Captivated by Steph, page 9
His eyes still narrowed, he said, “She knows.”
“Go take care of the gift shop. I’m tired.” Clearly, Blake could only stay awake for so long before his filter quit working.
It was obvious how much of a sacrifice he was making to help me.
“I’ll just be two minutes.” I flashed a smile, then opened the door. “Laurie, hi. Thank you so much for coming in.”
“No problem. With the kids in school, I have lots of time.”
“Need anything? I’ll be busy and away from my phone for a few hours, so I wanted to check in.”
“Everything is just spiffy. Go do what you need to do.”
“Thank you.” I walked out, eager to rest my head on my soft pillow.
Blake fell into step beside me and didn’t say a word until we were a few yards from my porch. “I made sure your brother knew what I meant. I didn’t want him thinking that . . . you know.”
“Thanks. I don’t even know why he showed up at the gift shop.”
Blake pushed open the front door. “He told me not to worry about the expansion until everything was picked because a few days won’t cause a problem. And I texted Matthew to be sure it wouldn’t cause trouble with the schedule.”
“I hate being needy and inconveniencing other people.” Those were words I would’ve never said had sleep not loosened my tongue.
Blake turned and marched toward me, and I backed up until there was no more room behind me.
He placed a hand on the wall one each side of me and leaned in close. “Now who’s being delirious?” His gaze dropped to my mouth, then snapped up so quickly I doubted what I’d just seen. “We’re helping you. We want to help you. Let us.”
I nodded like a scolded child. “Okay.”
“Do I need to tuck you in, or can you make it to bed without my help?” He still had me caged in.
“With you like this, I can’t go anywhere.” I pressed on his chest. “Go to bed. And I promise to do the same. See you in a few hours.”
He inched backward. “I’ll be up in six hours, and if I hear you up before that, I’ll . . .”
“You’ll what?”
“Not sure, but I’ll think of something. And you won’t like it. Maybe.” He kicked off his boots. “But please, Steph, get some rest.”
“I will.” I pulled off my boots, set them next to his, and then padded down the hall to my room.
Blake didn’t move until I made it to the door. Then he made a shooing motion with his hand. “Go on in.”
“You’re bossy.”
He smirked. “Sweet dreams.”
I stepped into my room but didn’t close the door. After a few moments, I leaned out and watched as he walked toward his room.
He waved over his shoulder without turning around. “Go to bed, dear.”
How did he even know I was looking?
I sat up in bed, trying to remember what day it was. When my head cleared, I turned off my alarm. I’d managed to sleep more than five and a half hours. That was enough. If I stayed quiet, I could have lunch ready for Blake when he woke up.
Scrubbing my face, I tiptoed into the kitchen. The table was set, and Blake was at the stove.
“You said you were going to sleep six hours.”
“I lied. Have a seat. Lunch will be ready in a few minutes.” I eased up behind him and rested my forehead on his back. I’d never do this with anyone else, but with Blake, being close felt natural. And our deepening friendship made me comfortable sharing moments like this with him. “Thank you for all this. I’ll pay you back. Somehow.”
He stilled and didn’t even breathe for almost a full minute.
I pulled back. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to crowd your space.”
“You didn’t.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Don’t worry about paying me back.”
“I knew you’d say that.” I shifted and leaned on the counter beside him. “Just so you know, I didn’t set an alarm.”
“That makes one of us.” He turned off the burner. “Sausage and peppers over rice. I hope that’s okay. There wasn’t much to choose from in the fridge.”
“Yeah. I never made it to the store. After we eat, I’ll make a run.”
He brushed a finger down my arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps. “We’ll make a run. Together.”
If we weren’t both so completely exhausted, I would’ve interpreted his actions as flirting, but this was Blake, and I knew better than to think that.
“That sounds good.” I picked up plates off the table. “Company would be nice.”
He served food. Then we settled at the table.
“Think we should call Zach and tell him about what you overheard?” I opened my to-do list, ready to add to it. “Oh, crap.”
“What?” His fork hovered in midair. “What’s wrong?”
“I have to find someone to cover the gift shop. Laurie can’t work the rest of the week. Has a trip planned or something.” I dropped my head into my hands. “Who can I get on short notice?”
“Should be easy. You just need to find someone spontaneous, who doesn’t already have a job. Having people skills would be a plus. Know anyone like that?”
“I could kiss you. Yes. I know just the person. Fingers crossed that she doesn’t have other plans.” I dialed Tandy’s number.
She answered on the second ring. “Howdy.”
“Hi. This is Steph. I have a huge favor to ask.”
“Ask away.”
“I need someone to work my gift shop the rest of this week. Inga is out of town, and my backup person is going on vacation.”
“Hmmm. At the winery?”
“Yes. I can easily show you what it entails. And I’ll pay you, of course.”
Tandy hesitated. “Is the gift shop near the restaurant?”
“Not really. Why?” I was too tired to figure out the reason for her random question.
“No reason. And yes, I can help out at the gift shop. When do you need me?”
“Can you meet me there tomorrow morning at eight thirty?”
“I’ll see you then. Toodles.” The call ended.
I pushed my phone to the side. “She wanted to know if the gift shop was near the restaurant.”
Blake laughed. “I’ll wager twenty bucks that Matthew is the reason.”
“Oh. That makes sense. She huffed when she realized he played with the band.”
Blake finished his last bite. “Maybe they’re secretly in love and hiding it from everyone.”
“I doubt it. I’ve never seen them speak to each other.”
He shrugged. “Only time will tell.”
In the produce section of the grocery store, Blake held up two melons, one in each hand. Mischief twinkled in his blue eyes. “These look good, don’t you think?”
Feeling my cheeks heat, I walked away, pushing the cart.
Laughing, he caught up to me. “No, seriously. Should I get them?”
“Sure. And maybe if I remember, I’ll grab some vanilla ice cream to eat with it.”
He dropped them into the cart. “That’s a great way to make a healthy snack taste better.”
“If you’re going to make fun of what I like to eat, you can wait in the truck.”
“This is way more fun.” He motioned toward the other side of the store. “I’m going to grab some snacks. I’ll find you in a few minutes.”
“Please stay out of trouble.”
He winked. “No promises.”
I walked the aisles, getting what we needed for the next several days. I also grabbed a few quick meals since we’d be spending so much time harvesting.
Hopefully, Joe would be back soon to handle the next fields that needed harvesting. The men he’d hired for picking would be at the winery next week. Things went much more smoothly when Joe handled that.
I reached up to grab a box off a high shelf, and someone poked me in the side. The box toppled as I spun around. “Blake Dalton!”
He snagged the box before it hit the ground and dropped it in the cart. “What? I wouldn’t have done that if you were reaching for a jar. Besides, I caught it.” Leaning in close, he whispered, “And maybe I’m wrong, but I think you might be ticklish.”
“You know I am. So please stop.”
He bumped my shoulder. “I’ll stop. I’m sorry.”
“You did not get enough sleep. You’re loopy.”
He grinned. “Something like that. What else do you need me to grab?”
“Only thing left to get is milk. Unless you’re running low on beer.”
“Nah, I still have several bottles in the fridge. Don’t need any more right now.”
He took over pushing the cart, and we made our way to the dairy section. It was nice shopping with someone again. Even if he was acting weird.
Chapter 15
Blake
Whenever I closed my eyes, I could feel Steph’s forehead resting against my back. That made sleep interesting. And my dreams entertaining.
I’d turned up the flirting, but she didn’t seem to notice. Or maybe she’d noticed and was pretending like she didn’t. But feigned ignorance wasn’t Steph’s style. Maybe after we’d finished picking, I’d say something. But what?
After putting away groceries, she left to tackle some work, and I wandered into the extra room and closed the door behind me. I grazed my fingers over Liam’s favorite saddle, then stared at the stack of boxes in the corner.
Using the wall as a backrest, I slid down and sat. “Sorry I was away so long. But I needed time to build up my defenses. I never meant to abandon her.” Confessing out loud felt cathartic. “After all this time, I thought my defenses were good and strong, but I don’t know. It’s easy to see why you loved her.”
Since I was running on so little sleep, I decided not to crack into the boxes. But I wasn’t ready to leave.
I missed my best friend, the one who I’d talked to whenever I had a problem and needed advice. The irony was, if he were here, there would be nothing to discuss.
“She’s done amazing things with the winery. And I’m helping as much as I can. Most importantly, she seems happy. I know that’s what you’d care about the most.”
Eyes closed, I leaned my head back against the wall, letting the silence engulf me, hoping I’d find clarity being near his prized possessions.
Repetitive thumping startled me, and I opened my eyes. The light had changed drastically. The silence had put me to sleep. So much for answers.
I scrambled to my feet and realized the thumping was a knock.
When I opened the door, Steph stepped back. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah. I planned to look through stuff but ended up falling asleep on the floor. Didn’t mean to. Let me change, and we can head out to the field.” I wanted to kick myself for delaying our start.
She clasped my arm. “Are you sure? If there’s something wrong, you can talk to me. You don’t have to ignore the grief because you think it might bother me.”
“I miss him, but that’s never going to change. I’ll never walk into a dance hall and not think about how he loved to dance. I’ll never fish and not laugh about how he never caught a thing. Ever. But I’m learning to be okay with that. And honestly, I just fell asleep. I’m okay.”
She gave my arm a squeeze before letting go. “For a while, every thought made me cry. Then I avoided anything that made me think of him because it hurt so much. Now I’m happy when I remember. And lots of little things remind me of him.”
I pulled her close and wrapped my arms around her. “Me too.” As much as I wanted to stay that way, the grapes needed to be picked. “Give me two minutes, and I’ll be ready to go.”
“I packed us some snacks.”
“And I’ll grab my portable speaker so that you don’t have to listen to me sing.”
She laughed. “You were pretty good last night.”
“Pretty good means there’s room for improvement.” I rushed to the bedroom, threw on my grubby jeans, and was back in the kitchen and ready to go in under two minutes.
Steph picked up a small cooler off the counter, then handed me a travel mug. “Coffee. I thought you might need it.”
“You’re the best, Steph. Not sure what I’d do without you.”
“Sleep like a normal person probably.” She dropped into the passenger seat of the mule.
Once we arrived at the field, we fell into a rhythm quickly, picking and stacking trays on the trailer. Country music rang out from the little speaker, but it did little to speed up time.
By first light, my hands ached as much as my feet. But I’d gotten faster, and there were only four rows left to pick. I dropped a stack into the pile and stretched as Steph carried her trays over.
“You have to meet with Tandy in about two hours. Why don’t we get these moved to the winery? Then you can take a shower before you meet up with her.”
Humor flashed in her eyes. “Are you saying I look bad or smell bad?”
“You look tired. And Tandy will say something if she notices. And I know what she’ll assume is keeping you up at night.” I pointed at myself. “But we’re trying to keep this harvest a secret, so are you going to play along with her assumptions?”
“Fine. I’ll shower and put on a fresh face. Makeup will do wonders.”
“Never said you needed makeup. Now you’re just putting words in my mouth.”
As I drove the mule toward the building where the wine-making magic happened, she rested her head on my shoulder. “We got a lot done last night. I think we’ll finish in time.”
“Hope so.” I unloaded the trays, then drove her back to the house.
Once the shower was running, I slipped out, picked up empty trays, and headed back to the field. I could get another row picked before it got too hot. Steph would either assume I’d gone to bed or be mad that I was here without her. I’d deal with that later. Right now, I had a goal.
After dropping off what I’d picked, I trudged into the house.
Steph sprang out of her chair. “I’ll warm food for you.”
“Go to bed. I can warm my own food.”
“Don’t tell me what to do.” She hummed as she served food onto a plate, then slid it into the microwave. “Tandy seemed more concerned about whether crews from the expansion came into the gift shop than she did about my obvious exhaustion. I think we’re in the clear and that she won’t be accidentally starting wild rumors about us.”
I sat at the table and scrubbed my face. “I recall you mentioning giving this town something to talk about.”
“You said that, and with your staying here, I think we are making people talk.” She set a plate in front of me. “Eat.”
I never got a hint that my staying here bothered her. “Steph, I can find somewhere else to stay. I don’t want—”
She pressed a finger to my lips. “If I want you to leave, I’ll say so. I like having you here. Now eat.”
I shoveled food into my mouth, as hungry as I was tired.
Steph sat in the chair next to me. “I talked to the investigator, Zach, this morning. He’ll meet us out there tonight.”
“Good. I figure if we get out there right when it starts to cool a bit, we can have those last three rows picked by maybe ten.”
“I agree. Then we have two hours to kill before the kids show up.”
“I need to make sure I have the megaphone and floodlight with me when we go out there.”
“Absolutely. Thanks for picking another row. I appreciate it.”
“Wasn’t sure if you’d be sore at me. My intentions were good.”
“I know.” She patted my hand. “You’re one of the most kindhearted people I know. And I’ll never be a replacement for Liam. When something was bothering you, he was the one you talked to. But I want you to know that I’m here and willing to listen. When I found you in that room earlier—I mean yesterday—it made me wonder if there was something bothering you.”
I flipped my hand over and grabbed hers. “When I’m ready to talk about it, I’ll come find you.”
Friendship was clearly the driving force behind her words, but she made me feel cared for. I stopped short of saying more because I wasn’t sure what would trigger the spring-loaded can of worms. We didn’t need that to open before the grapes were picked. Honestly, that can would do well to stay closed until after her big stomp event.
She had a business to run, and the last thing I wanted was to get in the way of that or be a distraction. And I had a restaurant expansion to build.
Chapter 16
Steph
Blake sang loudly as we worked our way down the final row. Neither of us had announced a competition, but it had become one. Because I kept looking over my shoulder to see his progress, he surged ahead, singing the whole time.
Laughing made the picking harder. He was purposefully singing the wrong lyrics and being more than a little funny. But I mustered my energy and hurriedly cleared the last two vines.
We both threw our arms in the air at the same time.
Blake dropped his clippers into a tray before picking me up and swinging me in a circle. “We did it.”
Exhausted and giddy, I hugged him. “Yeah. I wasn’t sure we’d finish in time, honestly.”
He stepped back, then pulled a leaf out of my hair. “Let’s get these into the hopper so we can get back out here.”
“Yeah.” We climbed into the mule and headed toward the main building. “I’d suggest that we go out to celebrate, but pickers are coming this week. I’m not sure if Joe will be back. And I have so much to do getting ready for the stomp.”
He nodded. “We’ll do it after. And make it bigger. Because the event is going to be amazing, which will be yet another reason to celebrate.”
“I think I was wrong about you not being a good cheerleader. You’re pretty convincing.”
“And you haven’t even seen my legs.” He winked.
I’d missed seeing Blake, missed his jokes and our fun banter. Having him around again made me happy, but things were different. I liked where we’d landed as friends, closer than we’d been before.
