to the single lane road that was bordered by enormous hedgerows on both sides, “And it’s easy for you to talk, mister, considering that you can’t even drive.”

Adam snorted, “I bet I could drive better than you, though.”

Meredith clenched her hands around the steering wheel and silently counted to ten, which was something she resorted to more and more frequently these days. She was seriously questioning her sanity at thinking this trip back to France was going to be idyllic, especially with a teenager in tow.

“I’m starving,” Adam reached behind the seat and started rustling through their luggage, “Did you stash anything in your carry on to eat?”

“There might be a chocolate bar left, maybe.” Meredith said, as she noticed a car coming up behind them in the rearview mirror.

The car caught up to them in record time, and proceeded to follow close behind Meredith’s economy rental.

“Damn proctologist.” Meredith groused.

“Hah!” Adam exclaimed, “You just cussed, Mom, so you can’t say anything if I do it.”

“Oh yes I can, young man,” Meredith watched the car shoot around them and fly off down the road, “I’m the adult, not you.”

“Whatever,” Adam’s torso was as twisted behind the seat as his seatbelt allowed him to be, as he searched the luggage that was tossed in the back, “When are we getting there, anyway?”

“It should be coming up, I think.” Meredith answered, as she silently wondered if the small village they were headed to had changed at all in the thirty-six years since she’d last seen it.

As she came up on a sharp bend in the road, Adam suddenly untwisted himself with a loud, “I found it!”

Distracted, Meredith took her eyes off the road for a split second to look at her son.

“Mom, watch out!”

Meredith reflexively slammed on the brakes, but it was too late to keep from running into the back of the car that had zoomed around her.

Thankfully, they had been going slow, but the bump was still enough to jolt them.

“Adam, are you okay?” Meredith asked her son, even though she could tell that he was fine.

“Whoa. Dude, we just got in a wreck!” Adam exclaimed, as he reached for his cell phone.

“Don’t you dare put this on social media, Adam.” Meredith reached for his phone, but stopped when her son pointed towards her window.

She turned her head; there was an angry Frenchman glowering through the window at her.

“Stay here.” Meredith nervously unhooked her seatbelt and opened the car door. The older man was already unleashing a torrent of French words at her, and Meredith’s two years of high school French was having a hard time keeping up.

She decided to ignore him as she went to inspect the damage, relieved to see that it was farily minimal.

Granted, the man’s smashed tail light was still going to cost her an arm and a leg, but at least both cars were still drivable and no one had been injured.

“Parlez-vous Anglais?” Meredith asked him.

“Non.” the man snapped, as he reached for his wallet.

“Okay,” Meredith sighed as she opened her car door and reached for her purse, “Adam, get off the damn phone and find me a pen and something to write on.”

A few minutes later, after exchanging all the pertinent information, the man drove off and Meredith got back behind the wheel.

“Maybe you should take another driver lesson, Mo …”

“Adam, shut it!” Meredith’s nerves were shot, she was hot, thirsty, and in no mood to listen to her son being a know it all. She pulled her sweater off and tossed it into the backseat, put the car into drive, and followed the bend around, until the hedges disappeared, revealing a sun swept vineyard that seemed to stretch for miles.

A vague memory shimmered at the edges of Meredith’s mind, but she was so cantankerous that she pushed it away and focused on turning into the vineyard’s driveway.

“Are you going to drink and drive now?” Adam said, as he spotted the sign that read Belrose Winery in a large, flowery script.

“No, Adam, I am not going to drink and drive,” Meredith said, a tad forcefully, “I am hot, I am tired, and I just need a cold drink and a place to relax for a damn minute, if that’s okay with you. Is it? Is it okay with you, Adam?”

“Fine, go ahead.” Adam shrugged, but Meredith caught his hurt expression and she felt bad about her little outburst.

“Look, I’m sorry,” she laid her hand on his shoulder, “The accident rattled me. Come on, let’s go inside and check it out.”

The moment they stepped inside the cool, dim interior, another memory tugged at her, but before she could examine it properly, a young man approached them, “Good afternoon,” he said in French, “Are you here for a wine tasting?”

Meredith was about to say no when Adam spoke up, “Dude, can you speak English?”

The waiter smiled, “I can. You are American?”

“Yeah. We just got into an accident and my mom wants to get us something to drink, but not alcohol, cause, you know, she’s still got to drive us to our hotel.”

Meredith saw the man quickly appraise her, obviously looking for wounds, “It was a fender bender,” she said, “No one was injured.”

The man expressed his relief, “Ah, of course. Very good. Come this way, please.”

Meredith and Adam followed him to a covered, cobblestoned courtyard. The man stopped at a white linen draped table, “Will this do?” he asked her.

“Yes, it’s quite beautiful. Thank you.” Meredith’s eyes swept over the large urns and baskets full of flowers, and the sweeping views of terraced vineyards.

When the waiter arrived, Meredith ordered them a cheese and fruit platter, and a big pitcher of of lemon water, and, while they ate, she leaned back in her chair and studied the people dining at nearby tables. Her eyes landed on a man and she froze. It was Julien. She would have recognized him anywhere, even after all these years. He was the reason that she was here now, even if she had never formally admitted it to herself. She had been sixteen when she’d first met Julien. Her father had been assigned a post in the village just down the way, and he’d brought the entire family over for the year. Meredith had hated it, of course. She had hated leaving her friends back home, and had hated the way that the local kids had either ignored her, or laughed at her pathetic attempts at speaking French. All of that had changed on the night that she had met Julien. She’d went to the local teen hangout, a small bistro owned by a young, hip couple. They’d installed some arcade games in an anteroom, and she would go there to while away a few hours on weekend nights. On that night, he’d walked up beside her and whispered, “You’re wasting your money on those.” Meredith had been shocked that a boy had actually talked to her, and, shocked that he had actually spoke perfect English, but she’d snapped back, “Well, it’s my money to waste.” He’d laughed at her comeback, and she’d looked at him pointedly until he’d said, “Fine. Give me a quarter.” From that moment on, they’d spent every moment that they could together. She’d learned that his mother was American, his father, French, and that was why he spoke such perfect English. He’d learned how miserable she had been in the French countryside, away from her city and her friends.

“Mom? Mom, are you having a seizure or something?”

Meredith jolted back to reality. Adam was eyeing her worriedly.

“What?” she mumbled, already distracted by the beautiful blonde woman and two gorgeous kids that were seated with Julien.

“I asked if I could order some more of that meat that they gave us. That shit is the bomb.”

Meredith heard the curse word, of course, but she was too distracted by the way that Julien was reaching out to touch the blonde woman’s arm. He did it so tenderly that she felt her breath catch in her throat as memories came rushing back.

“Can I?” Adam’s voice managed to penetrate the fog.

“Sure. Go for it.” Meredith said, unable to take her eyes off of Julien and his stunning family. Of course he would marry a breathtaking woman like her, and have exquisite children, who, from what she could see, also happened to have perfect manners as well, of course.

The waiter appeared, and Adam began ordering.

Suddenly, Julien’s head turned towards Meredith. Their eyes met. Meredith jumped up, exclaiming, “We have to go,” she pawed through her purse and threw some money on the table, far more than was necessary, probably, “Thank you. Thank you so much,” she squeaked, “Okay then, come on, Adam, let’s go.”

She marched quickly across the courtyard, leaving Adam and the waiter starring after her in stunned amazement, but she didn’t give a fuck. She just knew that she had to leave, had to get the hell out of there before Julien saw what had become of her.

“Okay, that was weird,” Adam exclaimed, as he finally caught up to her in her mad dash to the car, “Did you hit your head in the accident, or what?”

“Enough, Adam,” Meredith reached the rental. She unlocked the door and flung it open, “Just get in the damn car.”

************************************************************************

The next morning, Meredith basked in the morning sunshine as she sat sipping her coffee on her own, personal balcony. It was one of the many reasons that she had chosen this particular hotel, and, all things considered, she felt like she had made an excellent choice. That, and the fact that they were just down the street from the cooking school where Adam was taking classes.

She yawned. She hadn’t slept much the night before. Seeing Julien had jolted her in more ways than one. If she were honest with herself, the hope that she would run into Julien had been one of the primary reasons why she had agreed to let Adam take the expensive classes at the culinary school in the first place. The thing was, in her fantasies, she’d always pictured herself twenty years younger, and twenty pounds lighter. Seeing him looking so handsome, and with such a gorgeous wife, she’d felt like a damn fool for even fantasizing that he’d be interested in her. She didn’t consider herself a catch anymore. In fact, the only thing she saw in the mirror was a frumpy, perimenopausal divorcee that could stand to lay off the cookies.

Meredith looked down at the flaky croissant on her plate. She’d already had one, and it had been delicious. She took a big bite of it, and stood up. Adam would be in his morning classes for a few more hours, maybe she would take a walk down by the river. She put on a little makeup, added a cute little scarf to her outfit for a French flair, and headed out.

It wasn’t until she was standing by her car that Meredith suddenly remembered Julien’s last name. Belrose. Julien Belrose. That was why the winery had seemed familiar; it hadn’t been the actual place, it had been the name.

Before she could talk herself out of it, Meredith got in the car and impulsively drove right past the river walk entrance and kept going, straight out of town, towards the winery. She pulled into the winery parking lot and got out of the car, still not sure what her intentions were. A car pulled into the reserved slot right in front of the winery doors, and a couple got out of the luxury sedan. Meredith stopped on a dime. It was Julien and his wife. She chewed on her lower lip as she watched them disappear inside.

“Now what?” she asked herself, as she ambled aimlessly around the parking lot, “You don’t actually want to talk to him, do you?” she muttered, “I mean, what would you even say?”

Meredith realized that she was walking towards the side of the building, but she kept going, “I should just go inside and act like a sane adult.” she hissed to herself, as she stepped around the corner. The land sloped down into a ravine on the back side of the building, so she carefully edged her way along, realizing only too late, that it led to the courtyard.

Julien was facing her, talking to his wife and another man. He spotted her and his eyes widened in shocked recognition.

Meredith stepped backwards, intending to flee, but the sidewalk ended in a drop off, and down she went, tumbling head over heels until she came to a jarring stop against a grapevine. She tried to scramble to her feet, but something was stopping her. As she lay there, beneath the grapevines, Meredith chanced a glance up the slope and immediately started to panic; Julien was, at that very moment, working his way carefully down the slope towards her. She redoubled her efforts to free herself. She wanted to die, as she realized that a vine had slid up her shirt, and was holding her down.

“Here, let me help you.”

His voice was honey and whisky, and it sent shivers all the way down to her toes, as she closed her eyes, not wanting to look at him. She was just too mortified. She felt strong hands gently tugging at the vines, and then she was free.

Well, Meredith thought, you’ve gone and done it now. Here she was, finally in front of Julien again, but she was on the ground, probably in the least attractive position she could be in, and he surely thought she was nuts, and rightfully so.

“Are you okay?” he asked, softly.

She nodded.

“Do you want me to help you get up?”

No, Meredith thought, silently. No, she did not want to get up. She just wanted to stay there, on the ground, under the grapevine, until he gave up and left her alone. She opened her eyes and tried to stand up as gracefully as she could. As she did, she couldn’t help but notice the horrible dirt stains on her pants, and the rip in her shirt. Wow, she thought, this was just getting better and better. With nothing left to do, Meredith looked into his eyes. He was smiling at her, and his smile was as mesmerizing as she remembered.

“Meredith, it is you,” Julien grasped her hands in his own, “I thought that I recognized you yesterday, but you ran off so fast …”

“I, uh, well I had an appointment, and, uh, I didn’t want to interrupt your lunch.”

His warm brown eyes were staring somewhere in the vicinity of her forehead. Meredith reached up with her hand. There was a stick caught in her hair and it was hanging down. She tried to loosen it nonchalantly, “You were with your wife and kids.” the stick wasn’t coming loose. She yanked harder and yelped as it pulled her hair.

“May I?” Julien reached for the stick and gently untangled it from her hair. When it was free, he smiled triumphantly as he showed it to her, before casually tossing it to the ground.

“Wife and children?” he asked, with a questioning tilt to his head.

“Yes. I saw you having lunch with them yesterday and I must say, they are all just beautiful. You’ve done well for yourself, Julien.”

“Ah, you must mean my sister and my niece and nephew.”

“Your sister?” Meredith was surprised, “I don’t remember you having a sister.”

Julien shrugged, “After you left, Meredith, my parents divorced. My father remarried. Gabrielle is my half-sister, and those are her children that you saw yesterday. Sophie and Alexandre.”

“Oh,” Meredith felt a bit excited, but she tamped it down, “I’m sorry, I guess I just assumed, well, honestly, it caught me off guard seeing you yesterday, and today, too, really.” She felt giddy and embarrassed at how she was prattling on, but his presence was distracting her and his scent was drifting towards her on the warm breeze and she could barely think let alone form complete sentences.

“You had a boy with you, Meredith, a teenager …”

“Yes, my son, Adam.”

Julien nodded, thoughtfully, “So you have a family then, Meredith. Your husband, he is here?”

“Oh, well, no. I’m not married. Not anymore. Divorced.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It was a long time ago.”

“How long are you staying here in France, Meredith?”

“For the summer. Adam is taking classes at the culinary school. He wants to be a chef.”

“Perhaps he will work here one day,” Julien took her hand and started leading her back up the slope, “I took over a few years ago, when my parents retired. I want to expand the restaurant side of things. We have the room for it, certainly.”

As soon as they reached the courtyard, Gabrielle and the man that she and Julien had been talking to ran over, expressing their concern until Julien shooed them away.

“Sorry,” he whispered, as he poured her a glass of cold water from a pitcher on the table, “I would love to introduce you properly, but you probably want to get cleaned up, yes?”

Meredith felt her cheeks pinken, “I should get going. Adam will be getting out of class soon and I’ll need a shower.”

“Where are you staying?”

“The Ormes.”

“Are you fine to drive?”

“Of course. It was good to see you, Julien.” Meredith placed the glass on the table and turned to leave. She wanted to hurry back to the hotel so that she could cry in the shower.

“Meredith?”

Meredith turned back, “Yes?”

“Would you like to have dinner tonight?”

Meredith wasn’t sure that she had heard him right, “Dinner? Sure. I guess we could have dinner.”

“I’ll pick you up at seven, then.”

************************************************************************

“Are you sure that you’ll be okay here while I’m gone?” Meredith asked her son, as she put a sweater on, looked at it in the mirror, and immediately took it back off.

“Mom, just go catch up with your friend. I’ll be fine, don’t worry,” Adam grabbed the remote, “I can order whatever I want from room service, right?”

“Don’t break the bank.” Meredith hadn’t told him that her old friend was a man. What was the point. She’d had plenty of time to think about it, and she’d come to the conclusion that Julien just wanted to catch up with her. Old friends. That was it. Nothing else. She was being pragmatic, she told herself, as she put the sweater back on. There was no reason to get her hopes up, and no reason to be all giddy, even though she was.

There was a tap at the door.

Before Meredith could react, Adam jumped up and raced for the door.

“Mom, your daaate is here.” Adam announced, with a sly grin, as he led Julien into the room.

“Adam.” Meredith warned, with a sharp frown in his direction.

“You didn’t say that your old friend was a guy, Mom.”

“It’s not important,” she smiled at Julien, trying to act calmer than she felt, “Adam, this is Julien Belrose, and, Julien, this is my son, Adam.”

“It is very nice to meet you, Adam. I hope you don’t mind me taking your mother out for a bit this evening. I haven’t seen her in ages, and I’m very much looking forward to catching up with her.” Julien offered.

“So it’s not a date, then?” Adam asked.

Meredith studied her son. Was she detecting the slightest hint of disappointment in him? Surely not. She’d always just assumed that he was fine with her being alone. Could she have been wrong?

“Of course not,” Meredith tossed Julien an embarrassed shrug, “Like he said, we haven’t seen each other in a very long time. We’re just two friends reminiscing about old times.” If hopes were going to be dashed this evening, she preferred it to be just hers, and not Adam’s.

“I won’t keep her out too late.” Julien said, as Meredith grabbed her purse.

“That’s good. She never stays up past ten, anyway.” Adam said, much to Meredith’s shame.

************************************************************************

“I can’t believe it,” Meredith gushed, as she looked around the bistro, “It looks exactly the same. Even the arcade games are still here.”

Julien grinned as he led her to the same small, candle lit table that had been their table, years ago, “I knew that you would get a kick out of it.”

“It sure is taking me back,” Meredith picked up the handwritten menu and chuckled when she spotted the beef bourguignon. She glanced up at Julien, “I know what I’m getting.” she winked.

“Let me guess,” Julien tapped his chin as if thinking about it, “Ah, yes, I believe the lady will have the boeuf bourguignon.”

Meredith smiled, feeling so warm and glowing that she could hardly stand to sit still.

They ordered, and when the steaming plates of beef stew arrived, they ate with gusto, wiping their plates clean with hunks of crusty bread, and washing it all down with Belrose wine.

When the table had been cleared, Julien reached across the table and clasped Meredith’s hands in his, “Meredith, tell me about your life.”

“I would rather hear about yours.” she said.

“There is not much to tell. I married Patrice Millaband …”

“Really?” Meredith didn’t bother to hide her annoyance. She had known Patrice, of course. She’d been Julien’s neighbor back then, and Meredith had always suspected that the younger girl had had a thing for him.

“It didn’t last,” Julien hurried to add, “We were young.”

“And you never remarried?”

“No. I always thought that I would, but no.”

Meredith stood up, anxious to disperse with the questions, “I’ve got an idea. I bet I can still beat you at Galaga.”

“Not possible, though it is admirable of you to try.”

“You always were a big talker,” Meredith teased, as she slid money into the machine, “Now, stand back and watch the master.”

Not surprisingly, Meredith’s gaming skills were not what they had once been, and she shrieked as she tried to get out of the way of an incoming projectile. Suddenly, she felt Julien move up behind her, resting his hands on either side of her. He leaned in close and whispered in her ear, “I’m glad you came back, my Meredith. I missed you.”

Meredith dropped her hands and turned into his arms. She stared up at him, searching his dark eyes, “I wasn’t even sure that you would remember me.” she said.

“I could never forget you.”

Meredith closed her eyes, wishing that she could stay in his arms like this forever.

“It took me a long time, Meredith, to forgive you, though.” Julien said, softly.

Meredith’s mouth drew into a frown. She’d deserved that. She pulled away and looked up at him, “I never meant to hurt you, Julien. You have to know that. I … I was trying to make it easier by leaving the way that I did. I thought that I couldn’t be happy here. I thought I needed to be with my friends and everything that I had left behind back in the States.”

“You don’t need to explain, Meredith,” he dropped a quick kiss on her nose, “Now, move aside and let me show you who’s the real master.”

************************************************************************

“It’s beautiful here.” Meredith said, pointing out the stunning sunset that was showing off in all of its orange and magenta hued glory.

“I knew that you would like it.” Julien squeezed her hand gently in his.

They were walking through an enchanting park that Meredith felt certain would feature in a fairy tale. There was a sun dappled lake replete with elegant swans, stone bridges, and sweeping, flower strewn meadows, all of it vying for her attention, but Meredith’s gaze was drawn, time and again, to the man who walked beside her.

“You know that we leave tomorrow?” she asked him.

“Yes.”

“I want you to know that these past few weeks have been so magical, Julien. Thank you so much for spending time with Adam, too. He’s had so much fun, I can tell. His father, well, he’s never spent that much time with him, and …”

“Meredith, listen,” Julien stopped walking. They were crossing one of the bridges, and he suddenly swooped her up and sat her on the stone wall, “I don’t want you to go. Not this time,” he brushed her hair back from her face, his expression as solemn as his words, “This time, I want you to stay. I want you and Adam to make a life here in France, with me.”

Meredith felt her face break into a joyous grin, “You don’t know how hard I was hoping that you would ask me to stay.” she gushed.

“So you will stay, my Meredith?” Julien searched her face for assurance.

“Of course I will. I should never have left.” Meredith said, as she pulled him in for a kiss.