"The day I do will be a day too soon."
"Good riddance, I say."
Good fucking riddance, indeed.
fourteen
Cassandra
"Hello?" I answer myphone on the third ring after frantically searching my purse for it. I’m heading out the door after my first successful week at Wingrove Estates.
I’ve completed the final touches on the stall at the Grangewood Creek Carnival and am really looking forward to experiencing my first one since I was a teenager.
Work has been quieter than what I’m used to, though. I’m used to planning everything from the venue to the caterers, florists, photographers, and celebrants. I’ve even had to arrange for fake groomsmen in the past.
But here at Wingrove Estates, I need to do less than half of that.
I welcomed the change of pace, though, and it feels like a breath of fresh air. Something I so desperately needed.
"Hey, Herring," Harley’s deep voice drawls through the phone, and I can’t help but smile as I hop into my mom’s car. I haven’tseen him since the diner because he’s been working out of town on one of his other projects, so he hasn’t been at the winery at all.
"I’m going to text you an address. Meet me there on your way home from work," he says, and I agree before the call ends.
Pulling into the parking lot of an apartment building, it looks like something out of an architectural magazine, and completely out of place here in Grangewood, but in a good way.
"Where are we?" I call through my open passenger window as I see Harley step out of his Range Rover, approaching my now-parked car.
"Well, hopefully, your new place." He smiles at me as he opens my door for me, holding his hand out for me to take, and I do.
More eagerly than I expected to, but I shake it off and step out of the car, my hand still clutched in his.
"The current owners are clients of mine. They want to sell it at a cheap price and want it gone as soon as possible," he responds as he closes my car door gently, bringing me in for a hug hello.
Sandalwood and vanilla.
He’s dressed a lot less business and a lot more casual today. Sporting a black, backward baseball cap, replaced his slacks and button-up with dark blue jeans, and a gray t-shirt that hugs his biceps and chest in a way that I force myself to appreciate from afar.
"If you want it, you could be in it as early as next week," he says, leading us toward the foyer, where an elevator door is already open, waiting for us to ride up.
Pushing the button for the twelfth floor, we spend our journey up in silence, the air cracking around us, elevator music muffled somewhere in the clouds, nowhere to be heard.
My stomach has been swarming with those damn butterflies since I left work. I can almost feel his body warmth radiating from beside me.
His hands hang by his sides, so close to mine, but he reaches for the keys in his pocket before our fingers can touch, and we’ve reached our destination, leaving a feeling of emptiness slicing through me.
Pull yourself together, Cassandra.
"What do you think?" He beams, pushing the double doors open to my potential new home, giving me full access to view the wide-open space.
The apartment is enormous, almost twice the size of my old space in California, and my first thought automatically goes to how much of a pain it would be to keep it clean.
"How many bedrooms does this place have?" I ask. My mouth is hanging wide open, my eyes popping out of my head. I’ve never seen a place like this before, and I’ve only seen the hallway so far.
"Four," he pauses but quickly continues so I can’t interject. “You could have a spare room for your friends. Or for your sisters when you need a girls’ night. You could even use the space for a home office, if you wanted one.” He smiles and I have to look away before I melt into a puddle and damage the hardwood floors.
Harley has taken into consideration all things I never would have dreamed about, but this place is still too big for me. Not to mention, probably way out of my budget.
"Before you make your decision, at least see the whole place first," he insists, sensing my hesitation. Gesturing me down the hallway, he leads me to the rest of the house.
