Page 36 of A Vineyard Love

“No. Not really.” Noah tried to laugh and palmed the back of his neck. “It’ll only take a few minutes.”

Audrey shrugged and followed Noah out into the hallway, leaving Max with the rest of them. Max was now at the window of the suite, his little hands gripping the ledge as he struggled to see over it. Christine walked over and lifted Max by the armpits so that he could see out.

“Look at that, Max! Do you see those cliffs?” Christine asked.

“Noah’s acting weird,” Susan muttered loud enough for Amanda to hear.

Amanda’s stomach had already twisted into knots, which she was now trying her best to untie. “I’m sure it’s fine,” she told her mother and herself, her voice wavering.

Susan crossed her arms over her chest. “Audrey will tell us what’s up when she comes back. And whatever it is, we can fix it.” Susan’s tone was difficult to read, but Amanda had a hunch she meant:if Sam left you at the altar, we can figure this out.

But, Amanda thought now, there wasn’t really a way to “figure that out.” Her knees felt like jelly, and she sat at the edge of the cream couch as Lola refilled her glass of champagne.

“We need more tunes,” Lola said brightly, taking control of Audrey’s phone to put on pop from the nineties, which was Lola’s favorite era for music. As she danced, her eyes closed and her shoulders swaying, Amanda tried to smile.

Suddenly, Max was directly in front of her, smacking his hands together. “Auntie Amanda?”

“Hi, Max!”

“Why are you wearing such a big dress?” Max asked.

Everyone in the room was captivated by him, with the wonder on his face as he regarded Amanda in such a strange costume.

“Because I’m getting married today,” Amanda explained. “And when women get married, they wear big, fancy dresses.”

“Why?” Max asked.

Amanda laughed. “I wish I knew the answer to that. I guess we just want to look very beautiful on such a special day.”

“Why?” Max asked again.

“Uh oh. Has he started the ‘why’ game again?” Audrey appeared back in the suite, her face ashen and her eyes very dark, as though she’d just learned something horrific.

“Mama!” Max cried again, rushing toward her. Audrey raised him against her and adjusted his legs around her waist. If Amanda wasn’t mistaken, Audrey was avoiding her eyes.

“Audrey, what was that about?” Amanda asked, trying to keep her tone light.

“Oh. That was nothing.”

“You look like you just learned something awful,” Susan pointed out.

Audrey laughed, but it came out false. “Noah was just being Noah.”

“Boys will be boys, right?” Lola tried to smooth the strange tension in the room.

“That’s right,” Audrey agreed with her mother.

Amanda literally couldn’t get up. Her legs felt like lead. As Audrey re-opened the door to return Max to Noah, she murmured something too quiet for Amanda to hear. Then, she told Max, “Mama will see you later, baby. Okay? I love you so much!”

With the door safely closed behind her, Audrey skipped back to the group, refilled her flute with champagne, and smiled serenely at Amanda. “Gosh, I can’t get over how pretty you look.”

But Amanda didn’t feel pretty just then. She felt like a mottled creature on the verge of experiencing yet another disastrous wedding. “Come on, Audrey. If it’s really no big deal, why can’t you tell me what Noah said?”

Audrey waved her hand. “I don’t want to distract you today. Seriously. It’s nothing. It’s less than nothing.”

“I know when you’re lying, Audrey,” Amanda told her. “It’s just like when you ate the rest of the chocolate chip cookies after Max’s birthday party and didn’t want to tell me.”

Audrey blushed crimson. “I did finally confess to that, though.”

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