“No? Everyone else in town seemed to.”
“Well, you know how it goes. You can’t rely on everything you hear.”
“Ah. So you heard—you just didn’t believe it.”
“I didn’t really think about it either way.” Liar. “I’m sorry for your loss, though. Harry was—”
“An A-grade bastard?”
My eyes widened at the cool edge to Noah’s voice. It was a tone I’d never heard from him before. But then again, I didn’t know this man, so I had no point of reference.
“That seems harsh, huh?”
“It seems…” Noah’s eyes locked on me with an intensity I felt all the way to my bones. “Honest.”
He shifted the wine bottle from one hand to the other, then he held it up by the neck and asked, “A good year?”
I focused on the label, a 2012 Pinot Noir. “It was a great year.”
Noah nodded and turned the bottle around so he could look at it again. “And you should know, or so I’m told. You manage this place now.”
I wondered who had told him. His mother? Or one of his siblings? I’d never imagined a career in the wine business, and I certainly hadn’t imagined one here at his family’s winery. But circumstances had left me little choice, and now I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
“I do. I’m also the head sommelier.”
Noah let out a sound of disbelief that made my spine stiffen. I was good at my job—damn good at it.
“I hope that won’t be a problem for you.”
“A problem?” Noah shook his head. “No. I was just thinking how my family hasn’t changed at all. They still like their secrets.”
The temperature in the room dropped back to arctic, and as I was about to hightail it out of there, Noah took a step forward. I plastered my back to the door and, cursing myself for showing my hand—and my nerves—counted back from ten before daring to look him in the eye.
That was a mistake. I recognized those eyes and the thick lashes that curtained them. I also recognized the look in them right now. It was one of curiosity and interest.
“I wasn’t so sure about coming back here when I showed up earlier.”
His gaze roved over my face, as though he were searching for the girl he once knew, and I wondered if he saw parts of her in there.
“But suddenly I find myself even happier that that asshole up and died. Otherwise I’d never have known you were here.”
I wasn’t surprised in the slightest that my working here had been kept quiet. Harry had worked really hard to remove me from Noah’s life. He wasn’t about to tell him I was still around.
“Well, um, I don’t want to hold you up anymore, and I need to get back to your mother’s guests.” I turned to open the door, but when I felt his hand on my shoulder, my feet froze.
“Looking to make a quick escape again, Bonnie?”
I closed my eyes and for a second allowed myself to remember the first time he’d ever called me that. Then I quickly shoved it aside, not willing to allow in the emotions and vulnerabilities those kind of memories would bring.
“Do you blame me?”
There was a pause, and the tension simmering in the air made it even more imperative that I get out of there right now.
“No. I guess I don’t. But before you go?”
“Yes?” As his hand fell away, I let out a silent sigh of relief.
“I was wondering if you could tell me the best place to stay in town?”
To stay? Why wouldn’t he stay at his mother’s?
“It’s been a while, and I promised myself I’d never set foot in Harry’s house again.”
Oh…
I straightened my shoulders and glanced back to see him checking me out as he waited for an answer. When his eyes found mine, he gave a slight smirk, not ashamed at all for being caught.
“Wilhelmina’s. It’s the local B&B. It’s beautiful. You won’t find better.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I was just about to push open the cellar door when suddenly it was pulled wide, revealing my shocked expression to the person on the other side. “Jake? Hi, um, what are you doing here?”
My surprise was mirrored on Jake’s face, as were the questions in his eyes. But before he could respond, I put my hands on his chest and shoved him back a step.
“I was looking for you,” he finally said as he tried to get another look at the stranger behind me.
“Well, you found me.”
Jake frowned, but before the conversation could go any further, I said over my shoulder to Noah, “Be sure to stop by Wilhelmina’s,” then I took Jake’s hand and led him out of the kitchen.
“Mom?” Jake tugged me to a stop once we reached the food area back out in the tasting room. “Who was that?”
“Who was—”
“The man in the cellar stealing a bottle of wine?”
“Oh.” I pretended to straighten up the serving plates on the table. “That’s Noah. Bree’s brother.”
“No shit.”
“Jake, what have I told you about that mouth of yours? Keep it clean. Especially when in company, please.”
Jake shrugged it off and then looked over his shoulder as though he could see back into the kitchen. “He’s the one everyone talks about? The one who left and never came back—ever?”
I nodded, feeling slightly sick to my stomach. “That’s the one.”
“Huh. Maybe he was just waiting for Harry to die. He was kind of a dick.”
“Jake.” I looked around to make sure no one had heard my mouthy teenager. “Don’t talk like that about the dead.”
“Oh, come on, you know I’m right.”
“That doesn’t matter. Show some respect.”
“Okay. You’re right.” He leaned down and kissed me on the cheek. “I’m sorry. I’ll show respect today and call him a dick tomorrow.”
I smirked as he straightened. “That’s better.”
“Okay. I’m gonna go find Caleb for a bit. Unless you need me to keep you from getting locked in any more wine cellars.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I wasn’t locked in there.”
“Uh huh.” He picked up a carrot stick and took a bite. “Man, where’s all the good food at? I figured there’d be more than veggies at the almighty Harry’s going-away shindig.”
Damn it. It wasn’t until right then that I realized I hadn’t put the extra quiches in the oven. Oh well, carrots and dip would have to do for the moment, because there was no way I was going to risk being caught in that kitchen or wine cellar again with Noah Chamberlin.
5
Noah
LAUREL ANDERSON, WOW. She sure had grown up nicely. Actually, that was a lie. The sweet, pretty girl I’d once known had grown into the most beautiful women I’d ever seen in my life—and I’d seen a lot of women.
In her perfectly respectable black dress and heels, I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off her. Her hair was cut a little shorter than it used to be, with loose curls styled in a way that teased the soft skin under her chin. And those long legs that had seemed to go on for miles and miles even as a teenager? They were even more entrancing now, encased in those smoky-colored stockings. It’d been a couple of hours since our run-in, and I was still thinking about them, wondering if they were full coverage or thigh-highs with a garter belt to match.