Page 74 of Shine For Me

The rest of the Ransomes arrived with Rose and her husband Leo, and the jet fills up quickly. River and his wife Jasmine are the last people to board. The second they appear River raises his arms over his head and shouts, “freedom!”

“I take it your children are happily settled with their grandparents?” Alex asks.

“Hell yes,” Jasmine says. “I’m going to actually sleep tonight.”

“We’re going to have sex without getting interrupted by the baby monitor,” River adds.

“Didn’t really need to know that,” Alex says.

“I don’t have to change a single diaper for the next four days,” River says, closing his eyes. “Fucking heaven, man.”

“Those poor babies,” Everly scolds. “They probably miss you and you guys couldn’t care less.”

Jasmine scoffs. “They don’t miss us. Daisy and Daltrey spoil the hell out of them.” She looks around the cabin. “Now where’s the booze? I would like to spend a good portion of this weekend completely hammered.”

“Yes,” River agrees, reaching out to bump fists with her. “You’re so smart, babe. Let’s get trashed!”

Their quest for alcohol has to wait, because the captain comes over the speaker to announce our imminent departure so everyone has to find a seat. I find myself between Fox and his cousin Alex, her husband Wyatt on the other side. My nerves, which had faded during River and Jasmine’s antics, come rushing back in. I find Alex incredibly intimidating. She’s drop-dead gorgeous, not to mention ridiculously smart and accomplished. She handles most of the business details for the FEA Threads line and she totally has that confident boss bitch vibe going.

“I’m so glad we could all do this,” I say as I buckle my seatbelt.

“Mmm,” she agrees, not looking at me.

“Have you been to Napa before?”

“Nope.”

Well. Okay. That could have gone better. I shoot a quick glance to Fox, but he’s looking out the window as we start to taxi.

You only have to sit here for a few minutes,I remind myself. Once we’re up in the air we’ll be able to move around the cabin. But sitting here in silence feels too awkward, so I stupidly decide to try again.

“Do you like wine?”

“I guess. More of a beer girl.”

“They have beer, too,” I blurt out, way too excitedly. There’s no way she’s not going to notice how desperate I am. I force myself to continue more calmly. “There are a lot of breweries in the area. We could try a few of my favorites.”

“Sure,” Alex says, not looking at me. “If Everly wants to. This trip is abouther, after all.”

I’m not sure what lesson she was trying to impart with that comment, but there’s definitely some deeper meaning. And I have a feeling that whatever it is, it’s not a compliment.

This weekend is off to a fantastic start.

* * *

The flight does geta bit better after we’re allowed to move around. Alex scoffs when the flight attendants come around to announce the breakfast offerings, but Everly squeals with excitement and throws her arms around me in a hug, thanking me for starting her venue hunting weekend off with such a splash.

I spend most of the first half hour in the air talking to Everly and Bodhi. Apparently, the winery idea is not the first one they’ve had. First Everly got it in her head that she wanted her wedding on a yacht. She was all in making plans until she realized she’d have to trim her guest list substantially to make everyone fit.

“Plus, I remembered that Bodhi gets seasick sometimes,” she says.

“You’d think that the groom vomiting would be one of the first considerations,” he says drily. “But no. The size of the guest list was the real deal breaker.”

Then she got excited about renting out the zoo where they had one of their first dates, but changed her mind when she found out they wouldn’t be allowed to have fireworks, because they could scare the animals. “I don’t know if I want fireworks, necessarily” she says gravely. “But I feel like we at least need theoption.”

“Naturally,” I agree, stifling a laugh. Have I mentioned that I love Everly? Because I really do.

“So I’m still in search of my dream venue,” she says. “But I have a really good feeling about the winery idea! I think this is going to be the perfect option.”