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Celia leaned into my side. “Yeah, that escalated quickly.”
It was horrible timing, but I decided to ask anyway because all the shit that went down had made it clear to me that I wanted to keep Celia close. “As long as things are moving fast around here…want to move in?”
“To your house?” she sputtered, eyes going wide. “Is this a serious question? Or a knee-jerk reaction to a super crappy day?”
“How is today crappy at all?” Megan asked. “Everyone who deserved comeuppance just got it.”
Celia tipped her head toward me. “Do I really need to remind you that Julian’s daughter was just arrested?”
“Oh yeah, right.” She leaned around Celia and winked at me. “But I’m pretty sure you can turn his day around by agreeing to move in with him.”
Those best friend brownie points she mentioned earlier paid off right away because Celia turned to me and murmured, “Going along with the theme of everyone getting what they deserve today…yes, I’ll move in with you.”
EPILOGUE
CELIA
Julian kept one hand on the wheel and the other on my thigh while the hills rolled past the windows. I had my phone open to the calendar and was laughing as I deleted meetings that Megan had tried to add. “Oh my gosh, she literally put ‘drink a glass of wine’ on here ten times.”
“We’re touring five vineyards in seven days,” Julian pointed out. “Ten might be on the low side.”
“Ten a day,” I clarified as I jabbed my finger against the screen.
“Only if you’re spitting while you’re tasting.”
I shifted in my seat to grin at him. “You know I’m not a spitter, honey.”
His deep laughter filled the car, and I leaned back in my seat to enjoy the rest of the drive. This was the first vacation we’d taken together, but we’d been living together for six months, so we already spent all of our time together. But it still never seemed like enough.
I reached over and covered his hand where it rested on my leg. He turned his palm up and threaded our fingers together. We stayed like that as we wound our way through wine country.
The entrance to my least favorite winery in the world came up on the right.
“Oh my gosh, Harrison’s parents don’t own the vineyard anymore.”
Julian’s foot eased off the gas so I could take the new sign in. The old stone pillars were still there, but the gate had been painted, and the family crest was gone. A new name had replaced it.
I watched the sign slide past the window. “Did you know?”
“I might’ve heard some things.” He squeezed my hand. “And chose this route so you could see for yourself.”
He brought the car back up to speed and kept driving while I twisted around to look one more time with a soft laugh. “You always give me the very best gifts.”
His thumb brushed over my knuckles. “I didn’t buy the winery, baby.”
“Ugh, no.” I shivered. “Don’t even joke about that. The place holds too many bad memories for me.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll like the other surprise I have in store for you.”
I rubbed my hands together. “Will you tell me if I guess?”
“Nope.”
“Aw, c’mon,” I complained. “That’s no fun. You’ve got to give me a fighting chance to figure it out at least.”
He shook his head. “This time, the surprise is going to stay a surprise, unlike your Christmas presents.”
“It’s not my fault I stumbled across them while cleaning.” I pasted on my most innocent expression. “Even if I had to climb a ladder to reach that shelf in your home office closet.”
