Page 99 of Que Será, Syrah

“But you love those cheesy Romcoms,” he reminds me. And he’s not wrong.

Somewhere in the background, I hear Rosa murmur confusedly, “Did she just call me Ma?”

And an equally confused Bee murmurs back, “I…think so?”

And an even more confused sounding Jake inquires, “Jesus. Just how hard did she hit her head, anyway?”

Clay shakes his head in amusement. Raising his voice, he calls out, “You can all relax. She’s quoting old movies. She’s fine.”

And I smile and say, “You know me so well.”

He nods. He tightens his hold on me, gathers me close, and murmurs, “That I do; but not as well as I’m going to.” And then his lips meet mine and…

Okay, look. I know I said it before but, whew. This man can kiss!

Epilogue

Allegra

SOME MONTHS LATER…

“It’s another beautiful day in wine country,” I read from the latest article that supposedly mentions Caparelli somewhere in its uber-flowery depths. “Where every day is another glass of endless possibilities and… Omigod, what is this crap?” I glare at my screen. “When do we get to the part about the winery? What are they even trying to say?”

Clay, who’s been shadowing my footsteps a little more closely than usual, shoots me a glance from his place on the hammock. “What’s the matter, babe? You’re not usually this jumpy. Is this still grand, pre-re-opening celebration jitters, or is there something else bothering you?”

“I don’t know,” I admit reluctantly. “I might be a little nervous.”

“No reason to be.” He smiles bracingly. “You’ve got this. There are only two things you have to do today, stand beside your sisters and smile.”

“I know. It just feels weird.”

I’ve been surprisingly happy, these last few months, flitting around the edges of my sisters’ lives, staying in my lane, accepting my limited responsibilities. The feeling that I have to fight all the time for the recognition and attention I deserve—gah!—that’s mostly gone now, and I don’t miss the pressure of it at all.

Still. The lead up to today’s re-opening has been hard. To be shunted aside (not just today, but all the time lately). To not be allowed to involve myself in any of the preparations. To not even be consulted on the super-secret name change…

And why is that, by the way? Are they that afraid that I’ll screw things up again? That I’ll pitch a fit if it turns out they’ve chosen something stupid? Or maybe that I’ll leak the new name to the news? Which…why does it even have to be a secret?

And now, to top it off, I’m expected to stand there—on a stage (they say it isn’t, but I know better). To smile and pretend, to act like Caparelli is still partly mine, when in reality it’s not?

I suppose this is how Jake must feel all the time. Except that it really isn’t. He’s said it himself. Even if his family had managed to hold on to Take Flight, he still would have had to decide which winery he wanted to live on. And I held my tongue when he said it, and didn’t point out that he and Rosa could easily have joined the two wineries together and run them as one. But now Bee’s moved in with Jansen, so in a way, it’s like she and Jake have simply swapped houses, and no one’s lost anything. No one but me.

An alarm starts to ring on Clay’s phone, spiking my nerves. “We could just not go,” I suggest. “Who’s even gonna notice?”

“Well, your sisters, for two.”

“Ah, they’ll be fine. We could go back to your apartment and tell everyone we lost track of time.”

“Our apartment,” he corrects. “And no, we’re not gonna do that either. C’mon.” He holds out a hand. “We gotta go.”

Reluctantly, I take his hand, and we wander back up the path. “Thank you, by the way,” I murmur softly.

“For what?” he asks looking all at once wary. “What is it you think I did?”

“For taking time off so you could be here today.”

At that he laughs. “You’re kidding, right? Not that I wouldn’t want to be here for you, but they pretty much had to give me the time off for this. It would’ve been a conflict of interest if I were here today in an official capacity.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” I protest. “Because I just work here now. It’s actually got nothing to do with either one of us.”

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