“Just wait until we take down this wall tomorrow and open it up to the dining room. This is a large space.”
Her smile grows. “I can’t wait.”
Ricky looks between us with a knowing gaze. I’ve done my best to hide my attraction to Camille from him, but he knows me too well.
He turns his attention to Camille and says, “We go to The Wine Room almost every Thursday for their tasting night. You should come out with us tonight and celebrate the reno kickoff. It’ll give you a chance to meet some of our other friends.”
She shakes her head. “I appreciate the offer, but I don’t want to crash your night.”
“Nonsense. Rachel will be there, and she’d love to have another woman to talk to since it's usually just a bunch of us guys.”
She shifts her gaze nervously between Ricky and me. “If you’re sure. I haven’t been out since moving. It’d be nice to go somewhere for a change. What time should I be there?”
Ricky turns to me with a devilish grin and pats my shoulder. “Adam can pick you up. Say around seven?”
“Oh, that’s not necessary. I’d hate for him to go out of his way for me. Just give me the address, and I can find it.”
Ricky’s still smiling as he answers Camille. “It’s not out of his way at all. He has to drive past your place to get there anyway. This way you won’t get lost. It's kinda hard to find if you’ve never been there before.”
“It’s not in town?” she asks.
“Nope. It's about four miles west of your place. Off a windy road that’s easy to miss.”
Camille looks at me with a worried look on her face. “Are you sure you don’t mind? I'm sure I can find it.”
I run my fingers through my hair and smile. “It’s no problem. Your house really is on the way for me.”
Her eyes light up, and her smile sends a jolt straight through me. I’m glad Ricky isn’t looking at me right now, or I’d never hear the end of this. When she looks at me like this, I can’t hide how it makes me feel.
“Well, in that case, I’ll see you at seven.” She smiles, and her final words are music to my ears.
CHAPTER 10
CAMILLE
My excitement level shoots through the roof when Ricky invites me to join them tonight at The Wine Room. I need a night out. My life is filled with home renovations and writer’s block. A relaxing night out will do me some good.
I’ve heard some locals, mostly Adam’s mother, Rosie, talk about The Wine Room, and it comes highly recommended. Run by a local family, it’s one of the few vineyards in this area. I love a good red wine, but I can’t recall ever having a wine from Montana. I didn’t even know grapes could be grown in Montana. But when wine is involved, I’m happy to be proven wrong.
I saw Rosie earlier when I ran into town to get groceries and a few other supplies. I have a hard time picturing her as Adam’s mom. She’s the opposite from Adam in almost every way. Plus, she looks too young. Maybe all the cold, long winters slow aging.
Where Adam is tall and broad, she’s short and petite. Adam has dark hair and tanned skin where Rosie has dark red hair and fair skin. The only feature they share are their green eyes. They’re the same bright green color that has a way of looking too deep beyond the surface.
Rosie is sweet, if not a bit of nosy. She’s asked me a million questions about my past and what brought me to Watercress Falls. I try to dodge most of them, but she makes it hard. I did admit I’m a widow, but that’s all the information I provided her. When she started asking me about kids, I shut down and made up some crazy excuse for why I needed to go. If she noticed my anxiety over the question, she didn’t let on.
I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to talk about Alex. There are no words to describe how losing a child feels. It’s all-consuming and dark and empty.
But at some point, I’m going to have to tell Adam. Our relationship has progressed too far for me to keep this from him.
This week has been hard. Every time I see Adam, all I can think about is that kiss. His strong, gentle arms wrapped around me, and his soft, sweet lips pressed against mine. It was an intense kiss that left me breathless. Adam has a tenderness to him that I didn’t expect. He kissed me with caution at first, but once I let him in, his passion took over. I imagine him as a dominating sex partner who has no problem taking control in the bedroom, demanding things from my body like no man ever has.
The idea of sex with Adam both terrifies me and excites me at the same time. I don’t know how to process these feelings. Instead of dealing with it, I pretended nothing happened between us. I don’t know what else to do. I’m still grieving my loss, and I haven’t let myself move past it.
Hell, I had to move across the country to get away from the memories and all the people in my life that wanted to constantly remind me of what I’ve lost. No matter how many times I tell my mother I don’t want to talk about Mark or Alex, she never listens. Every time I talk to her, she brings one or both of them up like more talking will make all the pain go away. It doesn’t. It’s insensitive and unnecessary.
She doesn’t understand my pain. I don’t expect her to, and that’s okay. I don’t think anyone can understand the pain of losing a child unless it happens to them.
I’m dealing with it as best I can. I moved to Watercress Falls for a second chance at life. I have no idea what that will look like. All I know is it’s far away from Georgia.
