Page 115 of Let It Breathe
Clay looked away. He didn’t say anything.
“That’s what I thought,” Reese said. “Look, Clay—this isn’t going to work.”
He looked back at her. “Is that why you had the vet over last night?”
“What?”
He shrugged. “You looked awfully cozy. Moving on pretty fast.”
She rolled her eyes, feeling her blood start to boil. “Not that it’s any of your business, but nothing happened. Unlike you, I don’t hop from one bed to another in a span of twenty-four hours.”
“It wasn’t like that,” he said. “That’s not how it happened. With you and me and then Larissa?—”
“How the hell do you know? You don’t even remember being with me, so how can you be sure you didn’t nail us both the same night?”
“Because I know. Because I?—”
Before he could finish his sentence, the door burst open. Reese’s father marched into the room, his expression grim.
“Reese, there you are.”
From the look on his face, she knew he wasn’t coming to challenge her to a game of Boggle. “Dad? What’s wrong?”
He glanced at Clay, then back at Reese.
Clay moved toward the door. “I can leave. Give you guys some privacy.”
Jed looked back at Reese. “I guess it doesn’t matter. It’ll be all over the news before we know it. I just got off the phone with the fire marshal. They’re calling it arson.”
“What?” Reese sat down hard on the edge of a wine barrel. “Why? How on earth?—”
“They found some things at the scene that suggest it wasn’t just a faulty wire or something like that. Accelerant of some sort, he wasn’t specific on the phone. He’s going to come out here in an hour to go over it with us, but he wanted to give me a heads-up beforehand.”
“Accelerant? Like alcohol? It’s a fucking winery, there are a few flammable things here.”
Jed shook his head. “I don’t think it’s that simple, honey. He sounded pretty sure. I’m trying to get everyone rounded up so we can all be there when he explains it. Have you seen Larissa?”
“She’s on the phone,” Reese said. “I’ll go find her.”
“I already caught Eric outside, so he’ll be here. Your mom is down at the house getting Axl.”
Reese sighed. “Okay, then, right here in an hour?”
Jed nodded. “I have to hustle to get today’s tour canceled.”
Reese shook her head, trying not to think of the lost revenue, of the angry customers who wouldn’t understand the need to cancel their much-anticipated wine country bike trip with only a few hours’ notice. Even though her dad’s cycling tours hit plenty of other vineyards, everyone knew they were based out of Sunridge. Their logo was all over the website and brochures.
“How many people did you have signed up?” she asked.
“Thirty-three,” he said. “There’s still time to let most of them know, to issue refunds or let ’em pick a different date, but?—”
“The tourists.” Reese squeezed her eyes shut. “The people from out of state.”
“Right.” Jed sighed. “We’ll figure this out. I’ll see you back here in an hour, okay?”
Reese shook her head and watched her father amble out the door in his bike shorts. As soon as he was gone, she looked back at Clay. “So I’m thinking now might not be the best time for us to discuss our relationship.”
Clay nodded. “I understand. But this conversation isn’t over, Reese.”
