By then Brenna was exhausted, starving and ever-so-grateful for the catered brunch. First, she stood on the dais to talk to all the volunteers.
“My family and I would like to thank you all so much for participating today. You were a great help in harvesting the grapes, and we hope you had as much fun as we did. Now enjoy your brunch.”
Everyone clapped and the food was served.
Brenna saw that Finn had saved her a seat at the main table. She smiled at that and made her way over to sit by him, again checking out her family to see if anyone smirked or looked.
Nope. Nothing. No one even looked their way.
Huh.
“It went well,” he said.
She looked over at him. “Yes, it did. And you worked hard.”
“Not really. Just did what everyone else was doing.”
And he made it look so good.
She took a sip of her mimosa, which tasted cool and inviting, and then she went right for the food, which was just what she needed. They had multiple choices of eggs, bacon, sausage and all kinds of fruit, plus biscuits and a delectable selection of pastries to choose from. Brenna had small bites of everything. And she cleaned her plate.
“You were hungry,” Finn said.
She nodded. “I nibbled on half a croissant this morning, but that was a long time ago.”
He laid his hand on her thigh. “You worked up an appetite. And look at what you did. I’m so impressed.”
She laughed. “I do it every year. You’re always a part of it.”
He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her cheek, then whispered, “Yeah, but I’m not usually as involved in everything as I was today. It was fun.”
She realized as she looked around that her entire family was watching, including her mom and dad, who both were giving them happy smiles.
Okay, now everyone was looking. And it made her realize that her relationship with Finn wasn’t for show. This was real and happening and as she saw her sisters smiling warmly at her, too, she didn’t know what to do.
Other than ignore it. That was what she was going to do. Just ignore it. Because she had wrap-up to do in the warehouse.
“I’ve gotta go,” she said to Finn as she stood. “More work to do.”
He looked up at her. “You need any help?”
She shook her head. “No. I’ve got this.”
“Okay. I’ll see you later.”
As she nearly sprinted toward the cellars, she realized she’d fled the scene like some criminal on the run.
Okay, so she hadn’t handled that well. But in her defense, this whole fake engagement and relationship thing with Finn had been because of Mitchell and Allison, who were not present today. And still, she’d fallen into a pattern with Finn.
It’s called a relationship, dumbass. You’re having a relationship with him.
“Shut up,” she mumbled to herself as she haltingly descended the steps of the cellar, grateful for the coolness of the concrete wall against her hand.
Not that the slow trek helped to anchor her thoughts, which were still all over the place. She didn’t know why she couldn’t reconcile her relationship with Finn and accept what it was.
Fear?
Probably.
She’d been sailing along with her life just fine until Finn crashed into it. Not that he hadn’t always been there. But as a boyfriend-slash-fake-fiancé? That had changed everything.
And when had her feelings changed from let’s-play-a-fun-game to it all becoming a little too real?
These were big questions. Questions she didn’t have the time or the want to answer. Not today, anyway.
But would she want to answer those questions tomorrow?
Probably not. Because she’d still be afraid of the answers tomorrow.
She sighed and went to work.
CHAPTER
• • • • • •
twenty-two
THIS WOULDN’T BE Finn’s first time wearing a tux. He’d done it before, when Erin was supposed to get married to Owen. That hadn’t exactly worked out as planned, but then she’d fallen in love with Jason and now he was going to have to wear a tux again.
Today they were just getting measurements taken. The wedding wasn’t until next month, though how the hell they were getting it all done in such a short period of time was more than Finn could fathom. Then again, it was the Bellinis and if any family could put together a wedding that fast, it was them.
“Okay,” Jason said, holding up a card. “Erin told me I’ve got three tuxes to choose from.”
Clay cracked a smile. “She gave you three, huh?”
“Hey, it’s not like I care. I’ll show up in my underwear if it makes her happy.”
Finn laughed. “It might.”
“In most cases I’d say yes. On our wedding day? Not so much.”
Finn looked around. “Owen’s really not going to be in the wedding at all, huh?”
Jason shook his head. “Erin and I both told him we wanted him to participate, but he said that given everything that went down, he didn’t feel comfortable taking part. He didn’t want any bad memories to spoil our day.”
Finn could understand how Owen felt, even though he’d been forgiven by both Jason and Erin. Still, it had to hurt not to stand up for your best friend. Clay was taking over best man duties, and Jason’s cousin Leo was going to step in as another groomsman. It would all work out just fine.
But they were going to miss Owen.
A man came out and started taking measurements while they discussed which tux Jason liked best. Since they were guys, and fashion wasn’t much of a thing that concerned them, that conversation didn’t take long. Jason tried them all on, and he looked great in all three. He sent pictures to Erin and she chose the one she liked best. That was easy.
“Are you getting excited about the wedding?” Finn asked.
“I’m excited about being married to Erin. And she’s excited to have the whole ceremony over with.”
Clay raised his arm so the tux guy could measure him. “I thought women got into the whole wedding thing.”
Jason nodded. “She was. The first time. But she said she got so wrapped up in wedding details that she lost sight of what was really important, which was being married. Now she wants to keep things simple, which works for me. We just want to be married and get our lives moving forward.”
“I could see that,” Finn said as the tailor motioned for him to step forward. “You two went through a lot to be together. It’s time to put all of that behind you and start your married lives.”