Anything for You (Blue Heron #5)(52)

“Jess.” He managed a nod, he was pretty sure.

“Here to see your mom?”

“Yep.” His mother was frowning at him now and kept shoving at her hair.

“You still don’t notice anything different about me?” Mom asked.

“Can I have a taste of the Gewürztraminer?” one of the men asked.

“Let me pour that for you,” Jess said. She pulled out a bottle and stepped a little bit behind his mother, then pointed at her own hand.

Her left ring finger, to be precise.

Connor’s eyes widened. He looked at his mother’s hand. Sure enough, there was a diamond there, as big as a cherry tomato.

“Hail Mary,” he said.

“I know!” Mom crowed. “Ronnie and I are getting married!”

“Holy shit.”

“Stop cussing and hug your mother,” Jessica said calmly.

“Mazel tov,” said the lady in the horse shirt, clinking her glass with her husband’s.

There were a lot more cusses that wanted to come out, that was for sure. His mother? Getting married? She was...sixty, maybe? Did she really need to be married? Because marriage implied... Okay, gross. And to Ronnie Petrosinsky, the Chicken King? Didn’t he have ties to the Russian Mob?

Was his mother actually having sex with the Chicken King? Connor’s stomach rolled.

“He’s choked up,” Jess said. “Aw. Look at him, Jeanette.”

“You’ll still be my best boy,” Mom said, coming around to hug him.

“Uh... I’m so happy for you, Mom,” Connor murmured. The wine tasters cooed.

Jessica gave him a wry smile. He smiled begrudgingly back, then hugged his mother a little harder.

This would be good. Ronnie was a decent guy, loved his only child, made fistfuls of money with his fried-chicken empire, and Mom would have someone to look after, and someone to look after her.

Connor wouldn’t have to plow his mother’s driveway every time it snowed. He wouldn’t have to worry about her if the power went out during a thunderstorm.

He wouldn’t have to worry if she was lonely.

“Okay, let me go. I’m having a hot flash,” Mom said, and Connor realized he was hugging her very close, indeed.

Maybe he was a little choked up.

“Have you set a date? I don’t want you shacking up with this guy. Would’ve been nice if he’d asked my permission first,” Connor grumbled.

His mother laughed. She did look happy. And younger. And pretty. “Sometime this summer. I also might be quitting Blue Heron.”

“Don’t even joke about that,” Jessica said. “Folks, no one knows our wine better than Jeanette except the Hollands themselves,” she added, filling glasses. “You have the privilege of talking with a real connoisseur today.”

“Oh, Jessica, you’re too nice!” Mom said. “But she’s right, I do love wine. Have you tried our Chardonnay? It’s lovely, and we have both oaked and unoaked.” She glanced at him. “Connor, sweetheart, I’ll see you later, okay? You and Colleen are coming to dinner this week. Is it me, or is she huge?”

“I think she looks beautiful,” Jess said.

“She’s huge,” Connor said. “Congratulations, Mom.”

His mother beamed.

Good. She deserved happiness. She’d been something of a ghoul these past ten years, moaning and mooning after Pete. High time she got over him.

“Jess, can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked.

The faintest blush worked its way into her cheeks. “You bet. Come on back.”

She led him down the hall, past Honor’s office and into hers, a smaller version of the same. On the door was a nameplate: Jessica Dunn, Director of Marketing.

He could guess what that meant to her. The office overlooked the vineyard. She’d decorated with a couple of photos of her and Davey, or Davey alone. A stuffed animal sat on one shelf, as well as some books on marketing and wine. Otherwise, it still looked very new.

“Have a seat,” she said, going behind the desk. She picked up a pen, then put it down.

“Congratulations to you, too,” he said. “On your job promotion. I’m really—” proud, he wanted to say “—happy for you.”

“Thanks.” The flush deepened. “What can I do for you, Connor?”

He could think of roughly eighty-seven things immediately, all of which involved sex. “Uh...well, I just... I wanted to say...” Shit. Talking was hard. He took a deep breath. “No hard feelings, Jess. I understand.”

Her face didn’t change, didn’t move, but her eyes flickered. There were a hundred stories there, and none that he’d get to hear. She’d told him all she was going to.

She nodded. “Thank you.” Her voice was low.

“I just don’t want to... I mean, it’d be nice if we could...”

He hated talking.

“I know. Me, too.” She gave him a little smile. Words had never really been their thing, anyway.

“Is everything okay with you?” he asked, because there were shadows under her eyes, and he wasn’t dumb enough to think he’d caused them.

She picked up the pen again. “My father’s back in town.”

A hot, slow wave of anger flooded Connor’s chest. Keith Dunn had screwed his family over more times than anyone could count. Left Jessica completely in charge of Davey after her mother died.