To the Moon and Back

The Moment I Knew

The cool October air breezed through the cafe as the chimes against the glass door rang. I was tending to a customer and saw a familiar blonde man in line and I couldn't help but break into a smile.

"Grande vanilla latte?" I asked before Hunter had a chance to order.

He nodded, "and a chocolate chip cookie." I smiled and set everything up for him.

"It's on me, " Hunter smirked and rolled his eyes, "I finish in ten minutes, do you want to hang tight?"

"Yeah, absolutely." I made Hunter's latte and brought his cookie over to the couches where he was sitting.

"So good to see you," I kissed him and handed him his cookie. "I thought your flight came later?"

"Yeah, I bumped it earlier," his eyes sparkled, "I couldn't wait to see you. Nine weeks felt so long." I nodded, sipping my macchiato. We walked towards Hunter's car hand in hand, and he drove us to my parents. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the backyard, sitting by the fire as Hunter strummed in his guitar just enjoying each others company.

'I'd love to know just what you're thinkin', Every little river, running through your mind, You give and you take, you come and you go, You leave me here wondering if I'll ever know, How much you care, or how much you don't, Whatever you need, whatever you want.'

I hummed along, admiring Hunter in his element and the adorable way he scrunches his nose when he's concentrating on a chord. He knew all of my favourite songs, and I was just in awe of his talent.

"Hey, I forgot I had something to give you," I said, getting up and running inside the house quick. I came back out and had a large brown envelope in hand and passed it to Hunter. "Open it."

"You haven't opened it yet?" Hunter saw the return address was the State Accreditation organization. I shook my head. He picked up his jaw and opened the envelope along the seal. He withdrew the papers and began reading, his eyebrows raise as he reached the second or third line. "Jenna," he whispered, "you did it. You passed!" He jumped up and wrapped his arms around me.

My eyes welled, "Thank goodness. I don't know what I would've done!" I looked over the papers for myself, absolutely beaming. We went inside to share with my parents.

"Jenna!" My dad exclaimed, "That's so exciting! We are so happy for you."

"What are the next steps?" My mom asked over dinner.

"Well, I have to pay a certification fee of course, but I can apply for jobs wherever." Hunter squeezed my hand. "I want to stick out the volunteering a little longer and get a good reference.

Hunter places his hand on mine, "That sounds like a good plan. How are you liking volunteering?"

"It's good, there are some really sweet residents and most of the staff are nice also." We wrapped up dinner and the sun began to set over the town. Hunter and I cozied up on the couch, and talked, mostly about us and my new job diversity. "If this keeps going the way I think it is, I would be happy to move to Nashville..." my voice drifted off. Hunter brushes my hair behind my ear, "unless this is too much too fast?"

Hunter shook his head, "I want you to do what's right for you. It would be selfish for me to tell you what to do. I would love if we could someday live together and see where our relationship goes. I've loved every minute of it thus far."

My eyes met his, his face was soft and caring, the twinkle in his eye had a way of making my heart melt. "I really loved touring with you. I love being around you. I still kick myself for waiting so long and being so hesitant to move forward. If things keep going, I mean theres paper work and so on..."

"Don't worry," he smiled, holding my hands in his, "You are worth every moment I had to wait  I knew you were worth it and we would be amazing together. I'm glad I just didn't push you away. I love you Jenna." Before I had a chance to reply, he leaned in and kissed my lips, softly and slowly. In that moment I knew this was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

We wrapped up our Canadian thanksgiving together with a family dinner that included my grandma, sister Ali and her boyfriend Jon. Once again, Hunter and I parted ways, however in a few short weeks, I would be on a flight to Louisiana for thanksgiving with his family.