Page 131 of Love Among Vines

Jade’s suggestion about outsourcing some of the grunt work was interesting, but not the most fiscally responsible choice he could make. What would he even do with the extra time?

His gaze drifted back to her. She was sitting at the island in silence, brows furrowed in concentration. There was his answer. As Jade had pointed out time and time again, tomorrow was never a guarantee. Maybe it was time he loosened the reins a little. If he could pull the winery out of its flatline with the help of the sparkling wine, anyway.

An hour later, he carefully cracked open the oven door. From his periphery, he spotted Jade sitting up and leaning forward expectantly.

The baking sheet screeched against the oven rack as he withdrew the soufflés. They had risen like a dream. They were gorgeous. They were stunning. They were?—

“Shit.”

Flat as fuck. They had plummeted almost as quickly as his hopes and dreams. Well, not all of them.

Jade cringed like she was expecting a bomb to go off. They looked at each other, and he burst into laughter. She laughed, then clapped a hand over her mouth.

“I’m sure they still taste amazing,” she said gently.

“I can think of something that tastes better,” he said. He left the soufflés on a cooling rack, grabbed her hand, and pulled her into the bedroom.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

JADE

“I can’t believe it,”Jade whispered, turning the card over in her hand. The afternoon light caught the gloss on her picture.

Her very first learner’s permit. It felt like holding a tangible piece of freedom. She had to fight the urge to waggle it in a sixteen-year-old’s face on her way out.

“First try too,” Rett said from the driver’s seat. They were traversing the pothole-riddled road away from the DMV. “Very impressive.”

“I kind of feel sixteen again. Like I want to do something irresponsible.”

He shot her some side-eye.

She snorted. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to crash my first time behind the wheel. I meant irresponsible as in drink too much and yell at someone.”

Something about this dinner with Rett’s brother felt overwhelmingly icky.

“Well, you’re in luck. Because this dinner party is going to be a nightmare.”

She reached across the seat and laid a hand on his knee. Tension radiated off him.

“It’s okay to say no,” she said softly. “Sharing parents doesn’t make him family.”

He shook his head. “My grandmother would want us to be on speaking terms.”

“Respectfully, your grandmother is gone. And you’re allowed to hold boundaries against toxic people. You don’t owe them anything. Not even your presence at some suspicious-ass dinner.”

He glanced at her. “What makes you think it’s suspicious?”

She raised her eyebrows. “Why show up to a party four days early and uninvited?”

Rett stared straight ahead as they drove down the road. “Your instincts are dead-on. My brother has a gambling habit.”

“Aha!” She pointed at him like she’d caught him in a lie. “I knew it. Do you think he’s going to ask for money?”

“Probably. Which I don’t have.”

She sat back in her seat. “It’ll be a cold day in hell before I let him take advantage of you and everything you’ve worked for. Remember that.”

“How could I forget?”

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