Her boss appeared in her doorway, a look of concern on his face. “Are you okay? Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
She moved papers around on her desk, but her phone wasn’t anywhere to be found. “I must have left it out front. I’m fine, though.”
“Then why did you miss the meeting?”
“I didn’t. Mrs. Dreyfuss never showed up.”
“Mrs. Dreyfuss? She’s coming in Monday. I meant the festival committee meeting.”
Her shoulders curled forward. “What—” Oh no. That’s right. Evan had even mentioned it the other night at the Frosted Cake. “I must have gotten things mixed up on my calendar.”
Kyle crossed his arms and leaned his bulky frame against the doorway. “You were supposed to give out the final sub-committee assignments today. Evan did his best, but he was counting on you to show up.”
It felt like a bowling ball sat in the pit of her stomach. “I feel awful.” Her fingers tapped the edges of her lips. “I have the list almost complete. I’ll email it out tonight.”
“Ashley.” Stepping into her office, Kyle dropped his arms. “I was afraid of this.”
“Of what?”
“You’re overworking yourself. This wedding—the assignment I gave you—it’s too much. You’re too busy.”
No. She wasn’t giving up that easily. “Kyle, please. I made an honest mistake. It won’t happen again. You have my word.” At his doubtful look, she inhaled. “Please.”
“You’re just lucky the festival is a volunteer thing.” The man tilted his head, and his cowboy hat tipped forward. “Kiddo, take my advice. Learn to say no, or you’ll forfeit the things you really want to say yes to.”
“I understand.”
And she did. The problem was, there was literally nothing on her current plate that she could say no to, not without hurting someone she loved. She’d just have to soldier on and do better in the future.
Chapter 6
His stomach grumbled, but he wasn’t hungry enough for what was coming. In fact, he might just lose his appetite altogether.
Derek called out a goodbye to his family and headed toward his car, his shoes crunching the gravel driveway. As he climbed into the Jeep, his phone rang. Slipping in the key, he waited for the Bluetooth to connect and then answered. “Hello?”
“Hi, Derek.” Claire’s smooth voice slid across the airwaves from the vehicle’s speaker.
“Hey.” It had been several days since they’d spoken. “How’s your grandpa?” Derek pulled onto the road that wove through their property.
“Doing all right, considering. He grumbled so much about being in the hospital that they finally sent him home.”
“So he doesn’t need to stay in a rehab facility like you thought?” Dark clouds hovered in the sky, and a few fat drops of rain plopped onto his windshield as he headed into town. Nice of the weather to match his mood.
“Non, the surgery he had is quite advanced and won’t even require much physical therapy. A nurse will come to the house for wound care if we need it.”
“That’s great. How are you doing juggling the business and taking care of him?”
“Thankfully, my aunt is his primary caregiver. I’m not so inclined in that way.” Claire laughed, though there was something tight in it. She had to be as exhausted as Derek had been lately. Ever since his dad’s appointment eight days ago, he’d pulled fourteen-hour days at the vineyard. Not that it had fully stopped his dad from working too, but at least the strain on Dad’s face had lessened a bit.
“Did the meeting with the lawyer go well?” Derek nudged the Jeep up to a stop sign and, after looking both ways, turned the SUV toward town.
“Oui. He came to the house today and talked through the process for passing the vineyard to me. Everything will be finalized as soon as I return from the wedding. Grand-père will finally be able to rest. Hopefully enjoy the retirement years.” A clicking in the background told Derek that Claire was at her computer despite the late hour in France. “Speaking of the wedding, how are plans coming?”
“Good from what I can tell. The wedding planner has handled most of it, with just a few clarifications needed on my end.” He hadn’t seen Ashley in nearly a week and a half, though that was about to change. “I’m headed to the restaurant to select the courses for the reception right now.”
“I have every confidence you will choose something delicious.” She paused. “Will Ashley be there with you?”
“Yes.” The rain turned more urgent, pelting the windshield so hard he had to put his wipers on double time. “I tried to get Heather to go with me, but Millie was out sick and no one else could watch Mia. And much as I love my niece, sitting for hours with her in a restaurant didn’t sound like the best plan.”
“I’m sure Ashley has done this a thousand times. She will be great.”
The edges of the town emerged on the horizon. “Yeah, I’m sure.” He coughed as the garbled words left his throat.
“Derek?” There was a hint of concern in Claire’s normally steady voice. “Is Ashley the one?”
What in the world did she mean by that? “Of course not. You’re the one, Claire.” Well, in a manner of speaking. Neither of them believed in soulmates. Maybe they had at one point when they were young and foolish, but now they knew better.
“That’s not what I mean. Is she the one who broke your heart?”
Several months after they’d become friends, he and Claire had told each other about their past, how they’d arrived at their current conclusions on love. But he’d never mentioned Ashley’s name to Claire—at the time, even saying it had hurt. “What makes you ask that?”
“Call it female intuition.”
He sighed. “Yeah, she’s the one I had feelings for. But you have nothing to worry about on that front now.”
“Oh, I am not worried. I know you would never do anything to hurt your family or me.” Coming out of someone else’s mouth, the words might have sounded manipulative, but Claire Boivin
