“Although, I’m sure Jack was wishing Jessica wasn’t so talented right about now.”
Jessica turned her face up to Jack, who offered her brother his own tight smile that was really more of a grimace. “I’m proud of her, too,” Jack said quietly.
“Alright, alright,” Berkley said. “Enough catching up. I haven’t been able to drink in nearly a year. It’s time I made up for it.
And just like that, the tension evaporated, the group devolving into laughter as they followed Berkley’s lead and headed back inside.
Along the back wall of the cavernous tasting room, a long table lined with wine glasses had been set up for their group. Once everyone had settled in their seats, Chloe stood at the head of the table and said, “Amara will be right out!”
“Why don’t you join us?” Jessica’s mom asked. “It’s not that busy.”
Chloe glanced around the room, gnawing on her bottom lip, and when another woman who looked remarkably similar to her pushed out of the back, Chloe seemed to make up her mind.
“Amara,” Chloe said, “I’m joining the Daniels fam for this tasting.”
Amara, who was Berkley’s age but wasn’t as close with her as Chloe was with Logan, simply shrugged. “Fine by me.”
After some slight shuffling of seats, Chloe dropped into a chair between Logan and Jessica. As though she’d done this a thousand times—and Jessica supposed she had—Chloe opened her mouth and said, “Today, we have—” before she was cut off by her sister.
“This is my show, Clo,” Amara said with a tense smile at her sister. “I got it.”
Chloe gestured with her hands. “By all means.”
“Alright, today we have a full array of all the best Chateau Delatou has to offer. I know it’s been a while since you’ve made the trip up here, and when we booked your party, Dad asked that we roll out the good stuff.”
Berkley clapped excitedly. “I love being a VIP,” she said.
“So you guys can try the vintage Rieslings, Pinot Grigio, Moscato, two types of bubbly, a Rosé, some fruit wines, and, of course, our world-famous ice wine. How does that sound to everybody?”
“That sounds amazing,” Jessica’s mom gushed, already looking at the little piece of cardstock in front of her, circling tasting options like crazy.
Jessica was more selective with her choices than her mother had been, taking time to carefully read the tasting notes that accompanied each selection and circling a Riesling, Pinot Grigio, both bubbly options, the Rosé, and the ice wine.
“What exactly is ice wine?” Jack murmured into her ear.
“It’s made from grapes that aren’t harvested until they’re frozen. It makes the juice more concentrated, so they’re only produced in the half-size bottles,” she said, nodding at Amara, who approached the table with a vibrant blue glass bottle in hand, the Chateau Delatou label prominently displayed. “It’s typically sweeter, and always served chilled.”
“That sounds…interesting,” Jack said, his forehead creasing as he stared down at his tasting card.
“I appreciate you doing this with me,” she said, reaching under the table to squeeze his hand. “I know this isn’t really your scene, but we’ve been coming here for years, and…this is home.”
Jack gave her a small, secret smile, the kind he only reserved for her, then bent down and gave her a light kiss. “Where you go, I go,” he said.
Jessica grinned back, a sense of relief falling over her shoulders and trickling through her entire body. She didn’t know what it was about being here of all places, not when she and Jack had been spending every possible minute together that they could, that made her forget all of her worries for the moment. Maybe it was the simple fact that she was home, surrounded by the people who knew her and loved her best. Maybe it was Jack’s solid and steady presence next to her, reminding her that he was fully committed to making long distance work, reminding her that he wasn’t going anywhere.
To be loved by him in such a way was a gift, and she knew as long as that remained true, there was nothing they couldn’t handle. As long as they remained together, everything would be okay.
That night, after a wine tasting that went on for much longer than it should have, after the alcohol loosened limbs and tongues, the Daniels family retreated to their home in Traverse City. Although, Jessica supposed, it wasn’theror her sibling’s home anymore. That thought made her a bit melancholic, and she was heavy-hearted as she and Jack trudged up to bed.
The somber mood didn’t last long, however. The moment Jessica’s childhood bedroom door shut behind them, Jack walked her backward until the bed pressed into the backs of her knees and she buckled, sprawling out across its surface.
“I’ve been waiting to get you alone all day,” Jack said, whipping his shirt over his head and tossing it to the floor. “I have to have you right now.”
“You had me this morning,” she reminded him, propping herself up onto her elbows. “And, no offense Jack, but I think we’re pressing our luck here with sharing a bedroom. I’m not really sure I want to take it a step further and have sex under my parents’ roof.”
“Haven’t you already done that?”
“Well, yeah…” she said, mind traveling back to that summer after Mexico, when she’d brought her situationship home a few times. It had been a nice change of pace from fucking in the back seat of their cars. “But not while they were here.”
