Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

“Silvie! Are you ready yet?” I walked down the hallway with a cup of coffee in one hand and a Little Debbie apple pie in the other hand.

“Almost!” she yelled out as I made it to the doorway of my room.

We’d decided to get ready at my apartment since it was technically closer to Banner Elk than hers.

By technically, I lived at the northeastern edge of Asheville, and she lived in the southeastern part. Either way, it was still over a two-hour drive.

“I thought we were stopping for coffee.” Silvie nodded towards the cup in my hand as she shimmied her dress on.

“We are.”

She started to question me, but then shook her head. “I swear, if I drank half as much coffee as you do, I wouldn’t ever be able to sleep.”

“’Tis the curse of my ADHD.” I joked, downing the last bit of my coffee.

“Is that a Little Debbie apple pie?” Silvie’s eyes went wide.

“Yep.” I stepped towards her and held the pie up for her to take a bite. “Take it.”

She gladly accepted the rest of the pie before I walked around her to help zip up her dress.

Soon, we were on our way out the door, making our way to Silas’ car that was parked next to mine.

I made my way to the back seat when Silvie rushed past me. “You take shotgun.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but she gave me a firm head shake and I relinquished.

“Hey ladies.” Silas called out as we both climbed in.

“Hey.” we both responded in unison. I pulled the door shut, snapped my seat belt in place, and waited for Silas to back out of the space.

But when he didn’t, I looked in his direction. My eyes caught his immediately, and he darted his attention away. “S—sorry.” He stammered. “You look great, Elodie.”

I smiled awkwardly, trying to hide and ignore the way his words ran through me like warm honey. “Thank you. You do too.”

I watched as a smile spread across his face, like he truly appreciated my words.

“Silas, we need coffee before we officially hit the road.” Silvie interrupted the moment.

Silas cleared his throat. “No problem. I could use some myself. I haven’t had any yet.”

“El, here already had her first cup.”

“Oh, do you not want anymore?” Silas tossed a glance in my direction as he pulled out of the apartment parking lot.

“She has coffee running through her veins. She’s always drinking coffee.” Silvie answered for me.

“You make me sound crazy.” I joked.

Soon, we were on our way, headed north on 26 West. It wasn’t long before I was thankful that Silvie let me ride in the front. I’d been so used to driving that I’d forgotten how carsick I could get. The Appalachian mountains and twisting highways were no joke.

“You doing okay?” Silas’ hushed tone pulled me from my thoughts as he gently pressed his hand onto my thigh.

“Huh?” I shook my head. “Um, yeah. I’m okay.” I quickly looked in the backseat to see Silvie fast asleep.

“She could sleep through a tornado, I swear,” Silas joked.

I laughed, agreeing wholeheartedly.

“Are you feeling okay, though? You look a little carsick.” Silas’ tone was full of worry.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I am a little carsick, but I’m fine as long as I focus on the road.”

“Need me to stop for a minute?”

“No, no.” I shook my head. I fiddled with my nails.

Silas shifted his hand from my thigh to clasp over my hands, weaving his fingers in between mine. “Are you sure? I don’t mind. I’m sure Silvie wouldn’t even stir.”

I smiled at his warmth—both by his touch and his words. “I’ll let you know if I need to.”

“Okay.” Silas didn’t pull back his hand until the next string of sharp curves.

He kept an eye on me, though, making sure that I was okay, and it wasn’t long before we were pulling into the winery. The parking lot was already more than halfway full and everyone seemed to be heading towards the reception building first. There was a small creek that ran through the middle of the grounds. On the right, there was a three-story villa. To our left, there was the pond just before a small open space that had been filled with white chairs, set in a semi-circle and facing towards a beautiful white wedding arch. Just beyond was the reception building. Several double doors were all propped open and even from where we were standing, we could hear voices carrying, no doubt having already sampled the wine.

“Ready?” Silas held his arms out from his waist, both bent at the elbows to indicate for Silvie and me to each hook an arm through one of his.

“Yep.” I smiled up at him, glad to be out of the car. Sure, it was a beautiful drive, especially for the last part. But it was not good for the two coffees already in my system.

“This place is gorgeous.” Silvie interjected.