Page 111 of The Difference Between

But the voices that follow don’t belong to tourists or Nash. As soon as car doors open and slam closed, it’s screaming kids I hear.

I barely get a full step outside when I spot my mom and sisters and Addie tackles me with a hug.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, wrapping my arms around her.

She grins. “Helping.”

Remy barely says hi as she brushes past me to go straight for the bar to grab a glass and a bottle. She pulls the cork out with her teeth, spits it on the bar like a seasoned alcoholic, and foregoes using the glass to chug straight from the bottle.

Rue steps next to me. “Darren called this morning.”

“Ah.” I look away from the sister who’s drowning her sorrows to the one dressed like a farmer. “We’re not open yet, by the way.”

Bennie, Luke, Nora, and Addie race down a row of vines as Nancy calls a greeting from her front porch and Mom goes to her.

“And Mom’s supposed to be resting.”

Rue snorts. “Have you met her?”

She’s right. I’ve all but given up trying to control that woman. Her brain tumor wreaked a little havoc, but its removal and her recovery have been seamless. I came down here convinced she needed me to take care of her, but she doesn’t.

Judging by the fact I was mid-freak out when they pulled up, maybe I’m the one who needs help.

That’s annoying.

“Why are you here?”

Rue’s head teeters with a hum. “Remember that time you had a lemonade stand and wouldn’t let Remy and me help because you were a greedy little shit?”

I snort. “That doesn’t sound like me.”

“Liar.” She puffs her bangs out of her eyes. “You were barely open for business before bugs landed in the lemonade, and you were begging us to help you make more.”

“To be fair, I didn’t anticipate kamikaze flies.”

Rue tracks Bennie as she climbs a tree. “When we told you no, you got pissed and dumped the lemonade out.”

I can’t help but laugh; I did do that. They wanted half the profit after I’d done all the work. When I offered them a split thirty percent, they refused.

“That was the day I decided to hate you forever,” I admit with a bright smile. “Your point?”

“Funny, same day as me.” She shoves her hands in the front pockets of her overalls. “Anyway, we got to thinking about it and figured it would be a shame if you dumped all the wine out because there was nobody here to help.” Her lips twitch. “All that stress can’t be good for making a baby, you know?”

They came to help. Even after I told them no.

Family is the worst yet impossible to survive life without.

I wrap my arms around her and hug her tight.

“Don’t get carried away,” she says as we teeter side to side. “It was your boyfriend’s idea.”

Warmth fills my chest. Gavin never said a word. My gaze goes to the shed—his truck is still there—then I pull back from Rue. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

After an okay look, she goes to Remy, prying the bottle out of her hand to take a sip of her own.

They came to help. I let myself sit with that. If this were the city, I’d never be in this situation in the first place, but I also don’t know who would show up to rally around me if I were.

“Alright, people,” I holler, wrangling everyone into the tasting room. “This way.”