Page 26 of A Vineyard for Two

‘It’ll have to be.’

‘Let’s walk then.’

Harper wound the window up and was about to get out of the car when the drizzle turned into a downpour. She watched Brookes run around the side of the car and get back in the driver’s seat.

‘I guess we’re staying put for now,’ Harper said and checked her phone again. Still no signal.

The close proximity made her feel uncomfortable. She wasn’t in the mood to have difficult conversations with Brookes. The longer they spent alone together, the more likely he would start asking her questions she didn’t have answers to, or couldn’t give him.

It didn’t look like the rain was going to subside as the drops banged against the roof and windscreen. But it wasn’t loud enough to not avoid conversation.

‘How’s the business going? You and Leo seem to work well together,’ Harper said, trying to stick to a neutral topic.

‘Yeah, it’s great. We get along and our skills complement each other.’

‘What have you been doing in the last few years?’

‘Really? We’re going to compare notes on our lives the past six years?’

‘Just making conversation.’ Harper stared out the window, hoping the rain would stop so she could get out of the car.

They sat in silence for what seemed like forever, with the tension in the car growing with each passing moment. Why couldn’t they just talk like two normal people? They used to, without a problem. They used to talk about everything from the boring and mundane to the deep and meaningful. Then she left. She shouldn’t expect him to be outpouring with words.

‘I’m not selling the property,’ he said.

‘I can’t keep it.’

‘Why the hell not?’

‘I live in the city. I have a job there. A life.’

His hands gripped the steering wheel. ‘Are you happy there?’

She hesitated. Happiness was a fickle thing. It didn’t matter if she was happy. She had made her choice and now she had to live with it.

He continued when she didn’t respond straight away, ‘Obviously not, so I don’t understand, Harper. What exactly is keeping you in the city and away from here? Or maybe the better question would be who?’

‘It doesn’t matter.’

‘But it does. Because we now are co-owners of an incredible property. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and you just want to throw it all away.’

There was so much more to it than that, but she couldn’t exactly tell him that without telling him everything, and she didn’t want to tell him everything. Harper just wanted to get back to the house, pack her bag, get into her own car, and drive back to the life she knew, to the life she built with all the protective shields around.

‘I can’t stay here.’

‘Why the hell not?’

‘I just can’t.’

Headlights appeared as a car approached them from the front. As it drew closer, it slowed, then pulled to the side of the road. She recognised it as Zoe’s.

Harper sighed in relief.

‘Saved by the bell,’ Brookes said.

Harper got out of the car, and through the rain, which had now slowed down, jogged towards Zoe’s car. She got into the front seat; Brookes got in the back.

‘What happened?’

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