Whitney’s eyebrows rose. “Oh, honey—Luke was a giant ball of anger when we met. He didn’t trust anyone, least of all his boss’s niece. He assumed everyone he met was out to screw him over. Except Aunt Helen, of course.” She smiled, taking a sip of wine. “The fact that he cared so much about her showed me there was a heart in there under all that resentment.” Her smile faded. “Then he thought I doubted him. And that was all it took—bam!—the walls went right back up.”

“Yes!” Andrea leaned forward. “Those damn Rutledge walls! How did you get rid of that?”

Whitney shrugged. “I didn’t. What happened to that family caused some deep damage. But I basically staged a public intervention to prove to him how many people cared about him in this town. Even then, I had to fight to keep him from walking away. It was touch and go there for a while. That hurt, but I can be just as stubborn as Luke—”

“I’ll vouch for that!” Evie laughed.

Tani agreed. “Girl, the two of you were like two mountain goats going at it. No one knew what was going to happen!”

Whitney straightened, flipping her dark hair back playfully and preening a little. “Oh, I knew what was going to happen. I was gettin’ my man. And I did.” The others laughed, but she looked at Andrea. “It still took a while for him to relax into loving me without thinking he was ‘bad for me’ or whatever.” She’d made air quotes with her fingers for the bad for me part.

“That’s what Zayne is worried about. I told him he was a coward, but I think he really is worried his name will hold me back somehow.”

“I’m sure he is,” Whitney said. “Those kids grew up with no stability at all. Their dad was in and out of prison. Their mom was often zonked out on booze. All the people who were supposed to love them...left them. Their trust and abandonment issues run really deep. You’ve got to be ready, because it never fully goes away.”

Evie waved her hand between Whitney and Andrea. “Your big gesture of community love won Luke back. And that was at a Blessing of the Grapes Festival, right? Maybe Andrea could...”

Bridget shook her head. She’d been friends with Zayne for years. “A public anything won’t work with Zayne. He hates crowds. Hates attention. That’s why he fought against the corn maze so hard.”

Tani’s eyes went wide. “Oh God—do you think he’ll pull the corn maze from the festival? It’s only a week away. What should we do?”

“We should have a festival without a maze.” Andrea shrugged. “He never wanted it. We’ll survive.”