“Perfect,” Brenna said, leaning back in the chair in the living room. She picked up her phone. “He said he’d keep her away for about an hour and a half to give us time to set up and for the guests to arrive, so they should be back in about ten minutes.”

  “I guess we should head over to the barn,” Mae said.

  “And I just put my feet up and it feels so good.” Erin made a pouty face.

  “You could stay here,” Honor said.

  She leaned forward and put her heels back on. “Not a chance. I’m not about to miss Mom’s surprised face.”

  They went back over to the barn and slipped inside. The room was filled with family and friends, all being served drinks. Soft music was playing and it was absolutely beautiful.

  Jason came over to Erin and tugged her against him. “It looks amazing, babe.”

  “You all did great,” Finn said, coming over to stand next to Brenna.

  “Thanks,” Brenna said, then picked up her phone to read a message. “Just got a text from Dad. They’re home.”

  Erin signaled the band to stop playing, then walked to the center of the room. “All right, everyone. It’s time for the big surprise.”

  The room quieted down. Honor’s heart kicked up a beat as she and her sisters went to the doors. When they heard Mom and Dad at the entrance, they pulled the doors open and everyone yelled, “Surprise!” Mom’s hand went to her heart and her eyes widened, and Honor knew right then that they had truly surprised her.

  “What is all this?” Mom asked as she walked in.

  “Happy birthday, Mom,” Erin said, and then there was a family group hug.

  “I can’t believe this,” their mother said. “How did you do this without me knowing about it?”

  “Your daughters,” Dad said. “They’re very sneaky. I helped.”

  “Yes, you sure did,” Mom said, kissing Dad.

  The music started up and Mom and Dad went around the tables to greet everyone.

  Honor looked around for Owen but didn’t see him. She hoped he’d show up—one, because she wanted him to help celebrate with them tonight, and two, because she really wanted to see him.

  In the meantime, they had a party to put on, and tonight was going to be a blast.

  * * *

  • • •

  OF COURSE TONIGHT had to be the busiest Saturday night they’d had in weeks, but Owen was lucky to also have the best people working with him, so he could take the rest of the night off. He made sure everything was in order before he slipped away. He took Bettie home, and fortunately, she was tired out from working with him outside all day, and from wandering through the crowds at the bar tonight having everyone worship her—as was her due. So when they got home she got a long drink of water, did her business outside and went straight to her bed with her favorite stuffed bunny.

  Owen took the fastest shower on record, put on jeans and a button-down shirt and slipped into his cowboy boots, then flew out the door and into his truck. He looked at the clock, realizing the party had started an hour ago.

  Damn. He wished he could have been there earlier, but there was nothing he could have done about that.

  When he pulled into the parking lot, it was full, and there were lights shining outside the barn. He headed that way, walking up the steps and opening the door, smiling when he saw the Bellini signature décor of bright lights and amazing music, not to mention the smell of incredible food. Hopefully he hadn’t missed dinner.

  “You’re late, man. I already ate all the food.”

  He threw a glare at Jason. “You’d better be lying.”

  “He’s lying,” Finn said, “because I ate all the food.”

  “And I ate the leftovers,” Clay said.

  He shook his head. “You’re all assholes.”

  Finn laughed and put his arm around Owen. “Plenty of food left. And drink. And the party’s just getting started.”

  He followed the guys inside to a table where Erin, Brenna, Honor, Alice and Mae were sitting, along with some guy he didn’t recognize that must be Mae’s date. Honor’s parents were standing over there talking with them, too. His stomach dropped, because this was where he was about to be judged for dating Honor.

  “Oh, Owen, I’m so glad you could make it.” Maureen Bellini stood and came over to put her arms around him.

  He exhaled in relief and returned the hug. “Happy birthday, Maureen.”

  “Thank you.” She held his hands and extended her arms. “You look good. You took off work on a Saturday night?”

  “I couldn’t miss your birthday party.”

  She tilted her head and smiled. “Thank you. Did you eat?”

  “No, I just got here.”

  “Go eat something. Have drinks. Enjoy yourself.”

  “I will, thanks.”

  Johnny came over and shook his hand. “Good to see you here, figlio.”

  Son. From the time he was a kid, Johnny had always called him that. It warmed him to hear that word again. Especially after everything he’d been through with the Bellinis. He was happy to know that Johnny and Maureen had both softened some on him dating Honor.

  Maybe they’d just needed some time to get used to the idea. He hoped that was the case, anyway.

  “Thanks, Johnny. I’m happy to be here. Vineyard looks great.”

  Johnny beamed a smile. “It does, yes? Another good crop this year. Come by and try some wine soon.”

  “I’ll do that.” When Johnny invited you to sample the wine, you didn’t turn him down. He made a mental note to drop by next week.

  “The Marches just stopped by,” Maureen said, grabbing Johnny’s arm. “Let’s go say hello.”

  “All right. Go dance with my daughter.”

  “And eat some food,” Maureen said.

  He smiled and nodded and watched them wander off.

  Honor came over and grasped his arm. “Hi.”

  “Hi, yourself. Have I ever mentioned how beautiful you look in yellow?”

  She smiled. “Thank you. Have I ever mentioned how hot you look in jeans and a shirt? Or out of jeans and a shirt?”

  He grinned. “Well, thank you for both compliments.”

  “Hungry?”

  “Starving.”

  She led him toward the tables where the food was laid out. “Wait till I show you what I cooked up tonight.”

  “Oh, you made this, huh?”

  She laughed. “Right. Actually, Brenna did the ordering. I just approved her selections.”

  He filled his plate with the amazing array of veggies, fish fillets, and rice, then took a seat at the table, where he met Damon, who was Mae’s date tonight. He sat and listened to everyone talk while he stuffed delicious food in his mouth.

  “I need to check on the food trays with the caterers,” Honor said. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Do you need help?” Mae asked.

  “No, I’ve got it. You stay here and enjoy.” She shot Owen a smile, then hurried off.

  And then Erin sat down next to him.

  Honor didn’t say how things were going between them, so he had no idea how this was going to play out.

  “Owen.”

  “Erin.”

  “I’m surprised you managed to slip away from the brewery tonight.”

  He took a swallow of water before answering. “I got a bar manager to cover for me.”

  She arched a brow. “You have more than one now?”

  “A few, actually.”

  “So business is growing. How nice for you.”

  There was an edge to her voice, but he wasn’t going to take the bait. “Thanks. How are you feeling?”

  She rubbed her belly, which was surprisingly already showing a bit of roundness. “Like this pregnancy is moving right along. But it’s all good, thank you for asking.”

  “I’m happy for you and Jason. You’ll both make amazing parents.”

  “Thank you. We’re still so shocked it happened so fast.”

  Jason sat next to Erin, coughed and mumbled, “super sperm.”

  Erin rolled her eyes, but Owen laughed. “Hey, however it happened, you two are having a baby.”

  “Seems like just yesterday we were all shooting water guns at each other,” Jason said.

  “And then sometimes you and Clay and Owen would throw rocks at us,” Brenna said.

  “Yes, until Dad caught you and made you work in the vineyard all day,” Erin said.

  “It was brutal,” Owen said. “He made us rake and tend soil and it was scorching hot while you girls sat there and ate Popsicles in front of us while all we got was water.”

  Jason nodded. “And even worse, Maureen told our parents, so not only did we get punished with a day of labor, we got our asses kicked when we got home.”

  Clay winced. “I remember that. Wasn’t pleasant at all.”

  Erin laughed. “You all deserved it. Bullies.”

  Jason cocked his head at her. “We were eight.”

  “Assholes, even then,” Brenna said.

  Mae’s date, Damon, looked over at her. She shrugged. “Before my time. I didn’t meet up with Honor until high school.”

  “Really sorry I missed that part of your lives,” Finn said. “Ow, you elbowed me.” He looked over at Brenna.

  “You would have joined in, wouldn’t you?”

  “Lass, I would never.”

  Jason snorted, then gave Brenna an innocent look when she glared at him, which made Erin laugh. And then Owen got up to grab a beer while everyone was laughing.

  So far, things were going well. Maybe the worst had passed between Honor and Erin.

  He hoped so.

  * * *

  • • •

  IT HAD BEEN such a fun night. The best part was that Mom had been genuinely surprised. They’d had a great crowd, and everyone had a good time. The food had been delicious, the band had played all of Mom’s favorite songs and she and Dad had danced for hours.

  Almost everyone had left, with only the family remaining. And Owen and Finn, of course. Honor and Owen had danced, too, and it had felt so good to be in his arms. She’d finally been able to relax after all this time. And, sure, maybe she’d had a little wine. More than a little wine. Okay, a lot of wine.

  She’d gotten her period two days ago, so she definitely wasn’t pregnant. She should have told Owen about that, but for some reason she hadn’t yet. She didn’t know why. Maybe it was all the birthday party planning, or maybe it was because the end of the pregnancy speculation would also signal the end of their marriage, and she wasn’t ready for that just yet.

  Was that unfair to Owen? Probably. But there’d just been so much going on, and she wanted to enjoy a few stress-free days before they had to sit down and officially discuss dissolving their marriage.

  She looked across the room to see him sitting with Jason, Finn, Brenna and Erin, which kind of surprised her, but maybe that was a good thing. They were all engrossed in conversation about . . . something. He’d rolled up his shirtsleeves and she focused on his forearms, so muscular, the way those hairs on his arms felt whenever she rubbed her hand across them.

  She should go home with him tonight so she could get his forearms totally naked. No, wait, they were already naked, weren’t they? But other parts of him weren’t, and she’d definitely like to see those parts.

  Good God, she was slightly inebriated, wasn’t she?

  Anyway, she went to check on a few things. When she came back, everyone was laughing, but Owen wasn’t with the group. They were pointing at him as he stood at the bar.

  How dare they make fun of him behind his back? Say what they want about her, but she was not going to let them do this to the man she loved.

  She marched over to the group.

  “Okay, look. I get that Erin’s pregnant and you’re all sensitive to that, but you could be kinder to Owen and not laugh behind his back.”

  Erin blinked. “Honor. What the hell are you talking about? He was just—”

  “I come up here and find you pointing fingers at him and laughing. Could you be any more cruel, Erin? I mean, come for me if you want to, but leave Owen out of this.”

  “Honor,” Brenna said. “I think—”

  Honor held up her hand. “I’ve got this, Bren. It’s time Erin and I have it out.”

  Erin stood. “Maybe it is time for us to have it out. This has gone on for too long.”

  “Okay, enough. You three, come with me.”

  Honor looked up to see her mother’s angry face staring down at her. She grimaced.

  “Mom, I—”

  “She started it,” Erin said. “I didn’t even do anything.”

  “And I don’t want to hear it. Not anymore. Erin, Honor, come with me right now. Brenna, you come, too.”

  Brenna stood. “Me? What did I do?”

  “Just come along.”

  “Well, shit,” Brenna said, shooting a questioning look at Honor.

  Honor could only shrug. Mom was using her angry voice, and when she did that, you didn’t argue with her.

  They followed their mother through the door and into a room they used for storage. She pulled out three chairs.

  “Are you serious?” Erin asked.

  “The three of you are going to sit here and work through this, and I don’t want you coming out until you’ve all made up.”

  “This is ridiculous. I’m not going to—”

  “Erin. Sit down.” Mom gave her the look. Erin sat.

  “When the three of you are all acting like friends and sisters again and have worked through this, then you can come out. I’ll bring you some lemonade.”

  “What if I have to pee?” Brenna asked.

  “You are not too old for me to go to your father.”

  Brenna took a seat and crossed her arms. Since it seemed like there’d be no escape, Honor sat as well.

  “Now give me your phones.”

  Erin’s head shot up. “What? You can’t—”

  “Mom, come on,” Brenna said, interrupting Erin.

  “This is kind of ridiculous,” Honor added.

  “No phones. No playing games or texting your complaints to anyone. Just the three of you, talking.”

  Honor rolled her eyes but handed her phone over. Erin and Brenna did the same, after a lot of grumbling.

  Mom brought a pitcher of lemonade and three glasses, then closed the door behind her.

  Dead silence. Honor finally got up and poured a glass.

  “Anyone want some lemonade?” she asked.

  “I’ll take one,” Brenna said.

  She filled a glass and delivered it to Brenna, then turned to Erin.

  “Erin?”

  Erin waited a beat before saying, “Fine. I’ll take one.”

  She handed the glass to her sister, then sat down and took a sip, enjoying the tart sweetness of the always perfect lemonade. She looked up to see Erin staring at her hands, rubbing her fingers over her nails. Brenna played with the bracelets on her wrists. They could be at this all night.

  “This is so stupid,” Brenna said. “It’s like we’re kids again.”

  Brenna wasn’t lying about that. Their mother had always made them sit together in a room and talk out their problems. It typically worked. And if they wanted to get out of this particular issue, the only way to do it was for one of them to start talking.

  “Okay, I’ll go first,” Honor said, shifting in her chair to face Erin. “Erin, I’m sorry for not telling you right away that I was dating Owen, and for whatever else you think I did wrong. If you’ll just tell me we can talk it out.”

  Erin continued to focus on her nails.

  “I’ll go next,” Brenna said. “No one was laughing at Owen, Honor. We were reminiscing about childhood antics and laughing, and then Owen got up to grab a beer and we were all still laughing. That’s what you saw.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah.”

  “But maybe your guilt over dating my ex-fiancé made you read more into it,” Erin said.

  “It would if I felt guilty about it, which I don’t. But I am sorry about accusing you.”

  Erin clamped her lips together after Honor’s apology, and the room fell silent again.

  “You know how Mom is, Erin,” Brenna said. “She will actually keep us in this room until we work this out. Do you really want to give birth in here?”

  Honor tried her best not to laugh.

  Erin looked up. “Fine. You didn’t tell me you were dating Owen. I just don’t get it. Why did it have to be this big secret? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

  In that moment, Honor decided to come completely clean with Erin. She was so tired of lying. And maybe it was time for the truth to come out.

  The whole truth. Then they could really clear the air.

  “Okay, I’m going to tell you the whole truth this time. No more lying.”

  Erin cocked her head to the side.

  “We were never dating. I mean, we’re dating now, but what actually happened was, Owen and I ran into each other in Vegas. We were both there for conferences and ended up staying at the same hotel.”

  “And that’s when you started dating?” Brenna asked.

  She rubbed her temple. “Not exactly. See, we decided to have drinks and then dinner, only instead of dinner we ended up doing shots of tequila, which led to more shots, and the next thing we knew we woke up in bed together the next morning. Married.”

  She gave her sisters a little grimacy smile.

  “You’re married,” Erin said. “To Owen.”

  “Yes.”

  “This whole time you’ve been married to Owen and you didn’t tell anyone?” Brenna asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  That slight headache that was burrowing its way between her eyes was growing ever stronger.