Page 70 of Beneath the Sapphire Sky

He rubbed at his face. “I’ve had requests for interviews already. Even the national six o’clock news wants to do a piece on the small-town winemaker made good. Can you believe that? And one of the breakfast TV shows, too.”

Belle nodded. “That’s fantastic. Jack has fielded a couple of requests too, but not brekkie TV. Hewillbe jealous. Particularly if it’s Madeline Overstreet.”

Dante’s grin only got bigger, which shouldn’t be possible.

“Oh! It is! He’s gonna be green with envy.”

Dante ran his hand through his hair and motioned to the long rows of vines to her right.

“Walk with me?”

She nodded and moved off down a row. She could feel the heat of his body so close behind her that she wanted to stop and fall back into it, to have it wrap around her and never let her go.

She shook her head slightly to dislodge that particular thought.

She needed to apologise to him again, not jump his bones, to see what she could salvage of their friendship.

They wandered a short distance up the length of the long row. The gentle rustle of the leaves reassured her and calmed her nerves. It was a place she loved to be.

A strange flickering ahead caught her attention. As she got closer, she saw Dante’s old doona, which they’d used as a picnic blanket so many times in the past, spread across the soft, short-cut grass of the row. Several tealight candles in a group on an overturned metal bucket sat slightly beyond the edge, throwing just enough light across the doona for her to make out the muted colours of the fabric.

She turned, her head tilted to the side.

He smiled and shrugged. “I wanted to have some privacy when we spoke. I was hoping I could talk you into coming out here, but you were already on your way over.” He motioned for her to sit. “No reason we can’t be comfy while we talk.”

Belle slid off her thongs and sat cross-legged on the side. She waited while Dante did the same.

“I’m glad you did. I didn’t really want the others listening in while we, ah…”

“Exactly.”

She lay back on the doona, suddenly awkward, and looked at the Milky Way spreading in a bright arc above her head. She sighed at the stark beauty of it.

“It’s times like this that I wish I knew how to do those awesome astro photos you see on social media.”

Dante lay down beside her and crossed his hands beneath his head. “Yeah. I know what you mean.”

They’d done this so many times over the years. There, amongst the wine grapes, down near the creek at the swimminghole, lying on the solid old trestle tables in the bistro area. Anywhere they’d been able to get time alone, away from the many siblings that were only a stone’s throw away.

Belle fiddled with the buckle on the bib of her overalls. The metal made a softclick clackin the warm, early summer night. Crickets chirped somewhere in the distance.

“I’m sorry, Dante.”

She felt more than heard him turn his head to face her.

“For?”

She let out a small laugh. “Take your pick. For being so horrible to you at the SES tent that day. For being a miserable cow lashing out at the one person who always has my back, no matter what.”

She faced him. Dark blue eyes that looked like deep rivers of moonlight stared back at her.

“I’m sorry I hurt you. I can’t even say I didn’t mean to, because we both know I did. You have to know I didn’t mean those things.”

Dante rolled over to look down at her, his head tipped to the side. His longish hair hung down straight over an eye.

“It’s okay.”

She let out a disbelieving grunt and closed her eyes. “Yeah, nah. It’s not. I don’t know why I thought hurting you would make me feel better. I was so scared…”

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