Page 87 of The Summer of Christmas

“I lied because I loved you.”

“That sounds like such bullshit, Nick.”

“It’s not. If I’d proposed and you said yes, you would have followed me back to Geneva. Your movie career would never have happened. I knew I couldn’t move to LA. I knew you would give everything up for me. I didn’t want to get in the way of your dreams. So I made up a story so you could never look back.”

It took Ivy a moment—which felt like forever—to process this. Nick had lied? He hadn’t cheated on her?

“You never gave me a chance.”

“No. But I made it easier for us.”

“Easier? By not asking me? I don’t think that crying my eyes out for weeks on end was easier.”

Nick struggled for his next thought. He looked at Ivy earnestly. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but you were always indecisive. It was hard for you to make decisions. So I made the decision for you.”

“What? So, you took away my agency!” Ivy yelled at him. Now she was furious.

“Your agency?”

“You took away my chance to make a decision on my own.”

Nick nodded his head sadly.

She continued to rant, “Wow. In some ways that was worse than breaking up with me. And I wish that you’d actually cheated on me with someone else. Anything else would have been better than feeling you had to make the decision for me.”

“Ivy, I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too, Nick. For you.”

“I would never do that today.”

“No. You wouldn’t. Because you’re not going to have that opportunity.” Ivy turned on her heel and walked out of the vineyard. Away from Nick for what she thought would be forever.

He was astounded.What just happened?

***

Back in Shepherd Winery, the crew was lighting for the next shot. Vera wanted more wine bottles in the shot, and so did the production designer. Nick was nowhere to be found. Bruce offered to go to the basement to bring more up. Griffin jumped up from his seat to help out. They practically ran into the basement just so that they could be together. Vera and Drew were too immersed in the scene prep to notice.

In the basement, Bruce and Griffin stood close to each other. “This reminds me ofNotorious, when Cary Grant went into the grotto,” Bruce said.

“I love that movie,” Griffin gushed.

“Me too. Top ten for me.”

“Number five for me.”

“That must be why I’m crushing on you,” Bruce stated.

“I like that. I just hope you’re not going to poison me with the wines like Claude Rains did with Ingrid Bergman.”

“I only want to poison you with this…” He leaned in to Griffin for a brief stolen kiss.

Griffin was surprised. He had never been kissed by a man before. This was all new to him, but he liked it. It was different but the same. At the end of the lips was affection.

“I had no idea you were so romantic.” Griffin smiled. He leaned in and kissed Bruce back. Lingering longer. It was a magical stolen kiss that would have kept going if not for Drew’s voice calling down for them. They both pulled away quickly.

“Now what were we looking for down here?” Bruce asked playfully.