Chapter 25
The sun shines bright the next morning like a rainstorm stranding us in a stranger’s farmhouse never even happened.
Reid and I spent a lot of the night talking, and not talking, and only snuck in a few hours of sleep before the sun streamed in through the thin lace curtains of our bedroom.
We tragically turned down coffee with Celeste in the morning in an effort to get back on the road to get the champagne we were sent for and get back home sooner than later.
I surprisingly didn’t feel any nerves as we got closer to the villa. I was so focused on Reid and the way he felt like sunshine in that moment, the way his laugh made my heart beat a little faster, the way his free hand never left mine as he drove us back.
When he parks the rental at the villa, I get out and head to the trunk, lifting a crate of the bottles. Reid appears at my side almost instantly, tsking in my ear.
“I’ll take that,” he says, easily lifting the crate from my arms and stacking it on another before lifting both effortlessly. I only watch for a second before I prop my hand on my hip.
“I can handle a crate. I’m not a dainty female.”
“I know, Jane. You’re strong and independent, but let me do something nice for you. That’s all it is.”
A smile touches my lips. “Fine. But let the record show that I fought you for the honor of carrying that heavy box all by myself.”
He smiles. “Noted.” Still holding the stack of crates, he leans down and presses a soft kiss to my lips. It’s sweet and gentle and warm and over much too soon for my liking. So when his lips leave mine, I lift back up onto my tiptoes and press another kiss to his smiling mouth.
“Let’s continue this later,” he murmurs. “Maybe when I’m not carrying heavy crates.”
I’m not proud of the small pout on my lips. “I thought you were so big and strong.”
“I am, but you make me weak. I’m afraid one more second will make me toss this all to the ground and scoop you up, and I just don’t want to face Kate’s wrath today. Not after such a perfect day yesterday.”
The air leaves my body at the montage of memories that flash in my mind from the day before. The pasta, the rain, the kiss. “Fair.”
“Let me take these inside and then we can find something to do together.”
“So that I can kiss you all I want?” I ask.
His lips tug up again. “So that you can kiss me all you want,” he murmurs.
With another quick peck to my lips, he lifts the crates and effortlessly carries them into the villa. I’m still staring after him, grinning like an idiot as he smiles at me over his shoulder, when I hear my sister’s voice.
“What was that about?”
I spin around. “How did you sneak up so quietly?”
“It’s a skill I’ve mastered over the years. Now stop changing the subject. What was,” Kate waves a hand where Reid and I were just talking, “that?”
“I, um, I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
With a dramatic sigh, she plants a hand on her popped hip. “Are you and Reid together?”
I don’t know why I hesitate to answer her. She’s not the boss of my life. But I can see the irritation in her eyes. I can sense the anger radiating off her small frame. And truth be told, I’ve always kind of been afraid of her and her temper despite her being both younger and shorter than me.
I think, deep down, I just never wanted to be the reason she had negative emotions. Because I so badly wanted to be on her team and her on mine. And that became a one-way relationship somewhere down the line no matter how hard I worked to keep her happy, but those old wounds never really closed up.
After all this time I’m still afraid to disappoint my baby sister on the off chance she cuts me out of her life. Because even if she did cut me out for something so petty, it shouldn’t be a relationship I want to hold on to.
But here I am, still finding a way to stretch the truth to her so that she doesn’t get mad at me for doing something to make myself happy for a change.
“I . . .”
Reid, thankfully, appears out of nowhere and hooks an arm around my waist to tug me to his chest. “Yes,” he says confidently. The single word sends an eruption of fluttering through my stomach.
Kate narrows her eyes, her attention zeroing in on where his arm rests on me and the flutters intensify for a whole new reason. “When did this happen?”
“Yesterday,” he says. “Thanks for sending us on that errand, Kate. Finally brought us closer together.”
“What do you mean ‘finally’?”
“I haven’t stopped thinking about Jane since she crashed into me and shattered six plates in my restaurant.
” Just the tone of his voice has me lifting my gaze to him, and the look on his face tells me exactly how serious he is.
The idea has the butterflies back on the good side now.
His expression softens when he looks at me, a smile forming on his mouth.
“I told you she was lying to you,” Jessica says, stepping from around the corner like she was standing there listening the whole time. Like she facilitated the whole thing.
I grit my teeth. Suddenly my world feels like it’s imploding right before my eyes because what on earth is Jessica doing here eavesdropping on this conversation. “What is your problem?”
“Me?” Jessica presses a hand to her chest, feigning innocence. The act alone makes me see red.
“Yes, you. Why are you trying to get in between me and my sister?”
“Jane,” Kate warns, but I’m too mad now to stop. I’m too angry at this petty girl coming between me and my family. And for what?
“No, I need to know. Why do you care so much about what’s happening between me and Reid? Why does it impact you so much that you need to tell Kate my business days before her wedding when I specifically told you not to?”
Jessica scoffs. “I don’t care what you do. I care about you blindsiding my friend.”
“Your friend is my sister. Who you’re trying to pit against me and I want to know why.”
“Not everything is about you, Jane,” Jessica says, rolling her eyes and looking to Kate for agreement. I’m staring at Kate too, tears welling in my eyes as I’m mentally begging her to defend me the way I always defend her. But she stays painfully silent as she looks between me and Jessica.
“It’s because of me,” Reid says solemnly next to me. Jessica’s eyes flit to his, a rage still in them. She tilts her chin higher in defiance. “Right? You’re mad that I wasn’t interested in you all this time and now I found someone I actually have feelings for and you can’t stand that it’s not you.”
Jessica scoffs now. “Yeah, like you’re legitimately dating Jane. Of all people. Of all the Sinclair sisters.” She gestures to Kate, who is still standing in silence, fidgeting with her engagement ring while watching Jessica fight this battle.
My fingers itch to just grab her hand, tug her inside, talk to her alone and sort this mess out because I feel like now it’s a Reid and Jessica battle, and the two of us don’t even need to be involved.
But before I can get a word out, Reid says, “Screw you, Jessica.”
Her jaw drops. “Excuse me?”
“Okay everyone, that’s enough,” Kate finally intervenes.
My heart completes crumples as she puts a hand on Jessica’s shoulder and says, “You don’t need to be so cruel to her.
She’s just trying to look out for me.” Then her gaze turns to mine and sharpens.
“How could you keep a secret like that from me the week of my wedding? I thought we told each other everything.”
“I wanted to tell you—”
“But you didn’t. Jessica did.”
“I told her to give me the chance to tell you first, but I didn’t want to distract from you this week.”
She shakes her head, then drops her hand from Jessica’s shoulder and takes a step back from me. “I just want some space right now. I need to process my big sister keeping secrets from me.”
I’m frozen in place as my sister walks off with Jessica tossing a look at her over her shoulder. My heart that felt so full this morning suddenly feels like it’s going through a steam roller.
My little sister just chose her roommate over me.
She didn’t even let me explain. She ambushed me with Jessica hiding around the corner.
And she just . . . left. After everything I’ve done for her, not even for the wedding but for our entire lives, and she gets mad at me for this?
This was the exact reason I was keeping it a secret, and now it’s all blown up in my face.
I’m still frozen in place, eyes wide and breathing stilted, as Reid grabs my hand. He has to tug to get my feet to move, but I follow him.
He leads me through the maze of greenery in the backyard.
The sound of birds and scent of flowers in the air and the cover of shrubbery has me finally coming back to reality and breathing normally.
When we’re halfway into what feels like a labyrinth, he stops suddenly, turns, and envelopes me into a tight hug.
The contact alone is like a switch to the emotions I’ve spent decades locking up.
Feeling abandoned, forgotten, never good enough.
A sob wracks through my body and Reid strokes my hair as I let the wave of emotions run their course. He murmurs soothing words in my ear, patiently waiting and comforting me until it passes.
Finally, I pull my face from his now tear-soaked shirt to look at him. A mix of concern and sympathy flash in his as he studies me. Reid brushes a lone tear from my cheek.
“It’s alright,” he whispers.
“You didn’t have to say anything to either of them,” I say through a sniffle. “It’s not your fight.”
He rests both hands on my shoulder. “It is my fight. I will talk to her again if I have to. And I will probably talk to her very loudly. Do you know why?” I don’t move, don’t so much as lift my gaze to his.
He hooks a finger under my chin to make me look at him.
His blue eyes are alight with a fire that makes me melt.
“Because I will always fight for you. Even if that means fighting your family. You say the word, and your battle is mine. And we will fight it together.”
I draw in a ragged breath.
“And we will probably win.”
I sputter a laugh, causing the corner of his mouth to lift triumphantly.
“You seem confident about that.”
“We make a great team.”
The word “team” ricochets through my heart, and I realize I could very well get used to it. Me and Reid on a team. A pair. A couple.