Chapter 16 #2
“So I think you should go to the board meeting,” he continues, stroking my hair.
“Give them hell. One real, genuine attempt to make them see what they’re doing wrong.
Fight for what you believe in, with everything you’ve got.
” He pauses. “And if it doesn’t work, then you can step aside knowing you tried.
But at least you won’t be wondering. You won’t be carrying this guilt.
You’ll have given it everything.” He presses a kiss to my forehead.
“Care out loud instead of from a distance.”
Care out loud instead of from a distance. His words land somewhere deep inside me as he pulls me close and holds me there, solid and steady.
“Whatever you decide, I’ve got you,” he says quietly. “You know that, right?”
“I know.” I wrap my arms around his waist and hold on. “Thank you. For listening. For not telling me I’m being dramatic.”
“You’re not being dramatic. You’re dealing with something hard.”
We stand there for a while, just holding each other in the middle of his kitchen. Eventually the timer goes off on whatever he’s cooking and he has to step away, but he keeps one hand on me, like he doesn’t want to break the connection.
“Victoria has Chloe this weekend,” he says, checking the oven. “They’re going to some Christmas thing in Seattle. So I’m free.”
“Yeah?”
He closes the oven door and turns to face me, leaning against the counter.
“I’ve been thinking. There’s this winery up in Walla Walla, Northwind Cellars.
I worked there one summer, back before I opened the restaurant.
They have these rental cabins on the property with views of the vineyards.
This time of year everything’s covered in snow, and they have fireplaces in each cabin, bottles of wine waiting when you arrive.
” He shrugs, almost shy. “I thought maybe we could go. What do you think? Get away for a couple days. Clear your head.”
“That sounds amazing,” I say. Snow-covered vineyards. Fireplaces. Just the two of us, away from everything.
“Yeah?” He smiles. “I’ve got good memories of the place. The owners are good people. The wine is incredible. And the views...” He shakes his head. “You’ll love it. Trust me.”
“I do trust you.” I cross to him and slide my arms around his neck, pressing up on my toes to kiss him softly. “Let’s do it. Let’s go.”
The drive to Walla Walla takes about four hours, winding east through the Cascades and into the high desert wine country on the other side. The landscape shifts as we go, lush evergreen forests giving way to brown hills, then to rolling farmland dusted with snow.
I control the music because Theo’s taste is suspect at best (he tried to put on a jazz playlist and I vetoed it immediately), cycling through my playlists and singing along to songs he’s never heard of.
He keeps glancing over at me with this half-smile on his face, like I’m amusing him, and I sing louder just to see him shake his head.
We pull into Northwind Cellars just as the afternoon light is starting to go golden, and the vineyard stretches out before us in neat rows, the bare vines frosted with snow, the hills beyond glowing amber and pink in the winter sun.
Everything is blanketed in white—the fields, the winery building, the cluster of small cabins tucked along the ridge.
“Oh my god,” I breathe, leaning forward in my seat. “Theo. This is...”
“I know.” He pulls into the lot and cuts the engine, just looking at it for a moment. “It’s been a few years since I’ve been back here. But it’s exactly how I remember it. I mean, the summer I worked here it was hot and green, but I’ve visited once or twice in the winter, too.”
We check in at the main building, a restored farmhouse with wide windows overlooking the vines. A woman at the desk named Margaret recognizes Theo immediately and pulls him into a hug like a long-lost son.
“Theo Midnight,” she says, beaming. “It’s been too long. Henry’s going to be so glad you’re here. He talks about that summer you worked for us all the time.”
“It was a good summer.” There’s a softness in his voice. “This is my girlfriend, Emma.”
Margaret turns her warm smile on me and pulls me into a hug too. “Welcome, sweetheart. You two picked a beautiful weekend to visit. Let me get you the keys to your cabin.”
The cabin is small but cozy, with a stone fireplace already crackling when we arrive. A bottle of their reserve red is waiting on the table. The windows look out over the vineyard, row after row of snow-covered vines disappearing into the hills.
I drop my bag by the door and walk straight to the window, pressing my hand against the cold glass.
“This is insane,” I say softly. “It looks like a painting.”
Theo comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me back against his chest. I relax into him immediately, my hands covering his.
“Thank you for bringing me here,” I say.
“Thank you for coming.” He presses a kiss to the top of my head. “You want to walk around before it gets dark? I can show you the property.”
I turn in his arms. “Yes. Absolutely yes.”
We bundle up and head out into the cold.
The air is crisp and clean, and our breath fogs in front of us as we walk, boots crunching through the thin layer of snow on the path between the vines.
Theo takes my hand as we walk, pointing out the different grape varieties, telling me about the summer he spent here.
The early mornings, the backbreaking work, the way Henry taught him to taste wine properly.
“That’s where I fell in love with food,” he tells me, gesturing toward an old barn in the distance.
“Not just cooking it, but the whole experience. The way a good meal can bring people together. The way wine can tell a story about a place, a season, a year.” He shrugs, a little self-conscious.
“It sounds pretentious when I say it out loud.”
“It doesn’t.” I squeeze his hand. “It sounds passionate. I love hearing you talk about things you care about.”
We reach the top of a small hill and stop, looking out over the valley. The sun is sinking lower now, painting the snow in shades of rose and gold. The vineyard spreads out below us like a patchwork quilt.
I lean into him, pressing my cheek against his shoulder. “I could stay here forever.”
He tightens his arm around me. “Same here.”
We stand there for a while, watching the light change. Then a thought occurs to me. A very bad thought. I glance down at the snow near my feet. Perfect packing consistency.
“You know what I’m thinking?” I say casually, crouching to adjust my boot.
“What?”
“That you look very unsuspecting right now.” My fingers close around a handful of snow, packing it quickly.
Theo narrows his eyes. “Emma. What are you—“
I hurl the snowball directly at his chest. It hits him square in the middle, exploding on impact, snow spraying into his face. The look of pure shock is so perfect I double over laughing.
“Oh, you’re dead,” he says.
I make it maybe ten feet before his arms wrap around my waist, and then we’re both going down into a snowdrift. I’m shrieking and laughing, snow everywhere, and then he rolls us over and pins me to the ground.
“That was a direct hit,” I gasp. “You have to admit that was impressive.”
“I admit nothing.” But he’s fighting a smile. “You’re a menace.”
“You love it.”
“I do.” The teasing fades from his voice. “I really do.”
He leans down and kisses me, slow and deep, and I forget about the cold entirely. My arms come up around his neck, pulling him closer. When he finally pulls back, we’re both breathing hard.
“We should go inside,” he murmurs against my lips. “Before we freeze to death.”
“Probably smart.” But I don’t let go of him. “Five more minutes.”
He laughs and kisses me again. “Five more minutes.”
We lie there in the snow like idiots, kissing and laughing and shivering, until the cold finally becomes unbearable and we stumble back to the cabin, soaking wet and grinning like teenagers.