I reached over the console and grabbed her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Talk to me, honey.”
Our gazes connected briefly before I had to return my attention to the road, but she said, “Just wondering how we’re going to do it all. Maybe we bit off more than we could chew.”
We’d reached the drive to the winery, so I didn’t answer her until I pulled into a parking space and turned the car off. Then I turned to her and said, “We can do this, Brie.Youcan do this. But no one is going to think any less of you if you decide to take a step back from some of it.”
She nodded sadly, her shoulders slumping, like I hadn’t told her what she wanted to hear. But we weren’t in the habit of lying to each other, and I meant every word.
This woman… She was so young still, only twenty-five. She had her whole life to realize her dream of publishing a cookbook or of doing any of the other thousand things she’d set her mind to.
“I’m proud of you always, honey. You know that, right?”
“Of course,” she said softly, giving me a half-smile that was edged with an emotion I couldn’t name. Instantly, an oily, unsettled feeling sloshed in my gut, but Brie was withdrawing her hand from mine and pushing out of the car before I could press her on what was really bothering her.
If something was truly wrong, she’d tell me. Right?
Shaking it off and making a mental note to bring it up later when we were home, I once again captured her hand with mine, and we walked inside together.
As usual, the whole crew was gathered. Beer and wine flowed, tables pushed against the perimeter of the room and laden with food—that I didn’t cook for once—that guests could enjoy buffet-style.
The moment we appeared, we were both swept off in opposite directions. Liam approached me first, a move that surprised me, given his propensity for hanging out on the fringes of these types of gatherings, wanting to fill me in on how our starter plants were going. Immediately, I lost sight of Brie in the surprisingly large crowd, but I tried my best to fight my concern that maybe she was avoiding me.
After all, it was my birthday, and whatever was going on with her had nothing to do with us, so I did my very best to enjoy myself.
Soon, Leon and Lena joined my conversation with Liam, and we veered off plants in favor of discussing how the plans for my and Brie’s house were coming along. Jay had also been responsible for building Leon and Lena’s and Chloe’s homes, as well as constructing the distillery Owen and Delia had built the previous fall. He’d also done all the contracting work on Brie’s bakery, and I was excited to see the vision for our home come to life under his experience and watchful eye.
The most special part, though, was that because my dad worked for Jay as a foreman, he’d also be helping spearhead the project, and Delia would be in charge of interior design.
So much had changed in four years, and it truly amazed me. If you’d told me back when everything had gone down with Shannon that I’d move to a small town in Michigan, meet the love of my life, and settle down here, I’d have said you were crazy. While I’d grown up with only my dad as my family and had spent a few years with just him and Hansen, I found my heart expanding as the realization dawned that I’d found all of these people who welcomed me and mine into the fold with openarms. I’d created the family I’d longed for my entire life, and I couldn’t have done it without Brie.
Which was why, the second it didn’t feel rude to do so, I offered hasty goodbyes to her family and pulled her out of the winery to head home.
I’d been on pins and needles all day, waiting for the moment when I could get her alone so we could finally hash out whatever was eating at her.
Dad and Hansen had gone to Detroit for the weekend, and I was grateful Brie and I had the house to ourselves for once. We could lay it all out there, and then I could fuck her into oblivion afterward.
Before she could get too far away from me as we walked into the house, I directed Brie into the kitchen and turned her to face me.
“What’s going on?”
She wouldn’t meet my eyes as she said, “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’ve been distant and acting weird all day. Are you…mad at me? Having second thoughts about us?”
The words were razor blades in my throat, but I pushed them out past the pain. Truthfully, Brie leaving me on my birthday would really be par for the course, but I forced myself to relax, to wait her out before I went jumping to conclusions.
Instead of answering me, she moved to the pantry and rifled around behind some canisters until she withdrew a long, rectangular Tupperware container.
“What’s this?” I asked as she approached and set it on the island in front of me.
“Happy birthday,” she said simply, removing the top.
Inside were a dozen cupcakes, each decorated differently, indicating their different flavor combinations.
The exact same cupcakes she’d made for my birthday and shipped to me from Chicago three years ago.
“You remembered,” I said, looking at her in awe.
Brie rolled her eyes with a little laugh. “Of course I remembered.” At last, she came to me, wrapping her arms around my waist and tipping her head back for a kiss.
