Page 9 of Beneath the Sapphire Sky

“And why on earth have you been carrying it aroundin your pocket?” The envelope itself looked a bit crumpled and a little tatted around the edges, as if she’d had it a while and it had been completely forgotten.

He looked up at her, his shock and concern written across his face for all to see.

Belle gripped her biceps and shrugged, not quite meeting his gaze. He walked up to her and lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him.

“B? You’ve been waiting for these. This is what you worked so hard for. What’s going on?”

She frowned and pulled away from his grip. Belligerence and apprehension rippled across her face.

Heck, no.

She’s scared.

“What if I screwed it up? What if I didn’t pass? I’d have to wait two more years to even try again. I… I just… What’s thepoint? I don’t get to do this at the Barrel anyway. I’m always stuck in the damned kitchen or serving food.” She held up her hands, her shoulders slumping in defeat.

The early evening sound of crickets chirping overwhelmed the silent group. No one dared speak. Dante didn’t look at the others, trying to pretend they weren’t there. Hopefully they’d keep quiet and let him talk to her.

“You listen to me—you areamazing. You did it. You studied your ass off and went to Sydney and did the work. The hard stuff is done. This?” He waved the envelope under her nose. “Sure, this means a lot. A hell of a lot, but if you didn’t pass? It doesn’t change the fact that you are fantastic at your job and you know more than anyone in this whole district about wines, and that’s saying something. This is just the icing on one hell of a cake.”

Rapidly changing emotions flooded Belle’s face, from happiness all the way through to stubborn denial.

“Open it,” he whispered.

Her hand shook as she reached for it, then pushed it back into his hand.

“Can you? Please?”

He nodded. He tried to hide the smile that she trusted him to do something so important for her.

He took a deep breath and slipped his finger under the sticky flap, easing it gently as he did. She might want to keep the envelope and he wasn’t going to tear the paper on her.

He pulled out two pieces of paper and unfolded them.

“Dear Ms Davis, blah, blah…” He scanned the page and gasped, loud enough that he saw Ria jump from his periphery.

A massive grin filled his face and he handed her the first piece of paper.

“Congratulations, Ms Advanced Sommelier Isabel Davis!”

Raph let out awhoopand utter shock stared back at Dante from Belle’s gorgeous brown eyes. She looked at the paper, her hand shaking worse than before.

“It says my certificate will be mailed separately. I didn’t expect…”

Dante looked at the second piece of paper and forgot to breathe.

“No way…” He held it out to her. “Holy shit.”

She took it, confused, and scanned the page. All colour drained from her face and she squealed. She launched at him, her arms going tight around his neck.

He swung her around, too happy to care if the others saw what he’d tried to keep hidden for so long. This was her moment.

“What is it? For heaven’s sake, don’t keep us hanging!” Ria was so wound up she was almost bouncing on the spot.

Dante kissed Belle in the middle of her forehead. “See? And here you doubted yourself so much you wouldn’t even open the damned letter.”

Belle pulled back and held the page to her chest.

“I’ve been invited to apply for the Master Sommelier course.”

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