Chapter 29 Kinley
One year later
“Welcome, everybody,” I said as Wyatt and I opened the double oak doors of the Sterling B seeing them together made me happy.
I exchanged a glance with Hannah, who appeared to have noticed the same thing I did.
Wyatt’s parents seemed even cozier than usual.
Then Bruce cleared his throat. “Your mother and I have an announcement to make.”
The room went completely silent. Knox and Finn practically froze in the act of handing out the glasses.
“We’re all ears,” Wyatt said, his voice a bit tight.
Susan took Bruce’s hand and beamed. “Your dad and I decided to move in together.”
Holy shit.
All the Sterling boys seemed completely stunned. Chase, who was sitting closest, turned around and opened his mouth, though he didn’t say anything.
“This is a big step. I’m happy that you’re finding your way back to each other,” Hannah said.
Wow, this was monumental.
Duncan frowned slightly but then smiled as he congratulated his parents. Knox and Finn set the trays down and then started chatting with their parents as well.
I turned to Wyatt. “How are you handling this?” I whispered in his ear.
“I’m happy for them. I figured it was heading that way considering they spent all their time together. I’m glad the two of them are happy now. Before I met you, I don’t think I would’ve understood their decision, but now it all makes sense.”
“Does it?” I couldn’t see how one thing related to the other.
“Yeah.”
He didn’t seem to want to explain himself, and I didn’t push.
“Hey, I spoke to Sage, and she’s planning dinner in the vineyard,” I said, deciding to change the subject.
Wyatt flashed me a charming smile. “That’s right. I figured it would be a nice way to start the vacation.”
“Should I do anything?”
“No!” he said hastily. “Sage and I are taking care of everything.”
Was he avoiding my gaze? He was up to something—I was sure of it.
Oh, well, I didn’t want to start guessing. Wyatt was full of surprises, and I embraced every single one of them. I trusted that whatever he had in store was going to be amazing. He’d restored my ability to believe that good things can happen.
After we all finished our wine, I asked, “How about we show everyone to their rooms?”
There was a flurry of activity as everyone got up and started following us around. Knox and Finn were right behind Wyatt and me. I looked over my shoulder at them.
“You guys okay?”
“No, I’m still stunned,” Knox said.
“About your parents?”
Finn nodded. “Yeah. I mean, talk about not seeing this coming.”
Really? These two had seen their parents working together and were still surprised by this development?
“Don’t worry, dude. You’ll recover,” Wyatt teased.
“Yeah.”
“But you are happy for your parents, right?” I asked.
“Yes, of course. We just... never mind,” Finn said, shaking his head.
I was starting to think about what Wyatt said before, that he couldn’t have understood any of it before he and I got together. Maybe it was similar for Knox and Finn. They couldn’t understand deep love until they’d experienced it for themselves.
All the rooms were on one floor. They were generous but not overly large, enough for two people to have space to decompress after a day of activities.
After showing everyone to their rooms, we left them to refresh before starting with the afternoon’s activities, and Wyatt and I headed to ours.
We were taking everyone wine tasting, except Jeremy and Emily, of course.
They were staying here with Sage, who’d offered to entertain them until dinnertime.
“Are you sure Sage doesn’t need help with dinner?” I asked as we went to our own room to take a small break.
“Nah. As I said, I’ve got it covered.”
“You’re planning something,” I accused him.
He grinned. “Yes, I fucking am. But you’ll only find out later what it is.”
Huh. I was pretty sure I knew what it was.
I was betting that he and his brothers had more plans for expansion, and they were going to announce it tonight.
They were always full of ideas, and I loved that about them.
I would never get bored working with the Sterlings.
There would always be a new adventure to sink my teeth into.
* * *
Everyone was having such a good time while enjoying the tasting, and I almost forgot about Wyatt being sneaky. But as we headed out to dinner, I noticed the unmistakable twinkle lights in the vineyard, and I sighed.
“Wyatt, I love this.”
“I knew you would,” he said. “Remember? That was one of the first things you wanted to do when we came to this place.”
“Yes, and then you had Sage set it up for us when she couldn’t find a restaurant around that offered the experience.”
The setup was different than when it had been just the two of us, of course. Now there were wooden tables and benches to accommodate us all.
I noticed Sage in the distance with Jeremy and Emily. The two of them were walking in front of her at a few good paces, clearly engaged in deep conversation. It turned out that Sage was great with children, making me wonder why she never had any of her own.
“Everyone, just sit wherever you want,” Wyatt said.
“We were doing that anyway,” Knox replied.
“Yeah. I wouldn’t allow being told where to sit anyway,” Finn added.
“We’d better grab food fast,” Knox said.
“No. I want to make an announcement first,” Wyatt cut in.
Knox cocked a brow, looking at Finn. “See? Told you he would try to boss us into something by the end of the evening.”
Those two were hilarious. The more I got to know them, the more I enjoyed their antics. Knox was the most creative, though Finn was a very close second.
But I was on pins and needles watching my man.
I was so proud of him and all he’d accomplished, though I felt the tiniest bit betrayed that he hadn’t shared anything about this with me today.
I wanted to be in on his sneaky plan. But clearly Finn and Knox were also not in the know, so he’d plotted whatever this was all on his own.
“I want to thank all of you for coming here to Napa to celebrate. Kinley, the team, and I worked very hard to bring this plan to fruition. Ever since Kinley joined us, I had a feeling that things would move forward exponentially.”
This is it! He was going to announce what the next adventure would be. I was so ready! We had a lot to do with the new hotel chain, but I loved to have multiple things on my plate, as it revved up my creativity.
“Many things have changed, actually, since I met Kinley. I have much to be thankful for.” He stepped closer to me, touching my cheek. “And here tonight, in front of everyone we care about, I want to ask you something, babe.”
My heart was beating fast. He took out something from his pocket, and there was a wave of “Oohs.”