Laughing, Ben nodded.“You have no idea.But the two of us are really the most calm.Jack and Brooksie are completely crazy.Liam and Madison are somewhere in between.I love all of them like brothers.Thanks again for going with me tonight.”
“You are welcome.I had a great time.”
Ben pulled Ella in for one final kiss before guiding her back onto the street, then he walked her the rest of the way home.
Chapter 4
Napa, California
The next morning, Ben texted Ella to let her know that Madison’s date, Hailey, would pick her up at 9:30.Hailey was also a tourist in town for the holiday weekend, one of the girls the guys had met at the Karma Lounge.Ella’s life felt surreal.She was going to ride in a car with a girl she did not know at all to a wedding of a couple she had known for one day.Luckily, Sophie had great taste in clothes.Even though Sophie was two sizes larger than Ella, she wore her clothes much tighter and shorter than Ella did, so the borrowed dress fit Ella decently without being too big or long.
That morning, Ella attended early church with her family as usual.Instead of helping at the diner after church, as she would typically have done, she asked her cousin Marko to fill in for her because Sophie and Maria were already working.By 9:30, Ella was dressed and ready when Hailey pulled into her driveway.The car was already full of other women, and Ella surmised that evidently, since Hailey had a car, she had been tasked with driving all the plus ones to the wedding.The girls in the car introduced themselves and made small talk as they drove the short distance to the wedding venue winery.
Ella had never been to that winery, but she had heard great things about it.Once there, ushers Madison and Liam greeted the girls and gave their dates quick kisses.Ella looked around, but she did not see Ben.
“He’s still inside helping Davy get ready,” Madison anticipated her question.
At 11:00 on the nose, the ushers began walking the bride and groom’s grandmothers down the aisle followed by their mothers.Then, Davy, Ben, Jack, and Brooksie walked to the front and took their places, followed by Madison and Liam.Next a train of gorgeous bridesmaids made their way down the aisle, followed by Mia and her dad.Mia looked incredible, dressed in a white lace dress and a short fluffy veil.The ceremony took about twenty minutes, the shortest wedding ceremony that Ella had ever seen.
All the weddings she had attended had been big, Catholic masses that lasted for an hour or more.This wedding was much sweeter and more intimate.The ones she had witnessed were more like church services.Until that moment, Ella had honestly never thought about what kind of wedding she might someday want.
On the other hand, Sophie had practically planned her entire wedding.After seeing this one, Ella thought whenever she married, she would prefer something simple like this to a traditional church mass.Of course, her parents, especially her grandmother, would probably have a fit.Because she would not be getting married any time soon, Ella pushed all thoughts of her own wedding aside.Instead, she focused on how unbelievably handsome Ben looked in his navy suit.
Ella liked how everyone in the bridal party matched in navy and cream.The decorations were minimal because the wedding was held outside in one of the winery’s fields.Only about fifty guests had been invited.After the wedding, a large wedding lunch was held, followed by dancing.All the wedding pictures had been taken before the wedding so that everyone could enjoy a nice easy reception all afternoon.
Ben spotted Ella the minute he walked out behind Davy for the ceremony.His eyes lit up when he saw her sitting in the back next to the other plus ones.She looked gorgeous in her rust-colored dress.Her hair was down and blowing softly in the wind.He thought she was the most beautiful girl there.He knew he was supposed to think that Mia was, but really, it was no contest.
Ben did not know what it was about Ella that had him all wrapped up.He was falling harder and faster than he had ever fallen for any girl.Of course, she was stunningly beautiful, smart, and fun.All that went without saying, but it was something more.When he was with her, he felt like he had come home.How was that even possible after only a few days?They had done little more than kiss.Mentally turning his mind off Ella, Ben forced himself to focus on the ceremony and celebrating Davy and Mia, promising himself that after the ceremony, his full attention would be on Ella.
After the wedding, Ben escorted Ella to their assigned table with the other groomsmen and their dates.Unable to resist one more minute, Ben reached over and took her lips in a deep embrace.The kiss did not last as long as he would have liked because he knew making out at his friend’s wedding reception was a no-go.It would be disrespectful to Davy and Mia and their families, and it would also cheapen Ella.She was already too precious to him to do anything that would harm her.Instead, he cut it short, but the way his eyes looked at her promised more was to come later.
Ella and Ben enjoyed their wedding feast of salmon with salad served with cold, crisp wine.Ella enjoyed the food and also the witty, quick banter at the table between Ben and his friends.It was clear that all Ben’s buddies knew each other well, and each gave as good as they got.
When the dancing started, Ben guided Ella to the dance floor where they slowly danced to every song.Even when an up-tempo song was played, they continued slowly swaying to the music.It was as if both sensed that their time together was going fast.That silent fact was like a shadow hanging over them.
Around 4:00, Davy and Mia changed into traveling clothes, and their guests gave them a warm send-off.After the happy couple left, Ben gathered up his things.He borrowed Brooksie’s car again to take Ella back to town.It only took a few minutes to load up, and they were headed back.
As they drove, Ben held Ella’s hand the whole time.They were about halfway back to Napa when Ben asked, “Do you know of someplace we could go to be alone?”
Blushing deeply, Ella gave him directions to an abandoned barn on the back side of the Henley Winery’s fields.
Driving up to the old wooden structure, Ben asked, “How do you know about this place?”
“I have seen it several times over the years as I gave tours for the winery.Also, I did several of my soil research projects here.Some of the richest, oldest vines are actually in these fields.”
“Why have they never torn this old barn down?”wondered Ben aloud as they drove behind the rickety old structure.
“It is the last remaining part of the original Henley family homestead.The vines have been here for over a hundred and fifty years.I think the family has kept the barn as a testament to all their ancestors endured to start the business and keep it thriving all these years.”
“Hmm,” replied Ben, not saying anything else, but contemplating her answer.Seeming to throw off thoughts about the barn as easily as he discarded his wedding suit before he had left the wedding venue, Ben said, “Let’s get out and talk.”
Both got out of the car, and Ben reached into the backseat and retrieved the blanket they had used two nights before.Ella did not ask why Ben had brought the blanket, but it gave her tingles to realize he had been planning ahead for time for them to be alone.
Ben spread out the blanket on the grass, and he and Ella sat down next to each other.Ben ran his hand up and down Ella’s back.She was surprised that he made no move to kiss her.After a few minutes of sitting quietly, enjoying the beauty and peacefulness of the vineyard, Ben lay back and closed his eyes.He was exhausted, having been up since before 6:00 helping getting ready for the wedding.With his arm thrown over his closed eyes, he sighed and said, “Wow, I am so tired.It has been a day—a good day, but a day.”
“Yeah, it was a beautiful wedding.Thank you for letting me be a part of it.”
“Thank you for coming,” replied Ben, sitting up.Reaching over to run his thumb down the side of Ella’s cheek, he added, “You looked stunning today.It was all I could do not to run down the aisle, grab you, and kiss you when I first saw you.”Leaning over, he began nibbling on her lips, slowly increasing the pressure.It only took a moment before they were kissing more passionately than they ever had as their tongues fought each other for control.
