But only a little tug, she told herself. She needed to remember why she was here. To reset her life after Kyle had detonated it. With his $100,000 life-insurance policy payout in her bank account, she’d had the luxury of making this temporary change to recover. Not to get involved in these people’s lives.

Period.

IT WAS NEAR the end of the day when Lanie walked by the front reception room and found River looking more green than the grass out front. River was still keeping her distance, so Lanie’s first instinct was to keep walking, but she couldn’t do it. “Hey, you okay?”

River held up a finger, closed her eyes, and did some deep breathing while rubbing her belly.

“Do you need a doctor?”

“No!” River drew in a careful breath. “I can’t afford one right now, but I’m okay and so’s the baby. I just still get morning sickness all day sometimes—” She broke off and moaned a little, and if possible went even greener. When the desk phone beside her rang, she moaned again and grabbed the trash can.

Oh shit, Lanie thought, wanting to take a big step backward. And maybe two weeks ago she’d have done just that, but one thing working here had taught her, they were a team.

Dammit.

So she leaned past River hunched miserably over her trash can and grabbed the phone. “Capriotti Winery.”

“You’re supposed to say how can I help you?” River managed to whisper.

“How can I help you?” Lanie added into the phone.

“Yeah, hi,” came a nasally female voice. “I’d like to book a wedding for this coming Saturday for me and my husband. Well, husband-to-be. Okay, so he doesn’t know he’s my husband-to-be—he hasn’t asked me yet, but he’s going to. Tonight, if he knows what’s good for him. But in any case, I want to book our wedding for Saturday.”

Lanie didn’t know much about running the front desk, but she knew this much. “We’re booked out the next six months of Saturdays.”

“Okay, fine, we’ll take Sunday. Or Friday, but I’d expect a deep discount to get married on Friday, so—”

“No,” Lanie said. “All days are booked out six months.”

“Are you shittin’ me?”

Lanie looked over at River, who’d gotten her color back somewhat. Or at least she’d gone from green to a sort of opal. River shook her head and Lanie said into the phone, “Nope, I’m not ‘shittin’ you,’ we’re booked solid.”

River let out a horrified laugh and shook her head no a little frantically.

“Well, that’s just crap!” the bride-to-be said in Lanie’s ear. “I’m going to stop drinking your wines immediately!”

Click.

Lanie shrugged and set the phone down. “Her loss. We make some damn fine wine. Do you deal with this stuff all day long?”

“Well, not exactly like that,” River said. “You’re supposed to be nicer.”

“She hung up on me.”

“I take it you’ve never been in a customer service job, like waitressing.”

Lanie shook her head.

“You’re supposed to make the customers happy.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure she was a lost cause.” Lanie pulled her blueberry-vanilla snack bar from her pocket and handed it over to River.

“What’s this?” River asked.

“It’ll give you a little energy boost and maybe soothe your tummy while it’s at it.”

River shook her head. “I can’t take your snack.”

“Sure you can, as I took it from the basket in the staff room. You need to keep a little something in your stomach.”

River stared at her. “Why are you helping me?”

Lanie didn’t quite understand the question. “Because I really wanted the chocolate chip bar anyway, so now I can just go back and—”

“You answered the phone for me. You gave me your snack.”

“Yeah,” Lanie said slowly. “That’s what they do here, help each other.”

“It’s just . . . not what I’m used to,” River said very quietly.

And Lanie, who kept promising herself not to get attached to anyone except the twins—and kept failing spectacularly, by the way—sighed because she felt her heart squeezing yet again. “Honestly? Me either,” she admitted. “But this is a good place. And good people. You’re safe here—you know that, right?”

River broke the eye contact just as the mail carrier came in with a huge stack of mail. He smiled at River and tossed her a package. “Looks like you got another one,” he said and winked.

“Another what?” Lanie asked.

“Someone keeps sending me baby stuff from different online stores. And books too.” She hugged the package to her chest.

Alyssa arrived with steam coming out of her ears. “You know what’s sucky?” she asked the room. “When your husband asks if you’re mad at him and you say no and he believes you!”

River and Lanie looked at each other in confusion.

“Let me spell it out for you,” Alyssa said. “I’m never speaking to my husband again.” And then she proceeded to go lock herself in the employee room.

Which wouldn’t have been a problem except for the fact that both the refrigerator and the copy machine were in that room. Lanie, needing both her snack and some copies made, was the first to discover Alyssa’s shut-in.

“Go away,” Alyssa called through the door. “Especially if your name is Owen.”

“It’s not,” Lanie said. Her stomach growled. “Maybe you could just hand me a—”

“Not until you tell Owen that he’s never going to get laid again.”

“He’s not here.”

“Then text him.”

Lanie blew out a breath. “Alyssa—”

“Text him!” And then she rattled off his phone number.

River came up next to Lanie. “I need to make copies,” she said.

“No one’s making copies!” Alyssa yelled through the door.

River looked at Lanie.

Lanie sighed and pulled out her phone and texted Owen: Your wife has gone over the edge.

The return text was immediate: Baby hormones are a bitch.

“Well?” Alyssa demanded. “What did he say? Did you tell him he was never getting laid again? Ever?”

Lanie didn’t answer because she was busy texting Owen back: If you value your future sex life, you might want to come down here.

This time she got no answer.

“Well?” Alyssa demanded. “What did he say?”

“I’m waiting to hear.”

“Husbands are dumb,” Alyssa said. “Men are dumb.”

“Not all of them,” Lanie said. “Some are good.”

“Which was your husband? Good or dumb?”

River seemed to be hanging on whatever answer Lanie had, but she wasn’t going to touch that one, not when the truth was she’d married a man who’d appeared too good to be true and she should’ve realized she was buying a really great act. But he’d taken out the trash and he’d made her laugh, and she’d settled for a lot less than she’d meant to. “I thought he was a good guy, but it turns out I was wrong,” she admitted. “Very wrong. But Alyssa, I’ve seen Owen with you. He really is one of the good ones.”