When I reached the door I looked down the patio and saw Chelsea sitting on her dog pillow, looking queenly as ever. “That’s it!” I said aloud. I marched up to her, dropped to my knees, and began scratching behind her ears. She melted into a puddle of Jell-O, all splayed out on her back with her legs in the air. “Oh, you’re so much easier than you pretend to be, aren’t you? Deep down inside you’re just a sweet girl, lookin’ for some love.” Chelsea wagged her tail and stretched her arms as I scratched her neck and belly.
The moment I stood up she went right back to her regal pose, looking straight ahead and ignoring me. If she could talk, I think she would have said, Don’t think this makes us friends. I brushed my hands on my jeans and headed into Susan’s office, where I found her typing at the computer. She looked up at me over her square glasses. “Hello, Kate. What can I do for you?”
“Well, I was wondering if you know where I can get something to wear?” She stared at me, expressionless, so I continued. “I was hoping that I could find a clothing store nearby so that I don’t have to go all the way into the city.”
“Is that so?” Her eyes scrutinized me. I nodded shyly, wondering if coming to her might have been a bad idea. She didn’t seem possessive of Jamie as much as overprotective. Whatever it was, it seemed like more than a working relationship. “What’s the occasion?”
I thought about my answer for a few seconds and then decided to go with the truth. After all, she already knew. “I’m going on a date with Jamie, but you already knew that. I want to look nice for him.” I held my head up high and watched as her expression turned from indifference to warmth. She smiled. I could have sworn that Susan liked it when I fought back.
“Well. There’s a little boutique store in the town of Napa. They have some really cute dresses that I think would look stunning on you.” She wrote the address down and handed me the piece of paper.
“Thank you . . . and I don’t think of this as a fling, just so you know. I’m not like that. I like Jamie, and I think he likes me.” She nodded but didn’t respond. I was looking for validation from her. I had no plans to hurt Jamie, but I couldn’t tell if she believed me. Worse than that, she didn’t exactly verify his feelings for me. “Thank you again for this,” I said as I headed out the door. I glanced into R.J.’s office and saw only an empty chair. Hands-on? Yeah, right.
On my way to the car, I spotted a familiar pair of work boots. Jamie was crouching by a long wrought iron fence that surrounded the pool. From where I stood, I could see little glimmers of light popping into the air. I walked toward him hesitantly. There was a square machine on the ground, and I spotted the welding rod in his hand. He was wearing a hood and gloves, but other than that, no protective gear, just a white T-shirt and jeans. I approached unnoticed and stood over him to watch as he welded a bar back into the fence. There were sparks flying all over, and some landed on his forearms, but he seemed unaffected by it. When he finally noticed me standing beside him, he stopped immediately and turned off the welder. He stood up with ease and pushed his hood back, revealing his damp face.
“You shouldn’t look at the light. You’ll get flash burns,” he said.
“Where did you learn to weld?”
“My dad taught me.” He wiped his sweaty face with the back of his arm. I noticed he had a six-inch hunting knife sheathed in a light brown leather holster attached to his belt.
“What’s that?” I asked stupidly.
“A knife.”
“What for?”
He smirked. “Cutting things.”
I just couldn’t imagine being with a man who welded fences and cut things. That might sound stupid, but it took Stephen three days to put together a piece-of-shit IKEA desk. He had to ask the super of our building what an Allen wrench was—just another reason the super couldn’t stand him. Stephen didn’t even own a pair of jeans. He got manicures and pedicures at the same nail salon as I did. But he was educated and business savvy—he had that going for him. Yet so did Jamie, it seemed. There was nothing businesslike about Jamie, but there was something mysterious and uniquely brilliant about him. He was the best of both worlds. In my tiny, thirty-second fantasy, as I stood there staring at his knife, I imagined him fighting off wild beasts with it. Shirtless.
“Katy?”
“Yeah.”
“Does the knife bother you?”
“Well, it’s not like you kill things with it,” I said, even though I was fantasizing about him doing that very thing. He arched his eyebrows very slightly, but other than that, his expression didn’t change. “Right?”
“Well, we have rattlers here and we raise animals . . .” His voice trailed off.
“You slaughter animals with that knife?”
“I’m not usually the person who does that. We have a professional. I promise you, it’s very humane, but I’ve had to assist a few times in the past.”
“I’m a vegetarian.”
“I know, I’m sorry, but you asked.” He paused, gauging my expression. “Killing is not always violent. Sometimes it’s merciful.” He seemed repentant.
“I was just surprised, that’s all. One less rattlesnake in my vicinity is all the better.” I smiled.
“Where are you headed to?”
“I’m going into Napa just to browse around for a bit.”
“Don’t run your car into anything,” he said with no trace of humor.
I reached out to sock him in the arm, but he caught my fist midair, brought it to his mouth, and kissed it. My knees wobbled. I turned and began walking away, but when I looked back he was still watching me, just as I expected. He was smiling with curiosity in his eyes. “See you at four, sailor,” I shouted back.
My driving skills had not improved since my accident. GPS lady got me to the boutique, but I drove half the speed limit. Cars whizzed by, honking at me the entire way. When I finally got inside the store, I spotted my dress immediately. It was a simple three-quarter-sleeve black dress with a plunging neckline. It came to just above my knee but was a little longer in the back. Perfect, I thought. Sexy, not slutty. I twirled around inside the dressing room for exactly ten seconds before changing back and heading for the register.
“Great choice,” the young female clerk said. “Are you, by any chance, Kate from R. J. Lawson?”
“Yes. I’m a guest there. How did you know?”
“Susan asked that we bill your purchases to the winery. She said anything you want.”
“Oh, I couldn’t possibly. Is this something they do often?”
“No, I’ve never done this for them, but I know Susan. She comes in a lot. Did you want to add some shoes or jewelry?”
“Thank you, but I think the dress is enough.” I hadn’t even looked at the price tag before she clipped it off. She wrapped the dress in pink tissue paper, slipped it into a white bag, and handed it over to me. “Enjoy. Have a lovely day.”
I walked out to my car, a little stunned. I didn’t know if Susan was buttering me up or if everyone really was this genuinely nice at the winery. Except for stupid R.J., whom I had started to resent. Of course I had to write the article about him, because that’s what my editor wanted. R.J. was the whole reason I was here. But I found myself dreading it. I wondered how I could twist the story so that I could tell the truth about him without negatively impacting the winery itself. I could say he was philanthropic and well meaning, but I knew deep down that being truthful about his personality would take away from that. Had I known how to spin the article, I would have written it already.
I didn’t get back to the winery until a little after three. I was supposed to meet Jamie in less than an hour. I literally ran from my car, through the parking lot, and through the main room of the inn. George laughed at me from the front desk. “Hey, George!” I yelled, and then I took two stairs at a time until I was at my door. I showered in record time, but I took great care pinning up my hair and drawing little strands out around my face. I had the black heels that I brought with me, which went perfectly with the dress. I thickened my lashes with mascara and made a few passes with the blush brush. When I got to my lips, I slowly swept the translucent gloss across my bottom lip and thought about Jamie kissing it away.