Page 50 of Love Among Vines
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
JADE
“I can’t believe it,” Jade whispered, turning the card over in her hand. The afternoon light caught the gloss on her picture.
Her very first learner’s permit. It felt like holding a tangible piece of freedom. She had to fight the urge to waggle it in a sixteen-year-old’s face on her way out.
“First try too,” Rett said from the driver’s seat. They were traversing the pothole-riddled road away from the DMV. “Very impressive.”
“I kind of feel sixteen again. Like I want to do something irresponsible.”
He shot her some side-eye.
She snorted. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to crash my first time behind the wheel. I meant irresponsible as in drink too much and yell at someone.”
Something about this dinner with Rett’s brother felt overwhelmingly icky.
“Well, you’re in luck. Because this dinner party is going to be a nightmare.”
She reached across the seat and laid a hand on his knee. Tension radiated off him.
“It’s okay to say no,” she said softly. “Sharing parents doesn’t make him family.”
He shook his head. “My grandmother would want us to be on speaking terms.”
“Respectfully, your grandmother is gone. And you’re allowed to hold boundaries against toxic people. You don’t owe them anything. Not even your presence at some suspicious-ass dinner.”
He glanced at her. “What makes you think it’s suspicious?”
She raised her eyebrows. “Why show up to a party four days early and uninvited?”
Rett stared straight ahead as they drove down the road. “Your instincts are dead-on. My brother has a gambling habit.”
“Aha!” She pointed at him like she’d caught him in a lie. “I knew it. Do you think he’s going to ask for money?”
“Probably. Which I don’t have.”
She sat back in her seat. “It’ll be a cold day in hell before I let him take advantage of you and everything you’ve worked for. Remember that.”
“How could I forget?”
They settled into silence as they drove south.
He was kind of ruining her post-learner’s permit high.
She glanced again at the small rectangle in her hand.
It felt like a beginning. A world of possibilities opened up.
Once she saved enough for a car, she could travel the country in search of inspiration.
Not to mention go to Target whenever she wanted.
The sun was shifting lower, sending long shadows across the vineyards that crawled by the window. The hills were alive with red and yellow leaves.
She pulled the mirror down and glanced at it.
Her hair was up, a couple of tendrils framing her face.
The neckline of her vibrant orange romper was visible, hovering just below the copper statement necklace she had picked up from a street artist in Greenwich Village.
The romper was stretchy enough to allow her to kick some meddling brother ass if needed.
When the truck passed through the town square, Margie’s Café caught her eye. Rett hadn’t been in yet and therefore hadn’t seen the mural. What would he say when he saw it? How would he react to seeing them immortalized together on the dock, Penny between them?
A jazz quartet played in the gazebo on the town green.
Ethel waved merrily from a lawn chair, and Jade reflexively waved back.
Her neighbors never waved at her in the city.
She was on the cusp of starting a completely new life, a giant leap that could go horribly wrong. Her mom would have been proud.
When they pulled into Rett’s driveway, his brow furrowed. A red Corvette was parked haphazardly in front of two of the garage bays. He turned the truck off and hopped out.
Jade freed herself, but Rett met her at her door before she could jump to the ground. He lifted her down slowly, and it was like he was seeing her for the first time all evening.
A genuine smile formed by the time her heels hit the asphalt. “You look beautiful,” he said.
“Really?” She glanced down at her outfit. “I have a feeling this outfit will cause a stir. It’s not very Vineyard Vines.”
“It’s perfect.” He took her hand and pulled her toward the house.
She eyed the entrance like it was the Doors of Durin. What fresh hell waited for them inside? Rett opened the front door, and a medley of scents reached her nose.
They entered the kitchen, and Chris turned around.
“Hey,” he said with a warm smile. He was wearing Rett’s apron, and he crossed the distance between them in seconds. He offered a firm handshake to both of them. Apparently the Rhodes family weren’t huggers.
“Come in, come in.” Chris swept a hand toward the long dining room table.
Rett and Jade exchanged a glance. If he had a thought about what it was like to be invited into his own home, he didn’t share it.
Alexa appeared, dressed primly in a white cashmere sweater dress with a cowl neck. It clung to her athletic frame. Two bottles of wine dangled by their necks from her hands.
“Oh, hello,” she said brightly.
“Alexa,” Rett said. It was more of a grunt than a greeting. Jade squeezed his hand.
What was it like to have the woman he could have married in the home they would have shared?
Jade cast an eye around the house. Things were definitely messier than they had left them. A bag of trash stood by the garage door. Plates and glasses were piled on the end tables in the living room.
Alexa’s smile faltered, and she turned away from them to set the wine on the counter. She aimlessly opened drawers, fighting with one that wouldn’t shut as silverware jingled inside.
Rett took a seat at the dining room table and watched with crossed arms as the dynamic duo attempted to function in his kitchen. Jade smirked. At least he wasn’t letting them off too easy.
“How’s business?” Rett said to his brother, who had seemingly joined the hunt for a corkscrew.
“Oh, it’s great. I sold a pair of brownstones earlier this month.”
Rett’s posture straightened a little. “That’s good to hear. And you, Alexa?”
“It’s going really well. I’m on track to hit $500k in sales this year. These semaglutide injections really sell themselves.”
Rett turned to Jade. “Alexa is in pharmaceutical sales.”
Of course she was a pharma girl.
“I thought I’d check in with Cindy while we’re here. We just added this new burn cream, but it kind of seems like she’s been dodging my calls. I guess I’ll just stop in at the clinic tomorrow and see if she’s around.”
Jade suppressed a smile. Something told her Cindy wouldn’t buy into Alexa’s burn cream if the entire town caught fire.
“What is it you do for work, Jade?” Alexa asked with a smile.
“I’m an artist.” For the first time in two years, the words almost felt true.
Rett squeezed her hand under the table.
“Oh, wow. What’s your medium?” Alexa asked. She turned the full force of her blue eyes on Jade, and it was easy to see how Rett had been dazzled into dating her.
“Paint, mostly. Mixed media.”
“How amazing. I’d love to see some of your work.”
Jade smiled. Alexa was definitely a schmoozer. It was a good thing Jade wasn’t an endocrinologist or she probably would have left dinner with an armful of dubious samples.
“Mom’s gonna love you,” Chris said. He had finally located a corkscrew and driven it into a bottle of red. “She loves the artsy types.”
Alexa shot him a disgruntled look.
“Well, let’s hope so. What’s for dinner?” Jade said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.
“Prime rib, garlic mashed potatoes, and delicata squash,” Chris said. He stirred something on the stove.
Rett and Jade exchanged another glance. There hadn’t been an excess of dirty dishes in the kitchen.
The oven was on, but there was no boiling pot of water, no potato masher in the sink.
The very same meal had been the weekly special at the Tavern only days ago.
Surely his brother wasn’t trying to pass off a restaurant’s offering as a home-cooked meal, though. That would be insane.
“Sounds delicious. Thank you,” she said as Chris passed her a glass of wine. She took a hearty sip. At least the wine was good. Warmth ran through her, and she closed her eyes to savor it.
“This is so good.” She lifted her glass at Rett.
He sniffed, then took a sip. “Funny story about this batch,” he said.
His eyes lit up like he was about to tell a swashbuckling tale of how he had single-handedly dredged it up from a merchant ship on the bottom of the ocean.
Jade couldn’t take her eyes off him. As he explained in detail how the unseasonably warm weather and a slight tweak to the bottling process had affected that particular batch, he finally looked and sounded like himself.
A genuine smile crept over her face as she listened to Rett’s explanation. There was such nuance in winemaking. Such artistry. And made by such capable hands.
“Fascinating,” Alexa said when Rett finished, but her expression was glazed.
“Can we help?” Rett asked. He nodded toward the kitchen.
“Oh, no,” Chris said. “You relax. We wanted to do something special for you. It’s been so long since we were all together.”
“Probably since Grandmother’s funeral,” Rett said.
Chris nodded. His expression darkened almost imperceptibly. “And the will reading, of course.”
Jade narrowed her eyes. There was definitely some bullshit going on here. But exactly what it was remained to be seen. She scanned the house again and spotted a laptop on the coffee table in the living room. This was all a setup. She could feel it.
She glanced back at Chris. He definitely wanted something from Rett. He didn’t look like he needed money. But the best grifters never did.
“And where do you guys live?” Jade asked.
“Midtown.” Alexa drained her wineglass and poured another. Unfortunately, the universe didn’t see fit for it to spill down her dress. “I travel a lot for work, though. I’m in Boston next week.”
“Sounds very exciting,” Jade said.
“It’s such a great career. Business is booming, and I get to meet so many new people.”
Jade smiled. It sounded exhausting. She pulled out her phone and saw a message from Cindy. She had shared the story of Alexa and Chris’s reappearance in the group chat.
Cindy: How’s it going?
Jade sent a poop emoji and slid her phone back into her bag.
By the time dinner was actually plated and on the table, the atmosphere had relaxed. The frost between Rett and Alexa had melted a bit, and Chris had taken over the majority of conversation.
As they scraped the last bit of the—admittedly delicious—food from their plates, Chris was on his third retelling of a memory from a family vacation. A New York accent seemed to become stronger with each subsequent glass of wine.
“And then,” he said, face slightly red. He had had most of the second bottle of wine himself. “The wave just absolutely wrecked Rett. I’m talkin’ obliterated.”
Alexa laughed.
“That sounds awful,” Jade said, turning to Rett. “Were you okay?”
He nodded. “It’s all part of the learning experience. I still surf every time we head west.”
“Do you do much surfing, Chris?” Jade asked pointedly. So far, most of his charming family anecdotes had highlighted embarrassing moments for Rett. Her hackles had been raised and she wouldn’t hesitate to go for the jugular the second things inevitably went south.
“Nah,” he said after another gulp of wine. “Not many waves in New York. But you know that. Where do you live, again?”
“Midtown. For now,” she said. “I’m moving at the beginning of next year.”
Chris slapped the table, rattling the dishes. “No way. We should meet up for brunch sometime.”
“Sounds fun,” she said with false cheer. She would rather have an intimate dinner with a pack of wolverines than this grifter.
Alexa set her sights on Rett. “Rett, I was wondering if we could talk before dessert. Briefly. Maybe out on the patio?” Her tone was casual, but it seemed like a calculated move. Why was she trying to get him away from the rest of them?
Jade’s hand curled into a fist at her side.
Rett stiffened again. “Sure,” he said. He finished his wine and dropped the glass on the table.
He stood, and they disappeared through the patio doors.