“Right.” She eased away from him. “We should…” She pointed toward the road.
“Yeah. We definitely should.” His voice was pure gravel on velvet. “Wait, are you saying we should pull off the road or get back on it and catch up with everyone else?”
“The catching-up one.”
“Fuck.” He patted both his cheeks and cleared his throat. “Okay, you’re gonna need to take what I believe are two very perfect breasts right out of my face if you want me to even think about rejoining civilization.”
“Right.” She crawled back over the center console, wondering how she’d been so flexible not ten minutes before. “That was a pretty smooth move, by the way.”
Ruddy color was riding high on his cheekbones. “Oh yeah? I’ll have to remember that.”
“I mean, maybe warn me next time so I don’t pull a muscle though.”
“Warning you might kill the mood.”
“Yeah, but so will a pulled muscle.”
“Good point.”
She tried to fix her shirt, but it was hopelessly crumpled. The best she could do was rebutton the top two buttons, fix her hair, and reapply lipstick.
“I feel like a fucking teenager every time you put on lipstick in front of me.”
She paused, her hand halfway finished putting her makeup on in the mirror. “Pardon me?”
Nico reached down and adjusted the sizable bulge in his jeans. “Just saying. Maybe avoid doing that in the middle of a fancy restaurant if we’re together.”
“Putting on lipstick?”
He shook his head. “Don’t ask me. It’s been a problem since the day I met you.”
Well, that didn’t feel awful. Megan finished applying her lipstick, rubbed her lips together, and made a small popping noise as she finished.
Nico mouthed “fuck” and looked away. “I shouldn’t have told you that.”
“Oh?” Sugar was going to have fun with this one. “I can currently think of three very good reasons why you’ll be glad you did.”
His eyebrow went up. “Three?”
“Just off the top of my head, honey. I haven’t even really started thinkin’ yet.”
Chapter 17
Val, Sully, Henry, and Toni were waiting in the parking lot of Coral Canyon when they finally showed up. Megan could tell from the looks on every single one of their faces their friends knew why they were late.
“Hey.” Val walked over to Megan’s door as soon as they stopped. “Why are you late? Did you see some deer? It was deer, wasn’t it?”
Toni pointed to Megan’s shirt. “You’re only tucked in front. Did you miss the back?”
Megan smiled sweetly. “I hate you both. Can we get going, please?”
“Oh, now you’re in a hurry?” Toni waddled toward the path. “Do you know how bad I need to pee? It’s a lot.”
Nico fell into step behind her, hooking his finger in the back pocket of her jeans and leaning down to whisper, “You look great.”
“What was that?” Toni half yelled. “Nico, did you say something?”
“Keep going and I’m gonna tell Aunt Rose you and Henry were talking about a wedding at the winery.”
“Fuck you,” Toni said. “You better not, mush-head.”
Megan glanced at Henry. “Are they always this mature?”
“Mush-head is actually one of the milder terms of endearment the cousins have for each other,” Henry said. “Val, do you come from a big family?”
“No, but this is hilarious.” Val was smiling. “So this person we’re going to meet, it’s another one of their cousins?”
“Yeah,” Henry said. “But Kellan…” He made a face.
“Kellan is our cousin, but he’s kind of a slacker,” Toni said. “He did really well revamping his mom’s restaurant, but since then he thinks he’s some wine and food guru.”
The old house that served as Coral Canyon’s tasting room was a traditional two-story Victorian with a wide porch and an extensive rose garden nestled against the backdrop of a granite outcropping in the hollow between two hills.
There were several other parties milling around the house or enjoying bottles of wine at the redwood picnic tables. They walked up the short set of stairs, and Megan saw Kellan behind the bar. His eyes went wide when he saw the group entering.
“Hey!” The man was probably five or six years younger than Toni, and his hair was slicked back in a way that Megan had though lost fashion in the midnineties. “What’s the Dusi Heritage crew doing in my tasting room?”
Megan glanced at Kellan’s coworkers when he said “my tasting room” and saw several side-eyes.
“Hey!” Toni waddled to the bar. “Where’s the bathroom?”
Kellan looked confused. “Are you here to taste—?”
“For the love of sweet baby Jesus, Kellan” —Toni was not playing— “tell me where the toilet is.”
“Down the hall on the left.”
He looked confused, so Megan stepped up to the bar. The Dusis had no idea how to get flies, so Megan laid on the honey.
“Hey, Kellan.” She slid onto a barstool. “Have we met yet? I’m Megan Alston, the events coordinator at Nico’s place.”
Kellan half smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I think I’ve seen you at Aunt Rose’s a couple of times.”
“I keep meaning to introduce myself, and there never seems to be the opportunity!” She turned on her biggest smile. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
He leaned on the bar. “Really?”
“Oh yeah. I understand the whole redesign of Gina’s restaurant was all you?”
Kellan was warming up to her. “Yeah. That was all my idea.” He looked at Val. “Can I get you ladies a wine tasting?”
“I’d love one.” Val sat next to Megan and leaned toward Kellan. “I love a big juicy red wine. Do you have any of those?”
Kellan smiled. “We’re pouring five wines today, and I promise at least two of them are big juicy reds.”
“That’s great.”
Megan noticed Val had taken off her gloves as she sat, and she reached out to play with the stems of the wineglasses Kellan began setting out.
Kellan looked at Sully, Henry, and Nico standing behind them. “You gentlemen like a tasting too?”
Henry and Nico both looked at Sully.
“Uh, yeah.” He played along. “I’d love one.”
Nico walked up to the bar. “Kellan, is Jodie here? I actually had a question for her.”
“Yeah, she’s in her office.” Kellan looked a little nervous, but he nodded toward the hallway where Toni had disappeared.
Megan was guessing Jodie was the owner of Coral Canyon. It would have been odd for Henry and Nico to be buying a wine tasting at a neighbor’s winery, but ushering friends there was far from uncommon.
As Kellan chatted with her and Val about the wines they were drinking, Megan carefully observed the winery itself, taking note of the pictures of the vineyards and the wines in their catalog. She wasn’t seeing anything particularly unique or trendsetting at Coral Canyon. They were solid, well-produced wines with good legs served in a perfectly friendly and bright tasting room.
Coral Canyon was the kind of place you’d take your mom for the weekend mother/daughter tasting and brunch she saw advertised on the announcement board. It was the place to have a picnic. She saw dogs running around outside and heard children yelling for their mom.
Toni came back and lifted herself into a seat. “Kellan, do you have a ginger ale?”
He smiled softly at her and winked. “I got you, coz. What’s Nico doing here? Really?”
“No secret agenda, I promise. Sully and Val are visiting from Glimmer Lake and wanted a look around the area.”
“Oh my God,” Kellan said. “I love that place in winter.”
Val asked, “Big skier?”
“I’m not a pro or anything, but me and my buddies usually take at least one weekend and go for a few days. It’s a good time.”
“We’re
here visiting these gals,” Val said. “And we asked them to recommend a few places to get some wine. Yours was at the top of the list.”
Kellan looked at Toni. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” She put both her hands on the bar. “Feel free to repay me by grabbing a ginger ale or Sprite. Glass, please, no ice.”
“Right! I’m sorry.” He motioned to one of the other servers. “Hey, Erin, can you grab a ginger ale from the back?”
Erin looked at Kellan, then at Toni. “Oh sure. Give me a sec.”
The girl disappeared into the back, and Kellan poured their second wine. “This is a little bit of a heavier chardonnay. The first wine, the Coral Canyon house white, was light and crisp. You’d maybe get a little citrus from that one. This one is going to have a lot more body. You’ll taste some of those buttery, oaky flavors Central Coast chardonnays are known for.”
Val glanced at Megan. “Where are chardonnay grapes from originally?”
“Good question,” Kellan said. “They are a French vine. Most of our vines are French at Coral Canyon.”
Val leaned her chin on her palm. “Like from France? How does that work? Do you import them?”
Kellan laughed a little, but he seemed happy to inform a newbie. “Definitely not. These are California varieties we have here, even though originally the vine came from France. It’s an extremely complicated process to import grapevines from overseas.”
“Is it really?” Sully piped up. “What all do you have to do?”
“There are really only two places in the US where you can import grapevines, and they go through a two- to three-year process to make sure there are no viruses or pests that could be imported into our local wineries. They take safety very seriously.”
“What about getting grapes from within California? Or another state?” Megan asked. “Is that a faster process?”
“Oh yeah, especially if it’s on the West Coast. Washington, Oregon, California. That would go a lot faster.” He looked at them. “So how do you like the chardonnay?”
Val set down her empty glass. “I’m ready for a big, juicy red, Kellan.”
He smiled. “Good deal.”
The girl getting Toni’s ginger ale returned from the back. “God, Jodie and your cousin are having the bitch session of bitch sessions.” She glanced at Toni. “You’re family, otherwise I wouldn’t say anything.” She opened the can for Toni and poured it into a wineglass.
“What are they bitching about?” Toni asked.
“Something about Fairfield Family Wines.” She handed Toni the soda. “Did Kellan tell you they’re trying to get approval to build a shopping center on their property?”
“What?” Toni asked. “They want to put shops out in the middle of wine country?”
“Yeah, and not just like a little restaurant or something,” Erin said. “Like a walking mall. Boutiques and a deli and that kind of thing.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Megan said.
Erin just shook her head and walked away.
“She’s not,” Kellan said. “Everyone’s talking about it, and Jodie’s on the board, so I’m sure she and Nico have plenty to talk about.” He poured from a bottle of red. “Okay, this is a fun variety. It’s a red blend with pinot noir, merlot, and just a touch of Malbec.”
“Kellan.”
“Yeah?” He leaned closer to Toni.
“Come here a second, will you?” She shifted her giant belly, and Kellan moved closer.
“What’s up? Are you feeling—?”
Toni grabbed his arm and brushed a thumb over his skin. “Hey, Kellan?”
“Hey.”
Megan could see the man’s eyes swim a little.
“What’s up?” His smile was sweet and full, not like the polite facade he’d worn before.
“What’s up with you?” Toni said. “You had a funny look on your face when Erin was talking about Fairfield’s shop plans.”
“Yeah, ’cause I feel bad because she offered me a job, and I think I’m going to take it.”
Megan was mentally recording every word. “What do you know about Nico’s vines, Kellan?”
“Nico’s vines? Nothing.” He shook his head. “I mean, if he had a new varietal, Jodie wouldn’t try it. She’s not a big risk-taker, you know? She plays it safe.”
“So there’s no way she’s involved in the theft?” Toni asked.
“Jodie? No way.” Kellan shook his head. “Nope. Definitely not. I heard some bad shit happened though.”
“Oh yeah? What did you hear?”
“I heard that someone got killed. That’s just…” His eyes swam a little too much.
“Toni, back off a little.”
“Trying.” She let go of Kellan for a moment and shook her hand. “My empathy is all over the place.”
Megan took Kellan’s hand so he didn’t slip away. “What did you hear about the vines?”
He frowned and blinked hard. “Um… I’m not… I guess just what everyone else did, you know?” He pulled away from Megan, looking at his hand and then staring at the wineglasses in front of him. “Did I pour you guys the pinot yet?”
“Just the blend.” Val was quick to jump in. “Is the pinot what I’m looking forward to?”
“Yeah.” Kellan was back to himself. “I guarantee you’re going to love that one.”
“Okay, first off” —Sully opened the truck door— “that is some freaky shit you do, Dusi. Don’t ever pull that on me.”
Toni was unfazed. “At least we know Kellan isn’t involved in any of this. He’s just a putz for thinking about taking the Fairfield job.”
“Why is he a putz?” Val asked. “Who’s this Fairfield person?”
Nico leaned against Henry’s truck. “The owner of Fairfield Family Wines is Angela Calvo, and she’s a problem. She inherited the winery last year—which is right across the creek from ours—and has big plans and a whole hell of a lot of money. She’s got ambitions to turn this place into another Napa Valley.”
“You know, Katherine and I had lunch with Angela, and I really don’t think she’s that bad.”
Nico stared at Megan like she’d grown a second head. “What?”
“I told you she’s dating Rodney, right? She wanted to meet me because I think she wants me to smooth things over with the kids, which I’m not going to do. That’s Rodney’s job. But she seemed pretty nice. I think she genuinely likes it here. She’s already bought the Dolphin Cove Resort, renamed it to La Delphine, and now she’s fixing it up.”
“Oh, it needed an update,” Henry said. “It was getting pretty run-down.”
“Right?” Megan looked around. “I’m just saying she might not be the devil incarnate. That’s all.”
“This woman wants to turn Moonstone Cove into Napa?” Sully stuck a toothpick in his mouth. “I thought the whole point of the Central Coast was that it wasn’t the Napa Valley.”
“Exactly,” Toni said. “But she’s quietly bought up a lot of land according to my dad. She’s going to want to do something with it other than just plant grapes.”
Nico looked at Megan. “So what did you get out of Kellan?”
“He doesn’t know anything about your vines,” she said. “Well, not more than anyone else does anyway. Rumors are flying. And then the thing about Angela offering him a job.”
“Which is interesting but probably not important.”
Henry said, “It doesn’t get us any closer to finding out who stole the Poulsard grapes. They’ve been out of the greenhouse for nearly two weeks. I’m starting to think they’re in the ground. Or dead.”
“There’s no reason to think either of those things yet,” Megan said.
“But we’ve still got zero leads.” Henry kicked a tire. “There’s got to be something else we can do.”
“I have an idea.” Megan raised her hand. “But it may take a little… creative storytelling from our favorite sheriff.”
All eyes turned to Sully. He didn’t look pleased. “I’
m here to hang with my woman and watch her walk around in a bikini. I didn’t sign up to investigate some damn grapevines.” He looked at Nico. “Even if they are superspecial fancy grapevines. No offense.”
“What about a murder?” Megan walked toward him. “Someone was killed in this whole mess, and so far the police don’t even know who it is. Toni didn’t get much out of the greenhouse, but what if she could get her hands on the truck Detective Bisset found?”
Val looked at Sully. “You know I’m good with evidence.”
Sully took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Fuck.”
Chapter 18
“So when are you going to be home?” Adam asked.
Megan looked around at the small living room where Toni, Henry, Val, and Sully were gathered. Katherine and Baxter were on their way.
“It could be late,” she told her son. “I thought you had basketball practice tonight and you weren’t going to be home, honey. If I’d known you and Cami were going to be home early, I wouldn’t have planned this, but now I’m kind of stuck.”
“Yeah, well, Dad wanted me to meet him after school, so I told the coach I had a family emergency. I picked Cami up from the library when I was done.”
“Adam!” Megan was pissed. “Tell your dad he can’t do that. It’s interfering with your responsibilities. If he wants to meet with you—”
“It’s not like he wants to do it that often, Mom.” Adam’s voice was dull and cynical, nothing like the lively mischief-maker he’d been when he was younger. “He just wanted to get coffee. I figured I could skip practice for once.”
“Do you want me to come home?”
“No, it’s cool. Cami already called Trina, and she’s bringing burritos home. We’re gonna watch a movie.”
“Are you sure? I planned this dinner, but there are other people here. I can skip it if you’d rather have me home.”
“It’s fine, okay?”
His voice tore at her heart. Part of it was just being seventeen, but what else was going on? She knew something else was up with her boy. He’d put a wall around himself, and she didn’t know how to scale it.
Fate Interrupted: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel (Moonstone Cove Book 3) Page 14