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“The stuff ’s here!” Maddy squealed. She had to restrain herself from jumping up and down and clapping her hands.

David dumped all the cleaning supplies into a garbage bag to take back to the house. He placed it outside the door and then turned back to Maddy, who was 222

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still standing in the middle of the floor. “Come on, Maddy-Mae, let’s go meet them.”

But Maddy didn’t move. She was gazing around the empty space, looking at the gleaming, polished wood floor, the glistening fresh paint, the sparkling windows with the wavy glass throwing little splashes of color all over the walls. David walked over to her. “What is it?” he said, touching her shoulder. She looked up at him.

“I was just thinking of the way this place looked the first day we saw it. Remember?”

He laughed. “Yeah, I do. How could I forget? I had no idea what to make of you. But I could hardly take my eyes off you.”

Maddy blushed and looked down. “I can’t believe how different it looks—we’ve done so much this summer,” she murmured.

“Well, I don’t know about you,” David said, looking down at her, “but this has definitely been one of the most interesting summers of my life.”

Maddy lifted her chin. “Yeah,” she said. “Me too.”

The moment was broken by an engine rumble. Maddy ran to the door. A guy with a clipboard jumped down from a truck parked just outside. “Madeline Sinclaire?” he asked, consulting a sheaf of papers.

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Okay, I’ve got a delivery of furniture here. You want to tell the crew where you want things?”

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He had barely finished speaking when another, smaller truck arrived with standish & sons painted on the side. The next hour was a blur of workmen in heavy boots, boxes and crates with their lids pried open, piles of packing paper and straw littering the floor, furniture emerging from its wrappings and filling the room. Little by little, stacks of glittering glassware appeared from mountains of cotton padding, covering the long oak table pushed against one wall.

Everything was almost unpacked when Maddy heard a voice by the door. She looked up. A guy about her age was squinting at a piece of paper. “Excuse me, are you Madeline Sinclaire? I have your rug here.”

David looked up from where he was cramming packing paper into a box. “So that’s what you were getting in town, sneaky girl!” he said, straightening up. Maddy gri

We’ll unroll it later.”

The guy shrugged. “Sure,” he said and manhandled the heavy column wrapped in brown paper against one wall.

At last, the workmen were gone, stuffing the wrappings and boxes into their trucks and bumping back up the path toward the house and the road. The silence felt good. Maddy took a deep breath and turned to David.

“Want to see the rug now?” she asked.

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“Of course. It better be pretty amazing after all this buildup,” he teased. Together they stripped off the paper wrapping and, with a flourish, unfurled the rug on the shiny brown floorboards. David stepped back, his hands on his hips, and gave a low whistle. Maddy waited. She was surprised to find herself a little breathless with anticipation. “Wow,” he finally said. “I’m speechless.” He bent to examine the rug more closely. “This is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. How did you even know it would be so perfect in here?”

Maddy beamed. “Thanks.” She walked over to stand next to David in the doorway, and together they gazed at the results of an entire summer of work. The whole place looked utterly fantastic. Two plump sofas covered in tan silk stood in opposite corners, with matching armchairs pulled up near them. Rectangular coffee tables in light maple were positioned at the perfect angle for resting glasses or propping feet. Near the middle of the room, four round bistro tables stood surrounded by elegant little straight chairs. The long oak table dominated one entire wall, crystal wineglasses lined up in perfect rows on its surface, looking just as Maddy had pictured them when she saw the table at the store. The pure Napa light poured from the clean windows, highlighting the mellow patina of the floorboards, the crisper, sleeker wood of the tables and chairs, and the rich texture of the rug. Framed by the big open double 225

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doors was that stu

David’s voice broke the silence. “Well, Mads, this room is really incredible.”

“I agree,” Maddy said, smiling.

“But I have to say that what really makes it stand out is that.” He pointed to the rug. “It’s, it’s . . .” He struggled to find words in an unfamiliar vocabulary. “It’s the perfect combination of rustic beauty and modern elegance!” He looked very proud of himself.

“How about the perfect combination of old and new?” Maddy suggested.

“Yeah, that’s what I meant. Actually, it’s the perfect combination of Napa and Maddy.” Maddy looked up at him in surprise and delight. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her against his chest. It was the closest they’d been, Maddy realized, since that day in the lake. He felt just as good now as he did then; better in fact. His warm arms felt so safe around her, she never wanted him to let go. He must have felt the same way, because he squeezed her a little tighter before finally stepping back. They were both smiling a little selfconsciously, but this time Maddy didn’t look away. 226

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!

Maddy collapsed onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling after she’d confirmed that night’s cooking lesson with David. Who would’ve thought this was how her summer would end up? She rolled over onto her stomach and remembered how David’s arms felt around her. Just then, her BlackBerry on the bedside table rang. Maddy picked it up and looked at the screen. Morgan.

“Hey, babe!” she said.

“Hi!” her friend squealed. “How’s everything going?”

Maddy smiled dreamily at the ceiling. “Awesome, actually.”

“Wow. Um, didn’t you just break up with Brian?”

Morgan paused. “And NOT tell me or Kirsten?”

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There was a moment of pregnant silence. Morgan was completely right, of course. The truth was, Maddy had been a little scared of how her friends would react. Why would anyone break up with Brian Kilburn, the sexiest guy they knew? Maddy realized she had done a lot of new things this summer. “Mor, you’re right. I should have called. It’s just . . . well, everything’s been a little crazy.”

“Okay. I’ll forgive you if you tell me what happened with you two. We’re dying to know.”

Maddy rose restlessly from the bed and wandered over to the porch. She gazed out at the Napa afternoon bathed in a rich yellow glow of sun. “We were just growing apart. I mean, he came up here to visit and it was really weird. It wasn’t fun at all. I felt like I couldn’t talk to him anymore.” She stopped and took a deep breath.

“And there’s something else. . . .”

Morgan screamed right in Maddy’s ear. “Stop right there! I knew it. You hooked up with that guy David, didn’t you?”

“No!” Maddy said, a little more emphatically than she meant to. “I mean, not really. We haven’t hooked up . . . yet.” She couldn’t help smiling to herself a little.

“But we have been hanging out a lot—and Mor, he’s really cool.”

Morgan sighed. “Well, obviously you’re going to hook up. I’m so jealous. I haven’t made out with anyone 228

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since your party, practically. It’s so great to have a fling at the end of the summer. Too bad you have to leave him in a few days!”

For a minute, Maddy didn’t understand what her friend meant. “Well, I might not have to. He goes to Westside Public. And Mor, I have to tell you—I think this thing between us is more than a fling. I mean . . . I really like him. I want to keep seeing him once we’re both back in the city.”