Page 47 of Love Among Vines

“You’re right. I’m going through some shit, so chill, okay?” She crossed her arms and stared defiantly at Rett.

He smiled and almost moved forward to kiss her. But it wasn’t the right moment.

“That’s better. How can I help?”

“Mind taking this to the car?” She nudged a weekender bag toward him. “I have to pack up Penny’s things. She’s very particular.”

He nodded. “Did you pack something for the party?”

She tossed her hair over her shoulder and turned to look back at him. “Of course. I went Old Hollywood glam.”

“Perfect.” He picked up her bag and headed for the truck.

An hour later,Rett stood in front of a display of primers. He glanced at his watch. At this rate, they definitely wouldn’t make it back before closing time at the winery. Jade had insisted that they visit her usual paint store before heading back, and it was becoming an unexpectedly irritating adventure.

He thrust his phone at her. “Financial literacy lesson number one. Do not buy the same product in the city that you can get from Home Depot for thirty dollars cheaper.”

She pouted. “But I prefer to support small businesses.”

Frustration prickled under his skin. This was basically budgeting 101. “That is a relic from another time when you didn’t have to worry about money. For now, you can only get the absolute musts here. Everything else—primer, equipment, brushes?—”

She gasped. “How dare you accuse brushes of not being in the ‘absolute must’ category.”

He sighed. “Fine. I’m not an artist. But I’ll tell you right now we will not be buying stirring sticks and paint tray liners here. A piece of plastic is a piece of plastic.”

“Just so I’m understanding everything properly, my time is worth nothing and it’s more financially responsible to leave the city and drive five hours out of the way to save two dollars on painter’s tape?”

“I only said that because we’re going that direction anyway.” Rett’s voice rose.

A shopkeeper in a brown smock appeared. “Aww. How long have you guys been married?” she asked.

“We’re not married,” they responded in tandem, both glaring at each other.

“My mistake. Can I take anything up to the counter for you?”

Jade huffed, then hefted everything out of her cart except for paintbrushes, a rainbow of different mural paints, and matte wall varnish.

“I have to put these back. But you can take these up. Thanks.”

The shopkeeper wheeled the remainder of the supplies away. Jade’s expression was cloudy as she forcefully shoved paint tray liners back into their place on the shelf. It was worth it, though. He had probably just saved her upwards of $200.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out. Shit. It was Elaine.

“Hello?”

“Hi, boss. Everything is okay, I just needed to let you know one teensy thing.”

His stomach contorted.

“What is it?” he asked flatly. He knew something would go wrong. He shouldn’t have left.

“Since you were gone, Rob led the afternoon tour,” she said hesitantly.

“Yes?”

“And while they were in the barn, one of the customers knocked over a case. We lost all twelve of the bottles.”

He inhaled sharply. One case wasn’t great, but they had had worse mishaps.

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