Page 7 of A Wilder Wedding

I hadn’t even realized I was walking towards the vines until I was there. The vines had come with the property, although they had expanded over the years. Between Jay, Amos, Evan, and Elijah, the place thrived. Maddie brought it all together and made sure the wine club and business side were taken care of. But the grapes? Those were Amos’s babies.

Before I met Amos, I hadn’t realized there was a difference between a grape for chardonnay versus a Riesling. Or that a cab grapes were different too. Or how blends worked. I had no idea what vines did other than you had to take the grapes off the vine in order to make wine. Seriously, the only introduction to wine I had ever had was that oldI Love Lucyepisode. Which apparently wasn’t very accurate.

Maybe I would go see Maddie and have a glass of wine. As long as she wasn’t too busy with Elijah or the hundred other things that she had on her plate. I loved that so many of the Wilders were here. It was a big family. One I was on the outside of, but still part of. And they never let me forget that I was part of them.

I turned the corner and ran smack into a hard chest. When I placed my hand over his heart to steady myself, he gripped my wrist, not bruising but still firm.

I knew this chest, knew the feel of him. I wanted to pull away, only I didn’t. He looked down at me, a familiar scowl on his face.

“What are you doing out here?” He snapped out the question, a familiar vibe. He was always so angry these days and I never knew if it was just me or everyone that brought this out in him.

I tugged my hand away from him, and thankfully he let me go. Amos was so strong that I wouldn’t have been able to break free of him without him releasing me.

That should have been a scary thought, instead it just reminded me of when he would hold my hands over my head and slide into me, long and hard and deep.

I pushed those thoughts from my mind. Those were the past. I wasn’t his. Something we were very clear about.

“I’m taking a walk. What are you doing out here?”

“Checking on the grapes. You shouldn’t be out here.”

“I’m allowed to be here, you know. I’m not going to trample your precious grapes.”

“Well, you’re lurking. I don’t like lurkers.”

I rolled my eyes. “What is up your ass right now?”

“Nothing. You just shouldn’t be alone.”

“Well, that’s not my fault, is it?” I snapped, and then could have slapped myself. Really? Did I have to show him that I was still hurting over the breakup? Over our final breakup. Because we were very good at breaking up. Just like we were very good at making up.

“I assumed you’d have moved on by now.”

I looked at him, aghast. Had he moved on? My heart twisted, but I quickly stopped it. There was no way I was going to think about that. No way I was going to let myself.

Because Amos falling in love with someone else had never occurred to me.

How had it never occurred to me?

Amos had loved before me but had never told me he loved me. He told me the words hadn’t needed to be said.

What a fucking cop-out.

He was going to fall in love with someone else, move on, and I would be left behind. Only Iwouldn’tbe left behind. Because I would be right here in the vines with him, having to watch him.

Oh my God, I was going to be sick.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

His voice went soft like it always did when he was trying to care for me, making tears prick the back of my eyes.

How could I be so stupid? He was going to fall in love. He had probably already found someone. Because Amos, despite his asshole-ish ways when it came to communicating, was an amazing person.

He just wasn’t my amazing person.

“Naomi?”

“I have to go.”