“I thought it couldn’t hurt for Jake to see me giving you roses,” Drew said, hoping her explanation would help put Annie more at ease. “Apricot-colored roses.”
Annie tilted her head. “Does this color have a special meaning?”
Drew grinned. “Passion.”
“Oh.” Annie stared at the flowers as if they were an exotic animal about to attack.
The expression on her face made Drew laugh. “Don’t worry. They don’t bite.” She winked at Annie. “And neither do I. We’re doing this to get back at Jake. Otherwise, my intentions are totally honorable. Scout’s honor.” She held up her first three fingers.
Annie shook her head and lifted her own hand, the thumb holding down the little finger to show Drew the correct sign. “You never were a girl scout, were you?”
“Oops.” Drew chuckled. “You caught me. Oh, I have something else for you.” She pulled an envelope from her pocket and handed it to Annie.
“You didn’t have to get me anything. We barely know each other.”
“I’m hoping to change that.” When Drew realized how that sounded, she added, “If we want to convince Jake that we’re a couple, don’t you think we should become more familiar with each other?”
“Probably.” Annie used one of her long, elegant fingers to open the envelope. She read the card and looked at the gift certificate. “Wow. Thank you. I didn’t know there was a vegetarian restaurant in San Luis Obispo.”
“It only opened a few months ago. I haven’t tried it out yet, but I checked with friends who live in SLO, and they say the food and the service are great.”
Annie looked shell-shocked. “You called your friends and drove to SLO just to get a gift certificate for me?”
“Sure.” Was that so extraordinary in Annie’s world?
With a brother like Jake, it probably is.
“I thought it would be nice for you to be able to choose from the whole menu for a change.”
“I look forward to it,” Annie said. She trailed her finger over the gift certificate before she put it back in the envelope.
Silence filled the room for a moment.
“So, how old are you today?” Drew asked.
Annie looked at her over the rim of her glasses. A tiny smile played around the edges of her mouth. “You have relationships with women, yet you never learned that you shouldn’t ask a lady for her age?”
At the unexpected joke, Drew nearly inhaled a sip of water. She loved the rare moments when Annie teased her right back. “Sorry,” she said and smiled. “Must be why I’m still single.”
Instead of looking insulted to be asked her age, Annie returned the smile. “I’m thirty.”
The big three-oh and yet no one was here to celebrate with Annie? Or was Annie going out to meet her friends and family? “So if you don’t mind me asking, what are your plans for today?”
“I’ll drive up to Fresno to celebrate with my parents,” Annie said as if it was the most natural thing in the world that she would go to her parents instead of the other way around. “We’ll have dinner in a French restaurant.”
“You like the French cuisine?”
Annie shrugged. “I prefer Italian or Chinese, but Chez Suzanne is my parents’ favorite restaurant.”
Is she serious?
Drew shook her head.
My God, don’t her parents know anything about her, not even what kind of food she likes?
Maybe it was no wonder that Jake refused to grow up and take life seriously. All the practical jokes were his way to get some attention because he surely wasn’t getting it from his parents either.
“What?” Annie asked when Drew kept shaking her head.
“If you would rather go to an Italian or Chinese restaurant, why don’t you tell your parents?”
“It’s not that important.”
“Why wouldn’t what you want be important?” Drew made eye contact until Annie looked away. It wasn’t just about the restaurant. She got the feeling that Annie’s family always ignored her needs—maybe because Annie rarely let them know what she wanted. Drew stopped herself from saying that.
You’re here to wish her a happy birthday, not to hand out lectures.
A small line appeared on Annie’s forehead. She leaned back against the couch. “It’s just not worth the fuss. If I want Italian food, I go by myself. I don’t rely on others to get what I want.”
“That’s just it. You should be able to rely on your family.” Drew trailed both hands through her hair and forced herself to calm down. She reminded herself that not everyone was blessed with the type of family she’d had. “Okay. Let’s make a deal. If you get a craving for Italian food, you call me and we’ll have dinner together.”
Annie stared at her, then interrupted their eye contact by glancing at the envelope.
“We could talk about our plan to trick Jake over dinner,” Drew added after a few seconds of silence.
Annie looked up from the envelope with the gift certificate. “If you don’t mind eating vegetarian food, we could try out the vegetarian restaurant together.”
“I don’t mind at all,” Drew said, enchanted by the cautious but hopeful expression in Annie’s eyes. “Just give me a call when you want to go. If there’s nothing urgent going on in the winery, I’m the master of my own schedule and can go with you even at short notice.” She emptied her water glass and stood. “Okay, I should go now and let you get ready for your drive to Fresno. Have a wonderful birthday—and order the most expensive thing on the menu since your parents are paying.”
Annie’s laughter followed her to the door and all the way home.
Chapter 7
Drew had just wrapped up two bottles of Merlot for the last customer, put the glasses into the dishwasher, and was about to close up the tasting room for the day, when the door opened again.
Seems carving the Halloween decorations will have to wait.
She put on a friendly smile and turned around.
The large frame of her friend Becky filled the doorway.
Drew’s smile grew. She willingly let herself be engulfed in a bear hug that lifted her off her feet. She gave Becky a gentle slap on the shoulder. “Have you finally given up that awful brew and decided to try my wine?”
“Oh, no.” Becky lifted her broad hands. “Keep your wine. I’ll keep drinking beer, thank you very much.”
Grinning about their old joke, Drew went to get the beer that she kept in the fridge just for Becky. She turned the sign on the door to display “closed” from the outside, got herself a glass of Merlot, and took a seat next to Becky at the bar. “Where’s Sam?”
The mere mention of her wife’s name put a smile on Becky’s face.
Seeing her friends so happy warmed Drew’s heart, but at the same time, it made her long for the same kind of happiness.
“Still at work,” Becky said. “She’s got a PTA meeting. I’m picking her up in half an hour. Since I was in the neighborhood, I thought I’d look in on you and see how you’re doing.”
Drew had heard that excuse often in the last year. “My vineyard is outside of town, surrounded just by other vineyards, so how come you and Sam and Lynn are in the neighborhood so often?”
“Maybe we like the fresh air out here,” Becky said.
“Fresh air. Sure. That’s why you’re sitting in a tasting room when you don’t even like wine.” Drew shook her head.
“Well, maybe it’s not just the fresh air.” Becky made eye contact and held it. “We worry about you.”
Drew touched Becky’s shoulder. “I’m fine,” she said. Then, when she realized how much she sounded like Annie, she added, “Really. You don’t have to worry about me, okay? I’m keeping busy with work.”
Becky leaned down to be at eye level with Drew. “Work’s not everything. You need to get out more. What happened with that blonde you met for dinner? You seemed pretty excited that she agreed to go out with you. So how did it go? Will you see her again?”
Only then did Drew realize she hadn’t talked to any of her friends since that first dinner with Annie. She had spent more time with Annie than with her other friends recently. “I’ve seen her several times already.”
“Really?” Becky beamed at her. “That’s great. It’s high time that you started dating again.”
Drew waved her aside. “It’s not like that.”
“So she’s not your type after all?” Becky asked.
No, that wasn’t it. Annie was more reserved than the women Drew had dated in the past, but that made her only more special to Drew. “I’m not hers,” Drew said. “She’s straight.”
Becky groaned. “Oh, man. That college buddy set you up with a straight woman?”
“Worse. She’s his sister.”
Becky nearly spewed beer all over the table. “What?”
Drew nodded. “Yeah. But don’t worry, we’ll teach him a lesson he’ll never forget.”
“Good.” Becky patted her shoulder. “Don’t let that asshole stop you from going out and meeting people. You’re coming to Lynn’s Halloween party tomorrow, right?”
Drew swirled around the wine in her glass. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“Oh, come on.” Becky set down her beer bottle with a resounding thump. “Why not? You never missed a party in the past.”
“Yeah, but that’s the past. Nowadays, I’m not much of a party girl. I’m ready to settle down.”
A gentle smile spread over Becky’s broad face. “That’s great. Sam and I want that for you. But how are you supposed to meet someone to settle down with if you don’t go out and meet women?”
Drew quirked an eyebrow. “And you think Lynn’s party is a good place to do that? Don’t you remember what happened last year?”
“That was last year. She’s over you by now. She won’t make a scene if you flirt with another woman.”
Drew wasn’t so sure. Sometimes, she saw the pain and the longing in Lynn’s eyes, and it made her feel too guilty to relax around Lynn.
“Her restaurant is one of your best customers, so you can’t avoid her forever,” Becky said. “Besides, didn’t you read the handbook? As a lesbian, you’re obligated to stay friends with all your exes.”
“I stayed friends with Sam,” Drew said, knowing what reaction that would get her.
Becky huffed. “You never dated Sam.”
“Sure I did. She was practically my first love.”
Scowling, Becky picked up Drew’s glass and sniffed. “Something in that wine is making you delusional. You were in kindergarten!”
“Okay, okay.” Drew stopped grinning. “Lynn’s a great woman, and I want to stay friends with her.” She remembered all the good times they had shared when they had first become lovers—taking dance classes, hosting Lynn’s famous costume parties, cooking together and ending up making love on the kitchen floor. “But every time I’m friendly toward her, I’m afraid I’m sending mixed signals.”
“Then bring a date to the party,” Becky said. “You haven’t been with anyone else since the two of you broke up a year ago, so of course Lynn thinks you’re not over her.”
Hmm.
Drew had never thought about it that way, but maybe Becky was right. Was there anyone she could ask to go to the party with her without leading her on?
Annie. Maybe I could ask her. She needs to get out more and have some fun, and we could use more time together to get more comfortable with each other.
“Maybe you’re right.”
“So you’ll come?”
Drew hesitated, then nodded. “I’ll come.”
“Great.” Becky finished her beer and got up. “Time to pick up Sam.” She pulled Drew into another hug.
“Say hi to my first love for me, will you?”
Becky smacked her on the back of the head and let go before Drew could retaliate. “I will. See you tomorrow at Lynn’s.”
* * *
Annie closed her book without putting in a bookmark and scowled at the cover.
Is it just me, or is this book more boring than watching grass grow?
She remembered that Drew had used the same phrase to describe some of her dates with women.
I wonder what she’s doing on a Friday night. She’s probably out, having fun.
The thought filled her with a sudden longing.
She dropped the book on the coffee table, jumped up, and prowled the living room, searching for something to do.
What’s up with you?
Normally, Annie was content staying home. She had learned early on in her life to entertain herself, but tonight, a strange restlessness filled her.
For a few moments, she considered driving to the office and working for an hour or two, but then she shook her head. Working all the time wasn’t the answer. The pile of unfolded laundry didn’t look inviting either.
She reached for the phone and stared at its display. Should she call someone? Maybe someone from the book club? But Sarah had mentioned plans with her boyfriend, and Tamara and Mia had children and couldn’t just meet her for coffee or dinner at the spur of a moment.
Jake?
She tapped the phone against her forehead.
Are you crazy? He and his friends will drag you to a bar, where you’ll stare into your virgin piña colada all night and wish you were home, folding laundry.
The thought made her pause. Was that one of the negative assumptions about herself that Drew had mentioned?