“Talk?” A tiny ripple of hope surged through her.
“Yeah, I promised Sophie I would—”
“So, is this about Sophie? Or you?” She felt uneasy being so bold, but she needed to know his motives. If he was just reaching out for Sophie’s sake ... well, that was nice, but it didn’t make her want to risk more pain. A heart could only take so much.
There was another long pause. “To be honest, Sophie did hold my feet to the fire over this, but she’s not the only reason I wantto talk. Truth is, I’d like to hear the rest of your story. Your letter said if I was willing to listen...”
“Right.” She told him where she was, and he said to expect him in the next two minutes. She blinked. “Two minutes?”
“Yeah. I’m just down the street.”
“Oh, well, okay. I’ll meet you outside of the inn.”
He was there in less than two minutes and, since a young couple was already occupying the front porch, he suggested a ride in his Jeep. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be “trapped” with him, but there didn’t seem to be much choice. At least he didn’t try to get her to spill out the “rest of her story” immediately. She knew it would take a few minutes to gather her thoughts and calm her pounding heart.
“Where were you planning on going after your stay at the B and B?” he asked as he leisurely cruised through town.
She explained about her camping friends, and how Jan and Mike planned to pick her up this evening. “They’ve been camping at Yosemite. I was supposed to camp there with them, but ... well, our plans took an unexpected detour ... for me, anyway.”
“Because you came to work for us? By the way, Sophie explained that all to me. She assumed you were there for an interview. And she claims she sort of twisted your arm to accept the job.”
“She was very friendly and encouraging. To be fair, Jan and Mike were a bit pushy too. But I’m the one who agreed. I take the blame for that.”
“Sophie told me a little about your past too. I was real sorry to hear about your parents, Brynna. I’m sure that was hard on you. She also told me about your marriage to Dirk. She calls himDirk the jerk.”
Brynna couldn’t help but laugh. “That sounds about right.”
He glanced at her. “I’m sorry about that too.”
There was another long pause as he drove past a large vineyard and up a hill.
“I heard most of your story too,” she confessed, breaking thesilence. “I know how you lost your dad and quit college in order to run the vineyard. I know you, like me, got married fairly young. And then you lost your wife. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, we’ve both had our losses.”
He turned into a pull-out vista area and shut off his engine. “I like this view. You can see about seven different vineyards from here if you know where to look.”
She gazed out over the rolling green hills. “It’s beautiful.” She sighed. “The beauty of Sorrentino’s was one of the big reasons I took the job. It is such a comforting place. And that darling guest cottage ... and Sophie and her sweet family. It was all perfectly charming. I think I was charmed.”
“So, maybe I flattered myself imagining it had something to do with me.” He laughed, but it sounded a bit hollow.
“Oh, it had something to do with you originally. I can’t deny that.” She told him about camping at the same campground where they’d first met. “I was flooded with memories, and I told Jan and Mike about it, and they decided that we should look you up.” She explained about not recalling his last name. “So Jan and Mike invented this game calledLooking for Leroy. They kept taking me to vineyards, hoping to find you. I played along, never dreaming we really would locate you. Do you know how many vineyards there are in Sonoma?”
“A lot.”
“So when we found Sorrentino’s and I bumped into Sophie and she offered me the job, Mike was convinced it was a God thing. I told Sophie I’d think about it but never intended to accept. Then Jan and Mike really pressured me. Maybe they just wanted to be rid of me. I suspect they have a budding romance going on.”
He laughed again, but this time it sounded a little more genuine. “So you went looking for Leroy, but when you found him”—he turned to look at her—“instead of meeting him face-to-face, you avoided him altogether?”
“Do you often refer to yourself in third person?” She wanted tosound lighthearted as she returned his gaze—but only to cover her racing heart. She’d forgotten those kind eyes that seemed to see deep inside of her. And was it her imagination or had he gotten even better looking the past thirty years? With his shaggy brown hair and tanned face, he was truly ruggedly handsome. She swallowed hard, trying to remember what they were talking about.
“So why were you hiding out from me, Brynna?”
“I wasn’t exactly hiding,” she said. “In fact, when I really wanted to cross paths, you never seemed to be around. A couple of days ago, I looked everywhere, but couldn’t find you.”
“So the Looking for Leroy game continued?” His brown eyes twinkled.
“I guess so. But a lot of the time, I was intimidated at the idea of bumping into you. I probably did want to avoid it. Or at least postpone it. I had fun getting to know Sophie and Garth and the kids. I loved my work and the vineyard, and I didn’t want it to end. I was afraid that meeting you could ruin everything. Plus, you had all your guests, a houseful of women. Seemed to me you had your hands full.”
