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“What about me?” he asks.
“You don’t want commitment because Mom and Dad got divorced?”
He shakes his head. “Not really. Gray said Mom told him she wouldn’t trade in the years she had with Dad, but dude, I live with Dad. He’s a handful, man. I don’t know that I could’ve put in forty years or whatever she did with him, and I can’t see myself ever finding someone I want to spend that much time around.”
I think about Grace and how it feels like total devastation when she’s not around.
Is my dumbass brother right?
Am I trying too hard to be logical about all this when there’s absolutely no logic when it comes to love?
We can’t help the way we feel, and sometimes we can’t just categorize that into a neat little box. Asher’s words actually make me wonder, for the first time ever, if I’ve really been in love with Grace since the night I met her. Or maybe I could have been if her sister would’ve given her the chance to shine.
And now she’s trying to take more away from Grace, who never deserved to lose any of this.
We pull into the parking lot of Newman Winery, and I wonder why it has a different name than Newlywed. It’s one of the many things I intend to find out.
But I also want to find out without being recognized. If this Theodore person has some connection to Maggie, he might know that I married her granddaughter. It’s too late now to disguise myself, so my brother and I head inside as I hope for the best.
Chapter 58: Grace Nash
Give it to Amelia
Five Months After the Wedding
“It’s so good to see you back in here, Nana,” I say as I walk into the tasting room.
It’s been a week since her health scare, and she’s supposed to be taking it easy—which she is. Dad brought her recliner in so she has somewhere to rest back behind the counter, and her feet are up as she reads a magazine when I spot her.
We don’t have any guests in yet, but it’s early. They’ll come.
“Where’s Spencer?” she asks. “Haven’t seen that cutie pie around here in weeks.”
“He’s in season, Nana. Remember?” I say it gently, and it worries me that she’s confused again.
“Oh, right. Silly me. But I remember him coming by when he was in season to visit your sister.” She says the words pointedly, as if she’s pointing out the fact that her memory is just fine. “As I recall, he usually had Monday and Tuesday off, and he’d come by.”
“He’s in San Diego now. It’s not quite so easy to get here.”
She raises her brows. “Then why are you here?”
“Excuse me?”
“Honey, I’ve been around the block once or twice. I know how these things work. You’re here, he’s there, something’s wrong. He played in Miami this past weekend, fine. But why weren’t you at his first game of the season the week before that?”
I sigh. I didn’t want to get into this—especially not with her—but maybe it’s time she knew the truth. “I’m afraid to leave. I’m afraid Amelia will do something that will give her an edge when I’m working so hard to prove that it should be mine.”
“Sounds to me like you’re putting the vineyard first.” She presses her lips together.
“Is…isn’t that what you want for this place?”
She shakes her head, puts the recliner down, and pushes to a stand. She’s a little unsteady on her feet, but overall, she’s making great progress. “No, honey,” she says, and she stops in front of me. She rests her hand on my forearm. “I want someone who has a real, true partner that can help manage everything that comes with a winery. I want someone who can raise a family here and see a future here. What I don’t want is someone who’s willing to sacrifice all that for this place. This?” She holds a hand up. “It’s just a place. It’s important, and it’s a legacy, but it’s not everything. And I’m afraid I’ve sent you the completely wrong message if that’s what you took out of it.”
Her words pulse a new thought in me.
Am I throwing everything away for this vineyard?
I may have inadvertently pushed him away when I was trying harder to hold onto the vineyard than I was to him.
