Page 28 of Taurus

Chapter ten

Parker

“Damn,youlooktired today,” Lindsey says when I meet her up at the tasting room to help prepare for the day.

“Yeah, I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.” I bend over to gather my hair on the top of my head before piling it into a messy bun.

“Some of us asked about you yesterday and Austin said you weren’t feeling good. I’m hoping that’s better today?” she asks as she counts out the tasting cards and pens we’ll need for each round of guests later.

“I wish I could say yes. I’m still a little slow on the uptake, but I’m good for the most part.”

The alcohol I consumed last night and the amount of tears that left my eyes, even before Austin came to find me, aren’t what’s causing the fog in my head, not even close.

Most of yesterday is blurry, but I remember almost kissing Austin. I remember throwing myself at him, basically begging him to touch me, to kiss me.

But he didn’t. He walked away like I was a mistake, like he couldn’t believe he was about to touch me.

Then his admission that he never slept with Amber. He never cheated on me. I left him all those years ago over a lie, over a jump in conclusions.

Since then, I’ve had a disgusting black knot in my stomach. He even avoided me this morning when we were getting ready for the day.

A loud bang at the front of the room pulls both of our attention and we see Austin cursing at himself after dropping a box of whatever it is he’s carrying. Nothing is broken, as far as I can tell, so it’s more of an aggravation for him, but he’s reacting like it’s the end of the world.

“God fucking dammit,” he says loudly and before Linds can even say a thing, he shuts her down as he walks by to go up to the offices. “Not today, Linds.”

She turns slowly to look at me and rolls her eyes. “Any idea what crawled up his ass and made him a dick this morning?”

“Does he ever have a good reason? When we were younger, he was so hot-headed that someone could breathe incorrectly near him and he’d get all… assholey.”

“Gotta be honest with you though; he’s never really been in a bad mood since I’ve known him. He’s always able to manage things easily and without issue. I think I’ve only ever seen him angry once or twice.” She passes me a stack of drink cards to start setting up for the first round of tasting and I place them in front of each stool.

“I wish I had more answers for you. I think I knew a different Austin, honestly. Different but the same. I know that’s weird, but it’s the truth.”

“That’s not weird. Ten years is a long time and people change. They change a lot, in fact. I was a nightmare ten years ago without a path, making horrible choices and putting myself in dangerous circumstances, and look at me now.” She puts her arms out and twirls dramatically.

What does that mean? What kind of life did she live before coming here to work?

“You seem gloriously happy,” I tell her honestly. “I don’t know your history but I can tell, just from knowing you for a short time, you are exactly where you need to be in life.”

The entire staff thrives here. There’s a positive glow on this property that can’t be explained or duplicated. Lightning struck with this team, and that just makes my decision even more difficult.

Sometime around lunch, I step up to the small office upstairs that Austin calls his own during the day and knock on the door.

“Yeah?” he calls from inside and I push the wooden door inward, swinging it open to reveal Austin sitting amongst a mountain of paperwork, squinting down at something scribbled on one of them.

I cross my arms and lean against the doorframe. “You need glasses.”

He looks up at me briefly then turns his attention back to the papers. “No, I don’t.” His tone is short, annoyed, and frankly, kind of rude.

“Having a bad day?”

“Something like that.”

“Did something happen?” I push off the frame and step farther into the office.

“Why would you think that?” He still hasn’t looked at me except for the very first glance.

“Um, because you have been distant, short, and pretty angry all day long. Not only to me but to everyone else here today.”

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