Page 10 of Love Among Vines

“Well, he has a real gift.”

Someone cleared their throat behind Jade, and she jumped. Penny yanked on the leash and beelined for whoever was behind her.

Jade whirled around.Shit. There he was. Rett was slightly less grumpy-looking today, but his expression was equally serious. His navy suit was paired with a matching bowtie. How long did it take him to get ready in the morning? Did he have a professional collar-starcher on staff?

He bent down to pet Penny. She sat on his overly shined dress shoe and panted happily as he scratched behind her ears.

“Is there something I can help you find?”

His voice hit her like lightning. It was deep, grumbly, but refined. Something stirred in her soul.

Did he recognize her? Maybe he was hopelessly nearsighted and couldn’t place her due to the fact that she looked like she had climbed out of a swimming pool.

“Yes, actually. I just came in for a couple bottles. The dry Riesling and the Blaufränkisch.”

“Let me get those for you.”

“Thank you.” She waited awkwardly while he pulled two bottles off the shelves and slid them into paper bags.

She slung her backpack off and opened the neck to find her wallet. Before she could stop it, three blocks of cheese tumbled onto the counter.

Amusement sparkled in his eyes. “You know you should refrigerate those.”

Jade’s cheeks grew hot. Did he think she was an idiot? “I was planning to. I just ran past that cheese vending machine in the village and was compelled by an outside force to stop.”

Rett nodded. Was that the hint of a smile on his lips? “We’ve all been there.”

He rang up the total, and her stomach twisted as she handed over her card. This trip was bleeding money out of her. How far would two bottles get her? Maybe the wine plus the closure of the wedding would be enough to finally lift this black cloud from her life.

“You won’t want to put Splenda in these, by the way,” he said as he tucked the receipt in the bag and pushed them toward her.

Damn it.Her cheeks grew hot again. He definitely remembered her.

“I am so sorry about yesterday.” Oh no, word vomit was coming. “I love your wine. Seriously. This is going to make me sound like a crazy person, but it awakened something in me.”

His eyebrows rose, but she couldn’t stop.

“I know the girls I was with yesterday were assholes. Blake—the primary offender—was really going through something. Most of us are. It’s sort of a messed-up situation, actually.”

Penny whined at her side as if Jade was embarrassing her, but the runaway train kept going.

“You see, Ashley—the bride—is marrying my ex-boyfriend. And I’m the idiot who introduced them. I was so excited when they hit it off. They’re both huge Knicks fans. We went to a game during March Madness in our last year of grad school. I could almost see him falling out of love with me after that, you know?”

Rett was frozen in place.

“But we still made plans. I was killing it in the art world at the time, and he was lined up to work for his dad’s hedge fund right after graduation. We were going to move in together, a beautiful two-bedroom in Midtown. I saw my whole future written out in front of me. I’d be Mrs. Jade Astor with my own studio space and galleries fighting for my art. And then on move-in day, I walked in and there they were.”

Her voice faltered. Rett reached across the till like he was going to comfort her but paused halfway and tapped the counter instead. Maybe he wasn’t a stoic stick-in-the-mud after all. Or maybe he had been reaching over to strangle her and put her out of her misery.

“He didn’t cheat on me, if that’s what you were thinking. Not physically, anyway. I walked in and they were standing in the kitchen, arguing. He hadn’t even brought any boxes with him. He knew that he wasn’t going to go through with it, and he still let me sign the lease. He let me go on believing that he still loved me, even though I knew the second I walked in that room that he was already gone.”

Penny jumped up her leg, and Jade patted her on the head.

“So now I’m a bridesmaid who has to stand at the altar and watch my childhood best friend marry the man I thought I was going to marry. And I’m going to have to go make small talk with his family without even a plus one at my side. Or a career to discuss. I have never been so pathetic in my entire life.”

Rett frowned, but she plowed on.

“What I’m trying to say is I’m an artist who hasn’t created any art for two years. Not even a doodle. I used to get this feeling—like a tingling sensation—when inspiration hit. My mom would call it the ‘muse tickle.’ But I haven’t felt anything since that morning, standing in an empty kitchen and watching my boyfriend choose someone else. Until yesterday.”

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