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I spot Gracie sitting there, staring into the fire.
“This seat taken?” I ask quietly.
She startles a bit at my voice, but she turns and glances up at me. “No. Are you okay?”
I sigh as I take the chair beside her. “Yeah. I’m okay.”
“Remember when you two were fighting last time, and I said the walls are thin and I heard everything?”
I huff out a little chuckle. “Yeah.”
“I came out here to give you two some privacy.”
“It’s over,” I say quietly. “I did it.”
“I know.” She reaches over and pats my knee. “How are you feeling?”
I shrug. “I’m not sure yet. On the one hand, it’s the end of a relationship, which is always difficult and sad. On the other…it was time. We ran our course. And then she told me to get out.”
She twists her lips as she draws her hand back toward her own lap.
I look at the Grand Hall off in the distance from where we sit. I hate the idea of leaving this place behind, but it’s time.
She’s quiet a few beats, and then she sighs. “You’re a good, kind man, Spencer, and you always deserved better than how Amelia treated you.”
I need to get out of here. I know I promised Steve I’d take a look at his books and his procedures to ensure the vineyard is being run efficiently, but maybe that’s not such a good idea anymore.
The idea of leaving this place behind—of leaving my friendship with Grace behind—is overwhelming.
But everything in my life is overwhelming right now, and this is something within my control.
“I need to go,” I finally say to Grace.
She nods, and she stands. I stand, too, and I give her a quick hug.
“Thanks for…well, you know,” I say. I offer a half smile before I turn to walk away to leave her and Amelia and this entire vineyard behind.
I don’t know when I’ll be back, and for some reason, that pulses an aching feeling of loneliness in my chest.
But the loneliness is replaced by anger as I turn the corner and spot my ex as of five minutes ago in a passionate embrace with Drew, the head of the cellar workers, out behind his bungalow.
Chapter 9: Spencer Nash
No Better Way to Get to Know a Guy
A Month and a Half Before the Wedding
I draw in a deep breath as I look at the building in front of me.
I haven’t been back to the winery in a month. I haven’t heard from Amelia. Our last conversation was an accusation that she’d been waiting for me to break up with her so she could green light her relationship with Drew, and she informed me that she actually hadn’t waited at all, and they’d been together for quite some time.
So learning my ex-fiancée was cheating on me for who knows how long was a fantastic punch to the gut I didn’t see coming.
I should have.
Over the last month, I’ve been biding my time waiting for the legal tampering period when teams can start talking to free agents.
Though I’ve not heard from Amelia, I have heard from Grace. Mostly because she’s my primary contact with the business analysis I’m doing for Steve, but it’s not all business. She occasionally texts me funny cat memes or wine memes, and I text back with something ridiculous Asher sent me.
