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She exits the stage before I get the chance to publicly call her out on her behavior—not that I would, especially not in front of the media. I’m not like her, and I wouldn’t ruin this event or my reputation, even at the expense of making her pay.
“Where’s Grace?” a voice beside me asks, and I glance over to find her mom, Hillary. I don’t know her as well as I know Steve since she doesn’t spend as much time around here, but I’m sure she’d want to know what just happened.
“She had an allergic reaction, and I took her back to her bungalow. She’s okay and resting now,” I say.
“Oh, goodness. I’ll head over and check on her.”
I nod politely, and I weave through the crowd toward Maggie.
Before I get to her, though, Amelia stops me. “Where do you think you’re going?” She folds her arms snidely across her chest.
“None of your business,” I hiss at her. “I know what you did.”
“Oh, like you’ll make a scene here? Fat chance, good boy.” She rolls her eyes, and then she smiles and waves to someone across the room. “Excuse me,” she says.
I grab onto her bicep just hard enough to stop her without making the scene she said I wouldn’t make, because she’s right. She knows me decently well, and she knows I’d never ruin an event. She knows I would never draw attention to myself unintentionally.
“You’re not going to get away with this,” I mutter.
“Watch me,” she hisses back. She yanks her arm from my grasp and walks away, and I feel like I should know what I’m up against with her, but I don’t.
I don’t know if I ever really knew anything about her at all.
I spot Steve across the room, and I beeline in that direction.
I’m stopped by Lincoln, who’s ready to call it a night since he and Jolene brought both his stepson and their daughter tonight. Grayson and Ava are next, and then my mom. Asher and my dad seem intent on hanging around a while longer—probably because Asher bid on several auction items and wants to see if he won, though my dad wouldn’t have bid on anything unless someone else was funding it for him, the cheap bastard.
Steve is no longer in the direction I was headed, but I do spot Maggie, so I head toward her.
“Last call for auction items! The auction ends in sixty seconds!” Amelia says over the microphone, and Maggie starts heading toward the auction table to help shut things down. I follow her over there, and when she spots me, she asks, “Where’s Gracie?”
I lean in toward her and lower my voice so only she can hear me. “She had an allergic reaction and had to go home. She’s okay now, but you should know that—” I say the words, but the roar of the crowd drowns out my voice.
“Time’s up! Drop your pens! Nana, would you collect the clipboards and bring them over so I can announce the winners?” Amelia says into the microphone.
I help her gather up the clipboards, and as we carry them together toward the stage, she looks over at me. “What were you saying?”
All eyes are on us, so I hold it in.
For now.
Amelia reads off each item and the winner, and we’re stuck on stage behind her, so I’m not able to tell Maggie what happened.
The raffle winners are chosen, too, and once the announcements are over, people start to leave in earnest.
All in all, it was a successful night for the vineyard…and for Amelia. Five hundred tickets were sold to this event, and it was incredibly well attended. I can’t wait to see what the total raised tonight was.
But come morning, Grace will only feel like she lost.
And that’s why I have to make sure Maggie knows what Amelia did.
Once the guests have all exited the barn, a cleaning crew ascends. I grab the items I’m certain Grace will want to keep, and that’s when I spot Maggie talking to the head of the cleaning crew. Amelia, however, is nowhere to be found, and honestly, it wouldn’t shock me if she ducked out early so she didn’t have to help clean.
I wait until Maggie is done, and then I walk over to her. I get the words out before I can stop them. “I’m pretty sure Amelia sprinkled ground mustard on Grace’s food tonight.”
Her eyes widen, and she sits in the chair closest to her—one of the few that hasn’t been taken down by the cleaning crew yet. “What?” she breathes.
I nod, and I kneel down beside her as I take her hand in mine. “I thought it was important for you to know. Didn’t you see how Amelia stepped in and claimed all the credit for this thing that Gracie poured her heart into? That’s how it always is with the two of them, Maggie. Gracie works her tail off for this place, and Amelia gets to shine as if she had anything to do with it. Maybe the concept of marriage isn’t the thing that should determine who gets this place as much as work ethic and actual love for the vineyard.” I press my lips together, hoping she can see the sincerity behind my words.
