Love Unforgettable: Love in San Soloman - Book Three

by Wells, Denise

  Tonight, I’m pouring six of my wines. Each guest, of age, gets a two ounce pour to go with a paired tray passed appetizer from In Queso Emergency, a local cheese and charcuterie shop I often work with for events such as this. It’s a decent size crowd that has shown up. I have a capacity of 250 people for events, and I would say we are close to it now. Yet, still no Trevor. And even more curious, no Kat and Remi. They’re usually first in line at my events. Standing slightly to the side of the bar, so as to not get in my way, but still close enough that we can talk about people. They say it’s just for the free wine, but I’d give them free wine anyway. So, I know it’s really for moral support.

  And I need them now, so where the hell are they?

  Trevor must be here. The event is starting, and it’s for him, so I can’t believe he would miss it. Doc Richardson didn’t say anything about it when I saw him earlier and I didn’t ask, but I have yet to see him. I open a new bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon as someone clinks against their glass, calling for attention.

  I hate it when people do that.

  I use the nice Riedel glasses. Glass in the tasting room, but crystal in the VIP room. And I splurge on three different styles/types, which is a huge pain in the ass when it comes to cleaning and storage. But the best thing Stone taught me is to give everyone who comes in the experience you want.

  So, I try to do exactly that. Right down to the glass type.

  But half the time when someone starts clinking on their wine glass, whether it be with a utensil, jewelry, or even another glass, they break it. I look up and see Doc Richardson in the middle of the room, clinking his glass with his house key, holding his hands up to get people to quiet down.

  “Hi. Hi. I’d like your attention, please. Thank you. First, I’d like to thank everyone for coming tonight. This is clearly a bittersweet event for me. On the one hand, I won’t be seeing most of you on a regular basis any longer. On the other hand, the missus is going to see a lot more of me. Which may not be a good thing, I don’t know you’d have to ask her,” he chuckles and continues, “I guess this means my golf game will improve, huh? Second, I want to thank Lovestone Winery, and especially Lexie Harrington, for their generosity in hosting this event.”

  “You still pay, Doc. My Lexie not work for free.” I hear a voice sounding suspiciously like Mavis getting closer to me. And then her little head pushes through the crowd and is at the front of the bar with Babs at her side.

  “Bubbe, of course he will pay,” I scold her at the same time as I pour her and Babs extremely generous glasses of wine. If I don’t, she’ll just come behind the bar and do it herself.

  “Feh,” she says, waving her free hand in the air. “You know last time, so late with the payment he was. Shnorrer.”

  “He’s not a cheapskate. Keep your voice down, he’ll hear you,” I tell her. She and Babs take seats at the bar and turn to watch the crowd. Doc Richardson is still talking about his retirement. After another minute or so, I have a feeling that, like me, over half the crowd must just want him to get on with it at this point.

  Which he finally does. “So, it is with great pleasure that I introduce to you my successor, all the way from Syracuse, New York, Doctor Trevor Vaughn.”

  Trevor makes his way to Doc’s side and the two men hug.

  So, he is here. He looks good.

  People clap and wait to see if Trevor is going to say anything.

  “Thank you,” Trevor says. “It’s an honor to be following such a great man. I can only hope that someday I’m half the veterinarian that he is. Now, please, enjoy!”

  After the long windedness of Doc, I can tell that people are grateful that Trevor kept it short. The bulk of the people invited have arrived and the party is in full swing. I still want to talk to Trevor, but the bar is busy. I have ample staff to cover, but people are still constantly asking me questions and/or complimenting me on the wine, so I’m hesitant to leave. Or I’m just nervous to see him.

  And, for God’s sake, where the hell are Kat and Remi?

  I grab my phone from my pocket to see if they texted.

  Nothing.

  I send them a quick text asking where they are. Mavis asks Courtney, my tasting room manager, for a bottle of wine for she and Babs. Courtney looks to me questioningly.

  “What am I gonna say, Court? No?” I smile then nod in approval in Mavis’s direction, grateful that neither she nor Babs drive any longer.

  “Help me up, Mommy,” I hear a little voice say. I peek up over the counter to see a woman helping a child up onto a bar stool, with a groan. Once she stands I see that she’s a very pregnant, very beautiful brunette.

  “You wouldn’t happen to have anything kid-friendly back there, would you?” she sighs.

  “Absolutely,” I say, I hand the lady two bottles of water and then turn to the little girl. “How would you like to do your very own wine tasting along with all the grown-ups?”

  The little girl nods eagerly as the woman sputters her first sip of the water. “Excuse me?”

  “Oh, no, I’m sorry, it’s not real wine, of course. It’s juice. White grape and red cranberry, in shatterproof glasses,” I say. She looks at me as though still not trusting what I’m saying. So I pull out our kid friendly “tasting” menu with the accompanying crayons to show her that we do this all the time. She nods and then waves her hand dismissively. I get the little girl set up with her juice tasting while making small talk with the mom. I find out they recently moved and don’t know a lot of people in the area, that she’s nine months pregnant and can’t wait for the baby to come, and that her name is Elise and her daughter is Paisley.

  I introduce myself to her daughter first, bending down to meet her eyes. “My name is Lexie.”

  “Is this your house?” Paisley asks, looking around.

  “No,” I laugh. “I live in a different house just down the way. This is where I work, so I’m here a lot. At my house, I have seven dogs. And sometimes I bring them here with me. Not tonight though. There’s too many people.”

  “I’m allergic to dogs.” Paisley frowns.

  “I’m sorry,” I say.

  “Crazy, right?” Elise asks. “Veterinarian for a father who wants to bring home every stray he can find, and a daughter who is deathly allergic. What are the chances?”

  “Oh, that’s funny,” I say. “Do you have other animals then? That you bring to Trevor?” Wondering why her husband doesn’t just treat them himself. Is it like how a doctor shouldn’t operate on their own children? Which I’ve always found silly, since wouldn’t they be the most careful out of anyone?

  Wait a minute.

  What did she just say?

  “I’m sorry, I spaced for a second. What did you say?” I interrupt my thoughts to ask.

  You already know what she said, Lexie.

  “I said,” Elise continues, “That Trevor is my husband.”

  “This whole party is for my daddy,” Paisley pipes in.

  She just moved here. She’s pregnant. She has another child. Her husband is a veterinarian . . .

  Her husband is Trevor.

  How can that be?

  “You’re Trevor Vaughn’s wife?” I confirm.

  “The putz?” Mavis asks loudly at the mention of Trevor’s name. I give her my very best shut up look, hoping it works.

  I don’t think Elise heard Mavis. Since I’m fairly certain Elise is still talking, something about moving while pregnant. But all I hear is a buzzing in my ears. My vision starts to go black.

  Trevor is married.

  And clearly has been for a while.

  “Will you excuse me for a moment?” I ask, running from behind the bar in search of the restroom, feeling everything in my stomach about to swiftly come up. I push through a group of women entering the restroom. “Excuse me. Sorry. Emergency. I think I ate something bad.”

  I barely make it into the stall before I vomit for the first time.

  “Oh my gosh, did you eat the food here?” one of the women
asks her friends. “I don’t want to get sick. Maybe we should go.”

  Idiot, Lexie. You don’t cry food poisoning at your own party!

  “Not from here,” I yell slightly before vomiting again.

  “You can’t be too sure,” one of the other women says. I turn and lock the stall door that I’m in, then sink to the ground. The tears start slow, but steady. I hear the restroom door open and the women leave. I peek under the stall door, relieved to see I’m alone in the bathroom.

  Married?

  Yes. Married.

  I laugh slightly through the tears, remembering the scene from Sixteen Candles when Jake goes to Sam’s house to tell her he likes her, and Long Duck Dong tells him she’s getting married. Jake says “married?” and Duck says “yes, married.”.” But it’s really Sam’s sister that is getting married, so it’s just a misunderstanding.

  Maybe Trevor has a brother.

  I scoff at myself, knowing that Trevor doesn’t have a brother. Although, shit, he could. I mean I didn’t know he had a wife and kid with another kid on the way. I reach for my phone to text Kat and Remi a 9-1-1 situation only to realize I left it on the bar.

  Ironically, while I was waiting for a text from Kat or Remi. Or is it coincidence and not irony?

  Which starts a new stream of tears.

  “How can you be a grown-up and still not know the difference between coincidence and irony?” I say aloud, but to myself, then shrug my shoulders. “I blame Alanis Morissette and the movie Reality Bites.”

  I stand up to leave but have to turn back and throw everything else up until I have nothing left in my stomach. Only then do I finally leave the stall. I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My face is pale, my cheeks gaunt, and my eyes red. How have I never noticed the dark circles under my eyes before now? I slap my cheeks trying to bring some color back to my face. Then rinse my mouth and brush my teeth using the travel set I keep in a makeup bag under the sink for this very reason.

  Not for vomit, Lexie. For purple wine teeth.

  Okay. Whatever.

  I must finish the event. I have no idea how long I’ve been in here, but I know it’s too long. I brace myself, take a deep breath, and leave the restroom, pasting a smile on my face.

  Chapter 20

  Cole

  I walk toward the winery with Lexie’s friends, Kat and Remi. It’s an impressive place. Like, real impressive, and very new looking. Large wood gazebos line the exterior covering the expansive patio. The patio is set up like one big outdoor living room, with a huge firepit in the middle. What must be dozens of outdoor couches, loungers, and chairs are creatively placed around the entire patio, most in little conversation collections. The tasting room looks huge, and two stories if I’m not mistaken, with walls of mostly glass. On the lower level all the glass doors cascade open making the outdoor and indoor spaces blend seamlessly.

  Since it’s dusk, everything is lit up and the result is nothing short of spectacular looking, especially with the vines surrounding the space.

  In addition, several outbuildings are off to the sides. All look new as well.

  “My God, can you believe how amazing it turned out?” Remi asks.

  “No. I mean, I knew it was going to be great, but this is like . . . beyond,” Kat adds.

  “Well, I’ll be,” I say as we step across the threshold from the patio to the tasting room. “If this place ain’t finer than a frog’s hair split four ways.”

  Kat snorts a laugh. “What did you say? A frog’s what?”

  “It’s an old Texas saying, finer than a frog’s hair split four ways. That’d be real fine, so that means this is real nice.”

  “I’m gonna enjoy being your friend, cowboy,” she laughs. Then her face spasms slightly. Almost like a wink, but slightly different.

  Remi shakes her head. “Don’t be alarmed, that’s her wink. It’s a contortion of facial muscles.”

  “Shut up, bitch.” Kat slaps her arm lightly.

  “You shut up, bitch,” Remi says.

  “I . . . uh . . . if you ladies will excuse me, I’m going take a quick peek around,” I say, not used to their style of conversation. And wanting to see TOWRMC for myself.

  “We’ll be around,” Kat says. “Probably at the bar bugging Lexie, if you need us.”

  “I will keep that in mind,” I say. I wander off toward the rear of the building, figuring I can get a better look at the crowd as a whole from there. I look around as I go, she has everything here, things for drinking wine, things for learning about wine, souvenirs that’re wine related, wine itself. I smile, remembering when Babs told me about shopping with Mavis and Lexie for winery things. I had no idea this is what she meant.

  I see a flash of pink before feeling something crash into me, which I promptly grab onto.

  “Dang, I’m so sorry,” she says.

  I look down, to see Lexie in my arms. She seems upset.

  “Hey, hey, sweetness, you okay?” I tilt her chin up with my fingers, so I can see her face. She looks like she’s been crying.

  “Cole. Hi. You’re here. Wow. Yes. No. I don’t know. I mean. Shit. Oh, God, do I have to go back out there?” Her voice is pathetic as she talks, the last sentence barely a squeak. She wraps her arms around my waist, I move us off to the side where there aren’t any people before I respond.

  “No, baby, you don’t. Especially if that’s not where you want to be. Did something happen? You want to talk about it? I promise I’m a good listener.” I rub her back in soft slow circles as I talk. She leans into me slightly and the air moves with her scent. Vanilla maybe? With just a hint of floral. And something sour? I sniff again.

  “Quit sniffing me,” she says into my chest.

  I smile. “I like the way you smell, sweetness. It’s good.”

  “Trust me,” she says, looking up at me. “There is no way that I smell good.” I reach out to wipe a bit of smudge from under her eye. “How do I keep getting into these situations with you?” She groans as she throws her head back slightly. Something catches her attention from the side, her eyes go alarmingly wide, she looks back at the center of my chest, off to the side once more, and then back to center and up at me.

  “Can they see me?” she asks.

  I turn my head. “Who?”

  “Don’t look,” she hisses, fisting my shirt at the neck. I bring my gaze back to hers.

  “Can who see you?” I ask.

  “The people at the bar. It’s him. The family, with the little girl.”

  I turn my head slightly. She pulls at my shirt again.

  “I said don’t look!” she hisses.

  “Well, how am I supposed to know if they are lookin’ if I don’t look, sweetness?”

  She sighs. “I don’t know. Shit. This is such a mess.”

  “What do you mean, it’s him with the family? You talkin’ about the ex?”

  “Yes. I’m just so . . . I don’t even know right now. He’s married, Cole. With a daughter and a baby on the way.”

  I struggle real hard to keep my face neutral and just this side of sympathetic. But inside, I’m planning my victory parade and acceptance speech.

  “Oh, Lexie.” I keep my voice low. I honestly don’t know what to say. Good riddance? Don’t let the door hit him on the ass on his way out? It’s clear he’s only got one oar in the water if he’s in this predicament to begin with.

  “And I can’t find Kat or Remi anywhere and they promised they’d be here.”

  “They are here, sweetness. You want me to get them for you?” I ask.

  “They’re here? Wait, how do you know who my friends are? What friends?”

  “Miss Kat and Miss Remi.”

  “Oh, I guess you do know my friends. How do you know them?”

  “We, uh, met in the parking lot and we all walked in together.”

  “What’s with the ‘uh,’” she asks, her eyes narrowing.

  “I’m not sure I want to tell you on account you already seem to be having a bad day.
”

  “Speak.”

  “Well, seems as though Miss Mavis and Babs —”

  “Can’t you just call them by their name, like you do with Babs?”

  “Who?”

  “I don’t know, everyone. I mean, you certainly don’t call me Miss Lexie any longer. Or even ma’am. Now it’s all sweetness and darlin’.” She attempts to mimic my accent without being very successful.

  “It’s a sign of respect to them.”

  “You don’t have to respect any of us. Not me, not Kat, not Remi, and definitely not Mavis.”

  I look at her brows raised.

  “You know what I mean,” she huffs. “Not no respect, obviously, but maybe not so much ‘respect.’”

  I nod even though I really don’t understand what she means.

  “Okay, continue,” she says.

  “Continue what?” I ask.

  “Wow, you have a shorter attention span than even I do,” she says. “You were telling me what happened with Kat and Remi in the parking lot.”

  “Oh, right. Okay, well before that, I was speaking with Mavis and Babs.”

  She nods for me to continue.

  “And, uh, well, it seems they are hell bent on getting you and me together. And they want me to make it happen.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “They want us to make babies,” I snicker. “Like yesterday.”

  I’m not gonna lie, part of me wants her to jump on that idea like white on rice.

  She snorts. “You and me? That’s a good one.”

  “What’s wrong with that idea?”

  “Well, for one, you hurt my dog.”

  I forgot about that.

  “Okay, but I pa . . .” I stop, realizing I was about to admit that I paid the vet bill. And I’m sure I want her to know that quite yet. “Okay, what else?” I ask.

  “But you what?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Tell me.”

  Don’t tell her.

  “I paid the vet bill for Sasha.”

  You shouldn’t have told her.

  “You . . .” Her mouth falls opens and her eyes widen. “Why would you do that?”