Cole leaned against the bar, eyes surveying the extravagant event Rhett had managed to put together to celebrate the new year and the launch of Mallory Bubbly Wines. He sipped at his drink, the carbonation tickling his nose while he watched Rhett flit around, making sure everything was going smoothly.

“He’s not going to be able to enjoy himself if you don’t wrangle him,” Penny laughed, coming to stand beside him. At the last minute, their sitter had fallen through and David had offered to stay home with Tyson so she could come support Rhett.

“He’s not going to enjoy himself even if I do wrangle him because he’ll be worrying about it.”

“You’re probably right,” Penny agreed. She finished her glass of sparkling rosé and set it on the bar behind them.

“I want to dance,” she groaned. “Do you think Ryan would dance with me?”

“I can’t imagine he’d be able to turn you down,” Cole said, leaning over and pressing a kiss against his rouged cheek.

She smiled and vanished, blending in to the crowd as she went to find Ryan, or some other unsuspecting victim, to dance with her. After watching Penny move around the dance floor, Cole reasoned David had probably been relieved when he found out he had to stay home with the baby.

Rhett really had done a magnificent job planning and assembling the launch party. The vineyard was transformed into something that looked like it was out of a movie. Cole chuckled to himself when he realized his fiancé had probably intentionally turned the vineyard into what could have easily doubled as the set of a Hallmark movie.

The mechanized back doors of the main building and tasting room were opened wide, pulled back allowing unhindered access from the inside to the vineyard. There was a huge black and white checkered dance floor that stretched from the building to a few feet shy of the vines.

Unsurprisingly, Rhett had hung clear bulb market lights in a crisscross pattern over the dance floor, lighting the vineyard up with a truly magical feel. Cocktail tables lined the dance floor and were decorated with elegant, yet simple floral centerpieces on top of vibrant, jewel-hued tablecloths.

Cole reached up and fingered his bow tie, a rich forest green color that Rhett had picked out for him. He was relieved to find he didn’t match the tables, but looked like he’d matched the decor on purpose. Cole appreciated Rhett’s small attempt to make him feel like he fit in at Mallory still, like he belonged, even though Cole knew he didn’t. Not anymore.

His mother approached him, decked out in a sequined black cocktail dress that accentuated the green of her eyes.

“Mother,” he greeted, leaning down and giving her a kiss.

Constance patted his arm fondly and turned with him to watch the hundreds of people dancing and laughing, but more importantly, drinking Mallory wine.

“How are you, darling?” she questioned.

Cole debated whether to give her the real answer, or the answer he’d been giving everyone the past week when they’d asked him the same question. He decided to lie, the irony of that like acid in his throat, but he wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize the publicity that Rhett would get from a successful event tonight.

“I’m fine,” he answered curtly.

“You lie,” his mother countered.

Cole shrugged, grabbing a glass of wine off the tray of a passing waiter. “Rhett has put together a wonderful event for the vineyard and in the spring he’s going to be my husband. There’s nothing for me to complain about.”

That, at least, was a half-truth. There was plenty for him to complain about.

“Cole,” his mother soothed, but he raised a hand to stop her.

“Please, don’t,” he pleaded. “Not tonight. I want to have this. I want him to have this.”

Cole took a long drink of his wine and gave his mother another kiss. “Enjoy your night, Mother.”

Cole stepped away from the bar, putting as much distance between him and his mother as he could manage without looking like he was trying to escape. Once he was satisfied with the space between them, he stopped and checked his watch, pleased to find it was nearly midnight.

Penny’s sharp laugh hit his ears and he looked up, finding Ryan obediently spinning her around the dance floor.

“That’s nice of him,” Rhett murmured, sliding his arms around Cole’s waist and resting his cheek against his shoulder.

“Indeed,” Cole agreed, covering one of Rhett’s hands with his.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” Rhett asked, taking Cole’s wine and drinking half the glass in one swallow.

Cole took the glass back. “I am. You’ve put together a perfect night, babe.”

Rhett hummed in approval. “It’ll be perfect when I get my midnight kiss.”

“Ah, well, not too long then.”

They stood in silence. Cole closed his eyes and absorbed his surroundings—the lights and sounds, the smell of the damp soil and grapes that most everyone overlooked, the warmth of Rhett’s skin in the places they touched. As far as last memories went, this would be one worth keeping.

Without warning, the music went silent and the dance floor was flooded with shocked gasps, followed by silence. A microphone turned on and the speakers filled with feedback, then the familiar sound of Kristen’s laughter.

“Oh, dear,” she chuckled into the microphone.

Cole’s head snapped toward the DJ booth and he found his sister on the stage, glass of what he hoped was cider in one hand and microphone in the other.

“What is she doing?” Rhett asked, voice laced with worry.

“I don’t know,” Cole answered, taking Rhett’s hand and pushing his way through the crowd.

If looks could kill, he would have murdered Kristen where she stood.

“Has anyone seen my brother?” she asked, shielding her eyes from the lights and searching the crowd.

“What are you doing, Kristen?” he snapped, finally breaking through the throng of people and into her line of sight.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, “Here he is.”

Rhett’s palm was sweaty and sliding against Cole’s and he did his best to maintain his grip, even as his heart rate skyrocketed.

“Kristen,” he warned.

She shushed him with a careless wave of her glass in the air. Cole scrubbed his free hand over his face and waited for whatever attention grab she was going to pull now.

“For those of you who don’t know, my name is Kristen Mallory. Well,” she laughed, taking a drink of her beverage, “Kristen Mallory Fulton, since I’m married now, and my grandparents, Claire and Jacob Mallory own this vineyard.”

There was a spattering of polite applause at the mention of his grandparents and he tried his best to not visibly bristle at the sound of their names.

“Well,” Kristen said, for what Cole was certain was the twentieth time in her two minute speech, “actually, I own the vineyard.”

There were a few audible gasps followed by some questionable applause. Cole took a step backward, ready to disappear into the crowd, hopeful the people would swallow him whole.

“I’m sorry,” Rhett whispered, as though he was as devastated by Kristen’s blatant announcement as he was.

“I want to leave,” Cole answered softly, taking another step backward and bumping into Rhett’s strong chest.

“There’s going to be some changes after the new year,” Kristen carried on, her voice more and more like nails on a chalkboard.

Cole closed his eyes.

“For those of you who don’t know, my older brother Cole has been running Mallory for seven years. He graduated from college and came back to us here and has been making sure things ran smoothly ever since. This event was all him, and that delicious looking new bubbly wine.”

Kristen stared longingly at her glass, and Cole was grateful to realize it really was only cider.

“It wasn't just me,” Cole interrupted, his voice loud enough to draw his sister’s attention. “I didn't do it alone. My fiancé, Rhett, he planned this entire event. The idea for Mallory Bubbly Wines is actually all his. And Elena Cordova, she did all the product development. And Laurence, too. He’s the production manager.”

Cole bit his tongue and tilted his head back, focusing on the lights strung above his head. Anything to stave off the wave of emotion that he was afraid of experiencing firsthand in front of this entire crowd of people.

“Right,” Kristen agreed, casually. “And I don’t even know who any of those people are.”

“Jesus,” Rhett hissed under his breath. Cole looked at Rhett, desperate to draw some strength or support from him before he climbed the stage and throttled his sister.

“That’s why the idea of me inheriting Mallory Vineyard is preposterous,” Kristen announced.

Cole choked, and angled a sharp look toward his sister. She set her glass down and wrapped all ten of her manicured nails around the microphone. She smiled at him, and it was an honest to goodness smile, not one of her put-on looks that she used when she was trying to impress someone.

“What?” he asked, though his voice was so soft he wasn’t sure she heard him.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong. I love this place. It’s where I grew up, but Mallory is your home, Cole. I don’t want to take that from you. And besides, I wouldn’t even know what to do. It’s not right for me to own this place and then pay you to do all the hard work.”

“What are you saying?” he asked, fighting back a flicker of hope he thought long since snuffed out.

“You built this vineyard into what it is today, Cole. You deserve to own it, and I want you to have it.”

Kristen reached over to one of the cocktail tables that had been set up near the DJ booth and picked up a recognizable white envelope, in addition to a larger manila envelope. She came to the edge of the stage and leaned down, offering both to him.

Rhett pushed him forward and he took the envelopes and clutched them to his chest like they were a long lost stuffed animal and he was a child, just reunited.

“But Edward said…” Cole trailed off, his fingers flexing around the thick paper he held.

Kristen covered the mic and rolled her eyes. “Edward has plenty of money.”

She stood back up, elegant as ever, uncovering the microphone and speaking again, “There isn’t a person on this planet who loves this vineyard more than my brother does, so I want him to have it. Come up here,” she said, gesturing to the stage.

Cole looked to Rhett, whose eyes were glassy under the night sky, and he smiled, tipping his chin toward the stage. Cole climbed the steps, coming to stand beside his sister.

“I know it’s almost midnight, so there’s kissing and dancing, but I just want to make sure everyone here knows this face. My brother, Cole Mallory, the heart and soul, and new owner of Mallory Vineyards.”

A raucous applause rang out through the vineyard and Cole grabbed Kristen, pulling her into a tight embrace.

“Thank you,” he whispered into her ear.

“It was the easiest decision I ever made,” Kristen told him, sincerely.

“We’ve got about fifteen seconds left, everyone,” the DJ cut into announce. His baritone voice drew Cole back to reality and he looked down, seeing Rhett on the dance floor, waving his hands and encouraging Cole to return to him.

He jumped off the stage and jogged to Rhett, seizing him into his arms and holding their bodies together.

“Congratulations,” Rhett whispered. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Is this real?” Cole mumbled, as the crowd behind him counted down to five.

“It’s about as real as our relationship is,” Rhett answered with a teasing laugh.

“Oh,” Cole agreed, “so it’s really real.”

“Really real,” Rhett replied before lifting onto his toes and pressing his mouth against Cole’s.

Cole parted his lips, letting Rhett inside, the taste of sauvignon grapes crisp on his tongue. Rhett held Cole’s face in his hands and kissed him like he was air, through the New Year’s Eve applause and through the off-key rendition of “Auld Lang Syne.”

“I love you,” Rhett murmured into his mouth, and Cole smiled.

“I love you,” he answered back.

The familiar opening bars of “Unforgettable” began to play and Rhett slid his hands around Cole’s shoulders, the ownership papers for the vineyard pressed tight between their chests.

“Dance with me,” Rhett said.

Cole nodded, stealing one more kiss before looping his arms around Rhett’s waist.

“For the rest of my life.”