Page 74 of One Wild Wish

She sniffled. “No. I mean, yes…just your father at first, but he didn’t—”

“You know the people who ruined my life, and you never mentioned it? Until what? Until you knew my actions would ruin their winery?” Until she realized what she’d lose. I barely recognized my voice—flat and detached, listing my thoughts as they formed. The pieces of her story slotted into place, taunting me with the truth.

I’d misjudged a woman again.

Calmness weighted my bones, a sudden quiet. Like my heart had simply stopped. “How long have you been planning this?”

She squinted at me. “Planning what?”

She was good, I’d give her that. I gestured wildly, one hand slashing through the air. “This. I mean, I swear to God, Rachel, you certainly had me fooled. Because that’s what I do, I guess. Too damn trusting, like my grandfather. I just never fucking learn.”

She reached out, but something in my glare had her yanking her hand back. “You’re not making sense, but whatever you think I did, you’re wrong. I’d never hurt you. I…” Her brow crumpled. “I love you.”

I winced, her words another harsh blow. God, how I’d wanted to tell her the same. Before her deception. Before my life came crashing down. “Bullshit,” I said.

Her skin paled. “Excuse me?”

“Bullshit. Our relationship has been nothing but lies.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Did that soccer ball hit you in the head?”

Her vehemence was a dagger in my heart, her deception suddenly clear. My body still craved her, needed her in a visceral way, one touch able to dull my turmoil, one kiss obliterating everything but us. It was all poison now.

There was nothing left to do but end this madness.

“You can stop pretending, because I get it—your glorious deceit.” The timbre of my voice dropped, roughened with resentment. “You’ve been after a winery gig since before I met you. You somehow realized who I was at that first bar and thought you maybe had an in. Even asked me to give you a winery if you won our blind tasting. The idiot I am, I didn’t clue in. Thought you were joking around. Looks like the joke’s on me.”

The scenes flipped through my mind, faster and faster. A wildfire surging. My accusations rose with the flames. “You worked me over, had me falling over myself to be with you, while you got to know my parents. You convinced them to let me back in the family business, so you’d end up sitting pretty, working the job you’d always wanted, the prestige of Offshoot Winery putting dollar signs in your eyes. I get it, Rachel. I fucking get it now. It’s pretty smart, actually. Con the broken man with promises of love and affection. It’s all so fucking clear.”

I hadn’t just misjudged her; I didn’t know her at all. And I’d fallen hard. Harder than for Sophia, by a landslide, leaving me lied to and used again, treated like I was a means to an end.

I was an idiot.

Her eyes sparked, the innocence I loved darkened with malice. She poked a furious finger at my chest. “How dare you.”

I snorted, done with her lies. “Pretty sure I’m not the one in the wrong here.”

“Unbelievable.” She shook her head, like I was the traitor. “Did Sophia mess you up this badly? Are you so oblivious you think I’ve been hatching some secret plan to take over your winery? That’s beyond ridiculous.”

“What’s ridiculous is that I let myself be fooled again.”

She flung her arms in the air. “You’re a fool, all right. And an asshole. I made that winery crack at The Blue Door because Cameron mentioned something about it to Gwen. I didn’t know your name then, didn’t have a clue who you were. I can’t even believe what I’m hearing.”

“Enough,” I bellowed, the sound like a hammer on a bell.

Rachel’s shoulders shot toward her ears.

Mine caved forward. “Isn’t it enough?” My energy leached out, my arms loose at my sides. “Just admit what you did and we can both move on.”

A tear slipped down her cheek, the salty slide of it burning through my chest.

“I didn’t lie to you, Jimmy. I love you. I didn’t know who your father was until today, but I’ve grown to like him, and your mother is genuinely crushed. You’re just so stuck in your head, you can’t see it.”

God, she seemed sincere. And devastated, a quiet fury heating her blotchy cheeks. And love? I’d been consumed by my love for her the past weeks, keeping it in, letting it grow. Hearing her say the words was crushing. I couldn’t make sense of anything: her actions, my parents. The wrecking ball Sophia had swung boomeranging back for a final blow. Me possibly duped again. It was worse this time, a swell of betrayal knocking me off my feet. Because Rachel was everything. My head pounded—faster, harder—until the screaming pain nearly blinded me.

Even if she wasn’t lying, Rachel knew how Sophia had manipulated me. I’d shared with her the details of my parents’ betrayal—the tainted wines, my birthright yanked away, my father’s swinging backhand and cruel words. She knew, yet she didn’t care.

I blinked through the pain. “If you really didn’t know who my parents were until today, then tell me who’s side you’re on, because it sounds like you’re more upset about them, about me exposing their lies, than about the hell they put me through.”