Chapter 212

"John, what is this?" she asked.

As we crept up the long driveway, I took Kat’s hand in mine and kissed the back of it.

"Lunch," I said. "One of the executive producers on Homecoming owns this vineyard. He’s not here this weekend, but he said we could have a picnic in the vines."

"Oh my god," she said. "This is too gorgeous."

It was idyllic. We stepped out, and I carried the large bag of Oakville Grocery goodies with us. We walked about fifty yards along the edge of the vineyard, far enough that we felt entirely swept up and surrounded by vines. Their manicured canopies reached toward the July sun, and the tight bunches of grapes remained largely green. We reached a picnic table. Kat dug into the bag and set up our spread.

"I kind of wish we could have picked through the store for this," she said.

I smiled at her. "I know," I said. "That’s what we’ll do tomorrow. I wanted y