"Who gives a shit?" Noah asked. "He's going to sell out the whole town. Asshole was going to sell me out." He looked down at me, and it was a long way down, because Noah was very tall and lean. "Did you know about this?"

I crossed my arms over my chest, right over my growing belly. "No. He told me he owned a large percentage of the town, but I didn't know he was planning to sell it off to investors. How is that even a thing? Who wants to buy a whole town?"

"Anyone who understands how much money there is to be made here with the right approach," Noah said. "As a college town and a tourist destination in the mountains, Catalpa Creek has a ton of potential in the right hands. Local business owners will be screwed, but the right investors stand to make a lot of money. You were living with the man, Jenna. How the hell didn't you know this was going on?"

I met Noah's glare and glared right back. My family had never considered me the smartest or the most sensible. I was the dreamer who often forgot what day it was because I got so lost in reading or studying.

As an adult, I understood the box my family had slotted me into wasn't the one that fit me best, but it was still hard to face down my older brother and disagree with him.

"I trusted him, Noah, and I believed the story he sold me." My thoughts were a whirl, but one truth stood out above all the others. "But Sam is a good person. One of the best people. I don't believe he'll go through with this plan."

"You've only known him a few weeks," George said, not unkindly. "How can you be so sure?"

Damn it, I didn't know how to answer that question in a way they'd understand. I couldn't explain it when I didn't fully understand it myself. Sam had lied to me, and I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to forgive or forget that, but I'd never believe he was a truly bad person.

Even if I told my family all of that, they might not believe me, and I didn't have the energy. I was exhausted and furious with Sam. But more than that, it hurt that he'd been unable to tell me the truth. That he hadn't trusted me enough. That he didn't feel for me the deep bond and love I felt for him.

I met George's gaze. "I just know."

"That's good enough for me," May said, patting George's big shoulder. "Now, what happened to him when he was a kid?"

Someone yelled Noah's name from his booth and he huffed and stalked off.

"He'll get over it," May said.

"I hope so." I watched my brother stomp away before turning back to May. "All I know is that Sam feels the town didn't help his grandmother when they should have. I think he might blame them for her death. He hasn't wanted to talk about what happened or give me anymore details than he told you all when you were at our…" I cleared my throat. "His house."

He hadn't offered more information, and I hadn't asked, because I figured he'd tell me in his own time, but also because I hadn't realized how deeply it had impacted him. There had to be more to the story than I'd suspected.

"Hey, Jenna," Cody said, jogging up. "You ready to get started? I should give you a rundown of what's available and show you where everything is."

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and led me to his booth.

As Cody showed me his set up, more than one person walked past and glared at us. I was just memorizing the ingredients of Cody's signature wine when an elderly man walked up to the booth.

I smiled wide. "Good morning. Would you like to learn more about Reynolds' wines?"

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself," the man said.

I stared, my smile frozen in place. I hoped he was just anti-wine. "What do you mean?"

"You and that man of yours are buying up this whole town. I told them your family would be nothing but trouble, moving here from the city and running local folks out of business."

"We didn't run anyone out of—" Cody said, one hand on my back.

"You Reynolds picked the wrong town to mess with. We will fight back, you hear me? We will make it so none of you are welcome in this town."

He spit on the ground at his feet and walked off, mumbling to himself as he went.

"Uh, wow," Cody said. "That was weird."

"Not if you know the whole story." I filled him in, wishing I had more details to give, more hope to offer.

Cody nodded along, surprisingly unruffled by the story. When I was done, he pulled me into his arms and hugged me tight. "Sam will make it right, Jenna. If you believe in him, I do, too. You've got too good a heart to care for anyone truly cruel."

I hugged him back and hoped he was right. "You aren't worried about your winery?"

"Nah. Most of my sales are to nonlocal businesses and tourists. I'll be fine. Will you be okay?"