He couldn’t tell her that, though. He was stuck now, in this lie that he’d been stuck in for weeks. At first, it had felt harmless, even kind of funny. A joke between him and Avery, a silly story to his mom, but one that was no big deal, one that he’d correct eventually, once he figured out what he was doing next.
But now it felt so false, when he was smiling like that about Margot, for his mom to think that it was about Avery. It almost felt like a betrayal of Margot. It definitely felt like a real lie, not just the fudging of the truth it had been at the beginning, where he mostly just hadn’t corrected his mom. And he really fucking hated it.
And he’d done this to himself, all because of that job?
“Lauren, we really should get you home,” Pete said.
His mom sighed.
“I know.” She leaned over and gave Luke a hug. “Thanks again, Luke. I don’t know what I’d do without you. On sabbatical from your big-time job and you jump in to help your mom. How did I get this lucky?”
Luke gave her a tight squeeze.
“Just get home and get some rest.” He looked up at Pete. “Let me know if I can bring over anything, okay?”
Pete nodded.
“Will do.”
Luke watched them walk out, his mind still on everything his mom had said. On sabbatical from his big-time job. Right. He had to do something to end this farce. And plus, he had to see if this whole thing about interviewing for Brian’s job was for real.
He pulled out his phone.
LUKE
Hey Craig—I’d love to chat. Let me know when is good for you.
* * *
SYDNEY CAME BY THE winery the Friday before the party, ostensibly to see what the Barrel’s setup would be, but Margot knew it was really to give her some last-minute help. She was grateful for it—all of the folding tables and chairs had been delivered the day before and were stacked in the barn, but she wanted to get everything else they needed over there before the end of the day. Thankfully, Taylor and Daisy had everything covered in the tasting room, and she could throw herself into party details.
“Charlie wanted to come today but couldn’t,” Sydney said when they walked out to the lawn, boxes full of wineglasses in their arms. “But they told me to make sure that we have a table out of the direct sun. You know how pale they are.”
Margot laughed.
“I do, but no need to worry, we rented shade umbrellas for that reason. I didn’t want anyone getting heatstroke at our party; that would be a nightmare.”
Sydney shuddered.
“You’d lose it.” She looked around the grounds. “It all looks great back here. I’m really impressed at how much you got done in such a short time.”
Margot looked around, too. Everything was green and flowering and fragrant. It looked just how she’d wanted.
“I know. I’m really pleased with it. Pete and his team did all of the hard work. And Elliot made the planter boxes.” She grinned. “I just told everyone what to do.”
Sydney patted her on the shoulder.
“Well, you’re very good at that.”
Margot brought her into the barn, and they set the wineglasses on a table just inside. Margot looked around, but Elliot wasn’t there. Even so, she beckoned Sydney back outside before she said anything else.
“I’m sure my brother is about to explode with how I’ve taken over part of his domain here for this party that he didn’t even want to have, so I’m trying to keep things organized in there.”
Sydney waved that away.
“He’ll be fine. Is he going to behave tomorrow?”
Margot sighed.
“I hope so.” She really wanted to check in with him and ask him to please be nice to people tomorrow, but she had a feeling it would backfire if she did. She’d barely seen Elliot in the last week, but he’d been around last night when all of the supplies had gotten delivered, and had helped them get everything into the barn.
Margot gestured to the corner of the lawn.
“I have you in the corner there. We’ll keep this path clear, and have the food all along the far edge of the square, so there will be space in the middle for people to eat and drink and mingle. The wine stations will be right by the barn, partly for flow, partly because then it’s easiest for us to restock.” She turned to Sydney. “I’ll bring you into my office—I have a whole sketch of the setup on the wall, along with all of my other plans. My staff makes fun of me for it.”
“I definitely want to see this, and I will definitely make fun of you for it, too,” Sydney said. “But when you said your staff makes fun of you for it, you had that little smile on your face. Don’t you mean your former staff, your current—”