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After he dropped Chelsea back at her car, Grant decided to take the long way to work. He’d loved spending most of the weekend with her, but he needed a little time to wrap his head around everything. He needed to figure out what he was going to do. Chelsea had said she’d love him to stay at Zosca and, in a way, that appealed to him very much. He had a nasty feeling that that was motivated by emotion, not business sense. Yes, he could help Zosca. Part of him was excited at the prospect of going in on a permanent basis, not just to turn a company around and point it in the right direction, but to stay with it and ensure that it stayed on course. He knew a larger part of him was more interested in getting to be around Chelsea every day. He couldn’t bank on that feeling lasting though. He couldn’t stake his professional future—or the continued success of Zosca—on him and Chelsea working out. It wouldn’t be right, no matter how much he hoped it could be a huge success.
He turned off the highway and took the road that led up by Dawson Dale. He’d deliberately not been up here since he arrived in Napa. He’d wanted to, but he didn’t know how it would feel. He slowed the car as he approached the driveway. He wasn’t going to go in; he just wanted to take a look. The grand archway over the entrance didn’t look so grand anymore, and the sweeping lawn that came down to the road looked more like a meadow. He sighed. Maybe he shouldn’t have come at all? He looked up at the house in the distance. He couldn’t see if it, too, was run-down, but he knew somehow that it was. The whole place felt neglected. He’d asked around and heard that the new owners weren’t doing well. So many wineries came and went in Napa. Not many were able to establish themselves and claim a place amongst the big names who’d been here for generations. He hoped Chelsea and Zosca would be one of the few who did. Judging from the look of the place, whoever was operating out of his grandad’s old winery wasn’t going to make it. He sighed and drove on. Why had he even come up here? It wasn’t like he could ever bring Dawson Dale back to life.
He turned around and went back the way he came, no longer wanting to make the loop through the hills that he’d been planning to. There was nothing he could do up here—nothing but look back and feel sad. He wanted to get to work, to Zosca and to Chelsea. He knew that there, with her, there was so much he could do, so much to feel happy about and to look forward to. Even if he moved on and left her to run the place her way, he was hoping that they’d still be seeing each other for a long time to come and that he’d be able to offer his help and advice.
He pulled into the little lot behind the offices when he got there and took a moment to just sit and take in the beauty of the place. In some ways, he envied Chelsea. She had this place. Soon she would own it outright; she was the mistress of her own destiny. He’d spent his whole working career helping people move forward with their own endeavors, and this morning, it struck him for the first time, that he didn’t have an endeavor of his own. He frowned. He’d never thought of it like that before. He shook his head and got out of the car. He didn’t need to start thinking of it that way now. He loved his work. Even if it had panned out a little differently this time.
Gene greeted him with a smile as he made his way inside. “Good morning, Grant.”
“Morning, Gene. Thanks again for Saturday night. It was a great time.”
Gene gave him a knowing smile. “I’m glad to hear it.”
Grant smiled back feeling a little awkward. It dawned on him that he and Chelsea hadn’t said their goodbyes before they left Gene and Rita’s place, and their absence would no doubt have been noted.
Gene patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, son. Everyone’s rooting for you, not against you.”
Grant stared at him for a moment, wanting to ask what he meant. Who was rooting for him? He wanted to ask, but he thought it better not to.
“I was just on my way back to the estate. I’ll see you around.”
Grant was still staring after him when Chelsea game out of her office. She smiled when she saw him. “There you are. I was starting to wonder if you got lost.” Her smile faded. “Or if you’d driven away as fast as you could.”
He went to her and took hold of her hand. “And why would I do that?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s Monday morning, the weekend’s over. Reality sets back in. Maybe we spent too much time together, and you don’t want that.”
He smiled and slid his arms around her waist, drawing her closer to him. “You don’t really think that, do you?”
She shook her head and gave him a sheepish smile. “No, I don’t, but you took ages, and I don’t know, it’s all so new, I started to doubt. Then my imagination got a little crazy, and I had visions of you packing up and getting out of town just to get away from me.”
He dropped a kiss on her forehead. “No chance. I wanted to drive up by Dawson Dale, that’s all. And then when I got there, I didn’t know why I’d gone, and all I wanted was to get back here to you.”
She planted a quick peck on his lips and then stepped away from him with a smile. “I’m glad, but we should probably step into my office.”
He waggled his eyebrows at her. “I like the sound of that.”
She shook her head and led him into her office, closing the door behind them. “Sorry, but no such luck this morning.” She eyed her desk then met his gaze with a smile. “I’d love us to christen that at some point, but for now, I just wanted to stop hugging on you in public.”
“Yeah, sorry.” Grant was surprised at himself.
“I’m not, I like it. But I’d rather people get the idea that we’re together a little more gradually, not just have them find us in the corridor groping each other.”
“I wasn’t groping. I thought I did very well to keep my hands to myself.”
She laughed. “You did. I did, too. I’m not sure how long I can keep it up, though.”
He stepped toward her and her arms came up around his neck. He loved the way she kissed him so eagerly, loved the way her soft body felt pressed against his. He started to walk her backward until she was up against her desk. She stopped kissing him and put her hands on his shoulders and shook her head. “Please don’t tempt me anymore. I’m not going to be able to resist, and now really isn’t the time.”
He stepped back and hung his head. “Sorry.” He smiled up at her through his lashes. “What should we be doing instead?”
“Getting ready for Dad’s visit.”
“Oh.” His head snapped up at that news. “Shit. Sorry.”
She laughed. “It’s not a problem; it’s just that him walking in to find us naked on my desk might be.”
“Yeah, I think that’d be a pretty big problem. What time’s he going to be here?”
