“Now who’s making assumptions?” He’d tried to insert a bantering note to his voice, but from her combative stance, he knew he’d failed. He held up a hand. “Don’t slam the door in my face, okay? You’re not wrong, Felicity, but maybe this isn’t about right and wrong.” He searched for the right words but knew he’d never find them, not tonight. “Being here isn’t what I thought it’d be.”
“I have no idea what that means.”
He smiled. “Me, either.”
Her squared, stiff shoulders relaxed visibly, if only slightly. “All right. Truce.”
“Let’s put another log on the fire and talk,” he said. “We can pour wine.”
“All right.” She sounded wary but not hostile or angry. “It’s been a while since I was into the pinot grigio. It’s not that good. I have a much better bottle of sauvignon blanc. It should be chilled by now.” She gave him the slightest of irreverent smiles. “My new best friend Nadia left it for me. I wasn’t going to tell you, but—well, what the hell. She’d appreciate the two of us splitting her wine while we talk about burning my house down.”
“No one’s going to burn your house down, Felicity, and Russ is making sure Nadia’s boarding her flight.”
“Shall I open the sauvignon blanc?”
“I don’t want to drink Nadia’s wine.”
“It wasn’t a test, but we can split the last of the pinot grigio.”
“I don’t really need wine,” he said. “I just want to talk.”
“Uh-oh. Then I might need wine.” Felicity paused, her smile fading, their eyes connected. She sucked in an audible breath. “Oh. You’re serious.” She motioned behind her. “I’ll grab the bug spray and be right out.”
It wasn’t the most romantic of gestures, but Gabe merely nodded. “I’ll go put that log on the fire.”
* * *
They dabbed on insect repellant and sat on the quilt side by side, legs stretched out in front of the fire. They skipped opening Nadia’s bottle of wine. Wrong timing as far as Gabe was concerned, and Felicity agreed.
“You first,” she said. “You gave me the three-second recap of your life since I vacated your couch. I’d like to know more.”
He told her more but not everything—because everything would be tedious for both of them. She could fill in what he meant by working hard. “I had a good team,” he said. “I did my best to respect them and treat them well. Everyone benefited when I sold the company.”
“Including Nadia?”
“Yes, but I had no idea David would end their marriage. I don’t believe David’s buying the company had anything to do with the friction between him and Nadia, but it was bad timing for her. That’s been the only issue since the sale.”
“You’re selling your condo,” Felicity said. “Do you think you’ll stay in Boston?”
“I’ve flirted with the idea, but I don’t know where I’d go. I’m a die-hard Red Sox fan. Reason enough to stay right there. Then there’s Shannon. She’s irreplaceable, and she’s rock-solid Boston. I’d hate to start from scratch with a new assistant unless the move was worth that aggravation.”
“Has Shannon ever been to Knights Bridge?”
“Once, out of curiosity. She and her husband and kids stopped by on their way to the Berkshires one weekend. I think she was surprised to find flush toilets out here.”
Felicity laughed, no hint of her earlier irritation. “What’s next for you then?”
“I’m in the process of figuring that out. That’s part of why I’m here. Dylan and I are talking. He invited me to participate in the boot camp.” He shrugged. “It’ll all work out.”
“Now that’s the Gabriel Flanagan I know. Don’t get bogged down in the details. Just set a goal and get rolling. I’m glad you’re doing well, Gabe. I have faith in you figuring out what’s next.”
“Thanks. That means a lot to me.”
She rolled onto her knees and then stood up and grabbed a chunk of birch wood, its peeling bark lighting up the moment she placed it on the fire. “I should have saved that one for getting a fire started,” she said, returning to her spot on the quilt.
He took the opportunity to switch the conversation back to her. “You seem to enjoy party planning, event management—whatever you want to call it.”
“I do, very much. I only do the occasional wedding—it’s its own specialty, really—but I might yet. I never say never. I learned so much working for a small, high-end event manager in Boston. She focused on corporate events. I traveled a fair amount, but most of my job was details.” She smiled with a small shudder. “Lots and lots of details.”
“What prompted you to go out on your own?”
“Several factors were involved. I wanted to buy a house and couldn’t realistically afford Boston prices, and I wanted more control over my own schedule and what projects I worked on—and I knew I could do it. I could make enough money as a solo entrepreneur to have the life I want.”
“Here in Knights Bridge,” Gabe said, as if he couldn’t imagine such a thing.
“I love it here. I love the river, I love my gardens—I want to plant a vegetable garden. I want to put up a clothesline and hang my own laundry to dry. Boston’s my city and I love it there, but Knights Bridge is home.”
“Do your parents approve?”
“I haven’t asked them, but they seem to.”
“What about growth? Do you want to hire staff, expand—”
“Not right now. I hire contractors as needed.”
“Today was a good day for you,” Gabe said. “You impressed everyone there.”
“Well, thank you. I hope so. Wine by the fire was my way of celebrating a job well done. What about you? I get that you’re never satisfied, but do you take time to celebrate?”
“Celebrate what?”
She rolled her eyes. “Do you ever look back with a sense of pride or do you always feel unfulfilled—that there’s one more hill to climb, hurdle to clear, million to make before you can celebrate?”
“I can do both,” Gabe said, amused. “Celebrate and clear the
