Blush - Jamie Brenner Page 0,126

the finest moment for either one of them.

“You spoke to my mother?” she said.

“I did. And your mother just spoke to my mother.”

That didn’t compute for a moment, but then she realized her mother had taken her suggestion to invite Maria Eugenia to the Harvest Circle. Mateo confirmed this. “And Leah offered to fly her in. She said it was all your idea.”

Sadie nodded.

“What made you do that?” he said.

“I kept thinking about the photo in your office,” Sadie said. “The one she took of the flowers in the wine. Also, what you said the day you told me about her.”

“What did I say?”

“That she has a feminist heart.” If there was one thing Sadie had learned that summer, it was that feminism took all different forms.

He smiled. “Well, I wanted to thank you. It was a really thoughtful gesture.”

“I’ve missed you,” she blurted out.

“Sadie . . .”

“I know, I know—my grandfather, your father, the sale of the winery. I’m just saying . . .” She crossed her arms, trying to stay measured even as her emotions bubbled up to the surface. Feelings she’d been trying to bury in schoolwork. In reading. In a campus book club that didn’t get off the ground. “I thought being back at school would help me forget about you. But it hasn’t. And what I said about The New Yorker? Writing isn’t as important as what you’re doing here. I create stories, but you create life.”

He looked down at the ground, taking a long pause before responding. When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet. “For the record, I wasn’t blaming you for what’s happened with the winery. I was, in a clumsy way, trying to explain that it’s complicated. Too complicated—especially since we have totally different lives.”

She swallowed hard.

“I mean, our lives aren’t that different. I’m here now, trying to help my mother save this place. And if things work out, I’ll be back more often. I want to be here. Not just because it’s where my family lives. Great writers are a part of something larger than themselves. That photo in your office of the man writing in chalk on the building to represent the lost of Guatemala—his art means something. It’s not just academic or intellectual. I want my life and my work to mean something, too. So if we can keep this place in the family, I want to come back as much as possible. And even if that doesn’t happen, well, I still want to open up my life more. And maybe, I don’t know, you and I can hang out. I want to try. Don’t you?”

It was hard to lay her feelings so bare in front of him, but it would be even harder to keep them unspoken and always wonder, what if? If he didn’t feel the same way, at least she knew she had done all she could. She would know the ending would not be her fault.

He moved closer, touching a lock of her hair, his eyes searching her face. She held his gaze until he finally leaned forward to kiss her gently on the lips. She threw her arms around him, pulling him against her. Their kiss deepened. This was it, Sadie thought. This was love. This was her man. The rest of her life would have to fit around this.

“I guess I should have known I wasn’t coming here just to thank you,” he murmured. “I missed you, too. And yes, I want to spend more time together. We’ll figure it out.”

“No time like the present,” she said.

“Oh, yeah?”

“I’ve always wanted to have sex in a library.” And by “always,” she meant suddenly—right in that moment.

“Very funny,” he said.

“I’m serious.”

“Someone could walk in,” Mateo said.

“They won’t,” Sadie said. But just to be safe, she grabbed his hand and led him up the narrow winding stairs to the second level. Sadie’s eyes immediately went to the shelf where she’d found the books, all now returned to their spots: Lace. Scruples. Chances. If she hadn’t read those novels, would she be standing there with Mateo? Would she have figured out a thesis? She didn’t know. But she suspected her life would look very different without the words written by those bold women so long ago.

“Here?” he said, looking at the floor space between the banister and the bookshelves.

“Yeah,” she said.

“I’ve got a lot to learn about you, Sadie Bailey. I’ve never seen this side before.” He started kissing her again. “But I like it.”

They fell