Chapter Thirteen
With my updated to-do list in my hand, I headed home to take a quick shower before settling in my office for the day. I pulled into my driveway, curiosity tugging at me as I spotted Sherry’s car. As soon as I parked, Sherry and Rose jumped out of the vehicle.
“What’s the matter?” I asked as curiosity immediately warped into panic. “Are Mom and Dad okay?”
“Why wouldn’t they be okay?” Sherry asked.
“I don’t know. Why are you both here?”
“Heard some interesting news from Wyatt,” Rose said, eyebrows raised way too high.
“I don’t have time for this,” I said. “I have a million things to do today, and I’m already behind.”
“Because you were getting down and dirty with Brady,” Rose said, and I shot her a glare.
I hurried up my porch steps, unlocked the door, and stepped inside, kicking off my shoes.
Sherry and Rose followed. Rose went to continue when I pointed at her feet. “Shoes. Off.”
She slipped them off, and she and Sherry followed me to the kitchen.
“Spill,” Sherry said as she slid onto a stool. Rose took up occupancy on the one right beside it. Both put their elbows on the counter, resting their chins in their palms, and stared at me.
I threw my arms into the air. This was ridiculous. “I slept with Brady.”
Rose gasped as if she didn’t already know.
“Well… twice. Maybe three times. It’s kind of a blur.”
“Multiple times in one night, or has this happened before?” Sherry rolled the S-charm on her necklace between her fingers.
“Just last night.”
“Wow, Brady has some stamina,” Sherry said. “Not that I’m surprised. He’s also a muscle man who would fight bears for recreation if he could.”
“Fight bears…?” I deadpanned.
“Like Wyatt would try to make friends with one,” Rose said. “Brady would try to wrestle one because he’s full of that masculine gruffness.”
“Whatever you say.” I filled my bottle of water and took my vitamins.
“Was it good?” Rose asked.
“I’m not having this conversation.”
“Why not?” Sherry asked. “It’s not like any of this comes as a surprise. Other than the fact it took so long to happen.”
My eyebrow arched as I placed my bottle on the counter. “Come again?”
“Don’t look so shocked,” Rose said. “Sherry and I have been putting money on this for years.”
I nearly choked on my multivitamin. “Excuse me?
“We’ve told you that tension had to explode eventually.”
Rose pressed her lips together as if she was trying not to laugh. “Apparently, it keeps exploding.” The laugh burst free from Rose, and Sherry joined it. I didn’t know why. It wasn’t that funny.
Heat crept up my neck and into my cheeks. I was rarely embarrassed, but their laughing was a little off-putting. “Are you two done? I have things to do.”
“By the color in your cheeks, I’m going with it was better than good,” Rose said. “Did he throw you around like a rag doll?”
Flashes of our night together ran through my mind, reminding me of all the positions and places he took me.
“Oh, he totally did,” Sherry said.
“Out!” I pointed toward the door.
“You’re no fun.” Rose pouted.
“Oh, Rose… Do you know if Mom and Dad want to be buried or cremated?”
My baby sister scrunched her nose in horror and looked at Sherry.
“You’re still on this?” Sherry asked.
“I didn’t write it down, and I forgot to ask Mom and Dad when I spoke with them.”
“I’m sure you’ll talk to them in the next twenty-four hours, so you can ask them directly,” Sherry said.
“Why do you want to know?” Rose asked.
“It’s important information. We all should know.”
“You can be in charge of that information, then. I don’t want to think about it, let alone talk about it,” Rose said.
I don’t know why they were getting so upset. There was nothing wrong with being prepared. Everything Brady was dealing with made these thoughts more prevalent in my mind. I wondered if he knew what Ron preferred. He should find out before the man lost his mind completely.
“How did we go from talking about sex to talking about death?” Rose asked. “I’m so confused.”
“Our sister, ladies and gentlemen.” Sherry extended her hands toward me like I was a vowel on Wheel of Fortune.
I glanced at my to-do list that was on the counter. “The photos I approved from the shoot… How are they performing on social?”
Rose rolled her eyes. “If I knew we were going to talk work, I wouldn’t have stopped by.”
“Work is important. My sex life isn’t.”
“Considering you’ve been drier than the Sahara, I’d say your sex life is very important,” Rose countered.
I swung my gaze to Sherry before she could say anything. “You are in the same dry rotted boat. So you can’t say a thing.”
“I keep telling her she should sleep with that Ben guy,” Rose said.
“Ben?” It took a minute before the name registered. “Oh, the new warehouse manager hire. You met him at Brady’s Halloween party. It looked like you two hit it off.”
Sherry sighed. “We did, and then he got hired, and you know I won’t date an employee of the Vineyard.”
“It’s a stupid rule.” Rose looked at me. “Tell her it’s a stupid rule.”
“Actually, it’s a pretty good one. Very professional.”
“Says the woman who had sex in the middle of the tasting room,” Rose said with a playful sigh. “What would the health inspectors think?”
“Okay, time to leave.” I pulled both of their arms until they were off the stools.
“All right, all right,” Sherry said. “Just one question.”
“What?”
“Are you going to sleep with him again? Are you two like a thing? Or was this just a onetime wham-bam, thank you ma’am?”
My lips parted, but nothing came out. Brady and I hadn’t discussed it. He kissed my forehead when he left, and he didn’t take off like he’d made the worst mistake of his life. We had spent so much time hating each other that last night didn’t feel like enough time to make up for all those years.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Wyatt and Nero showed up, and we didn’t really have time to talk.”
“Do you want it to be something more than one night?” Rose asked.
I glanced at my baby sister, who was lucky enough to find her soulmate in college. She and Wyatt had been together for over a decade, and they were still very happy. At times I had been jealous of her, wishing I had someone to go home to, to confide in, to cuddle with when I got snowed in. I never imagined it would happen for me, but now… I couldn’t imagine it being anyone else but Brady.
It was funny how easily the shift from hating him to not happened, but it did.
“That’s a yes,” Sherry said.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to. It’s written all over your face.” Sherry circled her finger in front of me.
“You’re down bad,” Rose added. “Now don’t go and mess it all up.”
“And exactly how would I do that?”
Rose tapped my to-do list. “By overthinking it. You’ve got a plan for everything, but love doesn’t work like that. Just let it happen.”
“Nobody said anything about love.”
A knowing smirk passed between Sherry and Rose.
“See you at work,” Rose said way too cheerily, and Sherry waved goodbye to me as they walked out of my kitchen and through the front door.
The word love hung in my head—an immovable thought that wouldn’t go away. I’d known Brady almost my whole life, but there was no way I was in love with him, even if I did have a crush on him when we were kids. We’d spent so much time hating each other, building walls so high it felt like we’d never break through them. Somehow, in these past few days, he’d torn the walls down brick by brick, leaving me vulnerable in a way I’d never been before.
The scariest part?
I didn’t hate it.