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Tori shot him a grateful smile. “That sounds good to me. Thanks, Xander.”
Xander was glad to get out of there – the whole atmosphere of the place was a downer. He adjusted his grip on the box, grateful that he’d decide to leave the single bottle behind with Tori. The case wasn’t exactly heavy, but it was unwieldy, and after paying retail price for a case of his namesake wine he really didn’t want to drop the damn thing.
He almost did exactly that when he spun around at the sound of someone calling his name.
“Smoke! For fuck’s sake! You startled me.”
Smoke grinned. “What the hell are you doing walking around here carrying a case of wine?”
Xander made a face. “Long story. Tori’s taken pity on the girl who runs the wine bar. Do you know the deal there?”
“Yeah. So do you. It’s the same old story that happens all the time. A young couple had a great idea but didn’t have the business savvy to back it up. The business went to shit, the relationship went to shit, and I’m guessing that if Tori’s taken pity on Rachel, you know the rest yourself.”
“Yeah. It sucks. I feel bad for her.”
Smoke shrugged. “It’s the way it goes, you know that.”
“What are you doing out here, anyway?”
“This is where Laura’s store is, didn’t you know that?”
“Nope. I’ve never been here before, remember? Tori has, but I haven’t.”
“Right. Where is she?”
“Hanging out with Rachel. I said I’d give them a minute and take the case out to the truck.”
Smoke chuckled. “You mean you used the wine as an excuse to get the fuck out of there while they talk.”
Xander chuckled with him. “You make it sound a whole lot worse than it is.”
Smoke grasped his shoulder. “Come with me. I’m on my way to pick up Laura. She’ll be pleased to see you both. Then again, maybe she’ll want to go and hang out with Tori and Rachel. If she does, I’m sure we can find a way to keep ourselves busy until they’re done.”
Chapter Sixteen
Tori gave Xander a puzzled look when they arrived at her mom’s place.
“It doesn’t look like they’re here, does it? I know she’s expecting us, though.”
“Maybe they had to run out,” said Xander. “It’s not a big deal. If they’re not around, we can stop by on the way back from Smoke and Laura’s later.”
“I’ll go knock and see,” said Tori.
When she was halfway up the steps, the front door opened, and Russ appeared with a smile on his face.
“Hey, come on in. Your mom should be back any minute. She went out for breakfast with the girls this morning. She called a little while ago to say that she’s on her way.”
Tori shook her head in wonder. “Out for breakfast with the girls?”
Russ chuckled. “Yeah. It’s a thing around here. Usually, a whole bunch of us get together for breakfast on the weekends, but once a month or so the women leave us guys at home.” He grinned at Xander. “You know, so that they can talk about us while we’re not there.”
Xander laughed, and Tori slapped Russ’s arm. “I bet it’s more like so they can talk about whatever they want without you there.”
Russ shrugged. “Whatever the reason, your mom seems to enjoy it.”
Tori loved hearing that. Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t remember her mom doing much with her friends before – or even having friends. She was close with Madeleine Hamilton – who was Smoke, Cameron, and Chelsea’s mom, but Tori could only ever remember them doing things together that had something to do with the wine business. Well, they were involved in a lot of the same charities, too, but that wasn’t the same as just getting together to hang out as friends.
Just as Russ started to show them inside, he stopped and jerked his chin toward the end of the driveway where his truck had just appeared.
