Trusting You (Second Chances #2)(50)

Brett took my hand and kissed my knuckles. “We’ll come back tomorrow, okay? Maybe you should try calling her again.”

Nodding, I grabbed my phone out of my purse and dialed her number. After pulling out of the long driveway we headed down the country road that was surrounded by nothing but rows and rows of vines with succulent grapes. Memories flooded my mind of the times I spent wandering through the fields and enjoying the peace it offered. I smiled just thinking about it, and also about the times Daniel’s mother would teach me about the various grapes and how the winery worked. I was so fascinated by it all.

Before I could press ‘send’ on my phone to finish the call to Claire, my gaze caught a bright yellow FJ Cruiser flying down the road toward us. My eyes went wide. “It’s her,” I shouted. “That’s Claire coming this way. Turn around!”

Brett slammed on the brakes and waited for Claire to fly past us before he turned the truck around. Mason growled behind us, “What the hell is she doing? She needs to slow the f*ck down. ”

Giggling, I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Oh, Mason, have you forgotten her already? I don’t think she knows what driving slow means. I think she got pulled over three times for speeding in just the one weekend she came to visit.”

“Yeah, I remember her,” he started, “she also jumped off the roof of your house into your pool at the annual summer party. She had all my friends drooling over her.”

I raised my brows at him. “I seem to remember someone else drooling over her, too.” Brett tried to cover up his smile by turning his head.

Mason scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest; he was in denial. “Yeah, yeah, Mel. Keep telling yourself that.”

When we pulled back into the driveway, Claire was unloading her bags out of her car but turned when she heard us sidle up. Squinting her eyes, she tried to figure out who was pulling in behind her, but as soon as I stepped out of the car, her eyes went wide and she squealed, “Melissa, is that really you? Oh hell, girl, come here.”

She waved her arms impatiently, so I rushed over to her and tackled her in my arms. She was a couple inches taller than me with long, straight blonde hair and legs for days. She was a dancer for years and was accepted into Julliard, but after an extensive ankle injury she gave it up to go to college and learn business management. I don’t think she ever regretted following in her family’s footsteps.

“I am so sorry about your mother,” I whispered to her. “She was a magnificent woman.”

I could feel her nodding against my shoulder as she hugged me. “Yes, she was. She asked about you all the time you know. I don’t think she ever got over being mad at Daniel for what he did to you.” She let me go but held onto my hands when she faced me. “So what are you doing all the way out here? Does Daniel know you’re here?”

“No,” I replied hesitantly, squeezing her hands. “I need to talk to you and I don’t want Daniel knowing. Can we come in for a while?”

Narrowing her eyes, she slowly said, “Sure, no problem. Is there something wrong?” She looked past my shoulder at the guys and smiled, acknowledging them.

I turned my gaze to the men and introduced them. “Claire, you already know my cousin Mason.”

“How could I forget?” she said, grinning from ear to ear.

“And the other one over there is Brett Walker. He’s the guy I’m seeing right now.”

Claire’s eyes went wide and she whistled. “Wow, he’s a handsome one. I wonder where I can find a guy like that.” I hooked a glance over at Mason who lowered his head and shifted on his feet. She blushed when I raised my brow at her, but then shook her head and led me to the door; the guys followed.

When we got inside, Claire asked, “So what has my brother done now for you to come all the way out here to talk to me? Did you try to call me?”

“I did,” I replied. “I called several times, but you never answered. I also left messages. I was starting to get worried about you.”

Ambling into the kitchen, Claire grabbed a bottle of wine and opened it. “Yeah, I lost my phone in London. Daniel shipped me off there after Momma died, and said I needed to get away while he handled everything here. I should’ve checked my messages, but I just wanted to get away, you know? Most of my messages were probably from people saying how sorry they were about my mom’s death, and I didn’t really want to listen to it.”

Pursing my lips, I sat there confused, chewing the inside of my cheek. She didn’t sound distraught over losing the vineyards at all. Surely, I didn’t make a mistake coming out here. When I looked over my shoulder, both Brett and Mason were waving me on to continue talking.

“So Daniel was the one who shipped you off? It didn’t sound like that when I talked to him,” I began.

Wide-eyed, she stopped pouring her wine. “You talked to him? He won’t even answer my calls.” She glanced over at Brett and then back to me. “What does loverboy say about you hitting it up with the ex?”

Brett grumbled in the background. Claire immediately put her hand over her mouth and groaned. “Sorry, didn’t mean it like that. But seriously, what did he say? I don’t know why he’s not answering my calls.”

“See that’s funny, Claire, because he basically said the same thing about you. He said that you aren’t really speaking to him right now because of the whole situation with your mother’s will.” Okay, I brought it up. Let’s see where it goes.