Leila pulled the covers up to her chin. How much longer could she get away with avoiding the world? Bright sunlight filtered in through the small window in her grandparent’s guestroom, but she couldn’t get out of bed.
Hours had passed since the worst night of her life, but the scenes wouldn’t stop playing in her head—Forrest up on that stage, the humiliating whispers and stares. August gazing at her helplessly.
A nightmare.
And yet those things had really happened. She couldn’t live in denial and avoid the repercussions.
Leila threw off the comforter. While she’d love to stay in bed and wallow all day, she had to get out there and do some damage control. Forrest had stolen her opportunity to manage the message about this new partnership, but she wouldn’t let him have the satisfaction of driving her away now. She still had a few weeks here, damn it, and she would make those weeks the very best that Valentino Bellas had ever seen. Then she would throw her grandparents the retirement party of the century right before they all headed off to Italy—and she wouldn’t bother cleaning up afterward.
So there.
A new energy carried her out of the bed and over to the small duffel bag she’d packed when sweet Nonna had insisted she sleep at their house. She pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, tying up her hair before she slipped out into the hallway. Pots and pans banged around in the kitchen, and now she could smell the sweet scent of maple syrup mixed in with the salty aroma of bacon.
Sugar and grease—her favorite combination.
Her stomach growled as she walked into the kitchen. Nonna stood at the stove flipping pancakes, wearing her favorite apron, exactly like she had when Leila had been in high school.
“Good morning,” her grandmother sang, handing her a plate. “How did you sleep?”
“I’m not sure how to answer that.” Leila carried her plate to the table, already comforted by the familiarity of the smells and warmth in her grandparents’ kitchen. Oh, to be in high school again when she didn’t have to worry about much except getting her homework done or what to wear on a date with Auggie.
And there he was again, breaking into her thoughts the same way he’d broken into her dreams last night.
“I made your favorite.” Nonna brought a whole stack of pancakes to the table. “Cinnamon swirl pancakes and extra-crispy bacon.” She leaned over and poured her a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.
“Wow.” Leila smoothed a cloth napkin across her lap. “I should be humiliated more often. It’s been a while since I’ve had a breakfast that looked and smelled this good.”
“You know what I always say.” Nonna brought over the plate of bacon and joined her at the table. “There’s nothing a good, hearty breakfast can’t fix.”
Leila couldn’t help but smile surrounded by her grandmother’s cheerfulness. She took a couple of bites of food, the comfort wrapping around her more. “Yes, I remember hearing that after a couple of botched math tests back in the day.”
A barrage of emotion came on suddenly, choking her up. “I can’t believe we won’t be having any more breakfasts together in this kitchen.” The wave of sadness wiped out her appetite.
“Now, now.” Her grandmother wiggled the plate of pancakes in front of her. “Chin up. There are some beautiful kitchens in Italy. Maybe we’ll like them better anyway.”
“But they won’t be this kitchen.” The one she’d been raised in. The one they’d shared laughter and meals in. Grief buried her heart. “Nonna, I’m going to miss this place so much. This is where some of my best memories are.”
“We do have many memories.” Her grandmother took over and put two more pancakes on her plate. “But we can take those with us wherever we go.” She nodded toward the food and aimed a stern frown directly at her until Leila took another bite of the pancake.
The flavors melted in her mouth and reignited her hunger. “Thank you for breakfast.” She stifled the sadness with gratitude. “You really shouldn’t have gone to all this trouble.”
“It makes me happy to take care of you for once.” He grandmother dished up her own plate. “Besides, it’s been far too long since I made these pancakes. I almost forgot how.”
“I doubt that.” Leila helped herself to a few pieces of bacon. “Do you—?”
The back door opened, and Poppa came in, stomping the mud off his boots on the rug.
“You’re just in time for breakfast, tesoro.” Nonna hurried to grab another plate from the cabinet.
“I sure know how to time things.” He winked at Leila and sat across from her, helping himself to four pancakes. “Tromping around in that mud makes a man hungry.” He removed his old, weathered cowboy hat and hung it on the back of his chair. “Auggie was right. There’s phylloxera in a whole section of those vines out there. Hard to see in the early stages, but it’s still there.”
The mention of the man’s name gave her heart a good punch. “He should’ve told us right away. He should’ve been honest with me.” Instead, he’d told Forrest, only giving the man more ammunition to use against them.
“Well, he wasn’t the only one being dishonest,” her grandmother murmured, her tone as gentle as her nonjudgmental gaze. “Why did you lie to us about the engagement?”
“Because I wanted to protect you—”
Oh.
“Yes. You wanted to protect us.” Nonna smoothed her hand over Leila’s hair. “Maybe that can help you understand why Auggie did what he did.”
“He likely thought the news about the vines would send Forrest running in another direction.” Poppa dug into his food like he would’ve any other morning, eating a few bites and then wiping his mouth with a napkin. “I saw him out there, by the way.”
“August? Out there?” Leila almost bolted from the table to look through the window. Was he still outside?
“He was standing outside your door knocking when I went past,” her grandfather said. He’d never been overly forthcoming with details.
“Well, did you talk to him?” Why did her heart have to race every time she thought about August?
“A little.” Poppa shrugged. “He was worried about you. Looked like hell too. I don’t think he ever went home last night. Must’ve slept in his truck.”
“What did he say?” Leila did her best to rein in her impatience. Her grandparents had made their point. Maybe Auggie had only wanted to protect her the way she’d tried to protect them.
“He said he never meant for this to happen.” Poppa poured himself a large glass of orange juice. “And then he said Forrest is sending him to New Mexico today.”
“Today?” Nonna’s fork hovered in front of her mouth. “That seems mighty hasty, doesn’t it?”
“It’s for the best.” The words would’ve sounded more convincing if her voice hadn’t shaken. Auggie was actually leaving? He was walking away from her again.
“He sure didn’t seem happy about it.” Her grandfather took another bite of food. “I told him he shouldn’t live his life for Forrest, but what do I know?”
“He does live for that company.” She shouldn’t have forgotten that. Humiliation burned through her all over again. If he cared about her, he’d fight for her this time. He’d fight for them. Instead he was leaving for New Mexico. That hurt worse than any lie. “I’m going to see Sam.” She pushed away from the table, leaving most of her food untouched.
“But your pancakes.” Nonna stood too. “Don’t you want to finish at least one of them?”
“Can you save them for me?” Leila was already putting her shoes on by the door. “I’ll eat them later. Promise. I’m not hungry right now.”
“Oh, all right.” Her grandmother relented but hurried over with her travel mug. She’d filled it with her orange juice. “At least take this with you.”
“Thank you.” Leila took the juice in one hand and wrapped the other arm around her grandmother. “I don’t know what I would do without you two. Seriously. You’re the best grandparents in the world.”
She left them there before she started bawling again and walked out into the sunshine, following the path around the back of the house and up the hill to the barn.
As usual, her brother was too engrossed in whatever he was testing to even notice she’d come in. At least he didn’t seem to be wallowing.
“Hey.” She walked to his table, which was every bit as messy as it had been before she’d tidied it up the other day.
Sam set down the glass beaker he’d been holding up. “Hey. I stopped by your cottage this morning. Thought I would see if you wanted to go get a coffee.”
“Really?” She tried to think of the last time she and Sam had gone to get coffee together but came up blank.
“Yeah.” Her brother turned his attention back to the beaker. “You okay?”
“No.” He’d see through a lie anyway. “I should’ve listened to you.”
He poured some clear liquid into what she assumed was red wine. “I didn’t want to be right.”
“I know.” For all his eccentricities, Sam had a heart of gold. “But you were. I should’ve listened. I’m sorry. I know you love your job.” And she’d lost it for him
“You don’t have to be sorry on my account.” Her brother graced her with his full attention again. “I’ve already had three job offers this morning. All out on the Western Slope, of course. But I’ll be fine, Lei. Like I said, I’m worried about you.”
“I’ll be fine too.” It would take time, but she would find a way to move on from this. “We’re going to make these last few weeks the best in Valentino Bellas’ history.” She would need the distraction to get her mind off August. She wouldn’t wait for him this time. Wouldn’t hope.
Her brother’s dark eyes narrowed. “And what about you and Auggie?”
“There is no me and Auggie.” Miraculously, she got the words out with only a slight wobble in her voice. That was something.
Her brother called her out with a knowing glare. “I saw you two together. There was something between you and Auggie. You should’ve seen the guy after you ran off last night. He was frantic, arguing with Forrest. He obviously cares about you.”
This kind of talk was not helping her Forget-about-August campaign. “You hate the guy.” Was he or was he not the one who’d been pointing out all of August’s shortcomings?
“I don’t hate him,” Sam corrected. “I feel kinda bad for him, actually. He seems pretty broken up about what happened last night.”
“So I’ve heard.” She let herself picture August sitting in his truck all night. She knew exactly how his face would look stewing over what had happened. His mouth would be pinched; his jaw would be rigid. Her heart softened.
Voices outside cut her off and launched her heart into her throat. Was August out there?
“Hello?” Jane’s voice floated through the open window. “Leila, are you in there?”
She darted to the wall and peeked out through the opening in the curtain, making sure August hadn’t come with his sister. Nope. Only Beth and Jane lingered outside the door. Great. She wasn’t exactly ready to face anyone after last night, but she couldn’t hide now.
Leila let them in. “Hey.” She couldn’t look either one of them directly in the eyes. Jane hadn’t been shocked about the engagement revelation, but she’d lied right to Beth’s face on more than one occasion.
“Forrest Kingston is going down.” Beth stomped into the barn, fuming. “That man is unbelievable! If he thinks for one minute that he can just move in here and take over with this town’s support, he has another think coming.”
Leila had to laugh. The cavalry had arrived.
Jane hushed Beth with a look. “We don’t mean to overstep, but this whole Kingston thing is all anyone has been talking about all morning at the café.”
“There’s already an online petition and an online fund-raising page started,” Beth added. “Your family has been a fixture in our community forever, and we’re all going to stand behind you to fight for this place.”
The conviction behind their words brought tears to her eyes. “Really?”
Jane gave her a hug. “Really.”
Beth pulled her phone out of her purse. “Look at this. So far, we have over two thousand signatures on the petition.” She showed Leila the screen. “Everyone in town is on board with this fight. Now we just need to put some pressure on Mr. Kingston.”
Leila wished it would be that easy. “I’m not sure it’s going to matter.”
“How does he think he’ll sell any wine when it’s not tourist season?” Jane demanded. “This town will be important for his success. Trust me. If we don’t want him here, he won’t want to be here.”
Their confidence pulled her in. “You’re right. Kingston knows nothing about Silverado Lake, about how we all pull together and take care of each other.” With the town behind her, she could face the man. She could tell him exactly why he should let her family keep the winery. She had nothing to lose. “I’m going to California.”
Jane gasped. “Yes! Maybe you’ll see Auggie while you’re there!”
Leila’s breath got caught in the conflicting emotions—longing, anger, fear. But the strongest response to his name was always love. She loved him. She always had. Yes, he’d made mistakes, but so had she.
“I thought he was going to New Mexico. Poppa said Forrest put him on some new assignment down there.”
“He told my mom he’s not going,” Jane said hopefully. “He left for California a while ago.”
Her pulse picked up, finding the same rhythm that’d swept her up whenever August had pulled her close. “I need to talk to Auggie too.” He’d walked away from her once, and she’d let him, but mistakes could be forgiven. This time, she was going after him.