Chapter 10
TEN
MAX
Norwich Winery bustled with its usual winter weekend business as groups of people gathered around small tables, sipping wine to escape the late February chill.
Max’s day so far had been good—no major complaints on her end.
Everyone had shown up for their shifts on time and as of yet, not a single customer qualm to deal with.
On top of everything, she had managed to enroll several new customers in their monthly wine club, surpassing the goal she had set for herself.
She finally managed to find a spare moment to slip away and use the restroom, taking a brief second for herself as she reset her ponytail in the mirror before heading back into the business of the day.
It was days like today that really drained Max’s energy: the constant revolving door of people and forced pleasantries.
But she could keep it together for a few more hours and get through this shift.
As she walked down the hallway, a hand reached through the doorway of the office, grabbing her elbow.
“Hey, what the—” She began her protest.
Jack grinned, “Drew texted me; he and Annie are on their way here with Colleen and Senior,” he explained. “And lucky you…Colleen specifically asked if you were working today.”
Confusion spread through her as realization set in that Colleen must be Annie’s mother. Great. That wouldn’t be awkward at all.
“Don’t worry,” Jack said with a knowing look. “Colleen’s on her best behavior in public. Just wanted to warn you before they got here so it wasn’t a total surprise.”
Max slipped her phone from her pocket. Sure enough, there was a text from Annie waiting for her, delivering the same news.
“Nothing I can’t handle.” She shrugged after firing off a response to Annie, sliding her phone back into her pocket.
Jack’s lopsided grin widened as he ran his fingers through floppy dark hair. “Trial by fire. I dig it.”
“It’s not really a trial, just doing my job,” Max said, a knot of nerves twisting in her stomach.
The truth was, while Max had dated plenty of women over the years, those relationships had short lifespans, never progressing past a few months and definitely not to the point of meeting family members.
But here she was, finding herself increasingly more and more entangled with the Dillinger family.
First with Drew, and now with wherever things felt like they were heading with Annie.
Jack led her back into the tasting room and Max instantly spotted Annie standing to the side of her parents and Drew. “I’ll find them a table, you know, warm them up. Senior loves me,” Jack said smugly, straightening the plaid collar peeking out from beneath his navy blue sweater.
Max busied herself preparing water glasses behind the bar, gathering them up, making her way to the table where Jack had seated Annie and her family. She inhaled deeply as she approached the table, ready to impress.
“And speaking of the finest Norwich has to offer.” Jack beamed at her and Max found herself quietly touched by the way he was trying to proactively smooth over this interaction for her. But she didn’t need any help. These were just Annie’s parents, and there was no reason to be nervous. She hoped.
Jack clapped her on the shoulder, waving goodbye to make his way around to other tables, and Max noticed the way Drew’s eyes lingered, following his movements around the room.
“Hi, welcome in,” she started, ready to deliver her spiel to returning customers already familiar with their wines. “Whenever you’re—”
Annie’s mother cut her off, a menu clutched in her hands. “Oh, we’ve been here plenty of times. We’re good friends of Dave and Kit Norwich—the owners,” she stated, looking directly at Max.
“Dave and Kit are great,” she said sweetly. “What can I get for everyone?” She shot a glance at Annie, who looked like she wanted to disappear, then to Drew, whose eyes were still lingering on Jack, to Annie’s dad, who grinned at her, blissfully unaware of the table dynamic in front of him.
“A glass of the pinot noir for me, please,” Annie’s dad said, handing her his menu.
“Merlot,” Drew added softly.
Max shifted her gaze to Annie, ready to take her wine order, but Colleen jumped in.
“And we’ll each have a glass of the sparkling rosé.”
Max stilled. Annie didn’t like rosé. In fact, Annie hated rosé—she had told her that back in December, and Max made a mental note to remember that fact.
“So two glasses of the sparkling rosé?” Max asked, allowing Annie to say what she really wanted, but she didn’t. She flashed Max a small smile she couldn’t quite decode as Colleen answered for her.
“Two glasses. Thank you.” She smiled politely as she handed the menus back to Max, who accepted them before moving back towards the bar.
“How’d it go?” Jack whispered in her ear.
“Fine. They are normal people, Jack,” she said in an even tone, focused as her fingers tapped the screen. “And besides, I met them at the Christmas party so this isn’t my first time interacting with them.”
“Yeah, but it’s your first time getting to really experience the Dillinger effect. C’mon, you had to have noticed.”
Max glared at him as she reached for the bottle of pinot noir and a glass.
Yes, she had definitely felt the Dillinger effect—or whatever it was that caused both Drew and Annie to become such diluted versions of themselves.
“I may have noticed that, yeah.” Her voice was cautious as she reached for the merlot next.
“What’s that about?” she pressed, curious about Jack’s perspective considering he had known the Dillingers for forever at this point.
“We do not have nearly enough time to get into all of that right now.” Jack grinned as he pushed himself off the counter, leaving her as she poured the sparkling rosé.
“Okay, here we go,” Max said easily moments later, placing the glasses of rosé in front of Colleen, then Annie, handing over the remaining two glasses of red to Drew and Senior.
“If there’s nothing else I can get you, I’ll check back in on you in a little bit.
” She smiled politely, making the briefest eye contact with Annie, who was attempting to hide behind a long sip of her drink.
For the next twenty minutes, Max observed from afar, keeping an eye on Annie and her parents, not too close to the point of hovering, but close enough that when their glasses had emptied, she was there to see if they wanted an additional round.
“Only one for us, thank you.” Colleen squinted at the name tag pinned to her shirt, meeting her gaze once more. “Max,” she said, saying her name with twisted lips as if it were sour on her tongue. “Is that short for…”
Max stared at Colleen for a moment, the shock of the subtle rudeness of her still not knowing Max’s name stinging more than she thought it might. “Maxine, but I go by Max.”
“Maxine, that’s a very pretty name. Is it French?”
“I’m not sure. As I said, I go by Max.” Her smile was still politely in place, but her patience with Annie’s mom was waning.
“Mom, what’s with the questions?” Annie asked, shooting Max an apologetic look.
“I was just curious. We’re making small talk. I’m getting to know Max better since you two seem to be spending so much time together these days.”
Max froze; Annie’s cheeks went red as a flush spread up her neck. “Mom, stop,” Annie hissed, looking like she wanted to die.
“Oh,” Senior chimed in excitedly, “you’re Max!”
“I believe that has been established, yes.” She grinned, catching the mischievous twinkle behind Annie’s dad’s gaze. “I’m going to go grab that check—”
“No need,” Drew said. “Jack added it to his tab for us.”
It would have been nice if Jack had given her that heads up, but there was very little Max could do about that now. “Great, well, thank you for visiting Norwich Winery today. I hope you have a pleasant afternoon.” With one last look at Annie, Max turned on her heel, moving away from the table.
Not even five minutes after the Dillingers had left, Max’s pocket was vibrating with a series of incoming texts.
Annie 3:46 PM
I’m mortified.
I 100% apologize for my mom being her weird self today and for you having to deal with it.
Annie 3:47 PM
Your ass looked great in those jeans though.
While the first two texts from Annie gave her something more to consider, it was her final text that left Max with a smile firmly in place.
Mid-week, Max found herself sitting by the fire pit in Jack’s backyard, enjoying an unseasonably warm evening for February in coastal Connecticut.
Everyone was here—everyone except Annie.
Drew had invited her, but there had been something about having plans with some friends from high school, and while Max knew that shouldn’t upset her, she found herself missing Annie’s presence.
“Earth to Max,” came Jack’s voice as he waved his arms at her from his spot on the sofa opposite her.
She blinked, shifting her gaze away from where it had been fixed on the dancing flames. “What?”
“I was asking you what the plan is now that you’re not at McCallum anymore.”
She shrugged, returning her eyes to the fire. “Fuck if I know.”
There was some truth to that statement. Max didn’t know what was next.
Willis paying for her sommelier accreditation had been her ticket forward, the next step in her plan, but now that plan was gone, and all she had left was the looming question of what to do with the land her grandparents had left her.
But that was something she didn’t want to talk about, and especially not here, not when the vibes of bonfire night had been so good.
“Why do you two still keep your relationship a secret?” she asked the boys, something Max didn’t quite understand. “I mean, especially since Annie is also gay and your parents seem fine with that.”
Jack looked at Drew, eyes silently asking if he wanted him to answer or if Drew wanted to answer for himself. Drew patted Jack’s thigh gently.