shop, and April hasn’t come in yet. She’ll have a late night, I’m sure. Big wedding this evening. Chloe’s probably in the tasting room, getting ready for the day. The inn is totally booked this weekend, and all the winery tours are sold out.” She shook her head and tucked her dark hair behind her ears, which was showing more gray at the root than I remembered. “It’s been a madhouse, not to mention all Frannie’s wedding preparations.”
I held my arms out. “Well, I’m here, and I’m all yours. Put me to work.”
She grabbed me in another tight hug. “Oh, it’s so good to have you back.” When she let me go, her eyes were wet with tears. “I’m so proud of all my daughters, but sometimes I miss those days when you were little and I never thought you’d be out from underfoot. And now I’m a grandmother and my youngest baby is getting married in a week, and I wonder, where on earth does the time go? I mean, look at my hair—gray everywhere!”
“You look great, Mom. Really.”
She waved a hand in front of her face. “Well, it’s nothing a trip to the salon won’t cure. Your sisters and I have appointments Wednesday. We’re doing trial hair and makeup for Saturday. Want to join us?”
“Sure. Thanks.” I tugged a strand of the hair that had come loose from my ponytail. “I could probably use a trim. Maybe some fresh highlights.”
My mother rose on tiptoe, clasping her hands by her heart. “Oh, I just can’t wait. When Sylvia gets here on Tuesday, it will be the first time in years I’ll have all my kids under one roof.”
“Has it been that long? Wow.”
She nodded. “Want to go surprise your dad? He’s back in his office.”
“Yes. Let me go say hello to him, drop off my bag at the house, and then I’ll come back and help you out at the desk. Or Chloe in the tasting room, whatever you guys need. Sound good?”
“Perfect, darling. I’ll grab a shirt for you,” she said, gesturing toward her green collared Cloverleigh Farms work shirt.
“Thanks.” I followed her around the desk, pulling my suitcase behind me, and slipped through the door leading to the administrative offices. “I’ll be right back.”
My dad was just as shocked and happy to see me as my mom had been, and he came bounding around his desk to give me one of his giant bear hugs. Wrapped in his familiar arms, I felt my throat get tight. He insisted on walking me over to the house and even took my suitcase upstairs for me.
“Remember which room is mine?” I teased.
“I might be old, but I’m not senile—yet,” he replied, heading right at the top of the stairs and opening the door to my old bedroom.
I laughed. “Good thing.”
My former room had been painted and re-carpeted since I’d moved out, but my mahogany double bed and dresser was the same, and my desk still sat between two windows overlooking the vineyard and woods beyond it. I’d spent a lot of hours there. “I’ve missed that view,” I said, setting my shoulder bag on the desk and raising the balloon shade up all the way. “I can’t wait to take a run out back.”
“What are your plans for today?” my dad asked. Like my mom, he wore a green Cloverleigh shirt and khaki pants. Unlike my mom, he was entirely gray and paunchy through the middle, and I knew he’d had some heart and blood pressure problems over the last few years. His emails to me were always full of complaints about how my mother was taking all the good things out of his diet. But even though he’d aged since I’d seem him last, he seemed in good spirits.
“Help out around here, wherever I’m needed,” I said, giving him another impromptu hug. “I’m so glad to be home, Daddy.”
“But you’re on vacation! You don’t want to spend your time working.” His eyes lit up. “Let’s go see Frannie at her pastry shop.”
I laughed. “Is that going to be okay with Mom? Will we have time?”
“There’s always time for pastries,” my dad confirmed, rubbing his tummy. “Let’s go.”
My mother said she could do without me, so my dad and I drove into the city to see Frannie. Her shop was adorable, and she was so excited to see me that she practically vaulted over the counter.
Frannie had always been cute, but today she looked absolutely radiant as she chattered on