“Umm, we did work for the same guy, right? Harry was an ass—”
The gossipy whisperings from two of my servers ceased as I pushed through the door to the kitchen, and when Amy and Miles saw who it was, they let out a collective sigh of relief.
“Working hard, I see.” I gestured to the wine glasses on the counter in front of them. They had been forgotten somewhere around mid-shine.
“We were just giving our wrists a rest.” Miles flexed his hand back and forth, making both Amy and I laugh.
“You’re the last person whose wrist would ever need a rest,” Amy said.
Miles shoved her in the arm as the two of them busted up laughing, and I headed over to the fridge to grab myself a bottle of water. I’d spent the morning doing inventory on the wine—in-house—after the wake. Anything to keep my mind busy and off the embarrassing way I’d run away from Noah earlier.
What had I been thinking, accepting an invitation to coffee with him? Nothing good was ever going to come of that. But when he’d given my books back and his fingers had brushed over my skin, it was like he’d flicked a switch and my brain had shifted to autopilot.
That was my only excuse, or at least the one I was sticking to. He’d short-circuited my brain, and nothing I did after that could be blamed on me. Especially not giving in to my curiosity and saying yes to a coffee, when every other warning sign had been flashing NO! NO! NO!
“Laurel?”
“Huh?” I glanced over at Amy, who was watching me with a curious look on her face.
“You okay?”
I unscrewed my bottle of water and nodded. “What were you saying?”
“Oh, I asked if you knew anything about the meeting this afternoon?”
“Emily told me it was just a formality. She wants to make sure that we all know nothing’s going to change with Harry not being here anymore.”
“That’s not what I heard,” Miles said as he leaned a hip up against the counter. “Emily’s been in Harry’s office for the past hour with someone, and Pete says it’s the new owner.”
“New owner? The Chamberlins are not about to sell the winery, Miles. This is their family’s legacy.”
“I didn’t say sell it. Rumor is, Harry gave it away.”
No…there was no way Harry would ever do that. He’d poured his blood, sweat, and tears into this place. Alienated a son over it. He’d schemed and plotted and God knew what else over the course of his life to make Chamberlin Winery as successful and profitable as it was. There was no way he was handing that over to someone else. He’d loved this place more than anything—except perhaps Emily.
“Rumors.” I rolled my eyes. “This town would be so boring without the live updates we receive on the hour.”
“Right?” Miles waggled his brows. “So do you know anything?”
“I know that you’re a gossipy busybody.”
“Yeah, well, we all knew that.” Miles picked up the towel he’d been using to shine the glassware as the door to the kitchen pushed open and Emily stuck her head inside.
“If you could please meet me in the tasting room, we’re about to start the meeting. Thank you.”
When the door swung shut behind her, I glanced at Amy and Miles and gestured for them to follow. “Guess we’re about to find out if the Chamberlin gossip mill got it right, huh?”
We headed into the room where the rest of the employees—including the cleaning crew, maintenance, the vine workers, and winery staff—all waited, and when I spotted Ryan at the back of the small crowd, I made my way toward him.
He offered up his usual friendly smile, and I said under my breath, “Should I be worried?”
He looked down at me with a question in his eyes.
“You know this place—rumors are flying. I was just wondering if I should be worried about my job.”
Ryan smirked and shook his head. “Emily didn’t tell you yet?”
“Tell me what?”
“Good afternoon, everyone.” At the sound of Emily’s voice, I turned to see her walk through the door and wondered what Ryan was talking about. But when a second, very familiar person walked in directly behind her, my stomach dropped and my head began to spin.
What was Noah doing here? More importantly, what was he doing standing up there with Emily? My mind began to race with possibilities, even as my eyes drank in the sight of him.
The jacket he’d been wearing this morning was gone, and he’d rolled the sleeves of his white shirt midway up his forearms. His hands were resting loosely in the pockets of his tailored pants as though he didn’t have a care in the world, and the picture he made had my pulse humming.
Casual, confident, and sexy, that was Noah, and when his eyes scanned the room and landed on me, my stomach flipped.
Would I ever get used to seeing him back here in town? Judging by my body’s irrational responses to him, I was going to go with no.
“What’s he doing here?” I whispered to Ryan.
“Noah?”
I aimed a droll look his way, and Ryan grinned.
“Shh, you’re about to find out.”
“Thank you for coming in today, everyone, even though we aren’t open.” Emily looked around the room, her eyes touching upon each and every one of her employees before she continued. “This past week has been extremely difficult for me and my family, and I appreciate all of your help and support. It’s meant the world to me. I understand with Harry’s passing that some of you might be concerned with the future of the winery, your jobs, and where we all go from here, and today I wanted to come in and reassure you that you have nothing to worry about.”
As Emily continued to talk, Noah looked around the room at the other staff listening. But I was more than aware every time his attention came back to me. The intensity of his stare caused my blood to heat.
“Some of you may be wondering who is going to be running the winery now that Harry is gone.”
No… Oh God no. Please don’t say what I think you’re going to say.
“And as of this morning, I’m happy to say that I have an answer for you.” Emily turned to Noah, and when he smiled at her, my legs threatened to give out.
“Noah, my eldest son, is going to be coming on as the CEO effective immediately. He brings a wealth of experience and knowledge all the way from Italy, and I’m extremely grateful to have him here.”
Holy shit. I whipped my head around and looked to Ryan for confirmation, and when he nodded, my mouth fell open.
A barrage of questions slammed into me after that.
How? Why? When? Oh my God, did Noah know about this this morning at coffee?
I looked back to the man now smiling and introducing himself to his new employees.
“I don’t know about you guys, but this has come as quite a shock to me. I’m still wrapping my head around it. Don’t worry, though—Ryan is still going to be in charge of the vines and Laurel will continue on as the manager here inside the villa. In the meantime, just go about things as you always have and I’ll try to catch up. We won’t keep you any longer today, so feel free to head out when you’re ready and we’ll see you all back here tomorrow morning.”
Everyone began to talk amongst themselves as they exited the room, and as I tried to get my feet to move, tried to walk over to where Noah and Emily were, I realized they’d already left.