For the past few weeks, Maverick had dragged his tired ass home after long days of picking grapes in the vineyard, and within five seconds of walking in the house and seeing Ella’s smiling face, his second wind hit, his cock got rock hard, and it pointed straight toward her like a fucking compass.
Of course, Ella always managed to add more fuel to the fire when she closed her laptop and asked him if he’d be willing to help her “research” her next scene.
Sweet Jesus, did she have one hell of an active, dirty, kinky imagination.
The sound of giggles distracted him, and he watched Boone’s daughter, Sadie, and Lark’s little sister, Piper, walk by, both with cats in their arms. The kittens that had been born shortly after March’s blizzard were now nearly full grown and just as sweet as their mother, Mama Mia.
Ella had fallen in love with them, and she’d been dropping hints that she wouldn’t mind getting a real cat to keep the stuffed one he’d won for her on the Fourth of July company.
Maverick’s anxiety over Ella leaving again had faded with each passing day until it was nonexistent. Because now that she’d transplanted from Meridian to Gracemont, she seemed determined to dig her roots deep.
In addition to moving in together, agreeing to the November wedding, and suggesting they get a cat, she’d also joined the Ladies’ Auxiliary with Mom and Mila, was a full-fledged member of Edith’s romance book club, and she now had a standing Thursday coffee date with Judi and Molly. Which he hadn’t been exactly thrilled about, recalling how those women had told Ella about his less-than-stellar reputation upon her arrival in town.
However, he’d gotten over it quick enough because the two women were a wealth of gossip—whether it was true or not. Dinner on Thursday nights was usually very entertaining, as Ella related everything the girls said to him, which gave Maverick—as the farm’s “unofficial” gossip—lots of material for the upcoming week with his family.
Ella approached, and he grinned, reaching out to her. She didn’t bother reclaiming her own camp chair, dropping down into his lap instead, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Your mom figures we should wait a little while before bringing out dessert, since everyone filled up on hot dogs and hamburgers.”
He nodded. “That’s a good call. There’s no way I could eat another bite at the moment, but damn if I want to miss her apple crisp.”
“This break was a good idea, Theo,” Ella said, as she took in the football game. “You guys have been burning the candle at both ends for weeks. It looks like everyone really needed tonight to blow off some steam and have fun.”
“I’m always down for a cookout.” Theo smiled appreciatively. “How’s the writing coming? Gretchen’s put one hell of a dent in your backlist, and I don’t want her to run out of…” Theo wiggled his eyebrows. “Inspiration.”
They all laughed.
“I’ve reached the halfway point on the next book,” she said. “But I still need to do a little research on some of the plot points.”
Maverick nearly drew blood biting his lip, so he didn’t crack up laughing about her “research” comment, aware his brothers didn’t have a clue what she meant. Meanwhile, his little minx managed to sit there on his lap, her expression giving away nothing, as Theo started a conversation about some mystery novel he was reading that took place during World War One, and how much research the author must have needed to do in order to write it.
Edith walked over when she overheard Theo’s comment, asking for the title of the book, and before he knew it, everyone was engaged in a conversation on current or favorite reads.
Maverick, never much of a reader, actually participated, sharing the title of his favorite Grace Decker book, much to Edith’s amusement.
Ella enjoyed the conversation until Manny joined them and admitted he was now hooked on her books as well. At that point, her cheeks turned pink, especially when Manny started asking if sex clubs were part of her research, then musing aloud if there were any in D.C.
The conversation took a racy—hilarious—turn as Edith asked her nephew what the heck he thought he would do in a sex club.
Manny, the ornery devil, joked that he needed somewhere to wear his new leather chaps, all of them laughing until they cried.
The rest of the evening passed in the same way, everyone jumping from group to group, chatting and laughing and eating. They lit a bonfire shortly before dusk, some of the employees and older folks heading home.
Maverick and Ella remained with his brothers and cousins, the conversations growing quieter, the night peaceful and perfect.
It was nearly ten before they all cried uncle. None of them wanted to see the night end, but they were also well aware that the “holiday” was over, and they’d all be back in the vineyard bright and early the next morning to pick grapes.
Ella spent her weekdays writing, but on the weekends, she joined him in the vines, helping with the harvest. In addition to embracing the social life in Gracemont, she’d immersed herself in his world. She was fascinated with the process of winemaking, asking insightful questions while making plans to set her next series in a vineyard. She’d also taken his offer of a new family to heart, joining his mother at least once or twice a week for porch time, the two of them growing closer with each passing day.
He was glad for that. Because while Martha called, texted, or FaceTimed at least once a day, Ella’s mother hadn’t reached out to her since saying goodbye to her in Idaho.
Ella insisted she wasn’t surprised by her mother’s silence, saying she avoided confrontation at all costs. She suspected her mother would lay low until she felt certain enough time had passed and Ella wasn’t angry anymore. She was also sure that her mom was getting updates about her life from Martha, which was fine with her, since Ella wasn’t ready to forgive or forget.
She’d sold the house to that young couple the real estate agent brought by the weekend they were in Idaho, and Ella was pleased to have been able to follow her Gigi’s wishes in regards to the house to the letter.
Maverick took her hand, once they’d tucked their chairs away and helped put out the fire. The two of them walked back to their cabin, hand in hand. It was a longer walk than anyone else had, but it was a beautiful night, the air crisp and cool, the cloudless sky full of stars. Maverick had started looking into buying a golf cart to drive around the farm, since they’d chosen the cabin farthest away from the rest of the buildings.
They talked the whole way back, about the picnic and his family, about the coming weekend, and a bunch of other everyday things.
They’d just turned onto the dirt lane to their cabin when Ella asked, “Why did it take me so long to come back to Gracemont?”