“Hey, babe,” he answered.

“Hi—how are you?” Maddy said.

“Great.”

There was a moment’s pause and then Maddy said,

“What are you up to?”

“Nothing—just hanging out on the couch, watching the Giants. Chad’s coming by—I think we might go over to Morgan’s in a while. She’s having some people over to hang out in her hot tub.” He didn’t sound angry.

“That’ll be fun,” Maddy said automatically. “Um, Brian?”

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“Yeah?”

“So, you aren’t still mad?” she asked carefully.

“About what?”

Maddy couldn’t believe it. “You know, the last couple times we talked? And—” She didn’t really want to remind him of the whole David incident if he barely remembered.

“Oh, whatever. I’d completely forgotten about that. It’s no big deal,” Brian said. Maddy could hear the roar of the television in the background. “Yes! Touchdown!”

Brian yelled.

Maddy fell on her back and stared at the ceiling. Incredible. Here she was, obsessing for days, worrying he was mad at her, going over everything in her head a thousand times, and he wasn’t even thinking about it!

That was so typical.

Oblivious to Maddy’s inner turmoil, Brian went on.

“So, did you ask your parents about coming down for your birthday?”

Okay, apparently we’re moving on. “I did,” she replied,

“and we had the worst fight. I was so mad—they actually wanted to take me to dinner and a movie with just them instead of letting me drive to see you.”

“That’s typical of them,” Brian offered. “They’re so lame.”

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it seemed different when he did it. “Well, it turned out okay, actually. They said today that you could come up to the vineyard for my birthday instead!”

“Cool.”

Maddy waited for a moment, but he didn’t go on.

“Cool? That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say?”

“Yeah, well, it’ll be great to see you, but obviously it’s hard to get all worked up about a two-hour drive, followed by hanging out on a farm.”

“Well, I think it could be fun,” Maddy said quietly.

“Yeah, maybe. Anyway, what are you doing up there in No Man’s Land?”

“Oh, we had a good time today. We all went up to this lake that Fred knew about—Fred’s my dad’s business partner—and had a picnic, and David and I swam. It was beautiful. There was a little beach and a dock. . . .” She trailed off.

Brian laughed. “Wow, swimming in a lake. I guess that guy’s rubbing off on you, nature girl. What’s next, volunteering for Greenpeace?”

Maddy sat up in bed. “It was fun! Look, you’ll see when you come up here—it’s actually really gorgeous. Wait until you see the room we’re fixing up—it looks so different than when we started. It’s all scrubbed and clean. We’re getting ready to paint it now.”

“You’re getting me all turned on talking about scrubbing and painting,” Brian scoffed. “I can’t handle it.”

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“Stop. You don’t get it. I’m not just talking about the work. It’s just the whole feel of the place. . . .” She struggled to find the right words. “I mean, everyone’s so much more relaxed—like, today, we watched six deer meet in the yard. Do you see what I mean?”

“No. What do deer have to do with being relaxed?”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure what I’m talking about.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” They were quiet for a minute. Finally, Brian said, “Well, I think that’s Chad at the door.”

“Okay,” she said. She felt tired all of a sudden. “Do you want to come up on Saturday or not?”

“Of course I do. I’ll see you then, okay?”

“Yeah, okay. Bye.”

“Bye, babe.” He hung up. Maddy clicked her phone off and fell back on the bed, stretching her legs up against the wall. She was irritated and didn’t know why. She really wanted Brian to understand, but for the first time he didn’t seem to get her. The vineyard was turning out to be different than she’d thought. Maddy examined her tanned arms, which were starting to show muscle definition for the first time in her life. She had never been outdoors so constantly and, honestly, it felt good. Being surrounded by the grapevines, trees, and flowers of Napa all day, every day, felt satisfying—like eating a really great meal. She was surprised at herself, too. David wasn’t the only one who 132

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hadn’t realized Madeline Sinclaire was more than a pampered city girl.

Maddy crooked her arm over her eyes and relaxed into the pillows. Maybe Brian will understand once he actu- ally gets up here, she comforted herself. As she lay in the darkness, spinning pleasant images of her and Brian frolicking in the stream at the bottom of the field, Maddy realized that the cricket on the porch had been singing his nightly song for a while now. CHEEP, cheep, CHEEP, cheep. She hadn’t even noticed. 133

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!

The interior of the gray pickup was hot, but David had both windows rolled down and music blasting when Maddy climbed onto the passenger seat at noon on Wednesday. “Hi,” he greeted her.

“Hi.” Maddy buckled her seat belt and rested her elbow on the edge of the open window. She noticed his eyes lingering on her hair.

“I like that . . . um—hairdo,” David said.

“Thanks,” Maddy said, hiding a smile. She had spent several extra minutes that morning pulling her hair into a high, elegant chignon that showed off her neck and bare shoulders. David passed her a crumpled scrap of paper.

“Here are the directions. I think it’s next to Jay’s Ice Cream.”

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Maddy squinted at the smeary ballpoint pen scratchings. The tasting room had been scrubbed sparkling clean, so Maddy had convinced David that they should choose the furniture for it now, before they started painting. Even if they found the tables and chairs today, it would take a while for everything to be delivered. At first he had resisted, moaning that he hated shopping, but she’d won after pointing out that it was going to be pretty tough for the winery guests to relax in an empty room. So they were headed for the best furniture showroom in Napa. In honor of escaping to the nearest semi-large town, Maddy was wearing a lavender Marc Jacobs shift dress and silver hoop earrings. After weeks of shorts, jeans, and T-shirts, if felt good to be dressed up.

Maddy looked up from the directions, noticing what was pumping through the stereo speakers. “Is that salsa you have on?” she asked incredulously.

“Oh, um, yeah.” He glanced sideways at her and quickly turned it off.

“Wait, don’t,” she insisted. “I like it.”

“You do?” Now it was his turn to sound incredulous.

“Yeah. It’s good driving music.” There was a long pause, as if David was trying to figure out if she was serious or not. Finally, a big grin split his face.

“Okay.” He turned the stereo back on. “You’ve surprised me once more, Maddy-Mae,” he said. 135

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Maddy bit her lower lip and smiled. “Left on Redbrick,” she murmured.

! ! !

David started fidgeting the moment they walked into the showroom. The interior was all sleek dark surfaces and cool polished marble. Sun filtered through the skylights, casting shadows on the tables, and there were chairs scattered in tasteful groups around the cavernous space.

“Okay, this was great,” David announced, turning back toward the big glass doors. “I’m glad we did this and—” Maddy grabbed his arm, trying not to laugh.

“Come on, I’m sure you can handle more than two minutes of shopping. Get a grip!” she instructed. “Here, I made a list of the things we’ll need.” She took it out of her Kooba bag.

“Four small round tables, sixteen chairs,” he read,