Page 81 of Just a Stranger

I reread the first comment with over three thousand likes about four times. “It’s a Texas miracle. Farmers turn water, air, and soil into wine.”

I spun the wheel on my mouse to scroll down the page of comments. The sheer number of people excited about the harvest was humbling. Sure, plenty of people commented on Wilson’s good looks and Cami’s engagement ring. But hundreds or even thousands were excited by the process. Excited to get closer to the wine they were choosing to drink.

“Thanking the grape growers for my favorite beverage. Congrats on the harvest, Wilson. Cheers!”

“If you’re drinking wine today, hug a vintner.”

“So excited to visit Blue Star for The Stomp. Growing wine is awesome.”

“Hot winemaking cowboys, God bless Texas!” followed by a string of heart emojis.

The last comment had me chuckling into my coffee cup, sure that Jameson would get a tee shirt printed withwinemaking cowboyon the chest to wear into town. It was a brilliant new angle for picking up pretty tourists. Maybe I’d get him some plastic grape bunches to attach to his hatband.

I scrolled slowly back to the top of the comment section. Here it was. The passionate connection to the product that Rae had been talking about. Giving up a hay field for a parking lot looked like a better deal as I reread comments. She’d sold them on the story of Blue Star’s vines from earth to bottle.

I opened my administration view of the Blue Star web store where we sold our subscription boxes. The signups in the last twenty-four hours were shocking. The passion Rae was selling wasn’t limited to wine. These “city folk”—I cringed at the mental turn of phrase—were embracing all Blue Star offered, taking a step back from big box stores and factory farm production.

Rae amazed me. She came from the outside, looked at our life, and didn’t wrap it in cellophane and sell it at a discount. Nor did she franchise it at every strip mall in the southwest. She’d told our story with thoughtfulness and love to the right audience.

Shit.

Love.

The word sent my heart racing. If she’d let me, I could love her. Not only for her huge brain and what she’d done for the ranch. But because I cherished every molecule of her being and loved us together.

What was the difference between chemistry and love at first sight? From where I sat, not anything important.

Wilson said big, he said sweep her off her feet. Maybe it was time I went big, not just for her but for me too. It was time to stop hovering and start the next chapter in my life. Follow Rae’s lead and live my life with determination. I hoped with all myheart Rae would be part of that next step, but if not… It was time I did it for myself.

The thought of sitting at this same desk all alone on my fiftieth birthday in two years was utterly depressing.

I clicked off the heating pad. My back still hurt, but I’d gone hot and sweaty at the reality of what I was contemplating. The black coffee I’d been enjoying gurgled in my suddenly acidic stomach. I’d avoided this path for decades by working for someone else.

Money wasn’t good or bad. It didn’t have an agenda. What you did with it was the test of your morals. My mother and Jude Morgan had both given me this same lecture dozens of times. But it hadn’t worked until now.

I had something that I wanted more than I hated my father and what he stood for.

I wanted a new future. One I’d be proud to ask Rae to join me in building. She had ambition, and it was fucking hot. Time for me to up my game in that area. A woman like her deserved a man doing more than coasting along.

It was seven am. Good enough. Sun’s up, I’m up. I shook out my sweaty hands and reached for my cell phone. I scrolled until I found Jude’s contact and paused.

If you expected to be disappointed, you would be. But what if you hoped for a lot more… like the whole enchilada?

I hit the call button.

“Atley, you know some of us don’t have to get up and feed cows at the ass crack of dawn.”

“It’s seven, and unless the next Mrs. Morgan is in bed next to you, you’re going to love this phone call.”

I heard bed sheets rumpling, and Jude coughed.

“Okay, I’m up. What do you need?” He had his realtor voice on.

“I’m ready.”

“No shit. I’ll send you some listings first thing this morning.”

Chapter 30

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