“It’s because you’re working too much,” scolded her husband. But he did it gently. “You need to hire someone to help you.”

“Yes, I know. I’ll get around to it. But I haven’t found anyone I trust yet, and I like things done a certain way.” She tipped back the water bottle again and probably didn’t see him roll his eyes.

“Yes, I know. But you said you’d hire someone by the end of the month, and if you don’t, I will.”

“What do you do?” I asked, mostly to be polite.

“We own Abelard Vineyards,” he answered, pulling out his wallet and handing me a business card.

“Oh, nice.” I studied the card, my mind clicking. “I’ve heard of it. You took over from another winery a few years ago, right?”

“Yes, and bought some property adjacent to it, which is why we’re here. There’s a dispute over the property line with a neighboring farm, and we’ve already planted the area in question.” Lucas glanced at his wife. “We’re also expanding our tasting room and events schedule this summer, which is why we need to hire more help now.”

She ignored him. “Can I use your bathroom please?”

“Sure.” I gestured behind me. “It’s just down the hall to the left.”

“Thanks.” She looked at Lucas. “Be right back.”

He watched her leave, shaking his head. “She just went at the doctor’s office. It’s insane.”

I had no fucking idea what to say to that. What possible appropriate comment was there to make about his wife’s bladder? Luckily, he saved me.

“This is our third, so you’d think I’d remember all this.”

“Wow. Three.” I’d never pictured myself with kids, and Diana hadn’t wanted any, so I couldn’t imagine life with one, let alone three.

“Yeah, that’s why she needs an assistant. But she’s so damn stubborn.” He shook his head.

“What sort of help does your wife need? I know someone who was the assistant tasting room manager at Rivard, but she’s looking to do a little more.”

“Really?” Lucas looked interested. “What’s she doing now?”

“She’s working at Coffee Darling currently. That’s her sister’s shop. But I know she’d like something else.”

He nodded. “I know that place. They have good croissants.” Pulling out his wallet again, he gave me another card. “This is Mia’s card. Pass this along to her, and have her give Mia a call to set up an interview.” He smiled wryly. “Although my wife’s so picky and so moody these days, I almost don’t want to send your friend into lion’s den.”

“She can handle moody,” I assured him. “And I think your wife would like Skylar—she’s beautiful and smart, and she works really hard.”

Lucas grinned. “Is her last name Pryce?”

“Ah. No.” The tips of my ears burned. “It’s Nixon.”

“Well, what are you waiting for, Pryce? Marry that girl.” His grin widened before he tipped up his water bottle again.

I rubbed the back of my neck, which suddenly felt hot too. “Yeah, it’s probably too soon for that. We’ve only been on one date.”

Mia came back in the room, and his eyes lit up at the sight of her. “Sometimes that’s all it takes,” he said.

The Saturday before Memorial day, which was also the day of the reunion, I got off work a little early and moved my things into my parents’ house.

Back in my old room, I plugged in my laptop and phone, shoved a few boxes under the bed, hung dresses, skirts, blouses, and coats in my closet, and stacked shoe boxes beneath them. Into the drawers of my old dresser went underwear, socks, pajamas, bottoms and tops, workout clothes and a couple bathing suits. I tried not to feel too depressed about having to live with my parents, but it was hard. Every noise I heard, from the slam of the dresser drawers to the squeak of my old bed springs, reminded me that I was right back where I’d started ten years ago. Even the smell of the house hadn’t changed—furniture polish and pie. There was always a pie in the oven because my mother sold them at the little farm stand on the road.

Once everything was moved and unpacked, I went back to the guest house and helped my mother give it a thorough cleaning. She praised everything I’d done with it, from paint colors to linens to small finishing touches like the bin pulls, and thanked me for my hard work. I could tell she suspected something was up with me, because she kept eyeing me strangely. It was the look she used to give us before checking to see if we had a fever as kids.

“Everything OK?” she asked after I sighed for the millionth time, glancing over at me from the window she was washing.

“Fine.” I continued wiping down the counters.

She was quiet a minute, her cloth squeaking on the glass. “Sebastian is nice. He going with you to the reunion tonight?”

“No.”

“Why not? I thought you graduated the same year.”

“We did. He doesn’t want to go.” I finished with the counters and moved on to the oven, which I hadn’t even used that much because I really didn’t cook. Yet another adult skill I lacked.

“Oh. What about Dani and Kristen?”

“They couldn’t make it in. Dani’s due in like two weeks, and Kristen’s in-laws were visiting or something.”

“Are you going alone, then?”

“I guess.”

She stopped what she was doing and came over to the kitchen. “You don’t sound very excited about it.”

“I’m not.”

“So why go at all?”

I shrugged. “Maybe I won’t.”

“Skylar.”

I finally turned and looked at her.

“What’s with you?” Her brow furrowed. “You’re not acting like yourself.”

Exhaling, I leaned back against the oven. “I’m just trying to figure out some stuff and it’s stressing me out. I’m not much looking forward to the reunion because I’m embarrassed about being on Save a Horse and the whole dethroning thing, but I haven’t done anything else worth talking about.”

“You’ve done a lot of things!” She threw up one hand. “You’ve traveled, lived in New York City, been on television…how many people can say that?”

“I don’t know. Doesn’t seem like much compared to what I said I was going to do.” I threw the rag onto the counter. “Or compared to what Nat and Jilly have done. I just feel like an asshole, OK? That’s what’s with me.”

“Skylar Elizabeth Nixon, you listen to me,” she said so forcefully I had to meet her eye. “I did not raise any assholes, and more importantly, I did not raise my girl to talk that way about herself. So you went to New York to chase a dream and it didn’t happen, so what. You know what I always say about failure.”

“It builds character,” I mumbled.

“That’s right. Failure builds character, and character is what you need right now. Character and confidence. This is no big thing! You think you’re the first small-town girl with stars in her eyes that got disillusioned with the reality of trying to make it in that world?”

“No,” I said through clenched teeth.

“Of course you don’t, because you’re not stupid. Now, your entire life everyone’s been telling you what a special snowflake you are—but the truth is, you’re just like the rest of us, honey. That means sometimes you’re gonna get what you want, sometimes you’re not. Sometimes you’re gonna get it only to find out it’s not what you thought it was gonna be. It’s all part of the journey. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” I said, even though part of me was like, What do you mean I’m not a special snowflake? Was your mother supposed to say this stuff to you?

“Good. You can walk into that reunion tonight and be proud of who you are, Skylar. You’re a beautiful girl with a great big heart and a lot of potential. Good Lord, if we all had the answers by age twenty-seven, life would be pretty boring, don’t you think?”

I curled my upper lip. “I hate boring.”

She laughed, coming around the counter to give me a hug. I let her, wrapping my arms around her plushy middle and taking comfort in her pie-crust-and-Windex scent. “You always have. Go have fun tonight. You can think about life’s opportunities tomorrow.”