Never A Bridesmaid, Always A Bride E-Book

Mary E. Thompson

• Herausgeber: BluEyed Press
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

She never thought she’d go back…

Fifteen years was a long time to be away, but not nearly long enough when Alyssa Morgan had nothing to show for her time. Unless you’d count three failed marriages, two parents she barely spoke to, one disastrous attempt at a college degree, and zero friends to count on.

He found himself at Amavita…

Jake Monroe thought about leaving Amavita Estates many times after Alyssa left him. Over the years, her family became his family. They accepted him. Loved him. Healed him. Her family was the family he never had, and without her around to remind him otherwise, he could pretend he was one of them.

Until she walked back into his world looking nothing like the girl he used to know.

Can their differences bring them together again?

Alyssa knows she needs to stay away from Jake. Jake wants nothing to do with her. But the chemistry that drew them together fifteen years ago is stronger than they are.

Leseprobe

NEVER A BRIDESMAID, ALWAYS A BRIDE

RAISE A GLASS, BOOK TWO

MARY E THOMPSON

Never A Bridesmaid, Always A Bride

Raise A Glass, book two

Copyright © 2017 Mary E Thompson

Cover Copyright © 2022 Mary E Thompson

Cover photo (vineyard) from depositphotos © kwest

Cover photo (couple) from depositphotos © AllaSerebrina

Published by BluEyed Press, All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, businesses, locations, and events are either products of the author’s creative imagination or are used in a fictitious sense. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-944090-36-4

Print ISBN: 978-1-944090-37-1

Created with Vellum

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

About the Author

1

Alyssa Morgan stepped out of the cab at the foot of the driveway on Highway 89. She looked around at the sprawling vineyard before her, wishing she were anywhere but there. Amavita Estates had been her home for eighteen years, but Alyssa had run from Bereton, New York and the Finger Lakes the first chance she’d gotten.

The only daughter of a single mom, she wanted to get out. She needed excitement, activity. More than her small home town had to offer. Yeah, she had eight cousins that she grew up with, but they all had siblings. She was on her own, even within the crowd. Her mom, Marie, was the oldest of the Richliano sisters. Alyssa loved her mom, but she fought with her a lot as a teenager.

Fifteen years later, Alyssa couldn’t help but wonder if she and her mom would actually get along. Alyssa had grown up a lot since she’d left home. She’d also screwed up a lot.

In truth, Alyssa wasn’t ready to face her family, but she didn’t have anywhere else to go. Nor did she have a choice. She had been summoned by her mother. Alyssa didn’t know what was going on, but when you were told to come by one of the sisters, you answered.

Alyssa looked down at her four inch heels and wondered if she should have asked the cab driver to take her down the drive to the main house, the inn where she’d lived growing up. No. Walking would be good for building up her resolve before she faced the family. She’d barely kept in touch with any of them since she left and hadn’t seen anyone except her mom. Marie was there for Alyssa at her weddings. All three of them. None of her aunts or cousins had come though.

Within a few steps Alyssa realized how tough the gravel would make dragging her suitcases. Her heels were proving to be deadly to her ankles, but the cab was long gone, and she was going to have to deal with it. She’d gotten tougher over the last few years.

The vineyard looked the same as it always had. Alyssa took in the sloped land leading to Cayuga Lake. The beauty of the Finger Lakes region in central New York always struck Alyssa. Most people loved visiting New York City, or even Niagara Falls, but to Alyssa, there was nothing more picturesque than the vineyards around the Finger Lakes.

Not that it had been enough to hold her there. She had bigger dreams. Dreams that involved getting to know her father, a big city job, and letting the love of her life be free to be happy. In fifteen years, she’d accomplished exactly none of her goals. She still had a shitty relationship with her father, even after living in the same city as him for three years. That big city job she thought would fall into her lap after college never happened since she never finished her degree.

She’d even tried to move on with her life and forget about Jake Monroe. Jake was the one reason she’d considered staying in Bereton. He was everything she wanted in a man when she was eighteen. When she left, she planned to come back, but the longer she was away from Jake, the more she realized he deserved someone who wanted the same things he did.

Someone like Lana.

Her mom told her nothing ever happened between Jake and Lana, but Alyssa was sure it would eventually. And if he didn’t end up with Lana, he would find another woman who loved Bereton and wanted the small town life he did.

Alyssa tried to convince herself there was another man out there for her. She’d thought she’d hit the jackpot when she met Rich. He was similar enough to Jake that she could lose herself in him and pretend she was happy.

Of course, that fell apart along with her other two marriages, leaving Alyssa no better off than when she left home.

Alone. Miserable. But thirty-three instead of eighteen.

As she dragged her suitcase down the angled driveway leading to her childhood home, Alyssa found herself wondering why she hadn’t come back.

No, she knew the answer. Not that she’d ever have admitted it to her mother or any of her eight cousins. Alyssa knew some things were better left unsaid, even in her Italian family that never seemed to be able to hold their tongues.

The old stone and brick two story house finally came into view. A porch ran along the entire front of the house with a swing on one end and a wooden couch on the other. Some of the rooms had Juliet balconies overlooking the front of the house. On the back were the bigger balconies and the more expensive rooms overlooking the bulk of the vineyard and Cayuga Lake. Alyssa and Marie lived on the ground floor of the main house with her Nonna, Tina, and saw to all the guests’ needs.

Alyssa’s heart rate picked up knowing she would come face to face with her past. A past she’d tried to leave behind. Three times. Too bad for her none of those times stuck. Instead, there she was, single yet again, and going back home to live with her mother.

Could her life get any worse?

Alyssa knew better than to ask that question. Of course, as soon as the thought slipped into her mind she heard his voice. It was smooth, deep, and brought tingles to her entire body. She’d dreamed of that voice more times than she cared to admit and fantasized about the man attached to it so often she was sure she’d just conjured him up when he said, “Can I help you?”

A simple question, something so ordinary and common. She was sure he didn’t recognize her or his tone wouldn’t have been so cordial. His voice was like balm on all her old wounds. He still had a slight accent, faint now, but it was there. Maybe this trip home wouldn’t be so bad.

When she turned toward his voice, Alyssa saw the man who matched the voice in every way. His dark hair was cut short, though not as short as when he started at Amavita, but looked like it could use a trim. His hazel eyes made a quick scan of her body and she could see mild appreciation in them. His broad shoulders stretched his white Amavita Estates t-shirt tight and fought to contain his biceps and chest before dipping to his narrow waist. Well worn jeans hung low on his hips and hugged his thighs. On his feet were boots that had clearly gotten their share of use.

If Alyssa allowed herself, she would definitely get wrapped up in the gorgeous man before her again. It wouldn’t happen though. She was there to see what her mom wanted and she would be gone once more, off to find another place to run, another place to pretend could be home. Another place to be a bride to some undeserving man.

“I’m fine,” Alyssa finally answered, hoping he wouldn’t recognize her. It wasn’t likely given how much she’d changed over the years. She barely recognized herself when she looked in the mirror most days, and Jake hadn’t seen her in almost fifteen years.

She gave him what she thought was a polite smile and turned toward the house again. Before she could take two steps, her suitcases were pulled free of her hands, and she whirled on him, keeping her sunglasses firmly in place so he wouldn’t see her eyes. “I said I was fine.”

He gave her that slanted grin that said he was both amused by her and pacifying her. “I’m sorry, but guests aren’t supposed to carry their own stuff. Are you checking in?”

Jake nodded toward the main house, which was also a Bed & Breakfast. Alyssa’s grandparents, Tina and Carmelo Richliano, had just expanded from running the vineyard to opening the inn when her grandfather was killed in a car accident. Tina pulled in her four daughters to help run Amavita Estates. Alyssa’s mom, being the oldest, had taken the lead on running the place and thrived with the inn.

It was just another thing Alyssa had run from. All the strangers in her home made her feel even more alone. The other families had their own homes throughout the vineyard, but Alyssa couldn’t get away from everyone.

Except when she went to her favorite tree by the lake. Or when Jake arrived.

“No, I’m not checking in. I’m just here to see my mom, Jake, then I’ll be out of your life again. This time forever.”

* * *

Jake Monroe watched Alyssa walk inside and couldn’t bring his feet to move. Jesus. She looked…different.

Alyssa.

The woman who just walked in was not his Alyssa. Then again, his Alyssa left fifteen years ago and never came back. She looked nothing like the uptight blonde in the white blouse and navy pencil skirt. Not to mention the heels. Her hair was short, almost to her chin, and she was thin. Her angular cheekbones and tiny little waist did little for him. Not the way her curves and softness had drawn him in fifteen years ago.

She was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

But he’d changed a lot since she left. He held on tight. It took him far too long to realize she wasn’t coming back. Hell, if he was honest, there was a part of him that still held out hope that she’d show up one day and tell him she was there for him.

It clearly was not that day.

“You okay?” a voice said, snapping him out of his trance. He turned to see Dillon Young, his closest friend at Amavita and Alyssa’s oldest cousin, staring at him like he’d lost his mind.

He probably had.

“Yeah,” Jake said, shaking his head. “Sorry.”

“The sisters have called a meeting. Are you coming?”

Jake felt like family after being with the Richliano family for so long, but he wasn’t blood. He also knew his authority was in name only. If any of the cousins challenged him, he would be out the door and they would be taking over the place. As an employee, the handyman, Jake didn’t have a leg to stand on.

“Nah, I’m not family,” he told Dillon. He wanted to be in the meeting, to feel a part of the family he’d come to identify as his own, but not with Alyssa there. Jake knew they’d never see him as one of them with her around. When he started working at Amavita, he took a job in the field. Within a few weeks, he was offered the position as general handyman for the vineyard. He loved the work and had started to feel like Amavita was home.

He’d learned a lot about who he was when faced with a loving family every day. After growing up in a less than perfect home, seeing a group of people who loved each other so fiercely renewed his faith in humanity. Most days he felt like he was a part of their family, one of the group.

But he was just Alyssa’s ex and an employee.

Dillon shook his head. His dark hair tousled with the movement. He flipped his sunglasses up into his hair, dragging it away from his face and exposing his hazel eyes.

Hazel eyes that would see through Jake as soon as he admitted anything else.

“It’s not a family meeting. It’s a business meeting. You always come for those.”

“I don’t think I can do it today. I just saw your cousin.”

Dillon cocked his head to the side. “Who?”

“Alyssa.”

Dillon sighed and glanced at the door. Everyone in the family knew what happened with Jake and Alyssa. Hell, they had front row seats to him falling apart. Dillon became a good friend after that, and Jake knew his pain and anger was obvious to Dillon.

Dillon’s jaw ticked and his fists balled at his sides. His eyes were full of surprise and irritation. “The prodigal daughter returns. Great,” he half-growled.

“I guess she’s here for the meeting?” Jake asked. If Dillon didn’t know Alyssa was coming, he couldn’t help but wonder if the rest of them knew. She looked like she was dreading being there as much as the rest of them would dread having her around.

Dillon shrugged. “No clue. Maybe Aunt Marie called her. Or maybe she screwed her life up so badly she didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

Jake’s gut clenched. He felt like he’d been kicked in the stomach, a sure sign that something was wrong. Something told him Dillon’s second guess was right and that Alyssa didn’t have anywhere else to go. Her timing might have been coincidental, but she was in trouble. And judging by the look she gave him before she went into the house, it was bad for her to be at Amavita.

“Whatever,” Dillon said. He clapped Jake on the back. “Let’s get in there and see what the sisters want. Maybe the meeting will be canceled with Alyssa back.”

Jake followed Dillon inside and to the dining room, each step making him more and more uncomfortable. He didn’t know what he’d say to Alyssa if he saw her. When he saw her. It didn’t matter how short her stay was; they’d never been able to stay away from each other long.

But Jake had no intention of falling for her again. She made it clear she didn’t want him, then or now, and he’d spent enough years wishing she’d come back. He wouldn’t survive falling for her again only to see her leave.

* * *

Alyssa stepped inside the house and took a deep breath. It smelled the same as she remembered, like marinara sauce and her mother’s perfume. Marie lived to serve others and thrived on running the inn. Where Marie felt at home surrounded by strangers, Alyssa had felt restricted by it.

On the ground floor of the inn was an owners’ suite that she grew up sharing with her mom and Nonna. Nonna had been the one bright spot, saving Alyssa from countless encounters with her mom. Once Alyssa moved out and made it clear she wasn’t coming back, Marie moved in to Alyssa’s room, leaving Nonna with the bigger of the two rooms. Alyssa didn’t like the idea of staying in her mom’s room, but for however long she was there, it would be okay.

Voices came from down the hallway that led toward the kitchen. Alyssa wasn’t ready to face anyone just yet so she headed toward the suite. She pushed through the door and closed it behind her, leaning her back against it with her eyes closed for just a minute.

“Alyssa?”

Alyssa’s eyes flew open and she took in her mother standing before her. Marie looked older than Alyssa remembered. It’d been four years since she’d seen her mom, and it was clear the years had been tough on her. Her once dark and luscious hair was streaked with gray and hung limply past her shoulders. Marie’s eyes were dull instead of their usual vibrant brown. Alyssa remembered seeing the green and honey in her mom’s eyes when she would talk about something she loved. Alyssa had been searching for the same spark in herself that she’d seen so often in her mom.

She hadn’t found it yet.

“Hi Mom.”

“Oh, Alyssa. I’m so glad you’re home, honey. You look wonderful.”

Alyssa found herself within her mother’s awkward embrace. Marie felt thinner than usual, and Alyssa worried her mother might be sick. “Are you okay Mom? You’ve lost weight.”

Marie released Alyssa and ran her hand over Alyssa’s hair. “You’re one to talk about losing weight. I’m good, honey. Just a bit worn out. I’m getting old.”

Alyssa smiled at her. “You’re not old, Mom.”

“I’m sixty-eight. I’ve been trying to be more careful about what I eat, but I’m not sick. Not that I know of. Thank you for coming.”

Alyssa nodded and glanced around her old room. “You told me I had to be here. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t given much of a choice,” Alyssa deadpanned.

Marie smiled and nodded. “I guess that’s true. I was getting your room fixed up. I’ve cleared my stuff out so you can be comfortable and just changed the sheets. We’re all supposed to meet in a few minutes.”

Alyssa had barely made the meeting. She’d intended to be there a little earlier so she could take a shower and change, but her train was late getting in. She was going to have to settle for a quick change, if that.

“Are you ready to head to the dining room? I was about to walk down there. Andie and Zach are already there, and the others should be coming in any moment.”

Alyssa stifled her desire to tell her mom to go ahead without her. If she was going to have any hope at re-establishing a relationship with Marie, she had to meet her halfway. At least.

With her suitcase rolled into the corner and her purse tucked away in the dresser, Alyssa followed Marie to the dining room. She heard lots of voices and knew most, if not all, of the family was there. Whatever was going on had brought them all together for the first time since Alyssa left, fifteen years ago.

She started to sweat thinking about seeing her cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandmother. She wondered what her mother had told them about her over the years. Alyssa had been careful how much detail she’d shared with her mom, not wanting to admit how much of a failure she’d become. It didn’t really matter what they knew though. She’d left. When she said she’d come back, she left. She broke hearts with her choice, but it was the best one for her at the time.

At a time when she was a selfish teenager barely old enough to say ‘I do’ let alone keep a husband happy.

Jake was supposed to be her husband. He was the guy she dreamed of. The guy she imagined saying those words to all three times. But she gave up the right to be with him when she left.

It was one of the many regrets she carried with her. She could try to throw blame around and believe it wasn’t her choice. That the way her life went after she went to New York City was fate stepping in and telling her she didn’t deserve Jake. Even though she knew that part was true, she also knew she couldn’t blame her choices on fate, or Rich, or her dad. She made the choices that carried her away from Jake forever. And the ones that brought her back to his doorstep.

Just thinking of him made her heart hurt.

Would he be at the meeting? He wasn’t technically a part of the family, but Marie had been singing his praises for years. Jake was more a part of her family than Alyssa was, except she was blood.

No, it would be better if Jake wasn’t there. Alyssa didn’t need the distraction. She was going to be leaving soon, and she didn’t want any reason to think of staying, especially if that reason was a man. She’d done too many things for too many men already. Alyssa needed to start living for herself.

2

Following her mother into the dining room, Alyssa looked small, like a child. The boisterous sounds from her cousins fell off as they all saw her in the room. One of them whispered, “I told you so,” but Jake wasn’t sure which one.

He sat in the back corner, a silent observer. Dillon tried to get him to sit among the rest of the family, but Jake never did. He was there to give input when needed and to ask for money when something was falling beyond his ability to repair it.

Which was one of the reasons he was there.

The other one was standing in the room looking like she’d rather be anywhere but there.

Pauline approached Alyssa from one of the tables near the kitchen and embraced her. “Alyssa, honey, it’s so good to see you. You look so professional. The rest of us appear to be slobs compared to you.”

Alyssa cringed at Pauline’s words, and Jake let his eyes drink her in. Those fucking heels made her legs look insanely long, longer than he remembered. The girl he knew had a hard time giving up her flip-flops. If she kicked them off, she was always barefoot. Alyssa in heels was enough of a challenge, but that damn outfit made him sick.

And made him wonder if she was sick.

She was thin, but not just skinny. She was almost sickly thin. Her cheekbones looked like they might pop right through her skin. That tiny waist made him wonder when she’d last eaten. Her most recent husband was a senator or something in Indiana. Jake wanted to kick the bastard’s ass for letting Alyssa get so small.

He shook his head. Jake had no claim and certainly no reason to get involved in her life.

“Oh, I don’t know about that, Aunt Pauline,” she finally said, her voice ringing with pretense. “I think you look beautiful. It’s nice to see you.”

Alyssa got handed off to the next sister, Christine, who echoed Pauline’s welcome, then finally to Josephine. Jake couldn’t help but notice her cousins stayed seated, except Dillon. Jake couldn’t help but feel betrayed by his friend. Dillon walked over and hugged her, her eyes slipping closed at the move. Jake hated that seeing her smile, even for a second, made him want her again.

She needed to leave again before he completely lost his damn mind and did something stupid.

When Dillon pulled back, Alyssa glanced around the room as if she was waiting for the rest of her cousins to embrace her. The other seven of her cousins stayed seated. They were working on the family vineyard and clearly baffled she was standing in their home, a home that no longer belonged to Alyssa.

Dillon rested his hand on the small of her back and directed Alyssa to a chair next to where he was sitting. He winked at her and sat back to wait for the sisters to start the meeting.

Jake caught the glare from Andie, Dillon’s sister and Alyssa’s best friend growing up. After Jake, Andie was the one hurt the most. The summer Jake arrived at Amavita, Alyssa and Andie decided to stay in Bereton. Alyssa was going to come back after her first year at college, but she never did.

Leaving Andie destroyed.

Sitting at the table with Dillon and Sean, Alyssa fidgeted. Jake could tell she wasn’t comfortable. Andie sat right behind her with Kristen, the youngest of the three girls. Andie had changed a lot, but Jake knew Alyssa recognized her. She still had the same endless brown waves and heavily made up face, but Jake could see the pain beneath it all.

And the anger. Oh, there was a lot of anger there. Radiating out of her jean shorts and low cut black lace top, straight toward Alyssa.

Marie stood up and cleared her throat. Everyone fell silent and gave her their full attention. The other sisters stood to Marie’s sides, with their husbands behind each of them. It was definitely not a regular old meeting, and Jake was starting to wonder if he should be there at all.

“Thank you all for coming today. I know this meeting might seem odd, and I’m guessing you’re all realizing it’s more than a standard meeting since Alyssa is here. We asked her to come because we needed to talk to all of you. All nine of you.”

Jake shifted in his seat, trying to sink lower. He knew he couldn’t leave, but he wanted to sneak out. Marie paused and looked around the room at the nine cousins, smiling at him to let him know he was welcome to be there. Everyone seemed to sit a little straighter, no longer directing their anger at Alyssa but instead full of curiosity with the understanding that she was there under the same orders as the rest of them.

“We’ve decided to retire. All of us,” Marie continued, nodding toward the others. “We’re tired and ready to enjoy the fruits of our labor, so to speak. The reason we needed you all here is because we are going to turn the vineyard over to you. All nine of you. The deal is, we will work side by side with you to train you on all the tasks we currently handle, and then the nine of you will be in charge and be given free rein to do whatever you choose.”

Marie took a deep breath, and Jake knew the rest of the story was about to come out. He braced himself for whatever was coming, because Alyssa didn’t need to be there for a simple announcement that the sisters were retiring. There was definitely more coming.

“If you all successfully work here together for a full year, the vineyard will be yours. If any of you leave, decide you want out, or give up, we will maintain control and make a decision together of what to do with the vineyard.”

* * *

Alyssa could have heard a pin drop in the room. All eyes were on her, again. She was the wildcard in the room, the flight risk. Even Dillon stiffened beside her.

One year. The future of her cousins was at stake. For one year Alyssa would have to commit to something. She would have to once again live in the home she’d run from. And if she ran again, her cousins would lose everything they’d been working for for fifteen years.

Alyssa knew everyone was waiting for her to say something. The rest of them had already given their silent dedication to Amavita Estates. They’d stayed and built their lives at the vineyard. Alyssa was the only one standing between the other eight and success.

“I guess someone needs to give me a job then,” she said.

Everyone seemed to give a collective sigh of relief.

Marie smiled and nodded once. She clapped her hands together and began again. “Alyssa, you will be working with Andie for now. Since you worked at the inn in high school it’ll be easiest for you to start back there. Andie has been running most of the day-to-day but will be taking over the rest from me. Dillon, we would like you to step up as CEO of the organization. Henry and Ryan will continue managing the fields. Sean will be handling the wine production to be around for Emily. Kristen, you will stay in the tasting room and take over sales with Leo. Zach, we want you to take over the restaurant. It’s not really a change for the most part, but you will all be getting deeper into your jobs. We will announce everything to the rest of the staff on Sunday at lunch.”

Alyssa understood what wasn’t said. No one thought she’d stay. They expected a fight and didn’t want to give her anything significant, anything they’d have to rely on her for. To say it didn’t sting that they thought so little of her would be a drastic understatement. Alyssa knew she’d been selfish, but she’d never thought she was selfish to the detriment of others, especially her cousins.

If her family, including her mother and her aunts, thought she would bail on them with so much on the line, then she could only imagine what they’d been saying about her. It was clear none of them were happy she was home. Dillon played nice, but she could feel his anxiety when he realized what her presence meant.

She had no choice. She had to prove to all of them that she could be counted on. For the first time in her life, she’d be there for them. She’d stay away from Jake and focus on helping her cousins.

Then get out of their way so they could all go on with their lives without her.

* * *

Jake stormed out of the inn and stalked through the vineyard. When he was far enough away that none of the cousins were close, he slowed his pace.

Alyssa. For a fucking year. At his home.

He didn’t think he’d survive.

Just one meeting with her and he wanted to drag her back to his house and show her how much he’d missed her, how much he still fucking loved her.

He hated himself for it.

There was no way for him to stay away from her for a year even if he had the strength to do so. No. Alyssa was going to be the death of him. There was no other way around it. She’d take what little bit of his heart was left and crumble it under her designer heels and leave him no better off than her three ex-husbands.

“Fuck,” he muttered, knowing if he yelled the word the way he wanted to it would alert someone that he was not okay with everything that happened in the meeting.

A part of him was pissed off that the sisters had cooked up their scheme. He knew they were trying to get Alyssa back. They wanted her there. They were fools if they thought Alyssa would ever return for good. The fact that she even sounded like she would agree was amazing, but she wouldn’t last a year.

Hell, she wouldn’t last a day in those heels and fancy clothes.

Jake needed to find Andie and see how she was, but he couldn’t do it when his emotions were so out of control.

Out of habit, Jake carried snips in his tool belt with all the other things he used on a daily basis. He dug out the snips and worked his way down the row he was in, trimming away the leaves that covered the delicate grapes ripening beneath. The sun beat down on his back, seeping through his clothes and into his bones. The heat felt as good as the work did. It was something to keep his hands occupied while his mind wandered down a road he had no business traveling.

A road where he and Alyssa were together.

A road where he really was part of the family instead of just pretending.

A road where he was happy for the first time in fifteen years.

He knew it wasn’t possible. She said she was leaving the first chance she got. Just because she had to stay a year didn’t mean things would change when the year was up. She was still leaving.

And Jake would be the biggest fool ever if he started seeing her again.

When Jake reached the end of the row, he moved to the next one and worked his way back. With each snip he reminded himself why he was better off without her. Why he needed to forget her and move on. Why he needed to start looking at women again instead of just sleeping with faceless bodies.

By the time he finished the second row, he had a good handle on his pain and anger and knew he wouldn’t fall at Alyssa’s feet the next time he saw her.

“You doing okay?”

He was starting to hate that fucking question.

Jake turned and saw Victor watching him. Victor was Jake’s other closest friend at Amavita, perhaps even closer than Dillon at times. Even though Victor was one of the uncles, he was the youngest of the uncles. He was twenty-one years older than Jake’s thirty-seven and had become his confidant as much as he was his boss when Jake started. Jake respected the hell out of Victor and admired the man, and his ability to keep his wife content and in love every day.

“I’m great,” Jake said, knowing Victor wouldn’t believe anything he said.

“You know I couldn’t tell you.”

Jake spun on Victor. Every single one of the aunts and uncles knew how much Alyssa showing up would mess with Jake, and the others, and yet none of them bothered to tell anyone she was headed home.

“I know you couldn’t tell me what was going on, but really? Alyssa? You let me get slammed with that one?”

Victor sighed and fiddled with the grapes on the vine next to him. He didn’t spend as much time in the fields as he used to since his sons, Henry and Ryan, went to school and wanted to be out there. Victor had gained some weight and lost some hair over the years, but he was still a beast of a man and could intimidate anyone with just a look.

Seeing his regretful look told Jake more than any words could.

“None of us thought she’d actually show up. We’ve asked her to come home before and she never has. I don’t know why this time was different. Even Marie was surprised to see her, and she was the one Alyssa talked to.”

Jake felt slightly better knowing it wasn’t something that had been deliberately kept from him, but he was still pissed.

“What the fuck is up with that deal? Keeping her here for a year? What the hell? How am I going to make it through a year with her? Is her husband coming, too?”

Victor shook his head, swiping his hat off and running a hand over what was left of his short hair. “I don’t know anything more than you do, Jake. I think her marriage is on the rocks. Marie thinks she’s leaving this one, too. I guess the good news is he isn’t likely to show up but making her stay? I think Marie missed her and wanted to have her home.”

“God knows a phone call won’t get much of a response from Alyssa,” Jake snapped, not bothering to hide his bitterness. He’d called, begged, and pleaded with Alyssa to come home. To call him back. To let him follow her. Anything. It never mattered. She met someone else and Jake was just the redneck she slummed with for the summer.

The city boy who stole her heart her freshman year of college was everything Jake wasn’t. Jake never met him, but he saw the pictures Marie kept around her apartment. Long hair. Tight pants. Suit coat with a t-shirt. Jake never saw the appeal, but he was also hurting and jealous. The guy fashioned himself a rock star and lived the life, including the groupies and lots of sex, according to what Tina shared with him. Jake felt bad that Alyssa was hurt but also just a little justified. If she’d stayed with him, he’d have died before he hurt her.

“Are you going to be able to handle her being here for a year?” Victor asked, pulling Jake from his memories.

Jake took a breath. Then another. He didn’t know how to answer the question. Victor was his boss, and he’d been raised to do anything your boss said to do, but Victor was also his friend. A father-type figure he’d never had growing up. A friend when he needed one.

He couldn’t lie to him.

“I don’t know. If she’s working at the inn, I’ll have to figure out a way to stay away as much as possible, but it’s not like I can avoid her for a full year. I have work to do in there almost every day.”

Victor nodded and rubbed the back of his neck.

Before he had a chance to say anything, Jake asked something else he needed to know. “How’s Andie? She looked as happy as I was to see Alyssa.”

Victor shrugged. “I don’t know. Pauline will keep an eye on her, as much as Andie will let her. I’m sure she and Kristen will be a little worse for the wear tomorrow, but that’s okay. It might not be a bad idea for you to talk to her.”

Jake nodded. “I was planning to. I just have to get a hold of my own shit. If I go see her now, it won’t go well.”

Victor looked over the vines toward the lake. Jake turned and followed his gaze, wondering if he could take the rest of the day off and just swim away from it all. He knew better though. July in Bereton meant they were booked, and he had a lot of work to do to keep the inn, restaurant, and equipment for the vineyard up and running.

“I think Andie would appreciate you going to see her. The two of you were the most hurt by Alyssa leaving. Her showing up like she did is not going to go over well. It’ll be an adjustment, but I’m sure everything will work out okay.”

Jake nodded, knowing he wasn’t getting an out from his boss. He was going to have to suck it up and get the fuck over it. Alyssa was there for a year, whether he liked it or not, and he had to find a way to deal with it.

“Yep,” Jake said. Arguing more wasn’t going to get him anywhere. He could always leave, but he liked that idea about as much as he liked spending the next year with Alyssa. It was a year. He’d put up with a lot worse shit for a lot longer. He could survive a year.

“Is DJ working with us for the summer?”

Jake nodded. “I talked to Lana on Sunday, and she said he was going to. I wanted to stop by this afternoon and see them. I’ll talk to him and figure out a schedule that’ll work with his other stuff.”

Victor rubbed his salt and pepper sprinkled jaw. “That sounds good. I think he’ll be a good add for us. Even if he’s only temporary.”

Jake huffed a laugh. “He’s a good kid. Just needs a place to get out his energy. Something to settle him.”

Victor nodded. “This place can do wonders for a person. Let me know if you need anything.”

Jake waved Victor off and went in search of his next job. He needed to get his hands dirty, or he might do something he regretted.

Like go find Alyssa.

3

Alyssa waited until all her cousins left the dining room before she got up from her seat. She knew going home would be hard, but she was foolish enough to think they would be okay with her being there. She expected them to be mad, at least some of them, but the way they all glared at her hurt.

If she took a step back though, she got it. She was standing between them and their birthright. Between them and Amavita. If she flaked on them, they’d lose it all. It wasn’t fair. To her or to them.

“Mom?” Alyssa said, approaching the sisters. “Can I speak to you for a moment?”

Her business tone and clipped speech were acquired over years of forcing herself not to feel anything. She knew her mom heard the change and was expecting something bad. Alyssa didn’t care. She was more than a little disappointed that her mother would resort to simple blackmail to get her home.

Marie stepped away from the others, just far enough that she had back-up, but not so close that they could overhear their conversation.

“Yes?” Marie asked, arms folded over her chest.

Alyssa took a deep breath and began the argument she’d been constructing in her head since she heard the reason she’d been summoned.

“I urge you to reconsider the deal you have all put together. First, I do not think it’s fair to the cousins that you include me in such a negotiation. I have not put the same time and hard work into Amavita. I should not be handed the same ownership and rights as the rest of them. Second, they have all proven that they can be counted on to be here, year in and year out. The one year commitment is irrelevant for each of them. You know they will be here. Finally, demanding that I stay here will only screw up the dynamic everyone has built without me in place. You are only adding me as a back-up for Andie. She is capable, and willing, to handle everything on her own. You are all expecting me to fail. To run. Why not just let me out of this deal and hand everything over to the others.”

Marie appeared to be considering Alyssa’s words. She needed her mom to agree. She could not stay there another week, let alone a year. Locking her in the same place as the two people who hated her more than anyone else in the world was going to be torture. For all of them.

Alyssa waited silently, knowing a good negotiation meant stating your case and then waiting for the other side to comment. If she jumped in too quickly, it would reveal how impatient she was to get the hell out of there.

Marie finally smiled and said, “Thank you for your opinion, but no.”

“No? Are you serious? What do you mean no?” Alyssa shrieked, her control crumbling beneath her feet. She had to get out of there. She couldn’t stay. She couldn’t see Jake every day for a year. She knew she made a mistake leaving him, and seeing him about killed her. Being close to him for a year would destroy her.

“I’m sorry, Alyssa, but we’ve all talked about this at length. You are my only child. The others felt it wasn’t right to pass the vineyard on to their kids and have you not get anything. I didn’t make this decision alone. And you’re not going to get out of this. If you do leave, the others will suffer. And everything they’ve worked for will be sacrificed.”

“That’s not fair!”

Marie shrugged. “I’m sorry you don’t think so.”

Alyssa glared at her mother for a second then stomped off to her room, her heels echoing on the hardwood floor as she moved through the inn. She slammed the door to the apartment closed and then her own bedroom door moments later. Alyssa sank onto the bed and dropped her head into her hands.

Needing to do something, she grabbed her suitcase and tossed it up onto the bed and unzipped it. Her life stared back at her. Pencil skirts that hugged her hipbones. Blouses that hid her angular shoulders. Heels that made her legs look like they had some flow to them even though they didn’t.

No jeans. No shorts. No flip-flops. God forbid she had a t-shirt.

Brent wouldn’t have heard of her dressing like that. He also wouldn’t hear of her leaving her hair down or going out without a full face on. She had to be perfect. And perfect for him meant skinny, professional, and fake.

Alyssa stared at herself in the mirror and tried to find the girl who used to live in the bedroom she was standing in. The girl who thought she could do anything. Who loved a boy that would have given up anything for her.

Alyssa had made a lot of mistakes in her life, but loving Jake was the only thing she knew she’d done right. Loving him enough to let him go was merciful after what she did, not cruel.

Except looking at him made her think he didn’t agree.

He’d gotten sexier in fifteen years. No longer tinged with guilt and boyhood, he was a man. Marie stopped updating Alyssa on all things Jake years before, at Alyssa’s insistence, but she found herself wondering what he’d been doing. If there was someone in his life. Hell, he could be married with a few kids for all she knew.

She hoped he was.

Even though it hurt like hell to imagine him with someone else.

Jake was a man who deserved happiness. When Alyssa arrived in New York, she knew she’d been wrong saying she could go back to Bereton and be happy. She tried. The first few months she’d kept in touch with him. By Christmas, the beauty of the city had taken over.

She couldn’t leave New York.

Jake had said the same about Bereton. He loved it there. He had moved out of Lana’s, but still saw Lana and DJ often. Alyssa wasn’t jealous, but she wished every day she could be like Lana. That she could be happy with the small town life. That she could move home and marry Jake and live in Bereton forever.

Then she met Rich.

Alyssa heard the door to the apartment close and pulled herself from the mirror. For a minute, she’d forgotten where she was. She shook her head to clear it and went back to the bed. When Marie knocked on her door and called out, Alyssa told her she could come in.

“I’m sorry you’re upset,” Marie said, leaning against the door frame, her arms crossed.

Alyssa shrugged and pulled clothes from the suitcase. She walked to the closet and found it full of her mom’s things. She turned and went back to the bed, unsure what to do.

“I didn’t realize you’d have things to hang. I can get this all out of here. I emptied the drawers for you.”

Alyssa shook her head. “It’s fine. I’ll deal with it.”

“The closet or being here for a year?”

Alyssa sighed. “Both I guess. I don’t really have anywhere else I need to be, so I guess being here for a year is fine, but…”

“But what?”

Alyssa looked up and met her mother’s brown eyes with her own blue ones. She had her father’s eyes, something she learned well when she was in New York. Not that she saw him much, but whenever she did, the blue of their eyes was cold. Not warm like her mother’s gaze always was.

“Jake and Andie don’t want me here. The others don’t seem too thrilled by the whole thing. I really think you guys are making a mistake asking me to be here.”

Marie shrugged. “I think it’s time you stopped running and faced your mistakes. Not to mention maybe apologized to the people you hurt.”

Alyssa shook her head. “They don’t want to hear it.”

Marie laughed softly. “Not if you don’t mean it, and definitely not if you never say it.”

* * *

Lana Charles pushed through her front door juggling more bags than she should carry. The door only opened halfway, no matter how hard she shoved.

“DJ! Come help me!”

Footsteps pounded through the door. Her son had grown into a man. No longer the child she’d cried over when he was little. He was a man. A man who reminded her more and more of her husband as he got bigger.

DJ came into view with a grin on his face. Lana couldn’t help but smile back at him. “Sorry, Mom.” DJ pushed the door closed slightly then kicked behind it. A basketball went rolling away from the door, and DJ swung it wide open before reaching for the bags in her hands.

“Thanks,” Lana breathed, her muscles screaming with the released tension. “That stuff is heavy.”

DJ hoisted the bags onto the counter in the kitchen and started digging through. Having a teenaged boy was expensive enough. Having a teenaged boy who played every sport out there and still had more energy to burn was damn near painful.

DJ snapped the peel back on a banana and tucked a box of Wheat Thins under his arm, then hopped up onto the counter. “Jake called. He’s on his way over.”

Lana was slightly dreading the visit from Jake. He was her best friend, one of her only friends, but she knew it was going to mean a fight. Jake had gotten DJ a job at Amavita Estates for the summer, but DJ insisted he didn’t want to work. He wanted to hang around for the summer, playing baseball and basketball and soccer, and sleep late.

Lana couldn’t take it for eight more weeks.

“Did he tell you why he was coming over?”

DJ took another bite of the banana, more than half gone, and shook his head.

Lana sucked in a deep breath. She knew DJ would handle the news better from Jake, but she still felt an obligation to him. She was his mother. DJ loved Jake, but Jake was a friend.

“Jake got you a job.”

DJ froze, his mouth mid-chew. Lana watched him, dark hair starting to fill in on his upper lip and chin, making him look older and younger at the same time. He was on the cusp of being an adult, but he wasn’t there yet. He was fifteen, not eighteen. And he still had to listen to her, even if he was four inches taller and about eighty pounds heavier than her.

“What do you mean Jake got me a job?”

“I can’t have you sitting around all the time. I have too much work to do, and I’ve struggled to get anything done the last two weeks. Jake suggested you work with him, or in the fields, at Amavita.”

“I don’t want to work. None of my friends are working.”

It was the same argument they had every time Lana asked DJ to do something. He wanted to sit around the way his friends did. Friends with two parents, both working. Lana was on her own, supporting herself and DJ. But she didn’t want him to get a job so he could earn money. No. She wanted him to get a job so she could do her job without him distracting her. She needed to be able to focus when she started writing code for a website. Or when she had a video chat with a client.

“I know your friends aren’t working. But how jealous will they be when you can buy a car or something because you worked all summer?”

“There’s no way I’ll make enough money to buy a car. Jake lives in that crappy house. If he doesn’t make that much, I won’t.”

She heard his chuckle behind her and realized she’d left the front door wide open. Jake stepped in and shook his head. There was something different about him, something she couldn’t put her finger on, but Jake was not his usual self.

“Well, sorry you think my house sucks. You sure don’t seem to have a problem with it when you’re eating all my pizza and drinking my soda.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, Jake,” DJ stammered, jumping off the counter and trying to make amends. “I just meant that—”

“That having a job for the summer isn’t going to do anything for you and you’re pissed that your mom wants you to do something productive.”