public, and she hadn’t shied away from it. In fact, her mom had been right there. She looked around to see not a single person paying the slightest bit of attention to her—to them.
She sighed, realizing that maybe her having a relationship with Finn was only a big deal to her, and not a single person was freaking out about it.
What did that mean?
It means you need to chill, Brenna.
Okay, then. She’d relax. A little. Maybe. Eventually.
Half the day was gone by the time picking and stomping was through. The bins were loaded up and driven to the warehouse for processing, and all the volunteers were directed to the barn where brunch was going to be served.
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