by Lucinda Race
The woman gave her a broad smile. “I’ve heard a lot about you. It almost feels like I know you.”
“I’m sorry. You said your last name was Price?” What the hell had happened in Napa?
“Yes, I’m Jack’s ex-wife.” Her smile faded. “Well, I was sort of his wife.”
Peyton’s mouth dropped open and she snapped it shut. “Jack? Married?”
“Well, not really. We haven’t seen each other in over seven years. I’ve been trying to get in touch with him and thought it would be best to come to the Finger Lakes.” She reached out a steadying hand to Peyton. “Are you okay? You’re very pale.”
“What? Yes, I’m, I’m fine.” She stumbled back to the bar. She needed a glass of water. Corine followed her.
“By your reaction, I’m going to guess you’ve never heard about me?”
She shook her head. “Yes and no.” She turned on the tap and filled a glass of water and drank it down in several large gulps. “Jack’s in the fields, but I can call him if you want to wait.”
Her blood roared in her ears and she couldn’t believe she was standing in her place of work, talking with her boyfriend’s ex-wife, one she hadn’t known he had. What the hell was going on? Was she in the Twilight Zone or something? It was obvious he had lied to her about Napa and what had happened while he was there. All this time, she believed he had been working through his issues with Sam and instead he had gotten married, and why hadn’t anyone in the family ever said anything? Had they all been sworn to secrecy, to not tell the girl he had dumped when he left? How could he have been married and she not know it? She was a big fool; he hadn’t changed at all. Life revolved around what Jack wanted or needed at any given time.
Steadying her voice, she said, “I’ll call Jack.” She gestured to a stool. “Feel free to have a seat. Depending on where he is, it might take a while for him to get in.”
“Thank you, Peyton.”
She grabbed her cell and walked into the storage room before she dialed. “Hi, gorgeous.” His rich deep voice caused her anger to spike.
“Jack, you need to come to the tasting room right away.”
“Peyton, what’s wrong?”
“Your ex-wife is waiting for you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Corine Price is sitting at my bar and I suggest you get over here, now. It seems there is something she needs to discuss with you.” She didn’t wait for him to say anything more, just hit the end button. She jammed the phone in the back pocket of her jeans.
Taking a few deep, calming breaths, she forced herself to return to the tasting room. She maintained an expressionless face. “Corine, he’ll be here soon.”
“Thank you, Peyton. I’m sorry if this has come as a shock to you.” Corine did look genuinely sorry.
She held up a hand. “You have nothing to apologize for.” She blinked away tears of anger and hurt. “I need to check on something in the bistro. Will you excuse me for a few minutes?”
“Certainly. You don’t need to keep an eye on me. I’ll be fine while I wait for Jack.”
Peyton walked out of the room with her head held high, but her heart was dragging on the cement floor. She pushed open the swinging door to the kitchen, expecting it to be empty, and was taken aback when she discovered Kate sitting at a counter with a stack of cookbooks spread out around her.
“I didn’t expect to see you today.” Her voice was flat.
“What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Kate pushed out a stool. “Sit.”
Peyton did as she was asked and hung her head. “You could say I’ve seen a ghost. One from Jack’s past, and who knows, maybe his present.”
“What are you talking about? You’re not making a lot of sense.”
“Jack’s ex-wife Corine is sitting at the bar in the tasting room right now.”
She gave a snort. “Jack’s not married. At least not yet.”
Peyton gestured to the door. “Go look for yourself. She’s stunning, from the perfect golden highlights in her hair right down to her Gucci sandals and handbag.”
Kate hurried to the kitchen door and was back in a flash. “Wow. She’s beautiful—and she says she was married to our Jack?”
“Not only that, but she says she knows about me and the winery.” Peyton narrowed her eyes. “You’ve never heard about her before?”
Kate shook her head. “No. I swear, and it’s not something I would have kept from you. I can’t believe Don didn’t tell me.”
“If you didn’t know, do you think Jack could have kept it from Don too?”
“I wonder if he kept it from everyone. You know in the Price family, there are no secrets.”
“I need to get back out front. I can’t just leave her sitting there. It’s rude.” Peyton got off the stool and Kate gave her a hard hug.
“I’m going to track down Don and see what I can find out. Do you want to come over later?”
“Thanks, but no.” Her heart ached. He had done it again.
“If you change your mind, the door’s always open.”
Peyton touched her arm but didn’t respond. She walked back into the bar and hoped Corine wouldn’t feel the need to ask her questions she didn’t know how or want to answer.
* * *
Jack couldn’t drive the UTV fast enough. He hit the ruts in the gravel road and clutched the steering wheel with both hands. The minutes seemed like an eternity as he made the trip in from the back field. What the hell was Corine doing here and announcing she was his ex-wife? And why come here now?
What must Peyton be thinking? He slammed the steering wheel with his fist. How stupid could he be? He should have told her when he had the opportunity. Had he just torpedoed their future? He groaned. How was he going to fix this?
The first thing was to talk to Corine. Then he’d have to face his family, and how was he going to explain that he had been married, even for a short time, and never breathed a word about it to anyone?
He skidded to a stop in front of the warehouse, tossed his ball cap on the seat, and strode to the door. He took half a second before he walked inside. It had been years since he had seen Corine and he had never expected to see her here.
She was sitting at the bar, asking questions about the season. Peyton responded with basic answers about the winery and the types of wines she thought were bestsellers, and all the while it must be killing her to be pleasant. He admired her. The scene was surreal and not something he had ever expected to witness in his life. He stuck his hands in his pockets and walked into the room.
“Hello,” he said generically.
Peyton’s eyes were flat and unreadable. “I’ll give you two some privacy.” She didn’t look at either of them.
“Wait,” Jack pleaded and took a step toward her. “This isn’t what you think. I need to explain.”
She held up a hand, which was more like an invisible shield. “There is nothing to explain.” She gave Corine a short nod. “Goodbye.” The tasting room door closed behind her with a resounding thud.
Jack held out a hand to her after she turned. His heart just walked out the door and there was nothing he could do at the moment, even if all he wanted to do was run after her. Instead, he turned his attention to Corine.
“What are you doing here?” His tone of voice sounded harsh even to his ears.
“It’s nice to see you too, Jack.” She looked at the closed door. “I’m curious. Peyton had no idea we were married?”
“She knew we were involved but what we had wasn’t a marriage.” In truth, he hadn’t considered himself really married, not in the sense like his parents.
“She’s in love with you, and from the forlorn expression on your face, you’re still in love with her too. Is this why you didn’t want me to come here?”
“You and I both agreed from the beginning that no one would know it was a marriage in name only. I wanted to protect you and we were both angry with our families and thought it was a good way to
show them we could handle our own problems. Then we realized the stupidity in it and got divorced after a couple of months. What was there to tell?”
“You love her. That’s the reason you should have told her everything about us.” She toyed with the glass of water in front of her. “She needs to know I’m not a threat to your relationship. That we’re friends.”
Jack took a step closer to the bar. “What do you mean, and is that why you’ve been calling and texting me?”
She held up her left hand, revealing a huge solitaire diamond ring on her finger. “Congratulations. That’s quite the rock.”
“Thank you. I’m very happy and Greg is a wonderful man, but there’s an obstacle standing in our way.”
“Okay, still not sure why you’re here.”
“Greg and I thought I needed closure from our past and to thank you for being a good friend and protecting me when I felt alone and vulnerable, when I had nowhere to turn. I never meant to make things difficult for you or upset Peyton, and if I had thought, I wouldn’t announced myself as a Price. I’ve used your name as a shield for so long, it’s hard to let it go. But I’m ready to marry Greg and start a new life and I only want you to be happy.”
He nodded. “I can see his point. And you’re happy?”
Her eyes shone with a happiness that couldn’t be dimmed. “I am, but there is one little hiccup. Our divorce papers were never filed, so in the eyes of the law, we’re still married, and this was discovered only when I had to give a copy of our paperwork to my minister. We need to both sign this in front of a notary and once it clears the courts, we can officially be unmarried. My lawyer’s office set up expedited handling for all the cases affected.”
“I thought you took care of the paperwork.” He rolled his eyes but when he thought back, maybe he should have followed up to make sure everything had been finalized.
“I know what you’re thinking, that I flaked, but it was the paralegal at the lawyer’s office. Remember she was super pregnant?”
“No, I never went to the office.”
“Well, she went into labor and apparently a ton of paperwork never was finalized.” She held her palms up toward the ceiling. “So we’re still married and if you had actually talked to me instead of cutting me off, we wouldn’t be in this situation.” She pointed to the door. “You’re going to have some explaining to do. If there’s anything I can do to help, just ask.”
That was an understatement. “Thanks. I appreciate that, but now what? We sign the papers and you fly west for your idyllic life?”
“I’d like to have dinner with you and Peyton and anyone else in your family you’d like to invite. On me, too. But, Jack, I have to ask. Are things good here now? Are you happy being home?”
He nodded. “I am, and I want to have a future with Peyton.”
“I’m glad. Do you want to go today? Or you could meet me tomorrow at the First National Bank in town. Once we sign them, you’ll have a copy and we can both move on with our lives.” She touched his hand, her voice gentle. “Which means you can find a way to make things right with Peyton.”
“I think we should skip dinner, but tomorrow is better. Will nine o’clock work for you?” He crossed his arms over his chest. “And you’ll take care of everything else?”
“I will, and Jack, for what it’s worth, I can see why you never got over her. Even from the limited time I was with her, I can see Peyton’s quite a woman.”
“Did she say something?”
“No. It was just a vibe, but you do have some groveling to do if you want to keep her in your life.”
That was an understatement. She was his next conversation after his family.
Corine stood up and pushed back the stool. “If you need a friendly ear who knows the whole story of us, I’m staying at The Grapevine B & B in town.”
“I appreciate that, but I’ll handle it. I’m sure once I explain what happened, we’ll get back on track.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow and good luck with everyone.”
Corine left without looking back. At least this time he didn’t have the sinking feeling he had failed, but unlike all those years ago, he knew what he wanted for his future. His cell phone rang and he pulled it out, praying it was Peyton. Instead, it was Don.
He might just as well get this over with. Nothing happened at CLW that Don didn’t know about.
“Hey, Don. I’m on my way up.” He walked toward the back stairwell.
“Good. It sounds like we have something important to discuss.”
Jack’s only response was to stick the phone in his pocket. How was he going to tell his family about his marriage and subsequent divorce? He climbed the stairs with heavy steps. More important: How was he going to explain it to Peyton?
27
Jack pulled into Peyton’s driveway and clutched the steering wheel. She hadn’t returned any of his calls or texts for the last two days. The divorce papers were signed and Corine was back in California. All that was left was to explain this mess to Peyton. It might be easier since he had already talked to his family and although they didn’t understand why he had kept it from them, they were being supportive.
How could he explain to Peyton that his marriage meant nothing; it had been his choice, but he had needed to feel a part of something, and his desire to be a good friend overrode good sense. Deep down, since he hadn’t told anyone in the family, he had known it was the wrong thing to do, and even after they had moved on, Jack had wanted to keep it that way.
He looked at his phone again, rereading her text asking him to come by so they could talk. His heart thudded in his chest and his stomach was in knots. Ken’s truck was gone and he was disappointed Owen hadn’t come bopping through the door to greet him with his wide grin and wave. The house was unusually quiet.
He climbed the stairs and tapped on the screen door. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Peyton standing in the hall and asking him to come in.
She was dressed in a pink tee and white jean shorts. Her hair was pulled off her face with a headband. Her eyes were filled with hurt and he knew it was his fault.
“Hi.”
Without answering, she turned and walked into the kitchen. “Mom and Dad took Owen to the diner so we have the house to ourselves.” She leaned against the counter and her eyes searched his. “I don’t want Owen to overhear our conversation.”
She was distant. That didn’t bode well for their relationship. He longed to cup her face in his hands and kiss her lips, but he didn’t. Her eyes were wary and he wasn’t going to add pressure to the evening by trying to pretend they didn’t have a huge problem to resolve. He was grateful she had given him the chance to talk at all. He could only hope what he was about to tell her would make some kind of sense.
“Thank you for agreeing to talk.”
“I love you, Jack, but you’ve hurt me more than I can tell you.” She took a step back. “Do you want something to drink?”
“Beer would be good.” He was relieved. Offering a beverage wasn’t necessarily a good sign but just her normal response when someone was in her home and he wouldn’t be leaving in the next thirty seconds or so.
She grabbed two bottles and twisted the tops off before handing him one. “Let’s sit on the deck.”
He followed her outside. Citronella torches blazed in the dusk to ward off thirsty bugs. She took a seat in a deck chair and he sat across from her. He wanted to be able to look at her when he told her everything.
“Thanks.”
She took a sip. “Did you talk to your family?”
He gave her a half nod. “Yes, and it helped me to understand the whys of what happened, but Mom didn’t excuse what I did. She’s hurt too.” He pulled on his beer. It didn’t settle his nerves. He set the bottle on the side table. “I don’t know where to start.”
Quietly she said, “At the beginning.”
He bent forward and clasped his hands together. Peyton appeared to be completely relaxed; however, she chewe
d the corner of her lip, so he knew she was anything but calm.
“When I went to Napa to work at the vineyard, I discovered a certificate program which focused on new ways to grow grapes organically. I was interested in how to make changes at CLW to prove to my father that I could handle running that part of the business, so I enrolled. Being in the field was my passion, and I knew if I didn’t make some immediate and drastic changes to my life, I’d be pigeonholed into what my father wanted my life to be, and I couldn’t stand that. In California, I was free from a desk or making sales calls. I wasn’t cut out for that.”
He felt better talking about the curriculum. He smiled. “The program was amazing—the instructor cared about the environment, and I was with people who were looking down the road to the future, not just for the next couple of years of harvest. I mean how to do it better long term.”
She watched him but didn’t interrupt. Which, in some ways, made this harder.
“In one of the courses, I met a girl. Corine. She was quiet, almost shy, but very nice. She was local and worked at one of the larger wineries. We became friends, and soon her group of friends welcomed me into their circle. We spent most of our non-school and working hours hanging out. She was dating some guy at the time and nobody liked him, especially her family. They are pretty well off and the guy was a jerk. We all thought so.”
“Jack, I’m not sure why this is relevant to Corine showing up and saying she was a Price.” He could see the sadness in her eyes.
“I’m trying to explain everything.”
She sipped her beer as if needing something to do for a brief moment.
He took that as a sign to continue. “Corine’s boyfriend was a class A jerk, always making mean comments to her, and one night he told her she had better marry him or she’d be sorry. At first, we thought he was joking, but then we started to see a darker side. I thought he saw her as a bank account and he could intimidate her into agreeing.”
Peyton’s eyes grew wide.
“Corine didn’t know what to do or how to get rid of him. At this point, he accused her of having her eye on some other guy.”
