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“Wait…what? You’re married?” he asks Amelia.
“I’m so sorry, Daddy. Drew and I went to City Hall last week to make it official.”
Uncle Jimmy sighs. “And you?” he asks, turning toward me. “Wait, let me guess. You and Spencer?”
I press my lips together, and Spencer fields this awkward one.
“I fell for Grace over the last couple months. We eloped in Vegas.” The way he says it makes me believe it’s the truth.
I want it to be the truth.
With everything in me, I want it to be true.
“On the same day as Amelia and Drew,” he says flatly.
Spencer nods. “Apparently so.”
“Well, Mom, I guess…ball’s in your court,” Dad says to Nana.
“I’m older. I deserve it,” Amelia snarls.
“Age doesn’t matter! What about the person who practically runs this place now as it is?” I ask, and I do my best to keep the whining out of my argument.
“Seems like everyone got by just fine for the last week in your absence,” Amelia says thickly.
God, I could slug her. “Well, I’m back now, and I’ll be stepping back into whatever I need to do to fix whatever you messed up while I was away,” I snarl right back at her.
“Girls, girls, that’s enough,” Nana says. “It sounds like you all discovered my plan for the future of the vineyard, something I was trying to keep secret so things would happen naturally. I don’t know if either of these marriages are real, but I suspect foul play. Regardless, I want to see out the next year. I will figure something out in the event both of these couples are still married one year from last Tuesday. I’ll also take into consideration how involved you both are in the vineyard as well as your spouses. Drew has been around a long, long time here, but we’ve come to love Spencer, too.” She shrugs. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have an answer for any of you beyond that. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” she says, and she bolts from the tasting room.
A heavy silence falls over the six of us still in here.
It’s Amelia who breaks the silence—I know, big shocker there.
“We’ll see if you’re still married a year from now.” She smirks at me, and I get the sinking feeling she’s got some tricks up her sleeve to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Chapter 36: Grace Nash
It Started as a Blackout
Six Days After the Wedding
Uncle Jimmy and my dad glance at each other, and Jimmy walks out next, presumably to follow after Nana.
Drew takes the reins as he practically drags Amelia out of the tasting room.
My dad sighs when it’s just the three of us left in here. “You do realize how messed up this entire thing is, don’t you?”
I glance up at the camera he installed in here, and I shrug. “It’s not messed up.”
“Come with me,” he says. We both follow him out of the tasting room, past the firepits, and down the path toward the chapel. “I’ll ask again now that there are no cameras recording our conversation. What is this?”
I’m not sure how detailed to be here.
On the one hand, Amelia is also his daughter. But on the other, this is my dad. I want to be honest with him.
“As I told you, it started as a blackout,” I say. I’m not sure where to go next after that. I don’t actually know what it is. It’s not like either of us has defined it yet, at least not to each other, though knowing him and the way he categorizes everything in his life, surely he’s put me into some sort of category in his own mind with feelings attached to it labeled wife…sort of like I have in my own mind with the husband label.
Spencer breaks the brief moment of silence. “Can I be honest with you, Steve?”
