Page 52 of Love Among Vines

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

JADE

“Whoops,” Jade said for the fifteenth time that hour as gravel spun beneath the tires of Rett’s truck.

“You know, I thought this would be less aggravating than dinner with my brother. Now I’m not so sure.”

“Hey.” She swatted him. “I’m doing my best. This is the first time I’ve ever been behind the wheel. And your gas is so touchy. Are you sure that’s normal?”

He glowered at her, but he still looked like a weight had been lifted off him. “Let’s try parking one more time. Reverse,” he prompted.

“I still don’t understand why you don’t have a backup camera.”

“Backup cameras make you lazy.”

“No, they keep you from running over children.”

“Do you normally see many children in the parking lot of a winery that’s been closed for two hours?” He raised his eyebrows.

“You’re impossible,” she said with a frown. “By the way, have you been doing your homework?”

He looked blankly back at her.

Jade wound her arm around Rett’s headrest as she backed up. “Your dream? Don’t think I’ve forgotten. Now that I’m staying, I won’t rest until you figure out what you really want.”

Anything to distract her from the disaster that had just happened and the disaster that was likely to happen tomorrow.

“Let’s revisit this after we see how the party goes. I won’t have time for dreams if I have to start cutting my employees’ hours.”

With her foot on the brake, Jade stretched her arms. They were sore from holding herself up during their amorous escapade the night before. Almost as sore as they had been after a CrossFit session.

An idea struck her, and she almost gasped.

CrossFit. One of the other regulars she was friendly with, Lindon, was a food and wine critic for the New York Times .

What were the odds that he was free to come to the Finger Lakes this weekend?

Maybe she could bribe him with a painting.

She resolved to text him the moment she got back to Margie’s.

There was no point in saying anything to Rett until it was a done deal.

“Fine,” she said. She turned the truck toward the exit and started descending the driveway.

“Hey,” he said. “Where are we going?”

“To get Penny.”

“And you’re going to drive there?”

“Of course.” She shot him a derisive look, then sat up straight, hands at exactly ten and two.

“And what will you do if we encounter a deer?”

“Brake, then befriend it and teach it to help with laundry.”

“Very funny.”

“Thank you for coming with me.”

The truck rumbled outside Burdett Bed and Breakfast. Sunshine streamed through the window, illuminating doggie nose smudges. Hopefully she hadn’t gotten too much dog hair on her.

Rett leaned over, one hand on the wheel. “You’re going to kill it. You already met him. Just remember: smile, firm handshake, create a little sense of urgency. Say you’re talking to other B&Bs. Which is true. You’re going to love Avery over at Glouchester Castle.”

She took a deep breath and hugged the repurposed pizza box holder to her chest. Inside were six canvases she was about to show to Vince, the B&B owner she had met at paint and sip.

Inside were the dreamy fall landscapes the gallery had rejected.

If anyone was going to buy them, it was someone who lived here and loved the area the way she did.

The truck door creaked as she hopped out and hustled into the building before she could convince herself not to. She had been through much worse. She could convince one measly business owner to buy her paintings.

After a couple of tense minutes in the lounge, Vince wandered out.

“It’s so good to see you again.” She shook his hand firmly and offered a smile.

He ushered her into his office and closed the door. “I gotta tell ya, my wife loves the painting I brought home. She wants to come along next time. She wanted to know if you ever accept nude models.”

Jade blinked, then recovered. “I don’t know if I could get the venue to agree, but I would be happy to paint your wife outside of a classroom. The human form is a beautiful gift.”

“Right you are. And my wife is the most beautiful of them all.”

“I bet. Speaking of which—” She opened the Velcro on the pizza box. “I just finished up this series and I couldn’t stop thinking about how gorgeous they would look on your walls. In the lounge, maybe?” She nodded her head in the direction of the cozy room with the crackling fireplace.

Vince reached out a hand, and she carefully handed over one of the canvases.

“Wow,” he said. “This is great. This is the view from Rhodes?”

Jade nodded. “There are a couple other ones too.” She pulled more canvases out. “The memorial chapel, downtown Hammondsport.”

“They’re beautiful.” Vince handed the stack back to her. “I’m just not sure we’re in the market for new décor right now.”

Jade’s heart plummeted. It had been a long shot anyway. She stood and filed the canvases back in the pizza box. No harm in trying urgency as a last-ditch effort.

“No problem,” she said breezily. “I have an appointment with Avery at Glouchester Castle anyway. I guess they have a brand-new game room?”

Vince frowned.

“Anyway, she was looking for some art for it, but I thought I’d check with you first since we have a pre-existing relationship. I hope to see you—and your lovely wife—at the next paint and sip. Have a great rest of your morning.”

She reached over and shook his hand again. He looked contemplative.

She turned around and put a hand on the door.

“Wait. Let me see the vineyard one again.”

Jade smiled, then composed herself before turning back around.

“Sure.”

When she emerged from the inn thirty minutes later, four of the six canvases were gone.

Rett looked like he was holding his breath. “How’d we do?”

“As long as Margie’s not going to price gouge me, likely enough for first month, last month, and security deposit.” She waved a check in front of his face.

He threw his arms around her and pulled her close. “I knew you could do it. See? You don’t need the gallery.”

“Well,” she said, “if I ever manage to paint the way I used to, I might need the gallery. But for now, fuck ’em.”

It felt amazing to take a step in the right direction. Her hope of an art career wasn’t gone forever. And maybe she’d dabble in graphic design, at least enough to stay stable.

One trip to the Finger Lakes had completely upended her life. She had come here at rock bottom, weeks away from becoming homeless. She had folded herself into the fabric of this town stitch by stitch, and now it was home. A new future awaited her.

And if everything worked out, she just might help save the winery too.

After she bribed him with a free portrait of his Chow Chow, Lindon had agreed to come to Rett’s party.

If it went well—and it would, thanks to Rett’s unparalleled levels of control freaking—Antoine would write a glowing review, and New York’s elite would visit the vineyard in droves.

The rest of the week passed in a blur.

Rett had visibly relaxed since Chris and Alexa had disappeared.

While Jade’s morning runs were less peaceful than they used to be thanks to Rett’s swearing and sweating, they were falling into a rhythm.

They showered together, made breakfast, and wrapped themselves in blankets to eat it on the dock.

They stole heated moments together in the storeroom and his office between brainstorming and setup for the party.

It was the happiest she had ever been. Mornings were spent in the café, fiddling with the mural.

She and Penny haunted the winery until closing time, experimenting with graphic design software and reading books in the gorgeous lighting of the tasting room and, on more than one occasion, sharing a glass and a story with Margie.

There was something intoxicating about seeing Rett in his natural element.

He was so confident and charming. The way he schmoozed the customers, earnestly answering their questions and enthusiastically discussing his process.

At some point during his shift, he would shrug his suit jacket off and sling it over the back of her chair, like he was claiming her in front of everyone.

Together they mapped out the table arrangement for the party, planned the set list for the string quartet, and cleaned every crevice of the speakeasy.

Even her driving lessons were improving. Rett let her drive all the way to one of the decorating centers to procure some of the remaining décor. She hadn’t even crashed into a single parked car.

At one o’clock on Friday, Jade put her brush down and stepped back. The wooden floorboards of the café creaked beneath her weight. Conversations buzzed around her and the seductive scent of the daily special beckoned, but she only had eyes for the mural.

It was done. Everything she loved about Hammondsport—every townsperson who had touched her heart, every friend she had made, every grain of sand that littered the beachfront splayed out in front of her.

The illustrated story of her redemption.

Of finding herself again. Learning that she could love again.

And here it would stay, a permanent part of the town that had come to mean so much to her in such a short period of time.

The door banged open, and footsteps thundered on the hardwood. She turned to find Cindy, Gemma, and Elena with scowls on their faces. They came up to her like they were about to challenge her to some kind of duel.

“Why did we have to find out from Tom that you’re moving here?”

Jade’s mouth froze in an O of surprise. With all the party planning, she had completely forgotten to pass the good news on.

“I’m so sorry. I finally talked to Rett and he said he didn’t want me to leave. I was honestly convinced it was a fever dream and I forgot to tell you.”

Cindy sidled up next to her. “So you’re done doing the whole fake relationship now?”

“I think so? Technically we didn’t put a label on it. But I’m moving into Margie’s for good.”