“I wouldn’t be mad either way.” Mom shrugs and heads to the kitchen, pointing at our brother to follow her. He does and we’re alone at the table.
“She’s trying to make me have an instant family.” Daniela whispers because she doesn’t want mom to hear her. “Like let us live as a married couple for a bit, thank you. Which brings me to the next point. Mom cannot have a say in anything to do with the wedding. She’ll try to take over like she does everything else.”
That’s a feeling I know all too well. Welcome to the last thirty years of my life. She’s done everything in her power to micromanage my decisions. Let’s not forget the times she’s introduced me to sons of her friends. Or that time she gave my phone number to a random guy she got a good feeling about. I ended up having to block him because he wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“Done.” I won’t let our mother intervene. “Also, I have a suggestion for a location. It’s almost an hour from here, but it’s gorgeous.”
“How do you know about it?” She eyes me skeptically.
“Do you remember that Valentine’s event my friend forced me to attend?” She nods and I keep going. “Well, it’s this gorgeous winery. Someone who was working there mentioned they were expanding into events. I can see if we can take a look at it.”
I pull up their website and show her some of the pictures on the homepage.
“Is this where you met that one-night stand?”
“What was that?” Mom calls from the kitchen.
“Nothing.” Both of us shout at the same time.
“Yes. But that’s all it was. He doesn’t actually work there, so I don’t have to worry about running into him.” Even if he’s all I’ve thought about for the past month. I’ve never connected with someone who’s feels the same way I do.
“Okay. I’m not going to be like Mom.” She raises her hands in surrender. I know she won’t be that way as she’s been supportive of my anti-relationship status after realizing how much I’ve done for our family. “See what they have open in two days. You don’t start your job until next week, right?”
“Right.” It took longer than I wanted to find another job. But it’ll work for the time being. I scroll to their information section and see a form to fill out. “It looks like they have an opening in the morning and afternoon.”
“Afternoon. I have to open the boutique in the morning.”
“Must be nice to have flexible hours like that.”
“Only because Jacob’s mom loves me.” She smiles at me before watching me hit the confirm button on my phone. “What happens now?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe we’ll get a call.” A few minutes later an email hits my inbox confirming the appointment. “Looks like we’re all set.”
“Perfect.” She hugs me one more time. “Seriously, thank you for being my MOH.”
I ignore that she uses the acronym as if it’s an actual word. “You’re welcome. I’ll make a list of some questions and things we’ll want to ask and send it over to you in case you think of more.”
“You really are the best.” She gets up from the table and heads toward the kitchen.
As much as I want to focus on me, I know my baby sister needs my help with this. She’s not organized and makes decisions on vibes. It’s one last thing I need to take care of before I can take care of myself.
“Why does it feel like we’re driving to the scene of a horror movie?” Daniela stares out the window. There’s open land on to either side of us.
“What are you talking about? There are houses on this road.” I point to the one we just passed.
“Yeah, a mile apart from each other,” she mutters. “This place better be worth it.”
“Stop worrying.” If she wants my help so badly, she needs to trust me. I’ve never led her astray, and I don’t plan to start now. Not on one of the most important days of her life.
“Fine.” She pulls her phone out of the cupholder and takes a video of the field. When she sees me side-eying her, she snorts. “It’s video evidence in case we are in fact being led to our deaths by a serial killer.”
“You really need to stop watching scary movies no matter how much Jacob likes them.” We were never allowed to watch them growing up, and it’s like she dove into the deep end when they started dating. I’m not sure if he knows they give her nightmares, but I plan on talking to him about that soon. Especially if she’s thinking about it at the most random times.
“Oh my gosh, is that it?” She points to an old wooden sign with Starlit Fields Winery engraved in the wood.
“Yes?” I’m not a hundred percent sure because it was dark the last time I was here. Even when I left Parker’s house. He brought me back to the event when I kept getting text messages from my friend.
Daniela stares out the window as we pass trees and flower beds toward what I’m assuming is the main building. We didn’t go to this area, so I’m not really sure what to do. There’s a customer parking sign in front of the house, and I pull into a spot. It doesn’t seem to be too busy. Maybe that means we’ll get a lot of focus. I don’t know how these things work outside of what I’ve seen in movies.
