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But she shook her head. “No. She’d hate that and get mad at me if I cut our day of sightseeing short. Besides, I’m supposed to make sure I have some sourdough bread and tell her if it’s worth all the hype.”
Chuckling softly, Mick wished he could meet this woman.
“What about us taking a bit of a detour?” he suggested.
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe we should skip Napa and fly back to North Carolina so you can spend some time with her.”
If anything, she started crying harder.
The ferry docked and people were walking past them, and he wasn’t sure what to do.
“Sienna, I... um...”
She seemed to pull herself together—wiping at her tears—before she looked at him again. “First, we need to get off the boat. We’ll talk more about this over lunch.”
For the first time in his life, he felt completely helpless. He was used to being the one people turned to when they needed help or in an emergency; he was the guy who solved problems and made everything better. But to just stand by and watch this incredibly strong woman crumble like this was almost more than he could bear.
“Would you mind if we just called for an Uber or something?” she asked. “We can maybe ride the cable cars after lunch.”
“Of course.” He picked a random location on Fisherman’s Wharf to get dropped off and arranged for the ride.
Five minutes later, they rode in silence, and he felt a little silly when they arrived at their destination in only three minutes.
Sienna must have felt the same way because she laughed softly. “I guess we could have walked, huh?”
“Sure, but...this was easier.” Thanking the driver, they climbed from the car and walked over to the first restaurant they saw and waited for a table. It didn’t take long and as soon as they were seated, Mick could tell that she still wasn’t herself. They were scanning the menus when he asked her what she was going to order.
“Um...why don’t you order for us?” she said sadly, putting the menu down. “It’s like I’m looking at it, but nothing is even registering.”
He took a few minutes to look at all the options and then waved their server over. “We’d like to start with the baked tomato bruschetta,” he began. “Then we’d like to split an order of the clam chowder in the sourdough bread bowl.”
“Excellent choice,” their server said. “Would you like to order your entrees now, or wait?”
“Um...we’ll order them now, but please don’t put the order in until after the clam chowder.”
“Sounds good.”
“Excellent. I will have the halibut and the lady will have the seared scallop and crab risotto.” Handing off their menus, he added, “I’d like a glass of your Sauvignon Blanc and she’ll take a glass of Chardonnay. Thanks.”
Once they were alone again, Mick reached across the table and took her hand in his. “Talk to me, Sienna.”
She let out a long breath while studying their hands and when she looked up at him, he saw the sadness there.
“I knew this was coming,” she said quietly. “But I guess I was hoping for a miracle too.”
“Of course you were. That’s only natural.”
“The scientist in me, however, should know better. Eleanor had accepted what was happening and had made her peace with it, and I would never allow her to see how upset I am right now.” Another sigh. “So...I think I need to do as she asked and...keep with our plans and take lots of pictures. If that’s something that is making her smile, then that’s what I’m going to do.” She let out a mirthless laugh. “If I were sitting there with her, it wouldn’t have the same effect. If my silly little texts and pictures are something she looks forward to, then...I need to keep going.”
He nodded. “You’re a good friend, and I think you’re stronger than you realize. But if it gets to be too much and you want to go back to the room or just...I don’t know...hit something...then that’s what we’ll do.”
This time her laugh was a little lighter. “Hit something? Why would I hit something?”
“I’ve heard it’s a great stress reliever,” he said with a laugh of his own.
“You’ve heard, huh?”
