Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 95256 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95256 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
“For about ten minutes. Until the snacks ran out.”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course. I have one more condition.”
“Name it.”
“You accept the offer to do Hot Mess.”
I cocked my head. “You really want to get rid of me, don’t you?”
“I just want you to go where you belong, Gianni. You know you’re not going to stay here, so why drag it out? You did what you had to do—opened Etoile. Started the fire. Now that it’s burning, you’re free to go. There’s no reason to stay, right?” Her tone was defiant, almost like she was daring me to argue with her.
“I guess not.”
“So go.”
I nodded, even though something about this felt off. “Okay. I’ll go.”
“Good. Then I’ll accept your apology.” She glanced over her shoulder. “I have to get back in there. I’ll be up in time for the first seating.”
“Okay.”
Then she surprised me by taking the roses and M&M’s from my hands.
“I thought friendship couldn’t be bought,” I said.
She hugged them to her chest. “We’re not friends.” Then she turned and walked away, leaving me with a smile on my face.
And an ache in my chest.
SIXTEEN
ELLIE
Later that night, after I was finished at Etoile, I met up with Winnie in the kitchen—my family’s personal kitchen, not the one at the restaurant, where Gianni was still closing up. I was exhausted, but I’d promised Winnie we could have a glass of wine so I could give her the full scoop on the last two days.
I opened a bottle of wine, poured two glasses, and put some light snacks on a platter for us—cheese, crackers, nuts, dried fruit, olives. It reminded me of sitting on the bed with Gianni, a pile of gas station snacks between us. Definitely less sophisticated, but no less tasty in the moment. I remembered his idea about a tasting with good wine and inexpensive snacks—I still liked it. Maybe I’d add it to the summer lineup of events.
As I was setting the platter on the marble kitchen island, I heard a knock on the back door, which I’d left unlocked for Winnie. Then it opened. “You here?” she called out.
“I’m here. Come on in.” I brought the two glasses of wine to the island, sat on one of the counter stools, and ditched my flats. “How were the roads?”
“Not too bad. Dex actually let me drive myself.” She took off her boots, tossed her coat onto the back of a chair and came and sat on the stool next to me. After work, she’d changed into jeans and a blue cowl-necked sweater that brought out the color of her eyes. It was a shade that would have looked nice on Gianni too, although his eyes were a deeper blue than Winnie’s. “But I have to text him when I’m leaving, even though he’s already asleep.”
“He’s working tomorrow?” Dex was a firefighter and worked twenty-four-hour shifts, starting at seven in the morning.
“Yes. So I’m not in a rush to get back tonight, since he’s gone to bed already.” Her eyes gleamed over the rim of her glass as she took a sip. “Tell me everything. The long version.”
I started with the disastrous dinner at Fiona Duff’s house—how everyone had paid so much attention to Gianni, the way I’d struggled to hold anyone’s attention, the offer he’d gotten from Fiona at the end of the night.
Winnie paused with an olive halfway to her mouth. “No way. She offered the spot to him?”
“Not just the spot, but the cover.” I shoved a dried apricot in my mouth. “I was in the car already, so I didn’t hear it or I’d probably have died on the spot.”
“So he told you about it when he came out?”
“No. He waited until we’d already had sex, of course. He must have felt guilty or something.”
“Okay, back up.” Winnie reached for another olive. “I need to know how the sex got started. When you two left here on Monday, you swore you wouldn’t sleep with him if he was the last guy on earth.”
“And I meant it.” I frowned. “It must have been the blizzard. I think I lost my mind.”
Her eyes grew big as I told her about pulling off the road, finding the Pineview Motel, and discovering our room only had one bed.
Winnie grinned. “You must have about died. I wish I could have seen your face.”
“I was not pleased,” I said, able to laugh about it now. “The two of us stood there staring at it, and there wasn’t even a couch or anything for one of us to sleep on. We had to share the bed.”
“So then what?”
“Then there was some crying, some wine, some junk food.”
“Crying?”
“I was upset about the evening—and mind you, I didn’t even know about the offer he’d gotten yet. I was just disappointed in myself and embarrassed that I’d let such a great opportunity slip through my fingers somehow.”