Page 150 of Love Among Vines

“I’ll be back at Margie’s for Christmas. I promise,” Jade said with a hug.

“Come on, Penny,” she called. Penny hopped into the passenger seat.

Jade waved one final time and took a last look around. She drove over the carpet of red and gold leaves, waving at Cindy.

It was time to start over.

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

RETT

“I’ll be honest,it’s hard to pick a favorite.” Lindon sat on the velvet couch in the speakeasy, an array of glasses in front of him. “My husband will kill me if I don’t bring a bottle of this back.” He tapped a Blaufränkisch.

“That’s high praise coming from you,” Rett said.

Lindon lifted a glass to his nose and inhaled deeply. Ruby liquid swirled inside. “You really have something special here.”

Hadwould be more appropriate. Sure, everything he could have hoped for had just come true—a feature in theNew York Timeswould all but guarantee a boom in business. Everyone’s jobs should theoretically be safe. He could dive in deeper on the sparkling wine and figure out what the future held for Rhodes Vineyard.

But all the success in the world meant nothing without Jade.

He had spent all of Sunday in bed, hoping that if he just slept enough, he would wake to find that everything had been a nightmare. He ignored calls from his parents, opting instead to hide in the dark, empty confines of his bedroom. Jade had blocked his number after their fight, and he hadn’t had the wherewithal to face the hurt written on her face on Sunday.

And now she was gone. After a lengthy interrogation, Cindy had revealed she had left town that morning.

He was such a fucking idiot. Something about seeing Chris propose to Alexa had broken his brain, and he had been unspeakably cruel to the person he cared about the most.

He felt her absence in every inch of the space around him. How could she trust him after that poison had poured from his mouth? He was an idiot, and he deserved to be alone.

When the tasting ended, Rett waved as Lindon’s rented car disappeared down the driveway. He had promised the feature would be in the Sunday edition.

Rett flipped the lights off and locked the door. He had stayed open late to do a special tasting for Lindon. And now he was alone with nothing to distract him.

He tucked the day’s deposit in the safe, and his fingers brushed against something small and hard. He withdrew a small box.

Fuck.

He flipped open the lid. A pear-shaped diamond glinted inside—the ring he had meant to give Alexa two years ago. At first, he had kept it around because he thought for sure she would come back to him. But the box sat there for weeks, then months. At some point, it became a reminder of the person he used to be. The Rett who had bought this ring was a different person entirely—fun, romantic, optimistic. He believed in love and the melding of two lives.

He squeezed it so hard the box creaked. He should throw it into the lake. Shove it up his brother’s ass. Do something—anything—to take this pain away. He snapped it shut and slid it into his pocket. Fretting in the winery wasn’t going to do him any good.

He locked up and returned home, greeted only by the emptiness echoing in the gargantuan house. The painting ofPenny stared forlornly back at him. It didn’t feel like home without Jade’s frantic painting and Penny’s army of tennis balls.

There wasn’t even a way for him to apologize. What was he going to do, drive to New York and bang on her apartment door? She didn’t want to speak to him. And he didn’t blame her.

She deserved much better than him. But he couldn’t let her go. He needed to apologize in a big way. But how?

On autopilot, he made a pan of brownies and slid them in the oven. Upstairs, he shed his work clothes and slipped into a pair of athletic shorts. He went to the gym and punished his body—bicep curls until his arms were screaming, weighted squats that nearly buckled his knees. But no amount of exertion was going to distract from his depressing reality.

Jade was gone, and Alexa was going to be in his life forever. Every holiday, every wedding, every funeral. He would be forced to stare into the eyes of the woman who slid into his brother’s bed without a second thought.

He threw his dumbbell down with a roar and stomped back up the stairs. The ring box sat on the counter, mocking him with the lake in the background. He should just throw it in. Let it sink to the bottom and decay. He had one hand on the back door when there was a knock.

He stopped and checked the doorbell camera. Tom, still in his postal service uniform, stood on the front porch. At least someone was still speaking to him.

He tossed the box on the counter and opened the front door.

Tom rushed in for a hug, then drew back and slapped him lightly in the face.

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