Page 15 of Always Yours

Seemingly out of nowhere Will says, “Tell me about where you grew up.”

“What do you want to know?” I ask, not even sure where to start.

“Everything.”

“I grew up on a vineyard outside of Napa, California. It’s been in our family for generations. I learned how to make wine when I was like five years old and when I’m done here, I’ll more than likely go back there to take over for my parents.”

“What about your sister?”

“She’ll go to school too, but she’s always had more of an active interest in the winery and vineyard than I have. As of right now, I’ll work the admin side of things. Do payroll, bookkeeping. I’ll be the accountant.”

“It must be nice to know exactly what you’ll do when you finish school,” Will comments, but it’s not the usual snide remark about already being set up by my family.

“It is, but at times people make comments about not having to worry about finding a job. I don’t think they understand the reputation I have to live up to, all the people I could possibly disappoint.”

“I can’t see you ever disappointing anyone,” Will says, and my face grows warm, his compliment making me realize how much he doesn’t know about me.

“Have you ever been to California?” I ask, knowing Rhode Island is basically as far away from California you can get within the continental U.S.

“Just once when I was a little. We went to Disneyland. It’s a long way from Rhode Island.”

I know I need to go home soon to pick up my new car, and as much as I want to ask Will to come with me, it might be too soon. Take him home to meet my family? Drive across the country with me?

While it might be too soon, and it might just fuck up everything I’ve started with Will, I still ask the question that has been swirling in my head the second he started asking about my family. Sucking in deep breath, I let it fly.

“Hey Will, would you want to fly home with me to pick up my car? We’d fly to Cali and then drive my car back to Ann Arbor.”

There’s a lull in the conversation, a silence that stills in the air and hangs heavy between us, and all I can think is,why the fuck would I have askedhim this?

6

Will

It’s been two weeks since Ellen invited me home with her and even though it was her who was nervous back then, as the plane descends into San Francisco, I feel my own stomach start to churn with nerves.

This feels like a big step, meeting her family and while I don’t doubt my feelings for Ellen, I do wonder what they will all think of me.

“You okay?” she asks, as we grab our bags from the overhead compartment.

I offer her a smile. “Yep.”

Ellen stares at me for a second. “You sure?”

I force my smile wider. “Definitely.”

She laughs. “You’re so full of shit.”

“What?” I reply, laughing as I gently nudge her down the aisle.

“You are totally nervous about meeting my family, aren’t you?” she says.

“Not at all,” I lie. “I already know they’ll love me.”

Ellen gives me a funny look as I grab her hand and we walk off the plane. The terminal is filled with people and we traverse the crowd, heading to the baggage claim. As we are riding the escalator down, Ellen soon waves to a lady thatlooks like an older version of her, waiting at the bottom with a huge smile on her face.

“Mom, this is Will,” she says, hand on my back. “Will, my mom, Cathy.”

We say our hellos and then we are collecting our bags and heading toward the parking garage, Ellen and her mom chatting the entire time.

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