Page 10 of Love Among Vines

CHAPTER NINE

JADE

“Smile!” Cameras flashed as the photographer paced back and forth in front of the group.

“Beautiful. Okay, now bride and groom kiss.”

Jade bit back a sigh. Sweat was collecting in a pool on her lower back beneath the world’s most non-breathable, satin bridesmaid dress. She wasn’t even allowed to sit in it because it would wrinkle immediately.

Every part of the wedding day had already been irritating and performative, and they hadn’t even made it down the aisle yet.

In front of her, Nate and Ashley leaned in and kissed. Jade’s stomach clenched. Ashley was a picture-perfect bride in the mermaid-style gown and elegant, pearl-studded chignon.

Today was the culmination of the dream her best friend had carefully cultivated since high school.

On more than one occasion, Ashley had pulled out her wedding scrapbook during sleepovers and they argued over color schemes, flowers, and DJ set lists.

It should have been the most joyous day of her life, but Ashley had been acting on edge all morning long. Was it just nerves?

Frankly, she kind of deserved to be nervous. Even though nothing physical had happened between her and Nate while he was dating Jade, Ashley had still opened her heart to him. An egregious breach of girl code at best.

What would Jade’s mom say if she had been around for what happened? Quick to anger, Linda Gardner would have probably written Ashley off immediately and stormed to her parents’ penthouse to ream them out.

Jade bit her lip. Her mom wouldn’t be at her wedding. She would never have a father-daughter dance. And yet Ashley, who had an emotional affair with Jade’s boyfriend, was granted a hundred-thousand-dollar wedding in the Finger Lakes. It figured.

Between takes, Jade glanced down at her chest. The stupid ice skate tattoo remained concealed behind a thick layer of foundation despite the river of sweat dripping into her butt crack. Thank goodness. It was time for the tattoo to go. Not that laser removal was currently in her budget.

At least the view was beautiful. Behind them, the sun glimmered on the surface of the lake. The vineyards on the surrounding banks were a vibrant green. The air was clean and clear, and even the sun didn’t seem so bad with the gentle breeze.

The group broke up so the bride and groom could get some pictures on their own.

“Don’t sit down,” Nate’s mother, Patricia, reminded everyone.

Sure, Jade would just stand in these death heels until she passed out. Anything for the bride.Now was as good a time as any to make use of the free champagne and cheese platters in the bridal room.

The air conditioning was a welcome, frosty caress after the humid stickiness of the outdoors. Jade found her champagne glass from earlier and poured a fresh drink.

Just one ceremony, one reception, and one awkward brunch to go. And in the meantime, she’d have the attentions of a suspiciously handsome winemaker to distract herself. She pulled her phone out of her clutch and glanced at it.

Her heart jumped when she saw a message from Rett.

Rett: Just so you know, I’m purposely tying an Eldredge knot to upstage the groom.

What the hell was an Eldredge knot? She turned to Google and admired the intricate knot. Just how deft were those fingers? Maybe tonight she would find out.

Jade: Very nice. I assume you’ll be riding in on a white horse with carriage attachment?

Rett: Best I can do is a Palomino and a Radio Flyer wagon.

She smiled. Nate had been a lot of things—charming, for one—but funny wasn’t one of them. Not that it mattered. Because she would probably never see Rett again after the winery’s anniversary party. Hopefully by then her life would be back on track.

Footsteps clattered down the hallway outside. Oh, hell. Maybe the other bridesmaids had the same idea. She was not in the mood to speak to anyone or catch more sympathetic glances. She scooped a handful of cheese off the plate and darted behind the folding screen in the corner.

The door opened.

“I’m fine. I’ll just be a minute.”

Shit. It was Ashley. And now she was hiding in the corner with a handful of cheese. Should Jade announce her presence?

“Hi, Dr. Bennett. This is Ashley Moore. I would really appreciate it if you could give me a call back in the next half an hour. It’s kind of an emergency.”

Jade’s ears perked up. Dr. Bennett was the therapist Ashley swore by. Why did she need to talk to her therapist on the happiest day of her life?

A muffled sniffle came from the other side of the folding screen. Her breath caught in her chest. The bride was crying. Comforting her was definitely listed in the official bridesmaid duties.

Resolved to step out and speak to her, she took a step sideways. A triangle of gouda slipped out of her hand and landed on the carpeted floor with a muffled thump.

“Hello?” Ashley’s voice was still teary.

Fuck.

“Hey, Ash,” Jade said in a way she hoped sounded casual. She inched out from behind the folding screen.

“What were you doing behind the screen?”

“Sorry. I thought the other bridesmaids were coming in. I just wanted a break from all the—you know what? It doesn’t matter.”

Ashley sniffed again, and tears started streaming down her cheeks. If Jade didn’t do something right away, there would be a full-blown makeup emergency.

“Whoa, hey. What’s going on?”

“This,” Ashley said, gesturing at her. “This is exactly why I’m upset.”

Jade glanced down at her bridesmaid dress. It wasn’t wrinkled. She hadn’t even sat down. What was so distressing about her appearance?

She tossed the handful of mangled cheese back on the plate and came to stand next to her friend.

“Tell me what it is, and I’ll fix it. Do you hate my hair? I’ll call the stylist back in.”

“No.” Ashley choked back a sob. “It’s not you. Well, it is you. I can’t keep this secret anymore.”

A secret? That didn’t sound good. If Ashley was pregnant, Jade would be honor-bound to slap the champagne out of her hand.

Ashley trained her tear-stained eyes on Jade. She was still lovely, but the makeup artist was definitely going to have to take a second pass at her.

“You have been so kind and understanding during this whole process. If I was in your position, I would have punched me in the face. Maybe even burned my apartment to the ground.”

Jade smiled and handed her a tissue. “I told you before. I know what it’s like when Nate sets his sights on you. He’s like a whirlpool, sucking you in no matter how hard you fight against the current.”

“He is. He really is.”

This was exactly the type of conversation she had desperately been hoping to avoid. Why were they rehashing all of this when it was old news? And on the day of the wedding, no less?

“I can’t take this guilt anymore. We didn’t tell you the truth,” Ashley said.

The words settled between them like an anvil.

Jade’s mouth went dry. “What do you mean?”

“He told you it was just an emotional affair, right? That nothing happened between us physically?”

Ice shot through Jade’s veins. She remembered the moment like it was yesterday.

Ashley had fled the apartment, crying. Nate had stayed behind, empty-handed and stone-faced.

“I can’t do this,” he had said. “I’m so sorry. I fell in love with someone else.”

It would have hurt less if he had slapped her. But the only silver lining of the entire interaction was that he had assured her, time after time, that nothing physical had happened between them. It was just emotions that had grown stronger to the point where they couldn’t be ignored.

So what the hell was Ashley trying to say?

“We lied. We had been hooking up for a month before you were supposed to move in together.”

The champagne glass toppled from Jade’s hand. Liquid splashed her satin heels.

Finally, she found her voice. “So when I signed the lease, he already knew he wasn’t going to move in?”

“No. It happened right after. It was later that night, at my parent’s house,” Ashley confessed.

“You had a headache from the champagne and went to bed early. I stayed to watch the Knicks game because my apartment didn’t have cable yet, and Nate decided to stay too.

And during the game…he kissed me. And I didn’t stop it.

I thought it was a fluke, a onetime thing from the high emotions of watching our team score. But it wasn’t.”

Jade’s entire body was pulsating. Desires warred within her. Should she run? Or should she hurl this cheese platter at the two-faced bride like a Frisbee and bitch-slap both of these lying, sadistic assholes into the lake?

Rage was rising in her, hot and dangerous.

“So you let me believe for two years that you got together honorably. And you asked me to be a fucking bridesmaid. In your wedding. To my ex-boyfriend.”

Ashley sniffled. “I’m so sorry. The guilt has just been?—”

“Stop it.”

Ashley faltered. Her cheeks were pink.

“You could have told me the truth at any point in the last two years. Like maybe before I spent a thousand dollars on a stupid bridesmaid dress I’m not even allowed to sit in.”

Jade had always been a strong proponent of believing the best in people. But this was a different kind of betrayal. Something inside her snapped.

“And now you’re telling me that while I was still in the initial stages of grief from my parents’ untimely death, you were fucking my boyfriend.”

Ashley burst into tears again.

A pang of guilt hit, but Jade quickly shoved it down. There was no way she was going to feel guilty for this shit.

She reached down and picked up a fresh bottle of champagne in one hand and the cheese plate in the other.

“I hope he never does to you what he did to me. I hope you never know what it’s like to have your future planned out, and then be blindsided when everything is ripped away. Good luck.”