“This pot is not exactly what I had in mind,” Mom complained as I heaved the gigantic thing out of the back of my car outside the winery the next day. “You’re kidding, right? The painting place girl told me you picked it out yourself.” I stared at my mother, trying to decide if I was more aggravated about the pot or about the meddling attempt to push El back into my armswhen she clearly wasn’t ready.“I did. I just, I really thought you’d put a bit more effort into paintingit.”“What was your goal in sending me there, Mom? To get a painted pot,or to get El and I to talk?”Mom frowned. “Both. But the pot would have been nice to have when people show up for the festival this weekend.”“The festival is about wine and food, not gargantuan pots. What are you going to put in this thing, anyway?”Mom shrugged. “I don’t know. I just thought something grand, something to really make a statement might be required. No one knows usyet, and I want them to see that we
“It’s just . . . I mean, it’s not very you.”I set down a folding chair and stood up to look my brother in the eye. “Right. And I think that’s the answer. I’ve been too me this whole time.”“Uh, sure.”“No, you’re right. I’m the problem. I’m uptight and hard driving. I never just stop and enjoy the view, because I’m always worried about letting something fall, letting someone down. I think it’s time to be less me. I’m going to let it all go and take a chance.”Lincoln looked skeptical, but he didn’t say anything else.El arrived just after nine, looking adorable with her hair pulled into a ponytail and her polo shirt tucked into a short khaki skirt. Ashley was at her side, and as they walked past me in the parking lot, El gave me a soft smile and Ashley leaned behind her and offered me a dramatic wink.I smiled at El and tried not to encourage Ashley, who’d been so enthusiastic on the phone when I’d called to ask for her help, that I was still concerned I might have a burst eardrum.I
The sunshine, my bestie, and the taco I’d just inhaled were giving me new life. Sure, it was awkward and painful seeing Boston every time I turned around, but I was starting to feel less sad and more frustrated with myself. Why couldn’t I just forgive him already? He said he was sorry, he’d begged me to forgive him, and I was still holding on to a grudge.“I think I might be a grudge holder, Ash,” I announced as I swallowed another bite of taco.She snorted. “Are you just now figuring that out?”“Hey! You’re supposed to be my best friend.” If the shredded beef taco hadn’t been so good, I might have thrown the last bite at her.“I am your best friend, dummy, that’s why I’m agreeing with your assessment. Remember when Samantha passed you a note to pass to Thomas Sax in third grade and you got in trouble for it?”“Ugh. Don’t remind me. I had to do an extra book report all because that little twerp wanted attention from a boy who ate glue.” I got worked upjust thinking about it. I hated
A flicker of recognition sprang to life in me, and my stomach clenched. “Oh no,” I muttered. I had a bad feeling about things. This was sounding a lot like what happened with me and Chad at the wine festival. To everyone else, this was just a rag-tag theater production, but I could sense something bigger happening up on that stage.The pig took the mannequin’s hand and her arm fell off. The audience gasped and Boston scrambled to pop it back on. From behind me, poor Frank bellowed something I couldn’t quite make out. Boston successfully got the arm back on and cleared his throat, clearly determined to continue this truly horrific play.“Allow me to woo you, lovely maiden?”Well, there was a blast from the past. I hadn’t heard the word “woo” in a while. But there was no time to consider it because the play marched on.“I am willing to be wooed,” the mannequin said.Mom, Dalton, and Lincoln all reached below their chairs and picked up signs that had been lying face down on the stage. Mo
Holding El in my arms, I could almost forget that we were on a stage in front of an entire crowd of people. She held my gaze with her beautiful blue eyes and my entire world felt right when I pulled her close, ghosting my lips across hers.El let out a tiny whimper, and it pulled at every nerve in my body, sending lightning through my veins as I pressed my lips to hers. The kiss was a claim, a decision, and a promise, and it was equal parts tender and desperate. I wanted her, but not just in my arms and hopefully one day in my bed. I wanted her at my side, in my life.“I love you, El,” I told her, breaking the kiss. “So much I’m not sure what to do about it.”“Just kiss me some more,” she suggested, “and we’ll go from there.”The crowd around us had broken into wild applause, and I began to be conscious of the fact that we were still in the midst of a very public spectacle. I thought I’d had just about enough of being the center ofattention, but when I finally got to my feet, keeping
And I had to admit, the tasting room had never looked better.The clock hit two and I spun around, taking it all in. “It looks fantastic, Pam! That bride is going to be over the moon.” I glanced at the front door. “If she ever gets here.”Right on cue, the door opened and Ashley walked in. “Hey—oh! Wow. You’ve outdone yourself, Pam.” She gazed around at the décor and then grabbed me in an iron grip. “You’re coming with me. We gotta discuss some wine stuff.”I frowned, but hustled after her, lest she rip my arm out of the socket as she towed me to the back room. “What is your deal? The bride will be here any second and I promise you we have the wines sorted.”Ashley spun and held my hands in hers. “Are you sure? I think we should have an extra sparkling wine. I think this bride might be a drinker.”I tilted my head. Something was off about Ashley. “You okay, Ash? You seem jumpy. Odd, somehow.”She looked away and I knew something was up. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.Where’s the sparkling win
“Okay.” I tried for a smile as I stood. But my cheeks ached from all the fake smiling I’d been doing for the last hour. The red-headed woman, who I was pretty sure was at least twenty years older than I was, looked confused. “Okay?” She stood up from the table across from me, a paintbrush still in her raised hand. “Right,” I said. “Goodbye then.” “Um,” she said, glancing around like maybe she thought she was being pranked. “Goodbye?” Her name was Kami, and a lot of the things Kami said sounded like questions, but technically should have been statements. It was one of the things that made me certain that this setup—like every single one of those my mother had orchestrated so far—was not going to result in any kind of happily ever after. “Yep,” I confirmed, since she insisted on continuing to look confused. “Okay,” she said. I took that as agreement and picked up my latest hastily painted ceramic frog and delivered it to the tall dark-haired girl behind the counter, who offered m
The house wasn’t much to look at, but I had to admit the landscape was nice. Okay, fine. More than nice. I’d never been on a nicer run than through the vineyards of Solano Creek. And if I said “nice” one more time in my head I was going to scream.Aged cheddar was nice. That moment when I took off my Paint it, Pal apron at the end of an excruciating shift with screaming toddlers was nice. My life, though? Shouldn’t it be described with a better adjective? How about exhilarating? Perfect. Beyond compare. I wanted more than just a nine-to-five until I shriveled up and died. If anything, life so far had taught me it was a fickle beast. I‘d better get to living now if I wanted to squeeze something more than “nice” out of this existence.Which was why I was here, in the middle of a town I knew nothing about, in a tiny house that held nothing familiar yet had my name on the deed. Thank you, Aunt Betty, for the gift in your will. A pang of guilt hit me, but I pushed it aside. I had too many