departure. “Well. I’m happy I ran into you.” Becca gestured to the table. “And I hope your meeting is a good one.” God, that all sounded so formal. She hated that this was who they were now. Weeks back they were snuggling naked in bed and looking to what might be a future. Now they were tiptoeing around each other in a polite competition.
“Thanks! I hope to run into you…soon.” Joey’s cheeks colored at the declaration, and she seemed aware of it. She quickly scurried away. “And this is a good suit,” she said, almost as an afterthought she could not leave off. What it did leave was Becca confused and standing a little taller in her pinstriped navy. She nodded, headed for the door, and stole one last look over her shoulder at Joey, who claimed once last glimpse herself.
What in the world had happened there? She stared at her reflection in her car window as she replayed the encounter. Interesting, indeed.
* * *
It was after closing time at Tangle Valley after a successful day that had nearly depleted the dolcetto they had stocked on the floor. Joey would need to check in with Uncle Bobby and have him restock the storage room with fresh cases. Gabriella, still wearing her chef’s coat with a dish towel on her shoulder, made her way inside and to the bar.
“That was one of my favorite days working with Jolene. We were one with each other.”
Joey offered a smile. “I’m happy to hear you’re bonding. I was told by multiple guests that the spinach dumplings were the best they’ve ever tasted.”
Gabriella beamed. “Oh yeah? I was trying something different this time.” She kissed her fingers. “I upped the truffle quotient in the parmesan truffle cream.”
“Well, it worked.”
“Makes it all worthwhile when I hear people like my food. It’s why I get up in the morning, ready to go.” It was true. Gabriella seemed to attack every day with enthusiastic gusto. She was a perpetual force, driven by the passion she had for her job. “How was your day?”
“It was interesting. Becca’s back.”
Gabriella perked right up. “You saw her?”
“I did. It was…nice, actually. Is that crazy?”
“Why would it be crazy. You guys have always gotten along. How did you feel, you know, laying eyes on her for the first time in so long.”
“I don’t know that there’s a descriptor. But it was potent. It stuck with me.” Joey studied her friend with a thought. “You know how when you’re a kid, sometimes you have the best of intentions, but when you leap off that diving board, it’s a belly flop? It’s not graceful or exciting, and its hurts like hell?”
Gabriella rubbed her stomach absently. “I remember those.”
“My first attempt at having something with Becca, I was terrified. I went for it anyway, raced to the edge of that diving board, and I belly flopped.”
Gabriella rubbed her stomach again. “I think you have to stop saying that word.”
Joey waved her off. “You get the point, though. And now, I have an opportunity to take my time and use the belly—uh, the prior knowledge to formulate a more graceful maneuver.”
“A swan dive,” Gabriella supplied with flourish. “A beautiful one.”
“Yes. That would be the goal. But I would have to do things differently. I showed up on her doorstep and threw myself at her in the middle of a thunderstorm, Gabs.”
“Oh, I like that very much.”
“No, it was a bad move. It was us leaping in feet first. I need to see if I can go slow this time.”
“What are we talking about?” Madison asked, coming into the tasting room rubbing the back of her neck. She’d been working in the tank room all day, tinkering and tasting and tinkering some more, and it showed.
“We are not talking about anything,” Joey said, gesturing between her and Madison. “Because one of us told Simone way too much.”
Gabriella’s eyebrows shot up, and Madison had the decency to look guilty.
“Buddy, hear me out.” Madison held up a hand. “My heart was in the right place, and I had this tugging that told me that Simone was a key player in all of this, whether we want her to be or not. You needed to hear from her, JoJo.”
Joey leveled a look at Madison. “Hearts can be in the right place and still be wildly out of bounds.”
“Agreed, but I love you and had to take the risk. How did it go?”
“Horribly. I cried like a child in the grocery store