Page 6 of Wine Whiskey & Lipstick

Cat ignored her. “Yes! Rethinking. I’ll be thirty-two in less than a month, and I don’t have anything to show for it. I mean, Palmer, you have your real estate business, Dillyn, you haveDot Matrix,and I live out of suitcases and hotels.” Cat sighed. “There’s got to be more to life than this. What that is, I have no idea, but I think I’m ready for more.”

Both Palmer and Dillyn were shocked at Cat’s words, but they understood the feeling. Palmer leaned against the headboard of her bed and took a sip of wine before responding. “More? What does more even look like?”

It wasn’t a real question for her friends. Dillyn knew where Palmer was going. They'd talked recently about Palmer feeling the pull of her biological clock ticking.

Cat answered the question dangling in front of her. “It would be nice actually to own something. To have my own slice of heaven. There’s not much I can do in the States as a sommelier.”

“That’s not true,” Dillyn said.

“Yeah, it’s true. Unlike you two, I’m not rich. I have to travel internationally to make the big money. I’m tired of traveling.”

“Who’s rich? I’m not rich. I might be upper-middle class, but rich? Girl, bye.” Palmer pointed toward Dillyn. “That’s her.”

Dillyn hated talking about money with her friends. “I do okay.” She quickly changed the subject. “What would you do if you had money?”

Cat fell back onto Palmer’s pillows. She looked up at the ceiling, saying wistfully, “I’d like to have my own vineyard. Create my own wine brand.”

“You’d have to move out of the city, and you, my dear friend, are a city girl.” Dillyn reminded her.

“I’d do it for a fresh start,” Cat replied.

“A fresh start does sound nice.”

“You too?” Dillyn asked, shocked. “You love your life.”

“I did . . . in my twenties. Do you know how cut-throat real estate is? I have ulcers from this job. I would gladly give it up for something new and exciting. Unfortunately, somebody has got to pay for this high-priced condo we’re enjoying since you heffas are homeless. That someone is me.”

“Condo with a magnificent view, though,” Dillyn responded cheekily, then turned serious. “Too bad we can’t find a vineyard and buy it. We could call it The Chicks Winery.”

Cat giggled. “You, my friend, are corny. It’s adorable. But if we were living in dreamland and could buy a vineyard, we would not leave you in charge of naming it.”

Palmer sat up and glanced thoughtfully between her friends. She hesitated at first before speaking quietly. “I could find us a vineyard.”

Dillyn and Cat stared at Palmer, waiting for her to erupt into laughter. She didn’t.

Dillyn wasn’t shocked why Cat wouldn’t believe Palmer was serious. She knew her friend would tell them why buying a vineyard couldn’t work. “What part of my broke ass can’t afford to buy one did you miss? I can’t even afford to be a partner.”

Dillyn didn’t hesitate. “What if I fronted the money?”

Again, the room grew quiet. They all wondered if the other was serious.

“Do you all remember that Bed & Breakfast we stayed at a couple of years ago for our girl’s trip?”

“The Steele Orchard?” Cat asked.

“Yep.” Palmer nodded. “It’s for sale. The owner reached out to me several months ago because I playfully told him to contact me if he ever wanted to put it on the market.”

It was then Cat realized they weren’t joking, especially when she saw the look on Dillyn’s face. Her friend was reeling and would agree to almost anything. Now wasn’t the best time for her to be making big decisions. “I couldn’t agree to a significant purchase like that.”

Dillyn pointed at her. “You have the expertise in wines, Palmer has the expertise in real estate, and I have the money.” Dillyn lifted her shoulders, a small smile playing on her lips. “Maybe wecoulddo this. It would be the fresh start we’ve been talking about.”

“Would you seriously consider doing that?” Palmer asked. “Even a cheap vineyard ain’t going to be cheap. It might run in the millions.”

Cat chimed in. “Developing wine and turning it into a profitable business can take years, and that will cost a lot of money too.”

Dillyn didn’t care. “I am now twenty-seven million dollars richer than I was yesterday. The more I think about it, the more I love the idea.”

“Developing our own brand of wine will really eat into that,” Cat said.

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