Blush - Jamie Brenner Page 0,40

having a deep knowledge of wine. But as a winemaker, neither of these could overcome the fact that he couldn’t imagine having a daughter as a business partner.

“I can think of some ways to increase revenue,” she said.

“Leah, I’m sorry you’re having a hard time with what’s happening, and I’m willing to hear you out so you can get your feelings off your chest. But ultimately, you need to let it go. And please don’t start getting your mother’s hopes up. The sale is as good as done.”

“If it’s as good as done, then why haven’t you told Javier yet?”

He began to say something, then stopped. “I don’t need to explain myself to you, Leah. Please extend to me at least that degree of respect.” After that, he seemed considerably less open to conversation.

Across the table, Bridget reached for the wine. Leah noticed that her engagement ring was different; the antique had been replaced with a small, heart-shaped diamond set in a simple platinum band.

“Oh, you changed your ring?”

“This one’s just a little more modern,” Bridget said, extending her hand and admiring it.

Why was Asher spending money on jewelry when it was clear money must be an issue? Sometimes the family dysfunction was too much to take. No wonder Steven rushed back to the city.

“What? So where’s my mother’s ring?” Leonard said.

“I’ll give it back to you, Dad,” said Asher.

“Damn right you will.”

“No offense, Mr. Hollander. It’s just that these days, girls want to have a say in their engagement rings. It’s, like, a reflection of their personality, you know?”

“Why even wear rings?” Sadie said. “If you want to be modern about it, don’t let yourself be marked as someone else’s property.”

“Sadie, please,” Leah said.

“Oh, I think rings are so romantic! I would never not wear one,” Bridget said. “Also, Leah, I wanted to know if you would be my maid of honor at the wedding.”

“Matron,” Vivian corrected. “She’s a matron.”

“So you settled on a date?” Leah asked, stalling. Surely Bridget had a friend or a relative who could do the honors. They barely knew each other.

Leah checked her phone, trying not to feel bothered by Steven’s empty seat next to her. Her husband had not abandoned her. She was the one who had decided to stay behind. They’d had a perfectly amiable text conversation before dinner. Everything was fine.

“Labor Day weekend,” Asher said. “We want to get married here before the new owners take over.”

Leah nodded. That made sense. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t seen a wedding at the winery her entire visit. During past summers, she had seen several over the course of a weekend.

“Speaking of weddings,” she said to her father, “did you book any for this summer? I’m surprised I haven’t walked into the middle of one yet.” She smiled to show she was just making light conversation, not questioning how the winery was being run. Although she was starting to have questions. The bulk of their on-site retail business was done through weddings and organized tastings on weekends, and she had the sense they weren’t booking enough of them. Plus, there had to be something they could host during weekdays or evenings.

“Of course we have weddings booked,” he said.

Peternelle brought out littlenecks and hand-shucked oysters.

“This is the mignonette sauce, and this is spicy cocktail,” she said. “The zucchini cups are coming.”

“You guys should do more with social media. I could shoot short videos of the weddings for Insta,” Bridget said.

“That’s a good idea,” Leah said, aware of the fact that she hadn’t yet accepted the matron of honor position. But it seemed Bridget had either already forgotten her request, or just assumed the answer was yes.

“Yeah, Dad,” Asher said. “Companies pay Bridget to post their products.”

“That’s very cool,” Sadie said. “One of my dormmates is an influencer. She makes a lot of money. I told you about her, Mom. The one who gave us all the freebie furniture to decorate with?”

Leah nodded, distracted. “You know what I noticed on the veranda today? It was mostly women. I feel like there used to be more couples.”

“Maybe they were couples, Mom,” Sadie said.

Leah shot her a look. “What I mean is, there seem to be fewer men.”

“Oh, yeah. You’re right about that,” Asher said. “A beer distillery opened down the road. So now women come here for wine and their boyfriends and husbands bro-out over a few beers.”

“So you’ve lost half your customers?” Leah said, shocked.

“I told Dad we should start serving beer, right,