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She gave me one more hug and slipped out of the apartment. Standing alone in the apartment, I started to feel nervous, but I was definitely more excited. This wasn’t the kind of nervous that meant I was thinking about calling it off or didn’t know if I wanted to do it. It was the kind that came from not really remembering what it was like to go on an actual date and hoping I did it right.
Doug and I started out going on a lot of dates when we first got together. He liked to try to impress me and would bring me out all the time. As happens with relationships, the longer we were together, the fewer and further between those dates got until they petered off altogether. We would still occasionally go grab something to eat or catch a movie, but they didn’t feel like dates. More just two people doing something at the same time.
Of course, that all came before he got angry.
I shook my head hard to dislodge any thoughts about Doug. I didn’t want to think about him right then. Not when I had something so much better ahead of me. Especially not when my phone just alerted me to the message that Alex was getting ready to pull up to my apartment building and would be at my door in a second.
Rather than waiting for him, I got my purse and stepped outside. I watched as he pulled up in a nice Audi and rolled his window down to look out at me. He flashed me a grin.
“I was going to come to the door to get you,” he said.
“I know,” I said. “But I thought I’d meet you halfway.”
My stomach flipped, and I couldn’t stop the smile that stretched across my face.
“Then I guess I should come the other half,” he said.
Alex climbed out of his car and walked toward me. I bit down on my bottom lip as he extended his elbow to me. It made my heart race to see how his eyes widened.
I looped my arm through his, and he guided me to the car, opening the door for me so I could slip inside. Not wanting to be a big cliché, I fought the urge to flip down the sun visor mirror and check my lipstick before he got in behind the wheel. He smiled over at me and then pulled out of the parking lot to head for the vineyard.
The closer we got to the vineyard, the more excited I became. But also, the more butterflies showed up in my stomach. This felt like more than just a normal first date. I was going to the vineyard he owned with his brothers, somewhere with a lot of history for his family. Most likely the date would include meeting at least one of the other four of the King men, which would be more meaningful than just catching a glimpse of them in the bar or at the farmer’s market.
It might have sounded silly if I said it out loud, but I felt a little like I was being shown off. And I didn’t mind admitting, at least to myself in the privacy of my own mind, that I liked it.
The vineyard took my breath away when we arrived. It was absolutely beautiful, and I remembered Alex saying they were still working on it. I could only imagine how spectacular it was going to be when they were finished and had transformed the place into their vision.
We didn’t park right at the restaurant. Instead, he brought his car down a private access road and then walked with me along a narrow path leading through lush landscaping. It was so peaceful and lovely I probably would have been happy just to have that be the entirety of the date. We didn’t even need to stop and have dinner. We could have just walked through the vineyard and then gone back to my apartment for pizza, and it would have been wonderful.
“Was this what it was like when you were little?” I asked.
Alex laughed and shook his head. “No. It was getting old and run-down even then. It wasn’t in nearly as bad of condition as it was when they died and left it to us, but there were always things about it that were a bit on the aged side. They had big plans for it. They loved it and wanted it to be spectacular. They just never got around to doing everything they wanted. Or they couldn’t.
“That’s why it was so important to my brothers and me that we took it and turned it into something they would be proud of. I know they would be so excited to see people wanting to come here and have dinner or take a wine tour. We’re still working on the little bungalows that will be out closer to the grapevines.”
