“Hey, Miles. What’s up?” The clatter and conversation in the background told me he was at work.
“Hey. You know that winery you were talking to Natalie about? The one where her sister works?”
“Abelard Vineyards?”
I thumped the steering wheel. “That’s it. Thanks. I just needed the name.”
“Are you up there?”
“Yeah, and I need to get ahold of Natalie’s sister Skylar but I can’t ask her for the number.”
“Uh oh. Why not?”
“It’s a long story, but I fucked things up somehow and now I have to get her back.”
“Sounds serious. Is this really Miles Haas I’m talking to?”
“Ha. Yes. Hey, what did you say to get Coco to marry you?”
Nick made a choking sound. “You want to marry her? Are you drunk?”
I smiled. “Nope. Totally sober.”
“Jesus. Well, Coco wanted nothing to do with me when I originally asked her. I had to do it bigger. Better.”
“What did you do?”
“I got on the airport loudspeaker.”
I frowned. “Hm.”
“But you can do anything—it just has to be meaningful to her. And women always like a grand gesture.”
“A grand gesture?”
“Yeah, something kind of public. You know, to show her that you’re not afraid to let the world know how you feel.”
I thought for a moment. “She’s pregnant.”
“Oh, fuck.”
“Yeah.”
“You OK with that?”
I smiled. “You know what? I fucking am. I really fucking am.”
“Good.” He paused. “This might sound crazy, Miles, but I kinda feel like this is exactly what you need. That girl is way too good for you, but you might be able to have her forever if you do this right. Go get her.”
“Thanks. I will.”
• • •
I barely slept that night. The next day, I went over to Abelard Vineyards around eleven. It was Sunday, but it was summer, so I figured they’d have so much weekend tourist business, they’d be open, and I was right.
In the tasting room, I found Skylar pouring wine behind a long wooden bar. She looked surprised to see me.
“Hi. What are you doing here?”
“I came to talk to you. When are you off work?”
She scrutinized my face. “You look awful. Did you sleep last night?”
“No. I can’t sleep. And I can’t eat, and I don’t even feel like drinking, which is a serious sign that something is wrong with me. I need your help.”
Her eyes went wide. “Damn. Why don’t you come over tonight? We can talk.” She gave me directions to the house she shared with Sebastian, and I told her I’d be there at six.
I spent the rest of the day moping, fretting, and trying to come up with ideas to get Natalie to see me in a new light, but mostly I just walked around in dazed circles, opening the fridge when I meant to open the pantry, going into the library and then forgetting why I was in there, losing entire chunks of time staring aimlessly into space.
For fuck’s sake, someone please tell me love gets easier.
At five o’clock I took a shower and got dressed, then hit the wine store on the way to Skylar’s so I wasn’t empty-handed.
Sebastian let me into their house, which turned out to be a sort of pimped out one-room cabin with a loft, set in some secluded woods on the water. He gave me a tour while Skylar was changing out of her work clothes.
“This is amazing,” I said, standing on the stone patio and taking it all in. “So quiet and private.” In the past, that wouldn’t have appealed to me so much, but now that I was looking ahead, I could see how living in a place like this with Natalie would be heaven.
“Thanks. Can I get you a beer? Or a glass of wine?”
“I’ll take a beer, thanks.”
Sebastian went in the house and came out a minute later with two beers, Skylar at his heels with a glass of wine in her hands.
“Let’s sit,” she said, dropping down in a patio chair and tucking her legs underneath her, just like Natalie had sat last night. “Tell me how it went. I haven’t talked to Nat yet.”
I sat opposite her and Sebastian chose a seat to her left. They listened intently while I told them what I’d said.
“You said you wanted to do the right thing?” Skylar’s lower lip twitched. “Hmm.”
“What’s wrong with that?” I asked. “Wouldn’t a nice guy do the right thing?”
“She doesn’t want a nice guy. She wants you.” Skylar frowned. “OK, that came out wrong. But you know what I mean. She doesn’t want to feel like she’s forcing you into being someone you’re not. She doesn’t want to be your obligation. She wants the real you to want her.”