Page 27 of New in Town

“Madelyn. Are you still there?”

“Yes, sorry I—”

“I was asking if you’ve met anyone there? Made any friends?”

“Yes, a few people have been really nice after I treated their animals,” she says, thinking of Grey and Laurel. She wouldn’t go into detail with her mom about who these people were, like the fact that Grey is a cowboy and she wanted him to slide his hand under her dress last night.

“I’m glad to hear that, kitten, so work is good?”

“Yeah, yeah work is good,” Maddie says, ignoring the surge of guilt once again. She doesn’t want her mom to worry about her. She is protecting Charlotte, she reasons with herself.

Her mom seems satisfied with her answers and the conversation veers towards the book her Night Nurses Book Club is reading right now. Charlotte is eager to tell her about the dark twists and turns of the whodunit novel. “Of course, it’s the husband. It’s always the husband,” Charlotte adds.

Down the hall, the ding of the bell above the front door sounds. Arlo isn’t in, and the call to birth a pig that took him out was too recent for the bell to be signaling his return. Saying goodbye to her mom, Maddie rounds the corner. If only she could shake the disheartened feeling that’s settled in her during the conversation.

There is nothing honest hidden under those ten-gallon hats. Her mom’s warning rattles in her brain. It can’t apply to Grey; she feels so sure of this. And yet, she had spent countless years hearing from her mom about how smooth cowboys are, how they’ll try to sweep her off her feet but are impossible to hold.

She walks down the hall to find Laurel and another woman their age in the doorway.

“Maddie! Hi! This is Gracie, she works on the ranch. Gracie, this is our new vet.”

Gracie pulls Maddie into a hug in greeting. “I’ve heard so much about you. Laurel says you are a total horse whisperer.”

Maddie smiles between the ladies. “I’m not sure about that, but I did love my time at your stables.”

“Well, we are here to see if we can steal more of your time,” Laurel explains. Her blonde hair is braided down her back and she’s wearing denim shorts and a white tank top. She does not look dressed for ranch work today. “We have some errands to run in town and then we’re going to hit the winery after. Very spur of the moment, but we were hoping you could join us at Sterling Vineyards later.”

“Yes, count me in,” Maddie responds excitedly. Since moving away from Jules, she has been craving a girl’s night.

“Great! We’ll be back around to get you after you’re off work. Friday nights they have live music and wine flights,” Laurel explains. She pulls out her phone to exchange numbers with Maddie. “Text me your address and what time you’re done here. See you soon,” she calls from the door.

With goodbye waves exchanged, the women leave the clinic once again. She leans back against the reception counter and smiles. That’s one way to shake her sour mood.

14

MADDIE

Sterling Vineyards is a magnificent, sprawling lodge of stone and wood nestled away in acres of grapevines. They enter through a wooden, arched double door to a long open room with vaulted ceilings. The walls and ceiling are made of aged wood planks, save for the back wall of glass. Maddie’s gaze travels upward as she takes in the second-floor walkway around the perimeter of the space, crystal chandeliers stretching in two rows down either side of the ceiling ridge. On one far end, a brick fireplace chimney reaches up two-stories. On the other, a loft hangs over the bar.

The ladies move to the bar to select their flights from the rows of bottles sitting on wooden, backlit shelves above them. They each collect a board with four glasses of varying wines from the smooth live edge ledge of timber, and head through the back to find a spot on the deck that overlooks the grapes. The view from the deck is breathtaking, filled with rows and rows of vines stretching over rolling hills, mountains reaching up behind them.

Laurel orders a charcuterie board for the table and the women settle in to bond over wine and cheese. “Okay, so we are actually here on a very important mission ladies,” Laurel says with a smirk. “Tonight, the three of us are going to decide the wines served at the wedding!” She clasps her hands together proudly as she beams over at Maddie and Gracie.

“Oh wow, that just put a lot of pressure on tonight now,” Maddie replies with a laugh, “but I am honored to be on this committee.”

Gracie raises a glass in a toast, the other two following suit. “To this adorable bride, true love, and good drinks,” she says as they all clink their glasses together. Taking a sip, Gracie sputters, “but this is not one of those good drinks. What is this, the blueberry one?”

She lowers her glass and checks the card that came with her flight. “Can you imagine Brett drinking blueberry wine though? Priceless.”

Laurel shakes her head with a smile. “He’ll have a whiskey bar. This is for us. So, if we want fruity, blue colored wine, we’ll get fruity, blue colored wine.” She takes the glass from Gracie and takes a sip, “Nope, we don’t want fruity blue wine.”

She hands the glass over to Maddie who scrunches her nose at the blue tinted alcohol before taking a sip. “Hmm, I’ll be going back to my drink. It’s actually good,” she says with a laugh.

“What is that one?” Gracie asks.

“It’s a Riesling with an apricot flavoring.” She hands the glass over for them to taste as she asks, “how is planning going?”

“Honestly, it’s been so great. We want simple and intimate. We are having it on the ranch, I want a night out under the stars,” Laurel replies. She takes a sip from Maddie’s glass, “yeah, this is good! Write it down as a contender. We need to pick out a white and a red.”

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