Ch7 Hold On

Willa sat down and took a long sip of her water.  Why was Grey sending her flowers after a simple lunch date?  Did he treat all of his lunch dates like this or was she reading too much into this?  She picked up her phone and sent him a quick message.

‘You didn’t have to send over flowers.  They really are beautiful though.’

Willa’s heart raced at the thought of hearing from him.  A few minutes went by and then a few more.  She panicked and looked to make sure that she had sent the message to the right number.  Still no reply back.  After ten minutes she decided to try and get some work done.  She opened the laptop and read through some of her email.  Henry had sent over the phone information she requested along with the phone tree.  She made files for each document because she didn’t like to have a huge pile of random emails to keep track of.  Keeping things simplified was easier with technology in today’s fast paced world.

Just then her phone buzzed.  She picked it up and saw a message from Grey.  “I’m glad that you liked them.  I had a great time over lunch with you.  Can we do it again soon?  I have another business meeting in Lawrenceburg at the end of the week.  I’m meeting some clients at their home for dinner.  Would you be willing to come along with me?”

He’s asking me out again she thought.  Willa didn’t know whether to accept or not.  She was going to be out of her element around a crowd of people that she didn’t know anything about.  She barely even knew Grey.

Grey didn’t give her time to think.  Her phone buzzed again.  'I’ll pick you up.  I promise that you will have a great time.'

'Ok, since you twisted my arm.  Can you pick me up from the office?  It doesn’t make sense for me to go back home if you are coming to Lawrenceburg,' Willa texted back.

'Definitely.  I’ll be there at 6 pm.'

Willa put her phone down and thought to herself, how did a lunch date and some flowers lead to a dinner invitation?  She picked her phone back up and called Kaysea.

“You aren’t going to believe what just happened Kaysea?”

“Umm, you decided to move out on your own?”

“No!  What in the world would make you think of that?”  Willa asked.

“Oh come on Willa!  I just said the first thing that popped into my head.  It is the one thing that I have been thinking about doing so it just makes sense that you might be thinking about it too.”

“Well take another guess.  No wait, let me save you the heartache.  Grey just invited me out to dinner on Friday and he sent flowers to the office.”

“My gosh!  He really is smitten with you isn’t he?  I didn’t see that one coming.  Maybe I should spill wine on myself to land a rich real estate tycoon to fawn all over me?  So where is the dinner date going to be?”

“Kaysea all he told me is that he has some clients that invited him to their home for dinner.  I guess he doesn’t want to go alone.  So he’s picking me up here in Lawrenceburg and taking me along.”  Willa regrouped for a moment then realized that she didn’t have anything appropriate to wear.  “I need to go shopping again.  I don’t have anything to wear to a dinner event.”

Kaysea replied, “How about we do some shopping after lunch then?”

“Yes, I can make that work.  Let’s meet at Georgio’s for lunch and go from there.”

“See you then,” said Kaysea excitedly.

At noon the two women met at Georgio’s for lunch.  Kaysea was wearing a cute spring dress and some sandals with a matching handbag.  Her looks were always eye turning.  The waitress seated them near the back and took their drink orders.  While looking over the menu one of Kaysea’s friends stopped by their table.  Heathe was the winery operations manager for Farmington Vineyards.

“Hi Kaysea, I didn’t know that you’d be coming into town today otherwise we could have rode here together.”  Heathe was a handsome man who had been with the vineyard about 5 years.  Kaysea’s dad hired him to oversee the winery.  He came highly recommended and had spent some time in France studying how to produce fine wines.

“Oh, it was last minute Heathe.  You’ve met my best friend Willa here right?  She invited me out for some lunch and a little shopping.  Her family owns the dairy farm next to our land.”  Kaysea blushed.  She had long been enamored by Heathe, but was afraid her family would not approve because he was eight years older.  So she secretly kept her feelings under wraps.  To Heathe she was probably just the boss's kid and he was only being polite.

“Yes, I remember Willa.  You have been away at school, correct?” Heathe said.

“That’s right.  I’m back to help dad out with the dairy business and complete my MBA.  Would you like to join us for lunch?”  Willa looked at Kaysea apologetically.

“No thanks.  I just finished and thought I’d come over and say ‘hi’ before heading back.  Y’all have a great time.”  Heathe nodded at them both and turned to walk away.

The waitress came back over and took their orders.  “He’s so nice.  It’s too bad the two of you haven’t gone any further than just a simple friendship.  You might have to invite him to have lunch the next time you come into town, Kaysea.”  Willa looked at Kaysea with determination.  “I think he likes you too.  He probably doesn’t want to offend your family by asking you out though so you might have to take the first step.”

“Yeah you are probably right.  He’s so nice.  I will definitely consider doing it the next time I come out this way.”  Kaysea winked at Willa.

The food arrived at the table and the two dug in.  After lunch Kaysea and Willa went shopping at the local mall.  Kaysea had a few ideas in mind for the dinner party and couldn’t wait to show Willa what she had in store for her to try on.  The first store was a boutique that Kaysea frequented on special occasions.

“You could always wear a dress or this!”  Kaysea pulled out a jumpsuit from the rack that hung off the shoulder and was in a navy blue and tied around the waist with a matching sash.  “What do you think?  I believe you would look stunning in this and with your hair pulled back in a cute ponytail with a few wisps of hair hanging down on each side you would look smashing.”  Kaysea was beside herself.

“I’ll try it on, but you know I’ve never worn anything like this.  I much prefer dresses over things like this.  This is more like you than me.” Willa retorted.

“Willa now is the time for you to step out of the box.  Just trust me.”  Kaysea shoved the jumpsuit at her and motioned her towards the dressing room.

A few minutes later Willa came out and stepped onto the stage in front of a three way mirror.  Kaysea and the sales clerk came over to admire the jumpsuit on her and give their opinions.  “Wow!  That looks amazing on you Ms. Stockholm,” said the clerk.

“See I told you,” replied Kaysea.

“Ok, but I want to go and have a look at the next place you want to show me as well before I make a decision.”  Willa stood her ground.  She was not in the habit of doing things on impulse and she needed something to compare this purchase against.  Besides, the jumpsuit was pricey.

“It’s your call, but I think we will be back.  On to the next store.  Miss, can you please hold this for us then?”  Kaysea grabbed Willa by the hand and dragged her away.

At the next store Willa tried on a few dresses and her and Kaysea both laughed after a while.  “I told you that you were going to go back and buy that jumpsuit didn’t I?  Ha, ha!”

“You were right.  You are always right!  I’m going to need shoes too.  Let’s go pick up the jumpsuit and find some shoes that will go with it, Kaysea.  I need to get back to work or dad is going to wonder where in the world I have gotten off to today.”

The two made their way back to the boutique and purchased the jumpsuit and then quickly found a suitable pair of strappy shoes to go with it.  Willa was quite happy with her purchases and bid goodbye to Kaysea.

“Let me know when you get the courage to ask Heathe out to lunch!  I can’t wait to hear all about it.”  Willa hugged Kaysea and the two went their separate ways.  Willa sighted her driver and asked him to take her back to the office.