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8
Nora
“Have you heard anything from West?” Annie asked. She leaned against the table at the center of the Wright Vineyard barn. Annie was in residency as a doctor at the local hospital, and her fiancé, Jordan Wright, came over to peck her on the cheek.
“Any word?” Jordan asked.
“I just texted to ask,” I told them both.
Today was Campbell’s big surprise birthday party. We’d worked it all out that West would hang with him in the studio until we got everything set up, and then Blaire would drive him over. They had their reasons all straightened out, but I’d still barely had enough time to make the barn presentable.
My phone dinged.
On my way now. Blaire just came to get Campbell.
“Clock is on,” I called. “Fifteen minutes. Everyone to your positions.”
Annie hopped up and grabbed her two best friends, Jennifer and Sutton. Jennifer was the photographer for the winery, and I worked with her regularly for my weddings. Sutton Wright had been Annie’s bestie since high school, but we saw a lot less of her since she had two kids—Jason and Madison. Mostly because Madison was a walking tornado.
Piper strode over to the table with her sister, Peyton, and her newest roommate, Eve Houston. Eve was a big reason that Piper’s winery had been saved. She was friends with Hollin and had joined our rec soccer team, The Tacos. She had a man-stealer reputation that the lot of us thought was ridiculous. And even though she’d been living with Piper and Blaire for a while now, she was still hesitant around us, as if expecting all of this to be a dream. We always told her we didn’t deal with the bullshit slut-shaming, and I hoped one day, she’d feel like she fit in.
Peyton grabbed my hand. “This is incredible. You’ve done a great job.”
“Thank you.”
It was so wonderful, having Peyton in town. She’d married Annie’s brother, Isaac, last year when she returned from New York City to take over the Lubbock Ballet Company.
“I have news, too, before Campbell gets here,” Peyton announced to the girls.
Piper and Annie grinned. They apparently already knew.
“I’m pregnant!”
All of us careened forward, pulling her into a hug and issuing our congratulations.
“It’s a girl. We’re calling her Autumn,” she announced.
“Aly and Autumn,” Jennifer said. Aly was Isaac’s seven-year-old daughter from his first marriage. “Perfect.”
“I love the name!” I gushed.
“Thank you,” Peyton said. “I didn’t want to overshadow Campbell’s surprise, but I have all of you here.”
“We’re so happy for you!” Annie said, giving her a crushing hug. “I can’t wait to have another niece.”
We all gushed over Peyton for a few more minutes. Then, the door to the barn burst open. Everyone froze, as if anticipating Campbell even though my alarm said we had three more minutes.
Instead, Weston Wright strode into the barn.
“He’s right behind me,” he announced.
My heart galloped at the sight of him. We hadn’t talked about what had happened at the bar last night. Or how drunk and horny I’d been when we got back. I remembered enough of the interaction to be embarrassed at the thought of it all. Had I crawled on my hands and knees and made blow-job jokes? Had we almost kissed? That still felt fuzzy in my mind. That couldn’t be right. Weston had made it clear that he wasn’t interested in me. My own behavior was cringeworthy, considering that fact.
I’d had a crush on him when we moved in together. We were strangers then, and he was the hot guy who had taken me in when I needed a place to live. He saw me through the worst of what had happened with August. He got me ice cream that time I ran into August at Starbucks. He stayed for our soccer game the day we had to play August’s new team. And a million other littler interactions that made me wonder if this could possibly go somewhere or if I was insane.
And then he’d gone. All of that pulled apart. But now, he was back, and was I crazy for thinking of him like this? He was probably going back to LA, just like Campbell. I didn’t have a job like Blaire, where I could pick up and leave anytime I wanted.
But still…
But still…
“You ready?” West asked when he reached me.
I cleared my throat and nodded. “Yep. All set. He still doesn’t know?”
“No, but he’s irritated,” he said with a chuckle. “He thinks we’re going out to eat and is confused why he has to pick you up from here.”
“Can’t blame him,” I said with a smile. “All right, everyone. Get into position. He’ll be here any minute.”
I pointed at Hollin, who cut the lights. We all hid behind the table at the back of the barn. A white tablecloth had been draped across the front, so none of us were visible. We’d practiced to make sure that Campbell wouldn’t be able to see us.
Weston pulled in tight next to me so that we were shoulder to shoulder. There was only enough light to see his big blue eyes. He squeezed my knee gently and shot me a wink. I was glad that he couldn’t see more than that because my cheeks flared red.
Then, the door to the barn creaked open again.
Blaire’s voice filtered through the opening. “It’ll just be a minute. Come on.”
Campbell grumbled something low, and then he was inside.
Hollin flipped the lights, and we all jumped up, yelling, “Happy birthday!”
Campbell’s face went from irritated to dismayed to a forced rockstar smile. “Wow,” he said, blinking into the lights. His eyes went to Blaire, who was smiling brightly. “You did this?”
“We all did.”
Then, he kissed her, and we all cheered a second time.
Music came on, and everyone moved onto the dance floor. Campbell walked around the room, thanking everyone for coming. When he finally landed on me and Weston, his smile dropped.
He punched West in the shoulder. “You motherfucker.”
West laughed and rubbed his shoulder. “You’re welcome.”
“Hey, ass, it was Hollin’s idea,” I said with a grin.
“What are you accusing me of?” Hollin asked. He pulled our brother into a hug.
Campbell rolled his eyes. “You decided on this party?”
“Me and Nora did. Aren’t you so excited?”
