Chapter Twenty-Three

Dale

Ashley changed her mind.

“You did the right thing,” Uncle Ry says to me the next afternoon. “You had to let her go. It’s her mom’s wedding.”

“But the internship…”

“Can wait. Aren’t you the one who said we didn’t need an intern?”

“I was right. We don’t.”

He laughs. “You seem to need her, though.”

I don’t reply. Everyone knows, thanks to my mother, and those who didn’t do since I pulled her onto my lap at the meeting last night and then shoved my tongue down her throat at Murphy’s.

No secret, and to be honest? I’m okay with that. My family is probably happy to see me in any kind of a relationship other than with botanicals.

And above all, I do want my family happy.

I want Ashley happy.

And I’m deathly afraid that being with me would eventually make her extremely unhappy.

I can’t live with that.

So I let her go.

And I’ll see if she comes back.

Sure, I gave her a guilt trip about leaving the internship, but that was for me. I didn’t want her to leave. She’ll be back in a few days, but already my world is colorless without her. Funny. She’s the one with synesthesia, but she’s given my world so much color.

The love she brought out in me… It’s made me so happy. Happy enough that I’ve been able to tamp down the darkness.

Now she’s gone, and…

The darkness is coming.

Already I feel it.

Already the chaos tries to consume me. I’ll fight it. I always have, but this is the first time I’ve had to while my emotions have been let out.

“You know you want to,” Uncle Ry is saying.

I jerk out of my mind. “Want to what?”

“Go to Vegas. Be with Ashley.”

“What?”

“Have you been listening to me at all, Dale? I said you should go to Las Vegas. You know you want to.”

I thread my fingers through my long hair. “I never said that.”

“You didn’t have to. It’s all there. In your eyes, whenever her name is mentioned.”

“You’re imagining things. I’m happy for her. It’s her mother’s wedding, for God’s sake.”

“And she’ll be back in a few days.”

“Right.” I clear my throat. “She’ll be back in a few days.”

But what will I be like when she returns? I can throw myself into my work. Winemaking is my passion. I can help complete the harvest. I love being outdoors. I can take to the mountains until she gets home. It’s still fire season, of course, but I know how to protect myself. Or I can…

Go to Las Vegas.

Be with Ashley.

The winemaking will wait. It’s only a few days. I’m using it as an excuse, and Uncle Ry knows it.

I know it too.

“Just go,” he says. “Please. For all of our sakes.”

That gets a slight chuckle out of me. “I’m fine, Uncle Ry. Really.”

“Dale, you’re not fine. You’re grieving for what you’ve lost in the Syrah vineyards. That’s okay. Grieve. But let us all help you, and the person you need now more than any of us is Ashley.”

“I won’t ruin her mother’s wedding.”

“Of course you won’t. Ashley wants you there.”

“I mean… Fuck. I’m a mess, and you know it.”

“Sure you are. We all are. Maybe you more than the rest of us because the Syrah means so much to you.”

Yeah. Me more than the rest of them for reasons they don’t even know. Reasons that spear into me even more than losing some of my vines.

“Just go,” Ryan says again. “A few days won’t make a difference here. You know that as well as I do.”

“She’s on a flight. She may have already landed.”

“So get on a flight yourself. Or you can be there in seven hours if you start driving.”

“I don’t know where she is. Where she’s staying. Where the wedding will be.”

He scoffs, shaking his head. “She has a phone. Call her.”

But I won’t call her. I want to surprise her. I smile at the thought. Surprising the woman I love.

The thought makes me happy. Makes me think I actually can do this. Have a relationship for more than two months.

Have a lifetime…

A lifetime with such a remarkable woman. A woman who completes me in a way I never thought possible.

A woman who might just be able to chase the demons away for good.

I stand. “I’m going.”

“Good for you. I’ll drive you to the airport in Grand Junction, and you can get on the next flight out.”

I shake my head. “I’m leaving now. I’ll take the truck.”

“The truck? Don’t be ridiculous. Go home. Take one of the cars.”

“Nope. I’m leaving now, before I change my mind.”

“You need to pack.”

“All I need to do is call Mom to take care of Penny.”

“You might want something other than jeans for a wedding.” Ryan snickers.

I sigh. “For God’s sake. Fine.” I grab my key fob. “I’ll call you when I have details. I’ll be back in a few days.”

“Good enough. And Dale?”

I look over my shoulder. “Yeah?”

“Go get her, man.”

Uncle Ryan was right. I’m much more comfortable in my Mercedes. It’s nearing midnight, and I’m ten minutes outside the Las Vegas strip. Uncle Ry’s assistant got me Ashley’s hotel information. The Rio. Her mother, Willow White, is due to arrive tomorrow, and the wedding… The assistant couldn’t find a reservation at a chapel, but I’ll see Ashley before then.

It’s late, but I already have Ashley’s room number. I reserved a suite at the Cosmopolitan. We’ll move there tomorrow.

Will she be happy to see me? I have to assume so, since she invited me to come in the first place.

But…

I pull into the Rio and hand off my keys to the valet.

I enter the glitzy hotel and look around for the elevators. Looks like I’ll have to walk through part of the casino to get to where I need to go. Not a problem. I’m hardly a gam—