Page 44 of One Sweet Day is Never Enough

Twelve

Saturday morning arrived and Seth walked through the vineyard, checking the fruit’s progress. The grass was still wet with dew, and the grapes were doing well. He flipped open the lid on his coffee mug and took a sip, then set it on the ground. He pulled a pair of pruning shears from his back pocket and clipped a young shoot from the vine. Summer pruning kept the vines healthier as they approached the fall harvest season. At least his vineyard was doing well.

But talk about botching things in his personal life. He’d tried to open up and be honest with Gia last night, and she’d run away, more or less. He’d thought she’d have been happy to hear he was no longer involved with someone. If she had, he would’ve told her how he’d been having feelings for her beyond that of a friendship, but she’d behaved so strangely, it hadn’t felt like the right thing to do.

Honestly, what had even happened? He still wasn’t sure. Did she not have a mutual interest in him? He’d thought for sure he’d read all the signs right—that she felt it between them, too. And her friend, Tom, however aggressively, had even told him as much.

She must’ve assumed exactly what he’d been trying to prevent her from thinking: that he was a cheater who’d been going behind his girlfriend’s back to spend time with her. Tom had probably been feeding her that kind of message all night. He probably had also told her by now that they’d talked. So Gia had probably assumed Seth wouldn’t have told Gia about Stacey if Tom hadn’t pressured him into it.

But that wasn’t it at all. What a mess.

Seth clipped off another small section of the vine.

He’d hightailed it out of there after he and Gia had talked, confused, embarrassed. What had all of those people thought of him when he’d emerged from the darkness alone after Gia had rushed out ahead of him? They’d probably thought the worst. And what had she told them after he’d left?

So much for making a few new friends around here. Oh well, he could handle the humiliation. He hadn’t done anything wrong, after all—other than screw up his friendship and his chances with the woman he’d truly begun to care about.

He’d totally fumbled the ball with her.

He stared off into the orchard, thinking.

Things were going to be awkward between them now, weren’t they? And just as soon as his chance with her had come along, it had gone. Just like that.

He glanced away from the orchard at the gray skies overhead. What was he supposed to do now?

This was going to affect their working relationship, but they both had too much on the line for that. They’d have to find a way to work things out, even if she had no feelings for him, after all.

He shook his head.

Stacey had called him late last night, too, after he’d gotten back from the bonfire. She wanted to rehash the whole breakup thing, but he’d been clear that nothing had changed.

He’d apologized again and consoled her. When was she going to accept it and start moving on? He wanted to leave their relationship in the past so he could move on, himself.

An image of Gia flashed across his mind, standing there in the moonlight last night. So lovely, so caring.Shewas supposed to be a part of his future.

Aw, heck. So what—about the working relationship. Not even twenty-four hours had passed since he’d talked to her and he missed her already. He didn’t want to lose her. He shoved the pruning shears back inside his pocket and marched back to the warehouse.

* * *

Gia sat on her couch,staring into space. She’d helped Jackie with another wedding today. Noreen had her on the schedule to help with weddings on most Saturdays this summer, and Gia knew it was for the best—she needed all the practice she could get. But once the cake had been cut, Jackie had sent her home. The rest of the evening would be easy. She hadn’t needed Gia to stay.

Fortunately, the day had been busy enough that Gia hadn’t been able to dwell on last night. She’d left shortly after Seth had, not wanting to talk about it even with the girls. But now, her thoughts swirled.

How had she misinterpreted things with Seth so badly? And how was she going to look at him from now on and pretend she hadn’t been falling for him?

She drew in a heavy breath and looked up as her phone buzzed.

Tom’s name flashed across the screen. She picked the phone up from the coffee table. “Hey, Tom,” she said, trying to disguise the dismay in her voice. “How’s it going?”

“It’s going,” he said matter-of-factly. “So what happened last night? Are you upset?”

She sighed. “I am. A little.”

“I saw him leave.”

She huffed softly. “I know.”

“So let’s hear it. What’d he say?”

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