The Other Boy (8 page)

She cleared her throat. “If you want to taste wine, you’ll have to show proper ID,” she called in a nasal voice.

“Shoot!” David slapped his forehead with the heel of his hand. “Of all the days to forget my wallet! I guess we’ll have to skip this one.”

The woman scowled and Maddy grabbed David’s elbow. “Thanks anyway!” she called, and hustled out the door. She dropped her hand once they were outside and punched him on the bicep. “Nice going, Mr. Suave.”

David shrugged and grinned down at her. “She’s just mad because her tasting room looks like an old folks’

home.”

Maddy realized that they were walking companion-ably down the vineyard path together, side by side, their arms swinging easily and their hands almost touching.

What had happened this afternoon? She’d been prepared to be furious but then he’d caught her off guard with those cookies. And all of the biking and scouting had turned out to be pretty fun.
You’re still in
Napa,
Maddy reminded herself.
“Fun” is relative.
Her BlackBerry beeped in her pocket, interrupting her thoughts. She glanced at the screen: Kirsten.

“Hey,” she answered breezily.

“Ohmygod, are you totally miserable?” her friend squealed in her ear.

“We miss you soooo much!” a voice called from the background.

“Tell Morgan I miss her too,” Maddy said. “Yeah, it sucks up here.” Some part of her felt sort of guilty saying that, like she was lying or something. She didn’t look at David. “I’m, um, getting used to it though.”

“Do you—” There was a crash on the other end of the phone and some scuffling. Morgan came on the line, panting a little.

“I told Kirsten
I
wanted to talk,” she said. “So, have you met any hotties to keep you busy?”

“Um, not really.” She glanced at David, who had already reached the bikes and was fiddling with his lock.

Morgan sighed. “Too bad.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll survive, I think.”

David looked up at Maddy and opened his mouth to say something. She flapped her hand at him and turned her back quickly. “Look,
chica
, I have to go—call you later, okay?” She pressed end before Morgan could respond. She walked over to the bikes.

“So, it’s one already,” David said, glancing at his Swiss Army watch. “What’s our next adventure?”

Maddy couldn’t believe how fast the morning had gone, and that she’d actually had a good time. She swung her leg over her bike. “I don’t know about you, but my next adventure is to find some lunch—I’m starving.”

David mounted his bike also and followed her slowly down the road back toward home. “Well,” he said from behind her, “we could go eat at your place, if that’s okay with you.”

Surprised, Maddy turned partly around to look back at him, causing her bike to wobble dangerously. “Um, sure,” she said cautiously. “That’d be okay.”

Back at the house, Maddy hurriedly peered into the fridge while David was upstairs washing his hands.

Tuna salad was too messy. Leftover homemade pizza? Not very appealing—she’d smell like garlic. Then she stopped. Why did it matter if she smelled like garlic or stinky feet or Thierry Mugler Angel, for that matter?

She had just grabbed the jar of Skippy when she heard David’s footsteps thumping down the stairs.

“PB&J?” he asked, eyeing the jar in her hand. The curls at his hairline were damp from washing his face.

His skin glowed from the sun and the exertion of the morning. Maddy wondered if he’d somehow brushed his teeth too, because he smelled fresh and minty. She shrugged, frowning at the peanut butter jar.

“I can’t think of anything else.” She took the bread from the stainless-steel bread box on the counter.

“Hmm.” David stared into the fridge. He quickly pulled out a plastic tub of olives, a wedge of hard white cheese with a red rind, and a bowl of radishes. He set everything on the counter and gently took the bread from her hand. Maddy stood in the middle of the floor, staring like an idiot. She shook herself and sat down at the table, watching David inspect the bread.

“Nice sourdough baguette—someone in your house has good taste,” he said, ripping off two big hunks and wrapping them in a paper towel.

“I guess this means you’re making lunch,” Maddy said from her spectator’s seat. David glanced over.

“If you don’t mind …”

She held her hands up. “Be my guest.”

He sliced the cheese and radishes and put them in a plastic Tupperware container. Then he searched through the drawers until he found a short, thin knife and chopped the olives into bits, his hands moving quickly and confidently. He mixed the chopped olives with a little olive oil, a squeeze of a lemon from the bowl on the windowsill, and a smashed clove of garlic and spooned the whole mess into another container.

“A little olive tapenade for our bread and cheese,” he said, turning to Maddy, who realized she had been watching with her mouth hanging open a little. She shut it abruptly and got up.

“Wow,” she managed. “Definitely better than PB&J.”

David grinned at her and started stuffing things into a grocery bag. They grabbed bottles of cold SmartWater from the fridge, and by tacit consent headed out through the vines to the banks of the little stream.

For a while after they plopped down on the soft grass and spread out the food, they just chewed quietly, staring straight ahead. Some of the ease of the morning had disappeared, and the silence stretched out until it became a little awkward. Maddy surreptitiously glanced over at David. He was picking through the container of radishes. He flicked one with a brown spot away over his shoulder. Maddy flipped her hair behind her shoulders and took a bite of the thick, chewy bread and tangy cheese. “So, did you grow up around here?” It came out a little snotty-sounding and she winced. But either he didn’t notice or he was pretending not to.

“Yeah—but now I only live here in the summers.

During the year, I go to Westside Public in San Francisco.”

“Really? I didn’t know you were from the city.”

He shrugged. “Yeah. I live with my aunt and uncle during the school year. My dad didn’t think any of the schools in Napa were up to his standards.” He took an enormous bite of bread and cheese and chewed with his cheeks puffed out.

Maddy dipped into the olive tapenade. “This is really good, by the way,” she told him. “So, do you hate the city or what?”

He looked startled. “No, I love the city. What made you think I hate it?”

“Well, I mean, you really seem to love it up here—

messing around with the shed, riding bikes.”

“You didn’t like the bikes?”

“No! I did! It was fun, but it’s so different back home.”

He shrugged and pressed the top back on the empty container of tapenade. Stretching his long legs out in front of him, he answered, “It
is
different. But my friends and I bike all the time in the city. There are some amazing trails. I have friends up here, too, but it’s obviously way more fun to go out in the city. Napa doesn’t exactly have a rockin’ nightlife, in case you wondered.”

Maddy giggled. “Hanging out with the cricket on my porch doesn’t count as an awesome night out?”

“Are you kidding? Up here, that would get you on Page Six. But I like all the space up here.” He gestured to the flower-strewn field in front of them and the acres of vines at their backs.

Maddy let out a little snort. “There’s definitely enough of that around here.”

“Yeah. It’d be nice to have a little more space in our house though.” He took a long drink of water and leaned back on his hands.

“Where do you guys live?” she asked, feeling a little silly for not knowing.

“Stand up for a second.” They both climbed to their feet. Maddy brushed the dried grass off her pants. “Now look over there.” David put his hand on her shoulder and turned her to the left. She started a little and jerked before she could stop herself. David dropped his hand and looked at her curiously. She laughed a little and pretended to brush more grass off her jeans.
Why are you
acting like a nervous kid, Madeline?

She steadied herself. “What am I looking for?”

He pointed. “Do you see that little bit of white through the trees?” Maddy didn’t respond. She was distracted by the strong line of David’s jaw, sprinkled with a shadow of dark stubble.

He was staring at her too. She dragged her attention back to the tree line. “Oh, yeah, I do.” She strained her eyes to see through a stand of pines farther down the stream. “Kind of.”

“That’s our place. It’s in Jenkins’s field. He’s a farmer—”

“Yeah, I kind of know him, or at least, I know who he is,” Maddy interrupted. “I’ve met his, um, pig.” She didn’t elaborate. David looked perplexed. “It’s a long story.”

“Well, he’s a really nice guy. My dad rented a cottage on his property this winter. He does some maintenance on his tractors and things in return for a cut on the rent.

It’s a pretty small place, but we don’t have a lot of stuff—

you know, two guys alone and everything.”

The obvious question hung in the air, but Maddy didn’t ask it. They sat down again and David poked at the grass with a twig. “My mom lives in L.A. They got divorced when I was little.”

She nodded. “That’s too bad.”

“It’s okay. It was a really long time ago.”

They were quiet for a minute. Maddy changed the subject. “So, where’d you learn to cook?”

“At Mondavi. My dad was the vineyard manager there for years. I was always hanging around the kitchen when I was a little kid, asking for snacks, being annoying.

Finally, the line cooks started giving me stuff to do so I’d quit bothering them. I washed vegetables, but they even-tually let me do some chopping. When I was fifteen they let me come on as an intern.”

Maddy shook her head and shifted so that she was sitting cross-legged. She watched an ant carry a dead beetle through the grass in front of her. “That’s so cool.

I’ve never known a guy my age who
could
cook, much less liked to.”

David heaved a mock-tired sigh. “I know. My friends call me Emeril, but they’re more than happy to eat whatever I make.”

“I’m a hopeless cook,” Maddy confessed. “I max out at spaghetti and scrambled eggs.”

“I love scrambled eggs,” David said, his hand on his chest. “How did you know that’s my favorite food in the world?”

“Scrambled eggs are your favorite food?”

“Well, no,” David said, grinning a little devilishly.

“Actually, my favorite food is steamed lobster. I was just trying to make you feel better.”

Maddy laughed. “Thanks a lot, jerk!” She shoved him onto the grass. He fell on his side with a thud and curled up in a ball.

“Help!” he moaned to the air in front of him. “Assault!

This girl is beating me up! The only thing that’ll save me is … is … a chocolate-chip cookie!” He continued moaning pitifully.

Maddy couldn’t help laughing at him. “Okay!” she said, half crawling over to the plate of cookies still sitting by the rock where she’d left them this morning. She broke one in half.

“Help! Time is running out!” David, with his eyes still closed, opened his mouth like a fish. Maddy poked in the cookie, stuffing the other half into her own mouth.

He sat up. “Ahh, much better,” he managed through the cookie. Maddy’s phone beeped from the grass between them. “Wow, you’re popular!” He reached across Maddy’s lap and swiped the phone. “Who could this be? Call from Brian—who’s Brian, your boyfriend?”

he teased.

“David, give me that!” In a panic, Maddy grabbed at the phone, but he held it just out of her reach, grinning.

“Hallooo, Pierre’s Auto Repair, who ees dis?” he cried in a high falsetto. He winked at Maddy.

“Stop! Give it to me!” she hissed furiously. David must have seen something change in her face. His grin faded and he handed the phone back.

“Sorry,” he mouthed. Maddy glared at him angrily and jogged a few feet away, turning her back.

“Hi,” she said.

“Who the hell was that?” Brian did not sound happy.

“No one—just this guy I’m working with.” Maddy tried to make her voice unruffled. She peeked over her shoulder. David was throwing small stones into the stream, staring straight ahead of him.

“There’s a
guy
up there? Thanks for telling me.”

“I didn’t have a chance! Anyway, you have nothing to worry about. He’s the son of my dad’s business partner, so just calm down, okay?”

“I’m not mad that there’s a guy up there—I’m mad because you didn’t say anything about it.” Brian’s voice rose.

“Okay, okay!” Maddy glanced at David nervously. “I can’t talk right now.”

“Whatever,” Brian said sullenly. “Have fun with that asshole.”

“Look, stop. I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Yeah, if you can fit me into your busy schedule.” He hung up. Maddy stood still for a second, breathing a little hard. Then she turned back toward David, who was watching her as he tried to juggle three little stones.

“Hey, look, I’ve almost got this—”

“Why did you do that?” Maddy demanded. The

force of her words surprised her.

He caught the stones and stared at her, his mouth open a little.

“That was really inconsiderate, David!” she cried.

He blinked. “Sorry.” He held his hands up like he was surrendering. “It was just a joke. Why are you so mad?”

“That was my boyfriend, idiot!”

“Ohh,” he said, realization dawning on his face. He fell back a few steps. “Wow. Sorry.”

“You already said that.” Maddy turned around, trying to control herself. Why was she freaking out? It
was
just a stupid joke. She usually didn’t get so upset about things like this. She shook her head. “Look, I’m just tired. It’s been a long morning.”

David nodded in agreement. “Yeah.” He looked at her as if he was seeing something different. “Tell your boyfriend I’m sorry the next time you talk to him.”

“Sure,” Maddy agreed. They stared at each other for a second. As David turned around and headed toward the little house in the next field, Maddy’s stomach sank.

Their houses were only a field apart, but they lived in totally different worlds.