Page 79 of Shine For Me

He shoots Alex another suspicious look—which, not going to lie, I like kind of a lot. Fox is particularly hot when he’s being all protective and fierce—before he turns his focus to me. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much cheese in one place in my life. And I’m pretty sure there’s a bottle of wine for each of us on the table.”

I laugh. “That sounds about right—have Jasmine and River drank theirs already?”

His face finally relaxes into a smile. “They’ve made a healthy start.”

* * *

Lunch is pretty perfect.I wasn’t lying when I told Alex my mom loves to host people. She’s prepared a spread of cut fruit, artisan cheese, fresh bread still warm from the oven, and a selection of deli meats from an organic butcher down the road. Fox was exaggerating a little about the amount of wine, but she did bring out several bottles of her favorites, all from right here on the vineyard.

“We should probably be pacing ourselves,” Bodhi says as my mom pours him another glass. He looks adorable with wine-bright eyes and flushed cheeks. “We’re going to be drinking a lot of wine this weekend.”

My mother scoffs. “There’s no such thing as too much wine.”

“Hear, hear,” Jasmine says, raising her glass (and promptly spilling a good portion of it on her shirt).

“Please excuse them,” Rose says drily. “They’re pretty excited to be away from their kids for the weekend.”

“How old are they?” my mom asks.

“Twenty-six,” a glassy-eyed River says proudly.

“She meant your kids, doofus,” Will says.

“Poppy is three and the baby is almost one,” Rose says, since River has gone back to giggling with Jasmine about something. “They’re adorable but exhausting—and I’m just the auntie who gets to give them back at the end of the night.”

“I remember those days,” my mom says somewhat wistfully. “The twins were the worst of it, for sure.”

“Hey,” I argue but my mom ignores me.

“Not Grey so much, he was a pretty calm baby.” She jabs a thumb in my direction. “But this one ran me ragged.”

Under the table, Fox’s warm hand covers my knee and he gives me a soft smile.

“I was as charming and delightful as a child as I am now,” I say, and my mom flicks a blueberry at me from her plate.

“Sure you were, Juniper-girl.”

My mom asks Everly and Bodhi about the wedding plans, chats with Will about his tattoo shop, gives us advice for our weekend plans, and entertains everyone with funny stories about the tourists who visit the vineyard. She’s always been like this—so warm and easy to talk to. She makes everyone on that patio feel comfortable and welcome. Add in the good wine and the food, and I think anyone would be perfectly content to sit here for the rest of the afternoon.

“We have our first tasting in an hour and a half,” I say reluctantly. “I should probably show you guys to the villa so you can get settled first.”

“You don’t need to do that,” Fox says. “The drivers know where they’re going, right? You stay and catch up with your mom.”

Dormant nerves wake up and flutter in my chest but I know I’m going to need to have this conversation with her sooner or later. I guess I would rather do it with no one else around.

The Ransomes offer to help clean up but my mother shoos them off. They all thank her profusely for lunch before heading back to the vans—Jasmine throws her arms around Mom and asks if she’ll adopt her, and I think it’s only a little bit because of her current state of inebriation.

Once they’re all gone, I move to start stacking plates, hoping to put this off a little longer, but my mom stops me. “I can do that later. Now.” She fixes me with a steady gaze. “How long have you been dating that boy?” She rolls her eyes at my expression. “Oh, please. Was it supposed to be a secret?”

“I had hoped to tell you in person, Momma.”

“Then you should tell Fox not to look at you like you walk on water.”

“He doesn’t look at me that way,” I argue.

“He definitely does. That boy is smitten, Juniper.”

“I…” My mouth feels dry and I reach for my half-empty wine glass.