Page 69 of Wild Abandon

“How did you know I worked here?” I ask.

“You work here?”

Based on the intensity of his question, I don’t think he came here to apologize.

“Yes,” I answer slowly.

“You’re a cellist”—his eyes are looking at me in the most peculiar way—“who works at a winery even though they don’t have wine tastings.” Something about his voice is making him sound like a robot. “And they don’t produce wine but will be reopening.” Nate looks around the space, taking in the decor. “I’m a fucking idiot.” His eyes stop at the mural.

“Naomi painted it,” I offer.

In turn, he offers me silence.

His head turns back to me, his brows curved in with a pinch of disappointment. I know I’m supposed to be totally pissed at him for the other night, but his reaction right now is throwing me so off guard that I feel like I should be apologizing to him for something.

I raise my arms in question. “Nate, is there something you came here to say to me?”

He opens his mouth to speak but doesn’t say anything. He is staring at me so hard that his eyes aren’t even blinking. If it weren’t for the movement in his chest, I’d swear he was a statue.

I lean forward and wait for him to say something. Anything.

“We can’t see each other again,” he finally speaks.

And those are the words that come out of his mouth?

“I’m sorry, what?”

“This was a mistake.” He turns and walks out the front door, leaving me staring at the space where his body was standing as I try to figure out what the hell just happened.

“Are you freaking kidding me?” I stomp out the door toward him. “You came here to tell me that we can’t see each other anymore?”

Nate doesn’t answer. He marches straight to his truck and climbs in. The ignition is started so quickly that I have to back up, so I don’t get kicked with pebbles when he drives away.

What the hell just happened?

When I turn around, Big Ed is standing on the side of the ranch, looking back at the scene, probably wondering the exact same thing.

chapter FOURTEEN

It’s been two weeks since I’ve seen Nate. The ranch is doing well. We host one wine tasting a day, four times a week. On the days Ed is gone, I drive myself crazy while sitting in Jeremy and Naomi’s house. I’m bored out of my mind. Naomi is working, so I can’t hang in my room. Scarlet is at school, so I can’t bother her, and Jeremy is at work.

I spend my afternoons plucking away on the front stoop.

Today, my cello and I are serenading the empty block with Ed Sheeran. At least as much of it that I can get out with a solo cello. Right now, I’m playing “Thinking Out Loud,” a song about loving someone forever. It reminds me of Ed and Rosemary.

I start out with plucking at the strings, playing the opening chords, as Ed would do on a guitar. Then, I bring in the bow and strum the chords of his lyrics. I’m on my ninth—or quite possibly my nineteenth—rendition of the song when Naomi comes stomping out of the house.

“For the love of all things holy, please stop playing that fucking song!”

I look up at her. “What crawled up your ass?”

Her head cocks out. “Ed Sheeran—that’s who crawled up my ass. And my ears and my nose, and he’s living in my freaking head. It’s bad enough the cello is the most morbid-sounding instrument, but if I hear one more note out of that thing, I’m smashing it.”

“Jeez, all you had to do was ask nicely.”

Naomi lets out a breath and rubs her forehead. “I’m sorry. I just hate seeing you like this.”

“Like what?”