Page 51 of Reclaimed Dreams

“We are redoing a winery for an investor down south near Gilroy.”

“Oh, really? How on earth did Dom get involved in that?” She sipped her wine to hide her smirk.

“The, ah, investor, liked the show and approached us about doing a renovation special,” Jake hedged.

Dom jumped into the gap. “Remember that wine tasting tour you dragged me to with your group? I figured I could make it look better than that place.”

Jo’s smile slipped as she turned on her husband. “Don’t go poking at my group. You know they are the only way I get out of this house anymore. I was just curious about the new show, since it is clearly interesting enough to make you break your word.”

Her temper was rising, and she couldn’t be held accountable for what she said if he provoked a fight.

“Now Jo, don’t start…”

“Did you or did you not promise me that you would retire once the show was doing well?”

“I did, but…”

“Mom, I’m the one who pushed for the show.” Frankie jumped into the fray to keep her father out of the line of fire. Jo had seen this tactic before. “Dad was going to pass, but I wanted a chance to prove to him that I can run the business. If I can pull this off, he’s agreed to step back and let me run things day to day with Adrian. Isn’t that right, Dad?”

Jo could tell when her youngest was trying to get something past them, and right now she had Dom over the barrel for something. What the hell was going on?

“Um, uh, that’s right. I’m not really involved in the new show.”

“Then when are you retiring?” Jo pressed, not buying any of it.

“After the kids’ weddings. I want to be able to cover for them so they can take honeymoons, but then I’ll be done. I’ll walk away.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Jo huffed. She turned a steely glare on everyone around the table in turn. “You all heard him. When you get back from your honeymoons, he is done. I’m holding you to it this time.” She jabbed a pointed finger at Dom, who hunched his shoulders as if she’d actually made contact.

The rest of dinner flowed smoothly. The laughter and life updates flowed around the table and reminded Jo why she loved this.

As her kids began to clear the table, Jo pulled Jake from the melee with a gentle touch to the arm. “It’s a nice night,” she said. “Come sit on the porch with me while everyone else cleans up. Bring your wine.”

Following her out the back door, Jake sat down next to her on the stairs leading down to the back garden and sipped his Montepulciano.

“You must think I’m crazy.” Jo stared down at her hands and fiddled with her wedding ring, her wine forgotten on the stairs. She struggled to find the right words, but she felt Jake deserved an explanation for her behavior.

“Why do you say that?” Jake turned to lean against the newel post so he could look her in the eye.

“Here you’ve gone and made my family famous. You’ve made us a household name and business is booming, and all I want is for Dom to walk away from it.”

“That’s not crazy. That sounds like you’ve put a lot of energy into this company and into building your family. It’s time for some of that to come back to you now.”

The olive branch from the young man who had every right to resent her felt like she finally had someone on her side. She really wanted him to understand.

“It’s just… Well, after Gabe died, I realized that none of this is promised. We aren’t guaranteed a tomorrow, and I want to enjoy whatever days I may have left, with the man I love, instead of watching him work himself into an early grave.”

“Dom is a lucky man to have you pushing him. When I left acting, it was against the advice of every adult in my life. But just like you said, life is short, and I’d already missed out on most of my childhood. I couldn’t lose the rest of my life as well. Doing it without backup was miserable.”

Jo took a long sip of her wine. She knew she was putting him in a difficult position, but she was going to ask for his help anyway. She needed to know someone was looking after Dom since she wasn’t on set or in the office.

“This vineyard project… How involved is Dom really?”

“He’s very hands-off on the build. Honestly, it’s practically an honorary role. He’s done some short on-the-fly explanations of what’s going on, but Frankie is running the build. He is helping keeping the Million-Dollar Starter Home builds rolling for Adrian, but that’s a short-term fix while Adrian is stretched thin.”

“Okay. I guess I can be patient a little while longer. He’s not as young as he once was, but he refuses to acknowledge it. I trust you to keep him out of the fray.”

“You have my word.”

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