“Thank goodness; they always make me feel so bad.” Amelia giggles. She reaches over to take an empty plate, snapping her hand back as she looks at me. “Are we waiting for Dylan, or is she still on her honeymoon?”
Shaking my head, I lean forward and grab a plate myself and begin to fill it. “She and Reid are still out of town. It’s just us tonight; we’re down a member of the Fab Four.”
“Are we taking the name away from the royals when we call ourselves the Fab Four?” Riley muses, and thoughtfully, too, I might add, while Amelia rolls her eyes.
“They are not the fab anything.Weare the Fab Four.” She looks pointedly at Riley. “Anyway, weren’t you like a fair queen or something? Cause if that’s the case, we have our own version of royalty sitting right here, folks.”
“County fair princess. My parents wanted me to do it, and I think my mom would have loved it if I had gone the pageant route. It was something I grew out of quickly, though.” Riley reaches forward, scooping some salad onto a plate and grabbing a fork. “I’m not the proper type. I don’t want to have to hold my shoulders back and do the smiling thing.”
I’m not sure if it’s Amelia who starts laughing first or me, but we both grab for one another and fall into each other, giggling.
“Why is that so funny?” Riley manages to ask between bites.
“You like, literally, have the kindest and most level disposition of all of us.” Amelia leans across the coffee table to where Riley has copped a squat on the floor and pats her head.
“I’m not that nice,” Riley growls, only to start cracking up at herself. “Okay, I see what you mean. So if you ever need someone cuddled to death, I’m your girl.”
“Me!” I thrust my hand in the air. “If I could have you cuddle my ex out of my life, I’d be so happy with that.”
“I just don’t understand why he thinks he can sue you for the business.” Amelia leans forward to fill her glass, leveling her gaze with mine. “What is his reasoning?”
Sighing, I lean forward and put my elbows on my knees. “All was well after we divorced. It wasn’t until I said I was moving that the business came up and he suddenly turned into someone I don’t recognize.”
“So things were fine between the two of you?” Riley queried.
“Yep. We were running the D.C. location and getting along really well. Then, I asked him if he wanted to buy me out. He agreed, and when he asked me what I was going to do next, I told him I was going to replicate the idea and open another urban winery here, in North Carolina. That was the instant he flipped. Next thing I knew, he lawyered up, saying the business was his idea and he wanted me to sign paperwork saying I would never open another winery likehis.”
“Oooof.” Riley shakes her head and locks eyes with Amelia.
“That takes some guts,” Amelia says, shaking her head, too.
“It takes more than guts to do that, I’m telling ya.” Sitting up a little taller, I smile at my two friends. “My lawyer says it’s going to be seen as frivolous in the eyes of the court, and if anything, I’ll be the one with the upper hand.”
“But you still had to pay, what, a ten-thousand-dollar retainer fee in order to deal with being served?”
“Oh yeah.” Hearing the dollar amount makes me sick to my stomach. “I had to borrow most of it from my family.”
“That’s right,” Amelia murmurs. “He’s also holding back the money he owes you, right?”
“Ding, ding, ding. You win a prize, caller!” My voice is light, but my heart is heavy. “Look, it hurts that he wants to take something I created from me, and no matter what the outcome is, it’s always going to have a little sting because we were married at one time. I never could have seen this side of him coming. Hopefully, we can get past it quickly and then I can figure out how to open my wine shop down here.”
“That’s my girl!” Amelia holds her glass in the air. “Here’s to that!”
“Ditto what Amelia said,” Riley echoes with a grin. “I hate when people say this, but it’s a very true statement: it is all going to work out. No matter what, I know you’ll be taken care of.”
“And,” Amelia sings out as she stands up to come wrap her arms around me, “we’re right here to catch you. No matter what.”
Squeezing Amelia back, my insides surge with warmth. These women being in my corner means everything to me. One day, I’ll be able to tell them how their strength gets me out of bed in the morning, but not now. One day soon.
“Okay.” I clap my hands together. “I made dessert. And by made, I mean I stopped at the store and bought an apple pie I can throw in the oven.”
Riley jumps up, guiding me back to my chair by the shoulders before taking my empty plate out of my hands. “You sit, I’ll clear plates and go start dessert.”
I’m too tired to argue, so I flop back down into the seat and face Amelia while Riley buzzes around us. “And how are you doing?”
Shrugging, she lifts her glass to her lips and takes a sip before answering. “I’m good, except I need to put together a team training event for a local group, and I need to do it soon.”
“Congrats on booking a group at the campground,” Riley calls out as she disappears into the kitchen.
