Somebody Like You (Starlight Hill Series Book 2) by Heatherly Bell Page B

so much without words.
    The eyes said that yeah, he knew he’d been lucky, but no, he wasn’t happy. In case anyone cared. And of course she shouldn’t, but unfortunately she did. Because he was Billy, dammit.
    He thought she’d been right, which was hysterical since she’d been thinking for the past ten years just how wrong she’d been.
    He’d taken the offer into the minor leagues instead of the college scholarship at Chicago State against her advice, and though it hadn’t guaranteed he’d make the major leagues, he’d done it anyway. Hard work and dedication to the thing that had always been, would always be, his first love.
    And the rest was history. She’d gone to Chicago alone, and made friends, had a couple of boyfriends. Lost her virginity to one of them, even though it should have been Billy. Would have been, on that night when it became clear that they both wanted more. But she’d been too good for the jock. Wanted to save herself for the right man. It might have been Billy, and a hundred times she’d imagined that it had been. But no matter what, she couldn’t change the past.
    And that was the end of it.
    Her cellphone rang and she glanced at the caller ID. Great. “Hey, Mom.”
    “Hi sweetie. I’m going to be at the Farmers Market this Saturday.”
    “Why would this Saturday be any different than any other one? You’re always there.”
    “It would be nice if you’d come by. I’ve made a new herbal shampoo with your favorite scent. Cranberry.”
    “I still have six bottles of shampoo I haven’t used yet. I’m good.”
    “Oh. Okay, then. I’d still like to see you.”
    Brooke felt the guilt press down. She hadn’t seen Mom in a while. “I’ve got a new job and it’s harvest time as you know. I’m going to be busy.”
    “Right. Harvest time. You usually disappear for weeks.” Mom’s voice got a bit tinnier. Possibly tinged with a whine.
    “Everything okay?”
    Mom sighed. “Well, I might have to go on a statin because of my high cholesterol. Except that I refuse.”
    “Why?”
    “Honey, don’t you realize they make that medicine with a pregnant mare’s urine?”
    “Ew, mom. Please.”
    “Well, I’m only telling you the truth. I ask you, would you take a pill made with someone’s urine?”
    “Not if I had a choice.”
    “Exactly. So I’m going to take the herbs that Sally makes at our farm. She swears that her cholesterol went down forty points…”
    Brooke let Mom’s voice fade into the background while she doodled on her pad. It was better to tune it all out because Mom only wanted to be heard. Brooke made sure to say “Uh-huh” every few minutes.
    “And so that’s why I think all doctors are quacks.”
    Brooke let out a breath. “All right. Well, then. Gotta go. Talk later, okay?”
    After a few more false starts, she finally hung up. Maybe Brooke could and should pay more attention to Mom, but it would help if she would talk about something interesting for a change.
    Sighing, Brooke wrote at the top of a new list:
Try to be a better daughter
Stop thinking about Billy
Write down something you have a prayer of getting done
    *****
    A few days later, every grape had been harvested. Even if Brooke had to call on every single one of her resources, she’d done it. Not one grape gone to waste.
    Naturally, her resources notwithstanding, she’d had no shortage of volunteers. It was now official news in town that Billy Turlock was back in town and the new owner of Mirassu winery. Those records were public, after all. Consequently the local media made a habit of parking at the end of the long sloped driveway. Brooke had campaigned for that, since Billy often allowed them up into the tasting room parking lot.
    But he’d listened when Brooke told him that they might chase away prospective customers. He hadn’t listened when it came to the so-called friends and ‘fans’ who had assembled to help in the frantic push to harvest in time. She couldn’t very well argue