“Oh, they beat me here. I’m sure their first stop was a food truck. He loves to see what each of them offer.” She takes off her hat now that she’s under the tent. “Honestly, if he didn’t have to help his mom with the boutique, he would be in the food industry.”
“He should. Especially if he loves food so much. I’m a firm believer in doing what you love. Life is too short to be miserable.”
“And do you love what you do? You don’t feel a familial obligation to work for the winery?”
I don’t think I’ve ever been asked that, and I take a couple of minutes to answer.
“I do love it. Coming up with flavors and testing them is my favorite part. Going to meetings to be included in stores is easy work for me. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m pretty charming.”
Jasmin is quiet as she studies me. “You’re definitely charming. I thought I was going to have competition with the group behind me. But what about the events? Do you like those?”
“It’s still a new job title. I’m figuring my way around it.” I don’t want to tell her I hate it. Especially since I’m the one in charge of her sister’s wedding. “Right now, I don’t even know if it’s something we’re always going to offer. My sister wanted to try it out.”
Secretly I’m hoping it doesn’t. Not because I want her idea to fail, but I really think she bit off more than we can chew. When we do the events it’s easier because we’re working on our timeline and we can limit some things. But other people are much more demanding. Like the baby shower we’re hosting tomorrow. I don’t like working with people like that. Or having to dodge unwanted advances. That woman just won’t take the hint.
“Well, I hope whatever you do, it’s successful. If you didn’t do events, we would have never reconnected, and you wouldn’t be my fake boyfriend.”
Hearing her say fake feels like a knife to the gut. More so after the kiss the other night. Nothing about that felt like pretend. It’s probably the most real I’ve been with anyone.
“True. That’s the best thing to come out of it since you refuse to give me your number.”
“Hey, it’s not like you were offering up yours.” She laughs and drinks the last of her sample. “I think things worked out the way they were supposed to.”
Another group of people stop at the booth and ask about our wines. One even buys a bottle with the promise of checking out the winery.
“Talking to people is definitely your super power. You do it with so much ease.”
“You have no idea how many teachers tried to get me to join the debate team in high school.” They thought with my gift of gab I’d be able to win for them. But I didn’t want to do it.
“I bet you were popular in high school.” She sits in one of the chairs we brought. “I was quiet, kept my head down, and did what I needed to.”
“I guess I was.” I shrug and glance around to see if there are any potential customers. “But I hung out with everyone. I didn’t belong to a clique and kind of did what I wanted.”
“From what I can tell, you’re still the same.”
“Except I make smarter decisions…most of the time.” I wink at her.
Piper and Beau round the corner and come behind the tables. “I’m here to start my shift.” She glances at Jasmin. “Oh, I didn’t realize you were already here. I would have come back sooner. How are you?”
“I’m good. And waiting was no problem. I got to see Park in his element.” She stands and pulls my sister into a hug. “It’s good to see you.”
Piper’s body is stiff for a second before she returns the hug. I think it’s because she was caught off guard. She’s the hugger in the family so this feels normal to her.
“Well, if y’all are done hugging it out, I think we’re gonna go.” I hike my thumb over my shoulder. “There’s a lot to see.”
“Not really.” Piper laughs as she pulls back from Jasmin “Oh, before I forget. Even though I’m sure you’ll see him when you come hang out. This is my boyfriend, Beau.”
Beau holds out his hand. “Nice to meet you. Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do.”
“Hi, I’m Jasmin. Trust me we won’t.” She giggles after shaking his hand.
Beau looks confused, but my sister glares at me. She knows I must have mentioned the funhouse. It’s hard not to when Beau rented one at the winery to make things up to her.
“We’ll see y’all later. Let me know if I need to help load up before you leave.”
“Philip is coming to help with that. I told him you had plans.” She wags her eyebrows up and down. Oh my God. She should never do that again.
With that, I grab Jasmin’s hand and pull her out of the tent. I’ll be damned if I let my baby sister embarrass me.
