“Like the monument,” Tay agreed. “And nestled just below it,” she added, “is the town of Palisade. Known for its peaches, which unfortunately aren’t quite in season. But over the past few decades, they’ve been cultivating their vineyards, and now this region boasts some of the best small-batch wine in the state. Lucky for us.”
“Cheers!” Eddie called out.
Despite Mrs. Grady’s little announcement, I couldn’t help chuckling.
These people were growing on me.
So were the mountains. And the desert.
Just like he had.
But I wasn’t going to let that be a problem.
I wasn’t here to find more problems. I was here to…
What had Ashley said? To heal. Yeah. That was what I was doing. Healing.
The bus chugged along the last few miles into Palisade on a narrow road as we passed rows of grapevines and orchard trees heavy with spring promise. Everything here felt rich and green and alive—worlds away from the sand and heat of yesterday.
It should have lifted my spirits.
But I was all too aware of the empty seat beside me.
As Noah’s mom, Mrs. Grady would know about his personal life, wouldn’t she? But something didn’t feel right. He had flirted with me, right?
Still, flirting was just flirting.
I suppose I needed to learn how to be single again.
Not in the “download five dating apps and dive in” kind of way, but more like knowing the difference between flirting for flirting’s sake and flirting because there was something there…maybe?
When the bus eased into a gravel lot, coming to a stop in front of a building that looked like a restored barn, I was determined to not let my disappointment ruin this outing. This trip might’ve started as my mom’s idea, but fudge it—this was my vacation now.
I grabbed my purse and joined the shuffle toward the front, slipping in behind Mrs. Grady and offering a smile when she glanced back at me. It might not have reached my eyes, but it counted.
Outside, I blinked in the sunlight, stepping aside to where Denise was spinning in slow, uncertain circles, mumbling about “panorama mode,” which was apparently going to include images of her shoes.
Joey had stepped down from the driver’s seat and was stretching at the base of the bus stairs when Ed patted his shoulder. “No wine for you, young man,” Ed teased, and at this point, I was pretty sure we were all onto him.
“Hey, I’m totally legal!” Joey grinned, brushing it off. After all, he’d gotten us this far.
Behind me, Josie gasped. “I’m live again. No, nope. This is the search bar. Why does Facebook move everything every five minutes?”
“No, you’re definitely live.” Marla shook her head but then squinted at the screen. “I think.”
By the time we stepped into the tasting room, the cool, humid air felt like walking into heaven, or at least a really well-stocked wine fridge. The space was bright and welcoming, with long wooden counters and tall shelves lined with the vineyard’s featured wines, but also kitschy, fun stuff like aprons that read Sip Happens and I Make Pour Decisions, stemless glasses etched with Wine Not?, and one T-shirt near the register that featured a grape cluster wearing sunglasses with the caption: Feelin’ Grape.
Babs picked up a magnet that said, Save Water, Drink Wine, and held it out to me with a grin. “I don’t think Tay would approve, do you?” She didn’t wait for me to answer, but dissolved into giggles, and surprising myself, I did too…until a man standing behind the counter commanded our attention from the front of the room.
“Welcome, everyone,” he announced, loudly enough to be heard over the small crowd’s cheerful chatter.
He asked a few warm-up questions—where folks were visiting from, who’d done a tasting before—and then jumped into his pitch.
“You’re all in for a treat this evening. Everything we produce here at the Frasier Family Vineyards is locally produced, with most of our fruit grown just a few miles from where you’re standing.”
He lifted a glass, the pale gold liquid catching the afternoon light. “We’re kicking things off with something light and refreshing—our famous peach wine. Made from one hundred percent Palisade-grown peaches. It’s crisp, balanced, and basically made for evenings like this.”
A few appreciative murmurs and soft oooohs rolled through the group as glasses were poured.
