Desire and a Bottle of Merlot: (Like Sisters Series Book 5) Chick Lit: A Romantic Comedy (8 page)

Hugs, kisses, and more kisses took over the Renaud family as they embraced each other, and tears flowed.

“Papa, Mama, I’m so happy you’re here,” Sasha said as she held her parents tightly. “This is Josh, my fiancé, and here’s the little one.” Sasha rubbed her belly, showing off how proud she was of her baby bump. Nobody, not even her parents, would find out she was carrying twins until the party.

Josh shook hands with Sasha’s father, Gerard, and embraced her mother, Alina. “It’s wonderful to meet you both. Shall we?” Josh led them toward the baggage-claim area to pick up their luggage. He was sure they had plenty since they were staying for more than a month.

The drive back to Tarrytown seemed much faster than usual with the flurry of conversation going on. Sasha described the Victorian in great detail, knowing her parents would fall in love with it, too.

“Well, here we are,” Josh said as he pulled into the driveway.

Sasha had let Dan and his helpers know she and Josh would be having company and a party over the weekend. They’d take a few days off, giving Sasha her driveway back temporarily.

The expressions her parents wore said it all. They were surprised and impressed with the size and beauty of the Victorian. “Sasha, I had no idea…” Her father stood there, staring, flabbergasted.

She laughed proudly. “I know what you mean, Papa. I always thought I’d live in the city in an apartment, too. Isn’t she grand?”

Her father would know a beautiful home when he saw one. His chateau in the south of France dated back to the early 1800s, and it was magnificent.

“Come inside so I can show you and Mama around.” She showed them the Victorian, room by room, explaining how the library would be used for weddings, too. The photos of the deck and arbors were waiting for her father’s approval on the dining-room table.

Sasha and her parents sat with coffee and apple muffins, looking over the sketches of the wedding garden Josh had drawn months earlier. Then Sasha walked with her parents to the vacant lot. She wanted them to envision what they planned out on paper. The ground was tilled and the grape stock was waiting to be planted.

“This is wonderful, Sasha.” Alina still held onto a thick Russian accent. “We’re both very proud of you and your accomplishments. Josh, you have quite a woman here. She’s a different, more mature young lady these days. We’re excited for both of you.”

“We’ll get started on the vineyard next week. We don’t want the vines sitting too long before they’re planted. Everything will be beautiful by the time of the weddings.” Gerard gave his daughter a reassuring hug.

Cars filled the driveway and lined up against the curb while pink-and-blue balloons, tied to the porch rails, blew in the wind. A party was going on in the Victorian. Introductions had been made earlier, and the women were busy in the kitchen, preparing lunch. The men gathered outside for the moment—there was too much commotion in the house for their liking. They stood with their arms folded across their chests, resembling bobble-head dolls as they nodded in agreement. So far, the progress of the deck looked good. Grape stock would be planted, starting the next day, and all the men had volunteered to help except Mario. He joked about being really good at giving orders. He still had weeks of recovery to go through before he could even bend over without pain. Gerard was given the condensed version of Mario’s encounter with Sampson, the devil himself.

Sasha called out from the kitchen window. Lunch was ready, and the games would soon begin. Streamers and balloons filled the library along with plenty of chairs for everyone to sit comfortably on, especially Mario. Two chairs sat center stage in the middle of the room for Josh and Sasha. A table holding a platter of cupcakes and plates sat next to them. The color of the cream-filled centers in the cupcakes would reveal the sex of the baby. What nobody knew was that all the cupcakes were filled with a mix of pink and blue cream centers. Each guest had to wear something that was blue or pink, depending on what gender they thought the baby was. The winners would get a token gift. The joke was on everyone since Sasha had bought plenty of gifts: at this party, they would all win.

After lunch, the group gathered in the library. Sasha took a head count of everyone wearing pink. There were seven. That left four people thinking the baby was a boy. They played games, such as pin the diaper on the baby, for Starbucks gift cards. Everyone had to come up with a name and say which gender they thought the baby was and why they’d chosen it. Finally, the time for the reveal was upon them. Sasha and Josh walked around the room together, handing out cupcakes from a platter. The crowd had to wait until their hosts were comfortably seated in the center of the room. Sasha would call out when it was time for everyone to take a bite.

“Okay, is everyone ready?” Sasha tried to build up suspense by prolonging the initial bite. “On the count of three…”

“Oh, for craps sake,” Vic said. “Go!”

The guests bit into their cupcakes and quickly checked the color of the cream. Looks of confusion covered their faces.

“Sasha, I think the bakery made a mistake. There’s a mix of both colors.” Karen looked at the center of Mario’s cupcake, which was the same as hers.

Sasha and Josh wore Cheshire-cat grins as they began laughing. “Okay, the jig is up… we’re having twins, a boy and a girl!” Sasha laughed in delight as everyone screamed.

Her parents cried, the girls cried, and the guys cried—maybe a little. Now that everyone knew there would be two babies, Sasha thought of the perfect way to fund the twins’ college accounts. Each woman was welcome to spend five minutes rubbing Sasha’s belly that carried, not one, but two precious babies! In Sasha’s mind, that was a golden opportunity if there ever was one. It would only cost them a dollar a baby.

“Sasha, you know that only comes to eight bucks, don’t you?” Tina snickered.

“No, it comes to ten dollars. You can’t forget my mom.”

“You’re going to charge you own mother to rub your belly?” Mia laughed.

“Yes, I am. It’s all about the children, you know,” she sniped.

The party turned out to be an overwhelming success, and Sasha now had ten dollars safely stashed in her pocket to open the twins’ bank accounts with.

Planting day finally arrived, the long start of digging and planting 450 grapevines in Sasha’s vacant lot. The pallet of reclaimed bricks sat on the edge of the driveway, waiting to be set in place on the cement slab. Dan and his helpers worked on the deck as Josh, Sasha, Alina, and Gerard began to measure out the lot for row placement. There would be six feet between each row. The lot could hold ten full-length rows—five on each side of the wedding garden—and ten half rows with the bricked ceremony platform in the center. Dan measured the amount of space he would need around the slab for the pergola.

Tina showed up at lunchtime, surprising everyone. “Hey, guys, I’m here to help. I don’t have any more appointments today.”

A sly smile crossed Sasha’s face as she acknowledged her friend’s presence. She glanced at Dan. He was already checking out Tina. Sasha, her mom, and Tina sat on the green Adirondack chairs, trying to come up with a pattern for the bricks. The brick pattern and placement had to be beautiful and sturdy since it would be the highlight of the wedding garden. Sasha liked the Herringbone pattern she’d found on her iPad. Now, if they could figure the math correctly, the bricks should fall into place perfectly.

Dan took a ten-minute break along with his crew. Sasha noticed him walking in their direction, and she kicked Tina’s leg.

“What the hell did you do that for?” Tina growled.

“Shush… Dan is coming this way.”

“That’s friggin’ awesome.” Tina began to get up, but Sasha grabbed her leg and pulled her back down.

“Ladies…” He smiled, shielding his eyes from the sun. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but…”

“I bet you didn’t,” Tina grumbled under her breath while rolling her eyes.

Sasha pressed her fingers into Tina’s forearm and gave her a threatening scowl.

“Anyway, I overheard you trying to figure out the math for the brick placement on the slab. I can help you with that if you don’t mind. I actually used to tutor kids in math years ago.” Dan sat in the last vacant chair, which happened to be right next to Tina. “The slab is a thousand square feet, right?”

“That’s right,” Sasha replied.

“How many bricks did you buy?”

“I’m sure it was at least a thousand. I knew that was probably too many, but there’s the path and borders to think of too.”

“That’s good, considering the average size of a brick.” Dan pulled the pencil from its resting spot above his left ear and began scratching out the math on a piece of paper, “Let’s see… we’ll need to use six hundred bricks. Could be a little more or less, depending on how the pattern falls. I’d suggest starting in the center and working your way out.”

Tina studied Dan’s features as he figured the calculations. The day was warm, and his jacket sat on the hood of the work van. His skin, already darkened by the occasional warm days, glistened in the sun. The muscles in his right forearm flexed as he wrote. She was mesmerized by him—much more than she wanted to be. His two-day stubble seemed deliberate since it always looked deliciously the same, and those turquoise eyes, the color of the Caribbean, made Tina shiver. She had to look away.

“Thanks, Dan. At least I know we have enough bricks. That’s a relief. Maybe you can help me lay out the beginning of the pattern?”

I’d like to lay him out.
Tina shook her head, appalled by the images in her mind.

“What are you shaking your head for?”

“Huh… me? There was a bee buzzing around. Didn’t you see it?”

“Nope.” Sasha grinned at Tina a little longer than necessary.

“Sure, Sasha,” Dan said as he went back to work. “Just let me know when you’re ready, I’d be glad to get you started.”

And I’d be glad to get you started, Mr. Hottie. That’s it—I have to get him out of my head.
Tina stood up, huffed, and walked back to the house, dismissing everyone.

“Take these bottles of water out to the guys,” Sasha instructed Tina when they were back indoors.

“Who made you my boss?” Tina smirked while she secretly salivated at the sight of the men through the kitchen window.

“It’s just water, for craps sake. You looked interested. Mom, will you do it, please?”

“Forget it—give me the stupid bottles. I’ll hand them out.” Tina walked around to the back of the Victorian with bottles of ice-cold water for the hard-working guys. Dan, Jeff, and Bill were laying the floorboards on the bottom tier of the deck. The sun, being directly overhead, was beating down on the men. Each one had their shirts stripped off already, exposing rock hard, gorgeous abs.

“Hi, guys. I brought out some water. It looks like you might need some.” Tina turned on her heels after setting the bottles down on the treated-lumber boards.
I’m going to pass out any second if I don’t get the hell out of here.

“
Tina, come on back and sit with us. You aren’t
that
busy inside, are you?” Dan stood and reached for her hand to pull her up to their level.

Tina couldn’t tell if his smile was sincere or if he was messing with her. Either way, she didn’t want to engage with this over-the-top, full-of-himself, hot deck builder.

“Sorry, I’m busy.” She pulled away and continued on without looking back. “I can’t believe him,” she said as she stormed into the kitchen.

“What’s wrong?”

“He’s standing out there, half-naked, being all arrogant and shit.”

Alina dashed to the window, craning her neck to have a titillating peek. “Who’s half-naked?”

“Dan, that’s who.”

Sasha peeked out as well. “Humph… the three of them look to be in the same stage of undress to me. It
is
hot outside, Tina, but funny how you only noticed Dan.”

“Whatever. So, when are we going nursery shopping?”

“Let’s go next Saturday. The guys will be busy with the vineyard anyway. We’ll drive to White Plains and hit all the baby-furniture stores. Should I invite Dan to join us?” Sasha asked, giggling.

“Knock it off, Sasha.” Tina grumbled as she pulled a bottle of Merlot out of the wine rack. She sliced the foil seal, pulled out the cork, and poured a glass for herself and Alina.

“What’s your problem with him anyway? I like Dan. He’s nice.”

“I don’t need nice. I can get that from Kismet or Claire. Men are a pain in the ass.”

“Yeah, that’s true… especially the gorgeous, sweet ones, right, Mom?” Sasha and Alina chuckled.

“Tina, darling, do you want a boyfriend or a husband someday?” Alina asked.

“I don’t friggin’ know. Possibly… but they’re so whiney and kind of unnecessary. Plus, they’re usually full of themselves.”

Alina eyed Tina up. “You do you enjoy sex, don’t you, Tina?”

“Mom!” Sasha sounded appalled.

“Oh, sweetheart, stop acting like such a prude. You are pregnant, aren’t you?”

Tina took note of the couples over the next few days. They all seemed to enjoy each other, even Sasha’s mom and dad, who had been married for thirty-two years. They sat side by side, holding each other’s hands as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Tina was certain they didn’t even realize it at times. Mia and Aaron were getting married in just over a month. Josh and Sasha too, plus they were preggers. Vic and Max were madly in love, and now Karen, the last spinster sister and Tina’s only hope, had finally given in and had cozied up with Mario. What a traitor! Tina was officially the fifth wheel, and it didn’t feel good. She couldn’t even hang out at Karen’s house since Mario was staying there during his recuperation.

She slowed at the stoplight, waiting impatiently for it to turn green. In the car to her right sat a man and a woman, clearly enjoying each other’s company.
What the hell? That woman is almost in his lap.
Tina gaped at them with disgust. The woman was about to swallow the man’s tongue whole. “Get a room,” Tina yelled out the window as she sped off, squealing her tires.
I swear, I’m losing it
, she thought when she realized she’d just berated two total strangers.
Damn them all! There are couples everywhere I look! It’s like a friggin’ disease, but me? People probably think of me as an outcast, someone to pity because I choose to be single.
Inside the house, she threw her purse on the coffee table, knocking over a pine-scented candle, and grabbed the remote. Plopping down on the recliner, she stared blankly at the TV, wishing she had Claire on her lap again. She felt a certain amount of comfort having the cat to care for even though Claire usually lay around like an entitled princess. Tina had sat every night with Claire while Karen was gone, patting her head as the neurotic cat licked her paws nonstop.