Just a Kiss: The Single Girls Wine Club (A Wine Country Romance #1) (11 page)

Sometimes he did feel like a monkey in a cage and that his film roles only mattered because they gave people something to stare and point at. All those pictures people wanted had nothing to do with him. They were just a way for others to puff themselves up and say, “Hey, I met Jamie Santino. I saw the monkey in the cage.”

Jamie approached an empty table to clear and skimmed over the rumpled first page of the Sonoma Register. He saw the picture of Sarah beaming up at him through coffee stains. Sarah hadn’t asked for that picture, the reporter had.

He peered through the front glass doors and wiped the table, wondering if he’d see her today. Where was that smile?

A group of three snagged the empty table just as he finished wiping it down.

“Hey, you’re that guy! Right?” A salt and peppered haired woman pointed to the paper.

“Yeah, that’s me. I’m that guy.” Jamie forced a smile and took the newspaper from her. “There are fresh copies on the counter if you want one.”

He scooted around the threesome and headed back behind the counter where he had a clear view of the plaza. What a bust last night had been. No dance, hardly any kissing, and just a few words. Sarah’s disappointed look still singed his memory. He glanced at his phone again. Still no call from her and no response to the text he’d sent: Please. Call. Me.

Sarah read the same line of her book five times before flinging it across her bedroom. Sprawled on the bed, cradling her face in her hands, she stared through the French doors at the same vineyard view as the kitchen. She tried leading her thoughts to the patterns of fall colors outside, but couldn't.

She searched for a shutoff valve for her brain, wanting to turn off the image of the bright flash of the camera lighting up that kiss between Jamie and Nikki. She clamped her eyes shut, and someone knocked on her door.

“Sarah. Please come out or at least open the door,” Danica pleaded in a soft voice.

“Not now. I’m not ready.” Sarah didn’t move.

“You don’t have to be ready. You don’t have to do anything. Please let me come in,” Danica asked again.

“Fine.”

“I can come in?” Danica opened the door gently and padded into the room. She closed the door behind her and eased flat out on the bed next to Sarah.

“I feel like an idiot,” Sarah said. They both studied the vineyard view. Danica didn't say anything.

“I can’t believe I let myself get my hopes up. What was I thinking?”

“You weren’t thinking,” Danica explained. “You were feeling, and you had every reason to. He gave you all the signs, Sarah.”

“But I should’ve known better.” Sarah propped herself on her side. “I made a promise never to be shocked by anyone ever again. What an idiot.” She kicked her legs on the bed and turned to Danica. “After Robert? Really? I should’ve known.”

“Robert is a one in a million asshole. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

How easy for Danica to say something like that. She had a huge safety net and a large family to catch her if she fell. Sarah didn't have anyone and couldn’t afford to make any more miscalculations.

All the cash Robert had embezzled from her left her with nothing. All of the seed money for Sweet Mo had come from her inheritance. Robert hadn’t put a penny into that business. Hell, Sarah had even hired Samantha and found the pastry table too.

“You just don’t get it.” Sarah shrugged. “I know you mean well but—”

“You were blindsided. It was the worst.” Danica sulked. “I do understand, Sarah.”

“Robert lied to me for months. It wasn’t like I caught him in a one-time leap of bad judgment. Every damn day during that whole time, he lied to my face.”

How ridiculously gullible she must've seemed to Robert when they’d flipped through the pages of bride magazines together, shopped for dresses, tested cake recipes and contemplated how many kids they'd have. Through it all, he’d plotted and schemed.

Sarah moved out from Danica’s arm just enough to flip onto her back and stare at the ceiling.

“You aren’t the same person, Sarah. You’re doing so much better.”

“Thank God I listened to you when you talked me into moving to Sonoma. You’ve always been there for me.” Sarah studied her friend’s lovely face.

“See?” Danica nudged her. “I am right, occasionally. Things
are
shaping up. Look how far you’ve come in just six months.”

Danica had a point. She had started feeling like her old self again. And she’d made progress digging her way out of the Robert mess. She managed every penny at the Vine Café and had possession of every recipe and creation. She needed to own her mistakes.

“Jamie isn’t anything like Robert.” Sarah didn’t mean to say it out loud.

Danica stuck a pillow under her chin.

“At least he didn’t lie to me,” Sarah said. “At least he didn’t hide anything. Hell, he kissed that woman right in front of me, in front of everyone.” Sarah got quiet and tried blinking away the awful image she kept seeing, but just like that J. Geils Band song
Freeze Frame,
there in her brain, the picture froze. The flash of the camera, the bright image of Jamie’s sexy mouth stuck on Nikki Lean’s. Shit.

“You’re right,” Danica said. “Jamie isn’t the malicious type at all. I don’t know what kind of guy he is, but I can’t believe he purposefully meant to hurt you, and who could blame you for being caught up in someone like him?”

Sarah sat up on the bed. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?” she said. “He’s just being himself? He’s just a crazy good-looking louse, and we can’t blame him because he’s so honest about it?”

“I can hope it makes you feel a little better, I don’t know what else to say. I feel terrible about this.” Danica sat up and shook her head. “I didn’t know he was an ass, really I didn’t, or I wouldn’t have suggested he work at your place. I am so sorry.”

“Hey, I don’t blame you,” Sarah said softly. “I'll be all right.”

Danica climbed off the bed and put her hands on her hips. “Lulu's making your favorite Castelli gravy. Can I let her know that you’ll be out of your cave soon?”

“Sure, just give me a few minutes.”

She planted a kiss on Sarah’s cheek and headed out.

Sarah called to her, “Danica?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

The worry lines washed away from Danica’s face, and she heaved a long sigh. “You got it my friend. And, by the way…” She smiled. “You’re not alone.”

Sarah rolled over on the bed feeling a little more comforted. She didn’t want to see Jamie again and had no reason to. She'd take tomorrow off and send his paycheck by mail
. Jeez, I’ve got to pay him for this humiliation too?
She hugged her pillow.

The morning sun blazed into the Vine Café, dolloping a few select tables with dazzling light. Holding a rag, Jamie Santino stepped away from the window he'd just cleaned, inspecting it for streaks.

“Nope, it’s not going to work, bro. The sun’s too hot, see?” Manny pointed to the large smudge of grime the towel had created on the glass. “The cleanser is drying too quickly on the window. You’re just making a mess. You’ll have to start on them much earlier tomorrow before the sun’s out.”

“You’ll have to take it from here then,” Jamie said. “Today’s my last day.”

“Right.” Manny nodded. “Could you check the cases then? I think we’ve had a run on the apricot croissants. We could still get some stragglers.”

Jamie tossed the rag over his shoulder, glanced back at the front windows, and examined the case. They were completely out of apricot custard, pear almond, and crispy pecan croissants.

He plodded through the swinging doors and gave the kitchen a once-over. Still no sign of her. He pulled a tray of croissants from the walk-in. He’d have to put them in the display case cold. Sarah would be disappointed if she were there.

While rearranging the pastry case, Jamie kept his gaze on the front door and thought of how much he’d learned from her. He could outmaneuver any order thrown at him. The register, bussing and waiting on tables were a breeze. He could fake his way and answer most questions about any of the ingredients they used. He moved from the case and glanced through the kitchen door windows.

Manny eyed him and shook his head. “Dude, she’s not coming in.”

Lulu Castelli held her pruners and surveyed Sarah. “Don’t just cut off their heads. Pull the whole body off.”

“Where, exactly, do I snip?” Sarah asked.

“These are Johnny Jump Ups, honey,” Lulu knelt next to Sarah and reached over to demonstrate. “See? You just reach down to the plant and snap the whole stem off, head and all.”

The two had spent most of the morning side by side occasionally breaking for small talk, but Sarah enjoyed the quiet companionship. They snapped, plucked, and pulled what remained of Lulu’s summer garden.

“Look at these.” She pointed to a yellow rose bush.

Sarah put her trowel down and walked over to inspect.

“See those little buds?” Lulu asked. “I think we’ll get another bloom. There are still lots of flowers. Plenty of pretty left to go.” She draped her freckled arm around Sarah’s waist and squeezed. “Just like you.”

Sarah cracked a slow smile. “I’ll have to remember that.”

After finishing the gardening chores, Sarah and Lulu moved on to the vineyards to find malleable grapevines to twist and bend into the Thanksgiving wreaths Lulu made every year. Sarah knew Lulu hoped to have at least one completed and hung on the front door by that night and liked being included in the project. It’s not that Lulu replaced Sarah’s mother or grandma in any way, but all of the stories and life lessons she shared with her made her feel so much less alone.

Sarah didn’t know if the Bella Villa household had worked out a plan to cheer her up or it just happened spontaneously, but her mood shifted.

Everyone was home that night and chipped in to help with dinner. Lulu crouched over her craft table off the kitchen, bending over the wreath with her needle-nose pliers while the girls cleaned up.

Danica bought a bottle of La Crema Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. Juliet roasted chicken with lemon and rosemary and Sarah made the chocolate pot de crème for dessert. No one brought up the elephant in the room.

“Nice to see you up and about Sarah.” Juliet carried a stack of plates to the sink.

Danica winked at Juliet and Sarah. “And smiling too.”

“Nothing like a little physical exercise outdoors to shake the cobwebs and give you a fresh perspective.” Lulu got up from her table. “You know what I always say, an idle mind is—”

“The devil’s playground,” the girls said in unison.

Lulu chuckled and strolled out of the kitchen carrying the wreath.

“Don’t use the ladder by yourself, it’s getting dark,” Juliet cautioned.

“I’m just checking the measurements,” Lulu shouted from the hall.

Sarah donned a pair of bright yellow dishwashing gloves and waited for the sink to fill.

Danica finished clearing the table and Juliet swept the floor.

“Sar-ah!” Lulu’s voice rang from down the long hall.

Sarah glanced over her shoulder from the sink.

“Sarah’s doing the dishes, Lulu, what do you need?” Juliet said putting down the broom. Sarah went back to scrubbing the roasting pan. She’d rather think about getting the pan shiny than all of the Jamie –Nikki drama.