“I think she’s in the tasting room now, but she walked right into the kitchen a little bit ago.”
I rolled my eyes. “Tall blonde?”
“Yeah. I told her she couldn’t wait back here.” He grinned. “Sent her Ellie’s way.”
“Sorry about that. I’ll deal with her.” I checked the clock. “Should only take a few minutes.”
“Go ahead.”
Annoyed, I hurried through the empty restaurant, across the lobby, and down the steps to the winery. Inside the tasting room, I spotted Mimi at the near end of the bar checking her phone. Her back was to me, but I’d recognize that sleek golden blowout anywhere. Frowning, I touched my new bangs.
“Hey,” I said, approaching her from behind. “You’re looking for me?”
She turned on her stool and gave me a fake smile. “There you are.”
I held out my arms. “Here I am.”
She studied me critically. “Did you get your bangs cut again? You really should fire that stylist.”
“What do you want, Mimi? I have to get to work.”
“You know,” she said, folding her arms. “I was wondering why you’d still work as a cook since getting engaged to a billionaire.”
“I like my job,” I said stiffly.
She laughed. “That’s good, because now that I know the whole thing was a scam and you’re not really engaged to a billionaire at all, you’ll probably be working it for a while.”
EIGHTEEN
HUTTON
“So how’s it going?” my sister asked as she cleaned up the post-breakfast kitchen mess. “I haven’t even seen you since you got back from New York. You ignore me now that you have a fiancée.”
“Sorry.” I was sitting at her kitchen table watching the kids play in the yard through the window.
“Looks like you guys had fun. I saw some pictures.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “We had fun. Despite the people who felt it necessary to intrude on our privacy and take photos.”
“The ones I saw were good.” She collected some more dirty plates from the table. “I mean, you knew people were going to be interested. The love lives of celebrities sell.”
“But it’s fucking annoying. I don’t want to be a celebrity. And Felicity didn’t ask for that kind of attention.”
Allie shrugged. “No, but it sort of comes with the territory. She knows who you are.”
She did. She knew me better than anyone. Why was I mad at her for it?
“Quite a ring you gave her.”
“Yeah.”
“Have you guys settled on a date yet?”
“No.”
She wiped off the table with a sponge. Then she stood there with her hands on her hips. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I clenched my jaw a little tighter.
“Is it the hearing?”
“That’s a lot of it.”
“So what’s the rest of it?”
I averted my gaze out the window again. The kids were drawing with sidewalk chalk on the cement in front of the garage.
“You know I’ll get it out of you.”
“Maybe I’m dreading that stupid engagement party.”
“Hutton! You’re not supposed to know about that.”
“Too late.”
“Who told you?”
“Felicity. She heard it from her sister that works at Abelard, because unlike my family, her family knows how much I hate parties and gave us a warning.”
Allie tossed the sponge in the sink and sat down at the table, flashing her palms at me like she was innocent. “It was not my idea, okay? But Mom consulted some crazy celestial calendar that said to throw a party on that date. When she found out it was available, she took it as a sign from the stars.”
“Of course she did.”
“Is that really what’s bothering you?”
I exhaled, wishing I was outside drawing with chalk instead of in here under the microscope. “There’s just a constant loop of negative shit running through my brain, okay?”
“They’re just thoughts. You don’t have to give them power.”
“Don’t go therapist on me. I don’t fucking need it right now.”
“Okay, okay.” Her tone softened and she sat back. “I just want to help.”
I dug in deeper. “You can’t help.”
“All right. Then I’ll just say I’m really proud of you for having the guts to finally admit your feelings for Felicity and asking her to marry you. I know how hard that must have been. And I think you made the perfect choice. She’s really amazing.”