She grabbed her phone to get an overpriced rideshare up the valley and saw a text from her brother.
ELLIOT
I’ll come get you as soon as Taylor gets here
“Bless you, Elliot,” she said out loud.
MARGOT
Thank you! I’ll be ready!
He was at her house thirty minutes later. When she climbed into his truck, he handed her a greasy white bag.
“I thought you could use a breakfast sandwich today.”
She almost hugged him, but she and Elliot had hugged more in the past week than in the past three years before that. Better not to push it.
“You’re a hero and a saint,” she said instead. “Do I have to write ‘breakfast sandwiches’ into that contract?”
Elliot nodded.
“Make mine with bacon.”
On the way to the winery, Elliot didn’t bring up anything they’d talked about the night before, and neither did she. Friday was another busy day at the winery, with lots of appointments and tours and phone calls. But all day, as she joked with Taylor and chatted with guests and sent endless emails, she thought about what Elliot had said. That she should tell Luke how she felt about him, before it was too late.
What if Luke didn’t feel the same way? She already felt silly, juvenile, for feeling such big feelings for Luke, caring this much about him, letting him become so central to her life, after only a month. Yes, sure, it had been two months since she’d met him, but they’d been together for only a month, and she’d let herself fall this hard? For someone who had told her, since the beginning, that he wouldn’t be around that long?
But she had to do something. She had to say something. She’d almost done it last night, when she’d gotten home, despite what Elliot had said about not texting Luke while she was drunk. But luckily for her, she’d fallen asleep with her phone in her hand.
What was she supposed to say? How was the interview? I miss you. How important am I to you on a scale of one to ten? Probably not those last two things.
She drove home that night after a long day at the winery, got out of her car, and walked straight to the Barrel. If she was going to do this, she needed some food first.
“Hey!” Sydney greeted her as soon as she sat down. “I was just going to text you, to tell you to come by after work, or that I could come by later, if you wanted.” She picked up a bottle of wine, but Margot shook her head.
“No wine for me tonight, only your best sparkling water.” She sighed. “I drank entirely too much wine last night and had to get rescued by my brother.”
Sydney’s eyebrows went up.
“By your brother?”
Margot laughed and nodded. She’d told Sydney that she and Elliot had talked through things after the party and that everything was a lot better between them, but Sydney was still clearly holding a grudge against Elliot. This was why she loved her.
“I know, it sounds impossible, but it’s true.” She took a sip of the sparkling water Sydney poured into her wineglass. “He also said . . . that I should talk to Luke.”
Sydney glared at her.
“He would say that. Men always stick together.”
Margot laughed again.
“It’s true. They do. But I don’t want . . . I really—”
Sydney’s face softened.
“I know. Just . . . be careful.”
Just then, someone at the front door called Sydney’s name.
“Be right back,” Sydney said. “Food’s on its way.”
Margot knew that Be right back had no real meaning on a busy Friday night, but that was okay. She already felt better, just being somewhere other than her house or the winery for the first time all week. It cleared her head, to not have to be Margot Noble, co-owner of Noble Family Vineyards, and just be Margot, sitting here at the corner of the bar. A tomato and mozzarella salad landed in front of her, and she took a few bites and smiled over at the kitchen. Then she took a deep breath and reached for her phone.
A server came up behind her, to drop off some bread. She turned, to let him set it in front of her, and then stopped.
Luke was standing there.
“Is this seat available?” he asked, gesturing at the chair next to her.
She was still hurt, and uncertain of him, and angry. But she was so happy to see him, standing right there, so close she could almost touch him, that she had to look away to keep the tears from coming to her eyes.
“I can’t believe you showed up here,” Sydney said.
Sydney glared at Luke from behind the bar. Luke didn’t move. He looked at Margot.