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With my hand on the knob, I say, “I hope you can understand that.”
And then I open the door and practically plow right into Amelia’s little sister.
Chapter 4: Grace Newman
That Bottle of Malbec
Three and a Half Months Before the Wedding
I’m walking out of my office when the office door next to me opens, and Spencer very nearly mows me down.
“Sorry,” he says to my oof sound as he walks right by me…just like he always does.
Just like he did the night he met my sister when it was supposed to be me.
Drew’s cousin, Blake, is on the offensive line for the same team Spencer plays for, and he was having a party the night we were introduced to Spencer. Blake told him he had a friend he wanted Spencer to meet, and it was me.
But Spencer saw Amelia first.
Everyone always sees Amelia first.
We’re opposites in almost every way. She’s fun and wild and spontaneous. She has platinum blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She wears a lot of makeup and acts with her heart. Her catchphrase is apologize later.
As for me? I’m not wild or spontaneous. I’m serious, and I’m a hard worker. I have dark hair and dark eyes, and I don’t stand out in a crowd the way she does, and if I had a catchphrase, it would likely be take responsibility.
Of course he saw her first.
But he was supposed to see me.
As soon as his eyes landed on her, they never left. And now they’re engaged.
Or…they were. Maybe they aren’t anymore. There was definitely some arguing, and the walls here aren’t that thick. I heard him yelling about how she manipulated him.
I’ve kept my mouth shut, but the truth is that I’ve been pushing away my feelings for him since the night he asked Amelia out. We’ve never dated the same guy. We go for completely different types.
She loves him for his connections, money, and social status.
But he’s become my friend over the last year and a half, and I’ve learned what a truly great guy he is. I’ve seen the way he gives back to the community. He spent his entire offseason here at my family’s winery last summer, and now that another season is coming to a close, I’ve been looking forward to seeing him here more often than just Mondays and Tuesdays.
Only…I’m not sure if he will be. Not if he and Amelia are done.
I think about following him outside, but I stay put. He seemed like he could use some alone time after their fight.
I know the truth about my sister, but most people are too blinded by her beauty to see it. They chalk up her poor decision-making skills as impulsiveness. They say her wild streak is endearing.
I’m all for spontaneity. A spur-of-the-moment picnic under the stars? That sounds lovely and sweet.
But being reckless and wild isn’t always endearing—like the time she found a random group of strangers at the gas station and decided to take a road trip with them, or the time she quit her stable job as a fourth-grade teacher midyear so she could take over the marketing department at our family’s winery when she has exactly zero marketing experience but claims she’s an expert in graphic design.
We don’t get along. We never have. When she was seven, along came a little surprise named Gracie to ruin her whole life.
And if you think that’s a joke…it’s not. It’s a direct quote from seven-year-old Amelia caught on video for posterity.
She hated me from the moment I was born because I took some of the attention from her. She worked hard to get the focus back on her any way she could, negative or not, and that has carried into adulthood. For my part, I try to ignore her. I try to take the high road. Sometimes that’s hard.
Our family is close—so close that my dad’s best friend is his brother. They both live at the same estate here at the vineyard with my grandmother. Both men are in their sixties as they work together to run this place. All the pieces are in place for Amelia and me to be close like that.
But we’re not.
