Never A Bridesmaid, Always A Bride

Chapter 2

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 f*****g 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 a*s 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 f*****g 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 f*****g 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.

“f**k,” 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 f*****g 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 f**k 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 s*x, 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 s**t. 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 f**k 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 s**t 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.