Page 55 of Kisses Sweeter than Wine

“I take it you included Talbot and—”

“They’re family. Of course, I did. However, I didn’t want to spook anyone, so I told them I had a big announcement.”

“Oh shit. They will expect you to get down on one knee and propose.”

“Would that be such a bad thing?” He chuckled.

“Yes. Because we’re not doing that again. When we do get married, it will be without fanfare and I will not stand for some dumbass cheesy proposal like you did the last time.”

“Okay. Then how about this? Just fucking marry me already.”

“That works.”

“It’s about fucking time,” he said.

Merlot

There had never been a time in Merlot’s life when his father had ordered a family gathering that bad news hadn’t been delivered. By the grim expression on his father’s face, he expected this wouldn’t be any different.

“What’s going on?” Merlot took Talbot’s hand and sat on the big sofa in the living room. Corbin sat on the other side of Talbot and his parents planted their asses on the fireplace.

Everyone else had been banished to the kitchen or outside under the pretense of taking care of the little ones or cooking food.

“There’s no way of easing into this, so I might as well get down to business.” His dad stretched out his legs and crossed them at the ankles. “Richard was at the Founders’ Day picnic.”

Talbot gasped. “No,” she whispered. “Did he see me? My son?”

“I’m guessing he did,” Merlot’s father said. “I checked my email as soon as we got home, and I got a boatload of intel from Corbin’s contact at the CIA. None of it good news.”

“What did Tom get you?” Corbin asked.

“Mostly confirmation of everything we already knew. But Tom found out some disturbing information that we need to deal with.” Merlot’s father let out a long breath.

That was never a good sign.

“Andy doesn’t own the house Talbot is renting. It’s owned by a shell company,” his father said.

“Who’s behind that?” Merlot asked, only he already knew the answer.

“Her father,” his mother said, confirming his suspicions.

“Jesus.” Corbin inched closer to his mom on the sofa, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

Merlot had wanted to do that, but he understood his son’s need to comfort Talbot. He also appreciated the love the boy had for his mom.

“What we don’t know is what or who could have tipped him off regarding the tenants,” his mother said.

“I complained about how dirty the house was when I first got here. That’s when Brad and Lyra came over. They helped me clean it up,” Talbot said.

“The twins and I moved a lot of the old furniture out and moved in the stuff that Brad was getting rid of,” Merlot added.

“Andy wasn’t happy about that when he showed up a few days later, snapping pictures. He said he needed it for future rentals, but all he did was bitch about how I had no right. I told him I thought Brad and Lyra had his blessing.” Talbot gripped Merlot’s thigh.

“We all know Brad wouldn’t just do something without at least trying to deal with Andy. He and Lyra had to put up with his shit when she was living there.” His mother stood.

“Richard has been dealing with a lot of backlash. He knows he’s about to be indicted on felony sexual assault charges. Assault. And campaign fraud. All of that is coming together. He’s running scared. The problem is it brought him right back to Candlewood Falls and my front door,” his father said. “Tom further discovered that Richard has been trying to poke around into my practice and my life. That makes this entire family fair game. He has no one in his pocket here, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been watching.”

“Fuck,” Merlot muttered. “Is it possible he never left town?”

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