Home > Fate Interrupted (Moonstone Cove #3)(6)

Fate Interrupted (Moonstone Cove #3)(6)
Author: Elizabeth Hunter

“Yes,” Cami said. “I just got some new sheet masks. That is how you spend a Sunday afternoon.”

“Agreed.” She glanced at Adam, waiting for him to make a smart remark, but her joyous, brilliant boy looked more like he was sitting under a cloud than in the bright, California sunshine.

Good Lord, when did it get easier?

 

 

Chapter 3

 

 

On Tuesday morning, Megan arrived at Dusi Heritage Winery with a head full of the Harrington wedding—less than a week away; the Jackson wedding—the week after that; the Lion’s Club luncheon that Friday; and the meeting of the Central Coast Realtors’ Association, which was holding a two-day in-service on Wednesday and Thursday.

Megan didn’t know when it had become acceptable to hold professional conference events at a place known for wine consumption, but maybe Realtors just had more fun than other jobs.

She parked her car in the gravel-covered lot behind the massive barn that housed the fermentation hall and blending lab. She pulled her small SUV next to Henry’s bright white pickup truck. His office was across from hers, but he always came in earlier.

Before she’d started working at Dusi’s, Megan’d had no idea how many roles there were in a winery. Nico was the owner of the vineyards, but his main job was farming. His function was to grow and pick the best wine grapes possible, and Henry was the one who actually made the wine. Henry also had a lot of input into when the harvest happened, depending on how much sugar he wanted in the grapes.

Along with a core staff, there were numerous interns and apprentices coming in and out of the winery, young people who were still learning the basics of the business. There were harvest crews in the fall, mechanics who kept all the machinery running smoothly, and then there was the office staff like Megan.

Nico had a secretary, Danielle, who worked with him in the winery office; another woman who was in charge of the wine club, its membership and promotions; and they’d hired two new people to help the wine-club director since the caves had become open to the public. At any given time, there would be private or public tour groups walking around the winery, though they tried to keep those limited to the tasting room and the caves, leaving the barn where Megan worked fairly isolated from the public.

Once the new tasting room and event space next to the wine caves was built, all the public tasting and retail would be centered in that location, and the house and top of the hill would be reserved for private events.

It was an interesting industry to learn about, and it fulfilled Megan’s urge to constantly absorb new things. It was part of the reason she enjoyed event planning. She loved meeting new people, loved learning about new businesses and industries; she couldn’t stand being bored.

Megan heard voices raised in Henry’s office as soon as she walked into the building. She froze, looked around, but nothing seemed out of place. She didn’t understand what was going on—the words were too muffled—but she recognized Nico’s voice.

Nico and Henry were… fighting?

She turned and looked at the door, wondering for a split second if she was in the right place. As much Megan joked about Nico being bullheaded, he and Henry never fought. In the months she’d been working there, she honestly could not remember a single cross word.

“—don’t know how anyone else could have known!” Nico’s angry voice came through clearly.

Wow. He wasn’t just pissed or irritated. The man sounded enraged.

Henry’s voice was as confused as Nico’s was angry. “What are you accusing me of? Those vines are just as much…” The voice died off and grew muffled again. They must have been moving around the room.

A door swung open. “I don’t have time for this bullshit. We need to call the police.”

Megan was still frozen by the front door, and Nico nearly ran into her.

“Fuck!” He put his hands out. “Sorry. I’m…” He was completely flustered. Panicked even. “Dammit, Megan, I can’t—”

“What happened?” She put a hand on his arm. “I walked in and I heard you guys yelling. Why are you calling the police?”

He ran an agitated hand through his hair. “It’s a project… The only ones who even know about it are Henry and me… You know, it’s not your problem, so I don’t want to keep you—”

“Is anyone hurt?”

“Physically? No. Not yet.” His jaw was tight. “But when I find out who took those goddamn vines, they better pray the police get them first.”

“What vines?”

Nico gently moved Megan to the side and motioned over his shoulder. “Henry can explain. I really need to call Drew.”

“Drew Bisset?” Megan had only spoken to the head detective of Moonstone Cove’s police department when he was playing chess with Katherine’s husband or when she’d accidentally found herself in the middle of a murder investigation. “Is there a dead body somewhere?”

Please not again.

“Not yet!” He stormed out of the building.

What on earth?

“Megan.” Henry waved her back, and his normally friendly face was grim. “I’ll explain. Nico’s got to call the police and then tell everyone why we’re about to be invaded by law enforcement.”

“I am so confused right now.” Megan wandered back to Henry’s office in a daze. “I have never seen him that angry before. And I make a habit of provoking him! What the hell is going on? You and Nico are fighting?”

“He’s just confused.” Henry collapsed in his office chair and stretched his arms up and behind his head. “Hell, I’m as confused as anyone. And I haven’t had any coffee yet; that’s probably part of the problem.”

“Well, at least I can do something about that,” Megan said. “Come in my office. I’ve got a coffee maker there ’cause I don’t like the coffee Katrina makes in the break room.”

“Oh, thank God.” Henry stood and followed Megan. “Katrina’s coffee is awful, and Nico called me at five this morning. He walked over to check the vines this morning, and everything was gone.”

Megan turned on her coffee machine. “Since I drove through many acres of vines on my way into work, I’m going to assume you’re talking about something different.”

“Little bit, yeah.” He carefully sat in one of her chairs. “Did you know there’s a greenhouse at the winery?”

“I didn’t.” She put a coffee pod into the primed machine and placed a large mug that said You Had Me at Y’all under the filter.

“It’s over behind Nico’s house. There’s the main house and then the garage. And then behind that, going out behind the pool area—”

“Okay, I know the area you’re talking about.”

“There’s a pretty extensive greenhouse. The land behind it is entirely overgrown. It’s all brush and weeds. Goes out to the edge of the property line. I’ve told him for three years now that we need to clean it up, but it’s not high on the list of priorities.”

“And you were growing grapevines in there?” She frowned. “When they planted that hill over by the caves, the vines came in on a truck, so I assumed y’all ordered vines from a different grower.”

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