by Melody Grace
But Reeve didn’t flinch, or shoot her that sympathetic look that most people did, he just gave a wry chuckle. “The sympathy casserole. Didn’t they always taste terrible, tuna and cream of mushroom soup?”
“Right!” Jules agreed, relieved. “If you’re going to come around nosing for gossip, at least bring a decent lasagna. But these folks aren’t like that,” she said, nodding to Poppy’s car. “They weren’t even around back then. They don’t know anything about your family or the history.”
“That’s true.” Reeve agreed, his frown fading. He lifted his soda can to his lips. “Funny, isn’t it, how you can still be carrying something around when everyone has moved on, totally oblivious.”
“I know we’re supposed to let things go,” Jules said, “But I’m excellent at holding grudges. I still haven’t forgiven Lorna Henderson for shoving me off the swing set in second grade.”
He laughed. “Remind me not to get on your bad side, then.”
Jules grinned. “You better be on your best behavior.”
“Now, where’s the fun in that?”
Reeve met her eyes with a smoldering grin, and just like that, Jules’ balance disappeared, and she nearly fell off the truck. Reeve grabbed her arm and steadied her just in time.
“Woah,” he said, pulling her back. “Are you OK?”
Jules swallowed hard. “I… slipped,” she said faintly, her heart pounding.
Slipped, and just about tumbled head over heels for him.
Luckily, the music started on screen, and headlights dimmed around the field. “Time for the main event,” Reeve said, relaxing back so that he was leaning against the windscreen, watching the movie.
Meanwhile, all Jules cared about was watching him.
It was the ultimate distraction, laying there beside him, close enough to hear the sound of his breath over the movie soundtrack, playing on their stereo. She was attuned to every shift and sigh; when he reached for another handful of popcorn; when he chuckled along with a joke on screen.
And all the while, the only thing she could focus on was the light press of his elbow where it was touching hers, and how easy it would be to reach out and simply take his hand.
Jules sent up a plea of silent despair. Wasn’t she supposed to be past this? She was grown woman, with experience under her belt. She’d had wild flings, and done far more than just hold a guy’s hand, but here she was, feeling sixteen all over again, like she was on a date with her very first boyfriend. Wondering if he was going to make a move. Agonizing over the brush of his fingertips when they both reached for the popcorn at the same time.
“Sorry,” Reeve murmured, flashing her a smile she wanted to kiss right off his mouth. “Are you cold?” he asked, noticing the goosebumps on her arms. Before she could respond, he’d stripped his sweater over his head, and passed it over to her.
“Thanks,” Jules managed, slipping into the soft folds. Oh God, it smelled like him. Fresh, and woodsy, and utterly intoxicating.
Reeve turned back to the screen, and Jules tried not to melt in a puddle of pure desire. Because she may have been acting like a teenager, but it wasn’t just an innocent crush simmering in her veins this time around.
She wanted him.
She wanted him bad.
* * *
By the time the final credits rolled, her mind was in a tangle—and her nerves were, too. Reeve slid down from the hood and held out his hand to help her, as all around them, people began to pack up and start their engines.
“That was fun,” he said, smiling broadly. “I think they’re showing the sequels next week, if you want to go.”
Do this all over again? Jules gulped. She wouldn’t last another hour on that hood without doing something that was probably against a local ordinance on indecency.
“Maybe,” she said vaguely. “I should, uh, get back.”
“I’ll walk you to your car.”
Reeve fell into step beside her, placing a hand on the small of her back to steer her around a group of kids. His touch burned through the fabric of the borrowed sweater, and Jules couldn’t help but lean into it, staying there in the circle of his embrace until they arrived back at her beat-up car. “This is me,” she said brightly to hide her regret. Lame. “Thanks for dinner.”
Reeve paused, looking at her with an expression she couldn’t quite read. “If this was a date, I’d kiss you right now,” he said finally, and all the blood rushed to Jules’ head. He took a half-step closer to her. “Want to remind me again why it isn’t?”
It would help if she could remember the reason herself. “I made this pledge… ” she blurted. “I’m not dating for the summer, at least not until I get my life back on track.”
Reeve looked amused. “I do seem to remember you yelling something about no boys being allowed… Right after you kissed me,” he added. “So you can see why I’m getting mixed messages here.”
“Right. Sorry,” Jules said, breathless. She could have sworn he took another step closer, but maybe that was just her imagination, and the tall, steady size of him, right there in front of her.
She curled her hands into fists by her side, to keep from reaching for him. “You see, I’m always leaping into things, and diving off the deep end,” she explained, her pulse still racing. “Which is great, and thrilling. I’m just tired of what happens when it all goes bad, and I wind up hitting the ground.”
She looked up at him, hoping he would understand, and Reeve smiled back.
“You’re right. It sounds exhausting. How about I just take you to dinner tomorrow night?” he suggested quietly. “No leaping or diving required.”
Jules exhaled in a whoosh.
“It’s the last time I’ll ask, I promise,” he added. “I just think… There’s something here.”
Something.
Something like the thunder of her heartbeat, racing in her chest. Like the way her blood felt hot and fevered around him, and how right from the first night they’d met, it felt like she’d recognized something in his watchful blue eyes.
“OK,” she said at last, and every muscle in her body seemed to relax at the word. “Yes. Dinner.”
“Really?” Reeve didn’t seem to believe her. “No conditions, or last-minute caveats?”
“You’re asking me that now?” Jules asked, smiling. “Why don’t you quit while you’re ahead?”
“Good point.” Reeve grinned back. Then he closed the distance between them, and kissed her, just like that. Soft, and slow, and infinitely sweet. Jules melted against him, savoring the feel, and suddenly, all her inner conflict and turmoil smoothed into one simple fact:
This was right. It made sense. Why was she fighting it so hard?
Reeve slowly drew away. “Now I’m ahead,” he murmured with a mischievous grin, and walked away before she could laugh. Because in that moment, Jules felt like she was the one who’d just claimed the prize.
She had a date. With Reeve. And chances were, she would get to kiss him again.
Just for starters…
7
Reeve wasn’t sure what made Jules change her mind about having dinner with him. Maybe it was a split-second call that she already regretted, or maybe she simply couldn’t ignore the chemistry sizzling between them any longer. Either way, he wasn’t going to let this chance pass him by.
He had to make this date count.
“What would you say is the most romantic restaurant in town?” he asked June, as they walked through every inch of the main lodge the next day. She’d come by to take a look at the property for her real estate listings, but he figured if anyone had a handle on date-night spots in Sweetbriar Cove, it would be her.
Sure enough, June shot him a knowing smile. “I take it that’s not your subtle way of inviting me out for a meal?” she asked, and Reeve laughed.
“I’ll be happy, too—once you find me a buyer for the vineyard. I have plans tonight,” he added.
“How mysterious. Let me think… ” she mused. “Sage is
always good. It’s cozy, romantic, and the chef is a treat, in more ways than one. But this time of year, it’s a real scene. I saw people come to blows in the parking lot over a missed reservation the other week.”
Reeve chuckled. “I’m not really in the mood for fisticuffs.”
Or crowds. Lying beside Jules on the hood of his truck during the movie last night had been a kind of torture: having her so close, in the middle of a crowded field. The way she’d snuggled in his sweater, the scent of her shampoo… Reeve had almost reached over and kissed her a hundred times. He couldn’t even have said what movie played; he’d been so absorbed in every move she made.
“I always did love a picnic by the water,” June was suggesting. “Lobster rolls and moonlight, can’t be beat.”
Reeve nodded slowly. He’d already had discarded half-a-dozen ideas. Because if last night had shown him anything, it was that he would be hard-pressed to take Jules anywhere in town without getting interrupted by every friend and neighbor around. The local seafood shack was a quaint, charming option, but with his luck, they’d run into everyone from his third-grade teacher to the cop who nearly gave him a parking ticket the other week.
“Of course, if it’s privacy and romance you want, then look no further.” June nodded to the view of the vineyard. “I remember, one gentleman brought me here for our first date, it must have been twenty years ago now,” she said, with a nostalgic gleam in her eye. “We sipped some delicious cabernet, took a stroll through the vines, and… Well, I’ll leave the rest to your imagination,” she said with a smirk. “But let me tell you, poison ivy is a nightmare in the wrong spot.”
Reeve coughed in surprise. “There, there,” June added cheerfully, whacking his back as he choked. “Shall we go take a look at the main house? Three bedrooms, right?”
He nodded, still recovering.
“Lead the way!”
* * *
Reeve took her around the rest of the property: the old farmhouse, the outbuildings, and the singed, blackened frame where the main barn used to be. “Electrical fire, wasn’t it?” June asked, as they passed the ruins.
“I think so,” Reeve replied shortly.
“It’s lucky nobody was hurt.”
Luck, or something else. Reeve still hadn’t gotten the full story from his dad about the fire, but he had to wonder. But that was a problem for another day. Right now, he had bigger things to worry about. “So, what’s the verdict?” he finally asked, when they arrived back at the main lodge. “Do you think you can find a buyer? Alice said land is in high demand around here at the moment, and we’ve certainly got plenty of it.”
“Yes, you do. But… That may be a problem,” June replied, looking around. Her folksy charm gave way to a cool, assessing stare, and Reeve got an inkling of why she was the top broker in town. “A single-family lot, I could sell, no problem. Even an acre. But this? It might just be too big.”
“Well, you don’t hear that every day,” Reeve said, trying to hide his disappointment, and June guffawed with laughter.
“No, you certainly don’t. But a property this size is a big undertaking, and they run a tight ship over at the planning commission. A developer can’t just bulldoze the place and put up a dozen luxury homes,” she explained. “Not without fighting through a forest of red tape and regulations, which would take who knows how long? Nick Sterling is still waiting on approval for his beach house addition, and he applied, what, two years ago now?”
Reeve’s hopes sank even further. “So we have to find someone who wants to run a failing vineyard?” he asked.
“Don’t worry.” June patted his arm. “I’ll figure something out. There’s potential here, somebody will see it.”
Reeve hoped so. Because even with the sales from the bachelorette party, he was still pumping his own money into the place, trying to keep the bank off his back for the summer. And if he couldn’t find a buyer at the end of this… His time in Sweetbriar Cove would all have been for nothing.
His phone buzzed with a call from Jules, just as June was leaving, and immediately, his spirits rose again.
Maybe not nothing.
“I was going to send you a breezy text message,” she said when he answered. “But calling is just easier. What’s the plan for dinner tonight?”
He smiled, strolling back through the lodge. She was always so direct, it made a change from some of the women he’d dated in the past, who never reached out first, or replied straight away. “I was thinking I could cook for you here,” he suggested, deciding to take June’s advice.
“You cook, too?” Jules asked with a groan. “Now that just isn’t fair.”
Reeve chuckled. “I won’t make any promises,” he warned. “But my garlic bread has been known to make women swoon.”
“The bread, or your breath after eating it?” Jules replied with a laugh. “Either way, sounds good. I’ll swing by around seven. Should I bring anything?” she added, teasing. “Wine, maybe.”
“I think I’ve got that covered. See you later.”
Reeve hung up and looked around the main kitchen. He’d been living off takeout and deli snacks since arriving in town. Did he even have a set of pans to be working with? He eyed the ancient range cooker and empty refrigerator, and knew he couldn’t just order in and call it a night. It had been tough enough talking Jules into taking a chance on their date, he needed to blow her away, or he might not get another chance.
He grabbed his keys, and drove to the grocery store in town, where he found his old friend from high school, Wes, browsing the aisles.
“Any idea where the shallots are?” Wes asked in greeting. “I’ve tried two stores already, but they’re all out. The great shallot shortage of Sweetbriar Cove.”
“Isn’t grocery shopping below your pay grade these day?” Reeve asked, teasing. Wes was a big-shot investor now, and lived in a historic mansion on the edge of town. “I would have thought you’d have staff for that.”
“Ha,” Wes snorted good-naturedly. “Cassie makes sure to keep me humble. And remember, it wasn’t too long ago we were the ones bagging groceries up front.”
“Don’t remind me.” Reeve groaned. “We must have done every odd job in this town.”
He saw a basket of produce down in the corner and tossed Wes a bulb. “This what you’re looking for?”
Wes nimbly caught it. “Thanks. Cassie’s making some recipe she saw online,” he said, filling his basket. “By the way, that dinner invitation stands if you want to join us. I think she’s making enough to feed an army, and her brothers aren’t even in town.”
“Thanks, but I can’t tonight,” Reeve said, grabbing some garlic and tomatoes.
Wes glanced over at his basket and raised an eyebrow at the fancy butter and fresh baguette Reeve had already found. “The kid I knew could live off cold cereal for a week, so either you’ve become a foodie out there in California… or you’re cooking for two.”
“Maybe,” Reeve admitted. “But don’t start.”
“Start what?” Wes looked amused.
“Gossiping.”
Wes laughed. “C’mon, you know that’s never been my style.”
He was right. Reeve and Wes had struck up their friendship years ago, back when they both felt like outsiders who didn’t fit in among all the rich kids who came to spend summers on the Cape. Wes’s mom had worked as a maid, and Reeves parents were already deep in debt, so it had been a relief to be friends with someone who wouldn’t suggest hanging out at the yacht club, and who didn’t question that the weekends were filled with shifts at the grocery store, instead of lounging at the beach. They’d both come a long way since those days. Now, Wes was dressed in casual, expensive clothes, with a vintage watch gleaming on his wrist, and Reeve?
Well, he’d thought he had his life together, until he got that call about his dad.
“You know, I’m surprised to find you back here,” Reeve remarked, as they made their way to the front checkout line. “I thought you’d be off l
iving the high finance life in New York or London. There was a time you could to wait to be done with the place,” he added.
“Things change.” Wes gave a smile. “Part of me had something to prove, wanting to come back here and be the big shot, but then I met Cassie again, and this was the only place I wanted to be. It’s a great place to put down roots,” he added. “You should think about it.”
“Here?” Reeve shook his head immediately. “This is just a short trip. There’s nothing for me here anymore.”
“Is that why you spent two minutes picking out the perfect tomatoes for your dinner with Jules?” Wes shot back with a grin.
Reeve looked down at his basket. “Wait, how did you know it was Jules?”
“Dude, everyone knows.” Wes smirked. “They only had to see you with her at JamFest, and Poppy started running a book on how long it would take you guys to get together. I put ten bucks on you being stubborn for another week,” he added. “So would you mind keeping things quiet a while longer? Otherwise, Noah will take the prize.”
“Only if you split the winnings,” Reeve said with a laugh as he paid and bagged up his groceries. He had to smile at the town rumor mill, even when it reminded him that Jules and Sweetbriar Cove represented two very different things. He was drawn towards her even as he still was counting down to leaving town, so what did that say about him and his future?
Nothing he needed to think about just yet, he decided. Besides, Jules was also just passing through. She had grand plans about getting her career back on track, and he was guessing that wouldn’t happen on the sleepy streets here.
“Good luck tonight,” Wes said, as they emerged onto the square again. “And if you really want to impress her? Three words for you: chocolate lava pie. Summer stocks them at the bakery, and I’m telling you, they never fail.”
“Thanks for the tip,” Reeve nodded. “And remember… If you go spreading the news, then you won’t get that payout.”