He repeated that he was fine and she replied with a rolled-eyes emoji. She might be right about the paralegal. He’d been thinking of hiring someone. The recent real estate boom had increased his workload substantially. Mary was right about the sleep, too. But that would have to wait. He’d already told Zoey he had a nice bottle of wine from his friend’s winery.

Luke and Whitney Rutledge ran Falls Legend Winery on the hills above Rendezvous Falls. Falls Legend had become one of the premier small wineries in the area in recent years, once Luke and Whitney married and took over operations from her aunt Helen. Luke had stopped by the office that morning to discuss a potential lease contract for an adjoining vineyard and left a bottle of three-year-old pinot noir. There was no one Mike would rather share it with than Zoey.

The year after Becca died, Zoey had kept him going, and he’d tried to do the same for her after Chris left her last year. But now their friendship was...morphing. When they got together at the repair shop, it wasn’t as much for support or relief as it was about just friendship. He didn’t need to lean on Zoey—he simply enjoyed being with her. He looked forward to their time together.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket as he left the office at the end of the day and started typing.

M: What will a grape say if you step on it?

Within seconds, Zoey replied.

Z: Ouch?

M: It won’t say anything...just let out a little wine.

Z: Hardy har har. Bring more than a little wine tonight, okay?

He frowned.

M: Bad day?

Z: Nothing specific. Hazel and I snarled at each other. Be warned...this house is a hormone hell today.

M: I’m trying to come up with a funny reply, but I have a feeling it could be dangerous.

Z: Very. Just bring the damn wine.

Mike grinned as he walked into his house. Zoey, Mary and he had grown up together, so Mike knew pretty much everything about Zoey, including how she was at that time of month. She and Mary’s schedules had “synced” when they were inseparable teens, which had fascinated Mike at the time. It still did, to be honest. Mary and Zoey never shied away from talking girl stuff around him, and he’d never asked them to. Maybe because of the twin connection—it was natural for him to just know...everything. And frankly, knowing when the hormones were going to be raging ahead of time saved him a lot of grief through the years.

No, there weren’t any secrets between him and Zoey. The two of them liked to brag that they were living proof that men and women really could be just friends. But he kept having those sneaking thoughts lately of wanting more.