Page 45 of Kisses Sweeter than Wine

“Corbin. It’s so good to see you.” Talbot raced to her son, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

Merlot stood there like a lump on a log. It was like looking into a mirror of his youth.

Corbin must have noticed the resemblance because he lifted his mother off the ground and set her to the side, glaring. “Who the hell are you?”

“I need you to stay calm,” Talbot said. “This is going to be a bit of a shock.”

“What’s going on, Mom?”

“This is Merlot River. He’s your father.” Talbot smiled weakly.

Corbin lowered his chin and narrowed his stare.

Merlot knew that look well. He’d seen his father use it often when he’d been pissed. It was also an expression Merlot used right before he used his fist to punch out a boy who’d made disparaging remarks about Talbot. He braced himself for impact.

“You fucking bastard,” Corbin said with venom laced to every syllable.

“I won’t have you speak like that to your dad.” Talbot rested a hand on Corbin’s shoulder.

Corbin shifted his gaze. “Are you kidding me? That man didn’t even want me. He left you pregnant at seventeen and went off and did whatever the fuck he wanted without a single care in the world.”

“That’s what you told him about me?” Merlot knew Talbot hadn’t gotten a chance to finish everything she’d wanted to tell him before their son came barging in, but damn—that one hurt.

“Are you going to stand there and say it’s not true? Are you going to call my mother a liar after everything she’s been through?”

“Oh, son. You don’t know the half of it,” Merlot muttered.

“Don’t you ever call me son.” Corbin lunged.

Talbot stepped in front of him. “Stop it right now.” She pressed her hand on Corbin’s chest. “Merlot is right. You don’t know the whole story and you’re going to sit your ass down in that chair and listen, you hear me, young man?”

“I’m not a child,” Corbin said.

“No, you’re not. But I’m still your mother and I won’t hesitate to grab you by the ear and make you howl.” She lifted her hand.

Corbin rubbed his ear.

“Now sit.” She pointed to a chair.

This was a side of Talbot he’d never seen before, and damn, he liked it.

“Fine, but don’t expect me to believe anything that man has to say. If you want to drink the Kool-Aid, that’s your problem.” He pulled back a chair, turned it around, and straddled it.

She smacked him, though not hard, on the back side of his head.

“Jesus, Mom. Seriously?” He rubbed his neck. “Is he why you and Mama C came to this town?”

“Mama C?” Merlot took his beer and chugged. “Is that supposed to be Claudia?”

“Yeah. Doesn’t he know her?” Corbin folded his arms across the back of the chair. Merlot used to do this when he’d been about Corbin’s age. It drove his mother batshit crazy.

Which was why he did it.

“I know who she is, but I literally just found out about you two minutes before you came walking through that door.” Perhaps he shouldn’t have said that, but this was new territory for all of them.

Corbin jerked his head. “He’s bullshitting me, right, Mom? That can’t be true. Please tell me he’s the one who’s lying.”

A tear rolled down Talbot’s cheek. “All the lies stop right here. Right now.”

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