“It is weird, isn’t it? Almost like Carl wrote it knowing I’d read it someday, too.”
“Wouldn’t put it past him.” He shook his head, looking down and smiling with closed lips. “Always was one to meddle.”
“You should know, though”—my voice shook—“that I just found the letter today. I didn’t call off the wedding because of you. Not entirely, anyway.”
“Good.” He took a step toward me. “And you should know I didn’t buy the vineyard because of you.”
I titled my head to the side. What did he say?
His mouth was set in a straight line, but his eyes lit up.
“Did you… wait a minute. You bought the vineyard?”
He nodded.
“But I met…” I fumbled around for my words, still trying to make sense of what he told me. “I thought it was under contract.”
“It was, but I found a loophole. Every contract has one. Cost me a little, but it’s worth it.”
“That’s… that’s amazing. But what made you change your mind about wanting to come back?”
He glanced over his shoulder at the fields where the morning sunlight danced off the dewy leaves of the grapevines. “The first time I left I was just a kid, and I thought I deserved something more than all this. I spent a long time looking for something better, but I never found it. When I heard Grandpop passed, I finally swallowed my pride and came back. That’s when I met you.”
“No, I meant now. What made you come back this time?” I asked.
He smiled. “I’m getting there.”
“Sorry.” I made a zipping motion across my lips.
“It’s all right.” He laughed, but then his expression turned serious. “You changed everything for me, Tess. I guess you know that by now, on account of the boots. When I met you, I thought it was over with Logan. I thought you just needed some time to come to grips with it. And I was happy to wait while you did. But then I found out about the wedding, and it crushed me. I wasn’t going to get in the way, but I wasn’t going to stick around and watch you marry that guy, either.”
You changed everything for me, Tess. My heart fluttered so quickly I dug my boots into the ground to keep from floating away like a balloon.
“You’re right,” he said. “I should have said something. I should have stayed and fought for you. I guess I let my pride get the best of me by leaving, but I didn’t realize it till I got some distance from this place. I decided I didn’t want to be that arrogant kid anymore, so I came back for real this time. I called Sara on the way to the airport yesterday afternoon, just in time to stop the deal from going through. Felt like I couldn’t get here fast enough. I didn’t expect you to be around, but I’m glad you are.”
“Me too.” I looked at the ground and smiled. “It seems unfair, though, to have to buy something that should’ve been yours to begin with.”
“Nah. Now that I see it, now that I really understand what the vineyard is and what it means to me, I don’t feel like I deserve it at all. After my parents…” He swallowed and shook his head. “There was some insurance money I wasn’t supposed to touch until I was twenty-three. I grew up knowing it was there and imagining what to do with it, but when the time came, I left it alone. It didn’t seem right to use it. Until now. This seems right.”
I studied his posture. There was a peaceful air about him. He seemed content. Genuinely happy.
“I’m darned near close to broke now,” he said. “I feel like I should mention that. You know, full disclosure and all.”
I nodded. “That’s okay. I think I like you better broke, anyway.”
He smirked and kicked at the dirt.
“Well, congratulations. So are you moving back?”
“I have to go back to work in the fall. Then I’ll look into transferring to a school nearby, or maybe I’ll come back here altogether, depending on how things are going. In the meantime, I figure I can keep things running from afar and pop in on breaks. You know, to make sure Jake hasn’t burned down the place.”
“Jake?”
“Yeah. My general manager. He knows his stuff. And besides, I trust him. I think I do, anyway.”
I could feel a huge smile spread across my face. Jake and Sara were staying. This was incredible news.
“He called me this morning,” Thatcher continued. “His first order of business was to convince me to let him hire you as the director of marketing and events. I didn’t understand it at the time, because I didn’t know I’d be seeing you again. He kinda sprung this on me. Anyway, I don’t have anything prepared. But the job’s yours, if you want it.”
“It is?”
“It is. Seems like you’re the right person for the job. I understand you’ve already made quite the name for this place.”
I shrugged. “It’s a start.”
“There’s just one thing.” He tucked the folded-up letter into his pocket and took a step closer to me.
Then another. And another, until we were standing inches apart.
He was so close he had to tilt his head downward to look into my eyes. I could feel my skin break out in goose bumps like it had every time we’d been close.
“What?” The question came out a whisper.
“You shouldn’t date your boss, Boots.” He winked and took a step back.
“Good, because who says I want to date you anyway?”
“You do. I can tell. But don’t worry, I’m the boss. I can change that rule.”
I couldn’t help but smile. I tried not to, but my lips wouldn’t cooperate. He grinned, too, dimples exposed, eyelids crinkled at the corners.
“Okay then, Boss. What’s your policy on breakfast meetings? Because if I’m going to take this job, we have a lot to talk about. I need an event budget for the grand reopening, and we’ll need to talk vacation days. Oh, and labels for the Restoration Red. Did I mention nobody’s paid me yet?”
“Labels for the what?”
“The Restoration Red? The wine you and Jake bottled?”
“Restoration Red… clever. I like that.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re full of good ideas, aren’t you?”
“I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve. But I’m not cheap. What do you say we go negotiate my salary?”
He nodded his head toward the truck and walked over to open the passenger door for me. I climbed inside and hesitated as I reached for my seatbelt. This was happening so fast. An hour ago I thought I’d be braving the world on my own, and now Thatcher was back. I was glad for it, and yet a small part of me feared him being back. As if I didn’t trust myself not to slip into being someone else again.
“You okay?” Thatcher leaned against the open truck door.
“Yeah, it’s just…”
He lifted his eyebrows, waiting for me to continue.
“My purse is complete chaos right now.” Before I could stop myself, I thrust my purse in his direction and he took it into his hands.
“Umm…”
“Go on. Open it up and see. I can’t find a thing in there. I have no idea where my car keys are. I can be a total mess sometimes. And I think I’d like to learn how to make pottery. Really bad pottery. You should know that, too. Oh, and I go to church. Well, actually I haven’t been for a long time, but I’m going back. So if that’s going to freak you out, then you should probably—”
“Tess?” He placed a hand on my arm, and I jumped.
“Yeah?”
“It doesn’t freak me out.”
“It doesn’t?”
He shook his head. “We’ll go together. Haven’t missed a Sunday in eight years.”
I exhaled. “Oh.”
“Also, I don’t really care about what’s in here.” He dropped my purse gently in my lap. “And you want to make pottery? You can make me a coffee mug, and I’ll use it every morning.”
“It’ll probably leak.”
He shrugged. “So make me another one. I’m not interested in changing you, Tess. I want to know
you. All of you. You wanna start filling me in some more over breakfast?”
A cozy feeling of warmth ran down my spine as I relaxed in my seat. “Yeah. I’d like that.”
He reached into the truck and pulled the seatbelt out for me. I took it, and my hand touched his. I looked at our hands, then back at him. He looked into my eyes as if he were asking permission to be close to me. I gave him a slight smile, and he leaned in to kiss me. It was a single kiss, soft and gentle. My heart swelled as he rested his forehead on mine for a moment before pulling away.
“What do you feel like eating?” he asked.
“Pancakes,” I answered without missing a beat.
“I thought you didn’t like pancakes.”
I buckled the seatbelt. “Yeah well, you know what they say. The way to a decent woman’s heart is pancakes. And besides, these are the best pancakes on the planet.”
He shut the door with a quiet laugh. I wasn’t sure, but as he walked around the back of the truck, I thought I heard him say something.
Something that sounded an awful lot like, “Told you so.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Courtney Rice Gager first fell in love with reading as a child on summer vacations by the ocean. Today, she enjoys writing her own humorous and heartwarming stories which are best paired with plenty of sand and sunshine. Courtney graduated from Virginia Tech with a bachelor's degree in communication and a minor in creative writing. She lives in Southern New Jersey with her husband and daughter.
www.courtneyricegager.com
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