Page 86 of Love Among Vines

He busied himself by packing up the easels and dragging them across the vineyard five at a time. When he came back from his final trip, Jade lifted her head.

“I did it,” she said.

“I knew you could. You didn’t tell me you have a natural talent for schmoozing.”

“How do you think I got into my gallery when I was twenty years old?” she asked. “I’m not entirely hopeless. Just mostly hopeless.”

“Not hopeless,” he said sternly. “By the way, why were you asking people to leave Yelp reviews?”

“Have you not looked at the reviews of the winery online?”

He shook his head. The winery was critically acclaimed by some of the finest sommeliers in the world. What did he care what some people with too much time and internet access had to say?

She typed something on her phone. “I was asking for reviews to counteract all the bad ones. I don’t know what happened two Februaries ago, but people werepissed. You might not want to see these.”

He held his hand out, and she gave him the phone. There were a handful of one-star reviews, all left in the same couple ofdays. A few people criticized the wine while others complained about the “surly and unprofessional vintner.”

The date jumped out—February 17th. The week after his grandmother had passed, and his first week in charge of the winery. Flames of anger kindled.

“These really dragged down your average,” Jade said. “You’re at three point five stars. When I’m looking for someplace new to go, I avoid anything that’s less than four stars,” she explained. “I think this is part of the winery’s problem. Do you have any idea what happened?”

Who the hell was comfortable criticizing a grieving man? Let alone on the internet for everyone to see? No wonder the winery was suffering. Was he supposed to sling chardonnay with a smile when they had just buried the matriarch of his family?

He huffed a frustrated sigh. “My grandmother died the week before.”

“Oh.” She bit her lip and tucked her phone away. “Well, if we can incentivize people to leave reviews after their tastings, I really think we could drive your average back up. Maybe if you offered a ten percent discount with proof of a review?”

“I don’t need advice on how to run my business,” he snapped before he could stop himself.

She shrunk back like he had shouted at her. Regret hit him instantly, but before he could take a breath to apologize, she waved a hand in the air like it wasn’t a big deal.

“You’re right. It’s not my place. Well. All the supplies are packed up,” she reported. “Any chance you want to hang out? You can quiz me on street signs or talk to me about dividends.”

Rett hesitated, a yes on his lips.

There was a final portion of his unspoken dream, one he had given up on when Alexa left. A wife, a family, someone to share this life with. He had pushed it to the back of his mind foryears now. But something about Jade had brought it back to the forefront.

It still didn’t matter though. All of this was temporary. And if he couldn’t pull the winery out of its flatline, how could he support a family? If he didn’t find a way to boost sales, his grandmother’s legacy would be tarnished forever and his parents—and his brother—would never let him forget it.

“I’d love to. But I have a lot of work to finish up.”

“Oh. Okay.” Her face fell for a second, then was replaced by a neutral expression. “Are we still on for tomorrow?”

“Yes. That reminds me.” He ducked behind the counter and pulled out a gift bag. He handed it to her. “Don’t open this until you get back to Margie’s.”

“Mysterious. I like it.” Her smile was back. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She left before he could offer a ride home.

Tomorrow night, he would remind her what she deserved. With any luck, she would steer clear of Nates in the future.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

JADE

Jade brusheda coat of mascara over her eyelashes. Another full day of staring paralyzed at a blank wall in the café had passed. Anxiety was setting in. Her sketchbook was full of half-assed ideas, but none of them seemed right. This wasn’t some ordinary painting that Margie could just take down and put in storage when it fell out of fashion. This mural could very well stand until the building was one day taken down to the studs. The pressure was cripplingly high.

She thought this little town had given something back to her. And in a way, it had. She could sketch again, even paint a little. But the real magic was still missing.

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