Ch. 47 - Jax
O n Sunday afternoon, The Rose and Thorn was as crowded as a life raft on the Titanic . As far as Jax was concerned, the more people the merrier. The frantic pace helped her focus on the present.
Their heroic captain, Theo, had abandoned ship early this morning, leaving the winery to drive six hours up to Bakersfield to discuss upgrading the irrigation system with a specialty contractor. With Tess off for the day, they’d had to resort to desperate measures.
Which is why Breanna was currently positioned behind the tasting bar, hands flying, smile plastered on her face as she tried to keep pace with all the glasses thrust at her. Haley womanned the other side of the bar, the two of them practically swallowed by the growing crowd. If she looked at it just right, Jax could’ve sworn the scene was right out of a zombie flick, but instead of Brrrraaainnnns , the zombies in their sundresses, khakis, and Panamá hats groaned, Wiiiiiiine.
Jax smirked at the thought, even as she rushed through the tasting room. She’d assigned herself foot patrol duty. She half-heartedly greeted new guests as she snatched abandoned glasses and cleared tables. She took orders and answered questions on her way, returning to the tasting counter like a homing pigeon to quickly dump her empties and fill her orders .
It should have been enough to keep her mind busy. But . . . not so much.
Jax had been doing this job long enough that even in this wine-soaked jungle, she could practically operate on autopilot. There were all sorts of things she could think about while her body moved of its own accord. How about the warm reception to her latest piece in the East County Caller ? Or her continually growing bond with Styles? Sure, Haley laughed at her regular evening walks with the cat, but aside from posting teasing pics on her socials, she hadn’t stopped it. But no, Jax’s brain only wanted to go to one place. The Rico Torres Funhouse of Frustration. She was practically a VIP guest of the establishment.
As Jax moved across the tasting room, setting filled glasses in front of smiling, bright-eyed guests, in her mind, she stepped into the fun house once again.
Room One: Confusion.
How could the stupidly handsome, ludicrously well-groomed Rico be so kind and understanding one moment and so utterly narcissistic and obstinate the next? How could he give up on their story and refuse to let her run it?
Jax’s well-honed senses caught the bobble of a glass just as it tipped over on a table across the room. A woman yelped, her huge sunglasses bouncing off her head as she leapt from the table. Jax was there in a moment, already whipping a damp cloth from the waistband of her jeans. “No problem,” she said soothingly to the apologizing woman “What was that? The tempranillo blend? I’ll clean this up and grab you another glass.”
The woman gushed a thank-you and Jax nodded vaguely. In her mind, she continued through the Rico Funhouse.
Room Two: Anger .
Rico was a selfish pig who cared more about himself than his own friends. He’d throw Theo under the bus when a story wasn’t a big enough deal. It all came down to what was best for Rico Torres. It always would.
Jax stuck the stained towel back in her pocket, grabbed the newly empty wineglass, and moved back to the tasting counter.
Room Three: Self-loathing.
She’d been so, so, so stupid to fall for Rico. To trust him. And to think, she’d almost told him her most sensitive, darkest secret. He probably would have laughed at her or told her she was overreacting like Haley always did.
Speaking of her roommate, a happy giggle interrupted Jax’s thoughts as she practically elbowed her way through the mob at the tasting bar. Haley leaned over the bar, a blinding smile on her face, as a group of older men huddled around her. Her pink tank top rode high, revealing her pierced belly button.
Jax looked across the tasting bar. Breanna’s cheeks were red with effort, and the yoga princess was practically sweating (she’d probably call it glowing) as she furiously filled glasses. Most of the glasses on her side of the bar were full.
Haley giggled again and swatted playfully at the shoulder of one of her admirers. Empty glasses stood like a line of unhappy soldiers across her section of the bar and frustrated faces formed a ring around the group of men hanging on Haley’s every word. Some of the people in the middle, growing wise to the situation, moved toward Breanna’s side of the bar.
“Hey, Jax, can you take my place?” Haley called, catching her eye. “I’m ready for a break.”
“No!” Breanna bit out. “You took your break an hour ago. You get your lunch in two hours. ”
Haley’s face crumpled into consternation, and she threw Jax a look that said, Can you believe this bitch?
Jax ignored her bestie. She was no fan of Breanna, but no way in hell could any of them afford to duck out right now. It was all hands on deck. Neither Breanna nor Jax had even taken their first break yet. Haley really needed to step up and do her damn job today.
Jax switched out her rags, filled a clean glass with the tempranillo blend, and made a beeline for the spill table. Next, she made a round on the outdoor patio, filling a tray with empty glasses, helping a group move tables together, and passively nodding as an older couple told her about their recent vacation to Tuscany, apropos of nothing.
When Jax returned to the tasting room, she confronted a Code Red emergency. Breanna was in serious danger of being overwhelmed by the vino-obsessed zombie hordes. A massive crowd jostled around her. Others on the outside frowned and grumbled as they clutched their empty wineglasses. Hues of red mottled Breanna’s usually porcelain skin and her shaky smile looked as fragile as hummingbird wings.
Several people at the back of the crowd peeled away and headed for the door.
How had utter chaos erupted over the 10 minutes Jax had been managing the patio? The answer became immediately obvious as soon as she gazed down the bar. Haley had gone AWOL.
Which meant someone had to wade through the zombies and rescue Breanna. Bringing a bar that far gone back under control would be impossible for most. It’d require incomparable skill, oceans of grit, and a spine of steel.
Jax calmly unwrapped a chocolate-flavored lollipop from her pocket and stuck it in her mouth. She took a single deep breath, cued “Eye of the Tiger” in her mind, then marched through the horde and saved the fucking day .
She moved like a tornado, dumping wine into glasses as fast as they appeared. Her hand swiped credit cards across the payment tablet like a samurai cutting through swaths of enemy soldiers. Jax smiled. Nodded. Spat out wine recommendations like a howitzer.
She and Breanna were sisters in arms, holding their position even in the face of the oncoming mob. They danced around each other, ducking to grab bottles, and seamlessly moving to the middle of the counter when one slipped in the back for more bottles, glasses, or to bag wine bottle purchases. Jax didn’t have to like Breanna, but in this moment, she respected the other woman.
In 10 minutes, a new row of filled wineglasses covered the tasting counter. Jax had demolished three full bottles of the chardonnay and made an appreciable dent in the swelling crowd. Next to her, Breanna gasped for breath as she dropped her business card for massage/reiki/life coaching into a bag of three bottles and sent a happy couple on their way with their purchases.
At that moment, Haley bopped her way back to the tasting counter through a side door.
“Wow, things finally settled down,” she said as she moved by Jax, dragging the strident stench of pot along with her. “Good job, ladies.”
“Where the hell have you been?” Breanna hissed even as she smiled and swiveled the payment tablet to a guest. “I told you not to go on a break.”
“Oh.” Haley shrugged and twisted a strand of buttery blond hair around her finger. “It wasn’t a break. I had to go to the bathroom. I was only gone for three minutes.”
“Back room, now!” Breanna jabbed at the opening to the back area to make her point clear.
“Oh my gawwwwd, really?” Haley whined.
Breanna looked at Jax. “Hold it down. ”
All Jax could do was nod as she poured for a guest.
Exactly two minutes later, Haley stomped out of the back room. “It was only five minutes!” she hollered behind her. “I had to go to the bathroom. You can’t punish people for going to the bathroom. That’s like . . .worker exploitation or something.”
Every set of eyes at the counter turned to Haley. She looked at Jax. “It was only five minutes, right?”
Breanna walked from the back room and folded her arms over her chest. “It was over fifteen minutes, and everyone can smell the pot on you.”
Haley turned back to Jax. “This bitch is trying to make me go home.”
“Hey, what did you call me?” Breanna’s voice rose.
Oh shit. Jax nearly flooded the glass she was pouring. She pulled up the wine bottle in her hand just in time. “Extra pour,” she said to the guest and carefully nudged the full glass forward. The guy didn’t even notice. Everyone stared at the Rumble in the Vineyards going down between Haley and Breanna.
“You can’t make me go home,” Haley spat. “You don’t own this place, Breanna.”
“Yes, I can,” Breanna returned, her voice stony and cold. “I’m in charge when Theo isn’t here. Jax, call Tess and see if she can come in today.”
“I was gone FIVE MINUTES!” Haley waved her arms. “Right, Jax?”
“No.” The word popped out of Jax’s mouth unbidden, but she didn’t regret it. She was so tired of Haley’s constant drama. “You went out back and smoked weed with those guys. It’s obvious.”
Haley’s jaw practically dropped .
“Just go,” Breanna said, moving to the counter. Her hazel eyes looked weary. “I’m going to be talking to Theo about your behavior tonight.”
“You know what, Breanna?” Haley’s voice grew icy. “You are a bitch, and you’re only in charge ’cause you’re banging Theo. The only way you can get a real job is through your vagina.”
“Jesus, Haley!” Jax gasped.
“Go.” Breanna’s voice trembled.
“You can’t kick me out, ’cause I QUIT!” Haley threw up birds on both hands. “This place sucks anyway!” She ducked behind the counter and came up with a wine bottle in each hand. She took a step forward, paused, then knocked Breanna’s business cards off the bar with her elbow. Jax watched in a mixture of horror and fascination as her roommate stomped through the parting crowd, hip-checked the door, and disappeared.
The entire place was dead quiet. Even crickets wouldn’t dare to chirp.
“Call Tess. See if she can come in,” Breanna said, her voice raw.
“What Haley said, that was so uncalled for.” Jax took a step toward her bunker buddy. “Are you okay?”
“Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?” Breanna quickly scrubbed at her eyes, then gave a tight smile to an uncertain guest standing at the counter. “You were in the middle of a tasting, right? Which option would you like next?”
Jax dug her phone from her pocket and dialed Tess’s number. Then she dropped to her knees and started to collect Breanna’s scattered business cards.
*
Tess was an absolute angel. No surprise there. She agreed to come in on her day off and quickly took up Haley’s slack and then some. It was still a long, brutal day. Breanna was brittle as ice, her smile practically glued to her face. At least she finally seemed to appreciate Tess’s help, barely correcting her at all.
An hour before closing, the rush began to die down. A few couples and friend groups huddled at tables, but more people were streaming out of the winery than in. Jax finally released the breath she felt like she’d been holding for the past three hours. As she brought out another case of clean glasses, the front door swung open and a familiar, unwelcome face appeared.
Cal Jr. swaggered to a table and dropped into a chair like he owned the place. He beckoned Tess over with an imperial flick of his fingers.
Suspicion didn’t so much trickle down Jax’s spine as it did a full-on flamenco dance. As she checked out a guest, she watched Cal’s table with eagle eyes. He said something, pointed to his Rolex watch, and Tess offered a short, forced laugh before heading back to the tasting bar to grab his drink.
“Asshole,” the petite woman whispered under her breath.
Jax handed the guest a receipt. Didn’t Cal drive the same model of black BMW as his father? Because, of course, pricks of a feather flock to beamers together. Rico had seemed convinced that Theo’s irrigation breakdown was an accident. Then again, Rico was a class-A asshole himself. What if he was wrong about the irrigation system?
What if the system had been sabotaged after all? This whole time, Jax had assumed Mayor Bishop was the culprit, but it seemed so obvious now that a man like him wouldn’t get his own hands dirty. No, he’d send a lackey. Someone he could trust. A person with morals as bendable as his own.
Someone like Cal.
From across the tasting room, Jax sized up Cal. Was he the man who’d tried to sneak into the winery the night of her stakeout and chased her down the road? She’d only caught his silhouette, but he had the same square build as the stranger. It could have been him.
A couple requested several bottles for purchase, and when Jax returned with their bottles, Cal’s table was empty.
Oh. Hell. No.
Maybe he’d simply swung by for a single glass of wine by himself at closing. Not likely. He was up to something. Jax could practically feel it in her molars. Her hands shook as she checked the couple out and handed over their receipt. Breanna was outside, cleaning the patio. She wouldn’t notice if Jax slipped away. It was for the good of the winery, after all.
“Tess,” Jax hissed. “I gotta do, um, something. Cover for me?”
Tess gave her a questioning look but nodded and quickly came around the bar to greet a woman squinting at the tasting menu.
Jax made a heart sign with her hands at Tess, then slipped out a side door. As she pulled her phone from her pocket and quickly switched to the video function, the Mission: Impossible theme song played in her mind. Time to spy the hell out of this situation.
The sun sat heavy and red on the horizon and twilight hung over the eastern part of the sky like a purple quilt. Jax slowly wandered away from the tasting room, her finger hovering over the record button on her phone screen. Cal could be anywhere on the 10-acre property. Was he cutting down grape vines at this very moment or pouring ammonia into the fermenting vats? The property included several old outbuildings where Theo and his crew oversaw the wine-making process.
Jax’s heart rate picked up speed. What if she didn’t find Cal? What if he did something truly destructive this time? What if . . .
Oh. Shit. There he was .
The setting sun cast shadows across the grounds, but Jax could clearly see Cal standing next to a small storage shed a few yards from the tasting room. If he hadn’t been staring at his phone screen, he would have seen her. Jax skittered backward and threw herself up against the side of the winery out of his line of site.
With shaking hands, she held up her phone, slowly zoomed in, and hit the record button. What was Cal doing on his phone? Texting his dad for instructions? Reviewing the steps of his devious plan?
Jax heard footsteps coming from the other side of the winery. Did he have accomplices? Her heart squeezed hard.
A figure appeared and half walked, half jogged to Cal. Jax almost threw up in her mouth.
Breanna.
Was it possible to feel utterly shocked and not at all surprised at the same time? Betrayal burned through Jax’s chest as she watched the other woman approach Cal. She and Breanna had bonded today under the onslaught of the wine zombies. And now her sister-in-arms was betraying the very institution they’d both worked so valiantly to protect.
Breanna made it to Cal . . .and threw her arms around his neck with a small squeak of joy.
What. In. The. Serious. Hell???
“Oh my God. You shouldn’t have come while the place was open, but I’m so glad to see you,” Breanna said as she buried her face into Cal’s chest.
Standing a few dozen yards away, Jax could faintly make out their words.
“Layla’s coming home early,” Cal responded, rubbing Breanna’s back. “It’s the one day a week she doesn’t have six volunteer shifts or a stupid cat meeting. What’s wrong, babe? ”
“Today was terrible. I’m so glad you’re here.” Breanna lifted her face and Cal placed a hungry kiss on her lips.
Jax slumped against the side of the winery and hit pause on the recording. She’d gotten far more damning evidence than she’d bargained for.
Theo.
Layla.
She wanted to weep for her wonderful, beautiful friends. She also wanted to rip out the eyeballs of the people who were betraying them.
“I know you wanted to wait, but I’m going to break up with Theo tonight,” Breanna said as she pressed herself into Cal’s arms. “I can’t do this anymore. It’s been so horrible. I feel like shit every time I look in the mirror.”
“You got a place to stay?” Cal seemed a touch nervous.
“Yeah. My friend Jenny is going to let me crash with her until I figure things out. I just . . .” Breanna’s voice trembled. “I can’t do this to Theo. He’s a good person. A part of me still loves him.”
“Not as much as you love me, though, right?” Cal went in for another kiss and added in some heavy ass stroking.
Jax wanted to throw up in her mouth . . .again.
“You’re going to do it, aren’t you?” Breanna asked when they came up for air. She looked into Cal’s eyes.
“Do what?”
“Break things off with Layla. I mean, this is real between us, right? I’m not just making it up?” Her words came out in a rush, her voice soft and vulnerable. “Because sometimes, when I’m in bed, I just . . . I just get these crazy thoughts. All these fears.”
“Babe, chill. Of course it’s real.” Cal stroked her arm. “And yeah, I’ll end things with Layla. Soon.”
“How soon? ”
Cal groaned. “Soon. Our anniversary is coming up. I can’t do it now. She loves that shit. But after.”
“Okay.” Breanna nodded. “You love me?”
“’Course I do.”
The two started locking tongues again. Jax slowly dragged herself back to the winery. She’d seen enough.