A Secret to Forgive

by Tricia Saxby

  “Oh, grow up, Karen,” she muttered to herself.

  “I never thought I’d ever agree with you.” Karen turned to find Natasha removing her coat. She tossed it onto the couch then grabbed her coffee. She took a sip and smiled. “You got it right this morning.”

  “I know.”

  Natasha sent her a cool sideways glance. “You’re in a foul mood.”

  Karen met her stare with a questioning one. “And you’re in a good mood. Weird.”

  Natasha flicked her hair behind her shoulder and turned toward her desk. “That’s because I had an excellent night. I love Valentine’s Day.”

  I love Valentine’s Day, Karen’s mind mimicked as her head moved back and forth with each syllable.

  “Your mouth is in overdrive again. Take your bad mood for a walk and get me something sweet for breakfast.”

  Karen sighed. “Any preference?”

  “Surprise me.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Knock, knock.”

  Karen turned to see Leo leaning against the doorjamb, his muscled arms crossed at his chest and the most mischievous grin on his face. She hoped she wasn’t drooling.

  “Oh, Leo!” Natasha squealed and ran to him. She practically jumped into his arms, causing them to fall backward a few steps.

  Leo’s gaze met Karen’s, and she detected a flash of guilt. Had he lied about him and Natasha? Had he spent the night before with her? She hadn’t thought her heart could feel so heavy.

  “Last night was absolutely amazing. So many surprises to keep me on my toes.”

  Karen took a sip of her coffee. It had gone cold. Just as she had. So cold…

  “I’ll leave you two to reminisce,” Karen mumbled, and she made to leave, but Leo grabbed her elbow.

  “Don’t go.”

  “I don’t need to be here.”

  “You do.” Holding both hers and Natasha’s elbows, he escorted them to the couch. “Sit.”

  “Really, Leo,” Natasha said as he pushed her down.

  “I will not—” Karen remained firm and escaped his grasp.

  “You two really have to work out your issues.”

  “We have no issues,” Karen argued.

  Leo gave her a leveled gaze. “If you say so.” He turned his attention to Natasha and said, “I need to borrow Karen today. I got called for a reshoot.”

  Natasha tilted her head in question.

  Even Karen had to admit what he’d said didn’t jive. “You never have to do a reshoot.”

  “That’s sweet, Karen, but I was on my own for a good chunk of yesterday and it shows.”

  Natasha looked at Karen. “What happened?”

  He’d thrown her under the bus again, she realized. Another strike against him. She really needed to move on.

  “I wasn’t feeling well and the session was pretty much finished…”

  Natasha stood and squared her shoulders, all business now. “Apparently not. You owe Leo your time.”

  “What about your to-do list?” Karen asked as Leo stood by and had the audacity to grin. She needed the mind-dulling list of never-ending items to keep her mind off Leo—not to be stuck at his side.

  “Finish it when you get back. It’s overtime for you today.” Natasha sat and took a sip of her coffee. “Ugh. This is freezing cold. Get me a new one as well as that sweet breakfast we talked about…before you go.” She flicked her hand at them in dismissal before picking up the phone receiver and barking orders at the poor soul on the other end.

  »»•««

  “Where’s Robert?” The wind whipped and howled through the tall buildings as they stood on the sidewalk.

  “Robert is taking a well-deserved day off.”

  A red Porsche pulled up beside them. The door opened, and Leo stepped forward to place a wad of bills in the young man’s outstretched hand.

  “This is your car.” A rush of old memories and excitement ran up her spine.

  “You remember.” He glanced at her quickly and then opened the tiny trunk and gently placed his camera equipment inside. Karen added her messenger bag and then let herself in to the passenger side.

  She sank into the soft tan leather seat and gave a sigh of pleasure. Leo got in the driver’s seat, turned the key in the ignition, and blasted the heat.

  “You look good sitting there,” he said.

  Their eyes met, and time drifted back to their college days.

  “And you’re still the suave playboy looking for a good time in your sexy car.”

  Leo grinned and bumped the gearshift into drive. “Only you ever thought I was a playboy. Besides, all good things happen in a sexy car.”

  “According to you, yes.”

  Silence filled the small space as they drove farther away from Vale Designs, and what surprised her was the relief mingled with excitement that consumed her. Not the fear, anxiety, and dread of being stuck with Leo for a whole day.

  Feeling a bit playful, Karen started turning dials and opening compartments.

  “Karen…”

  “Yes?” She batted her eyelashes and smiled. She knew he was going crazy. Nobody was allowed to touch anything in his car.

  “You know the rules.”

  “What rules?”

  “No touching.”

  “Well, it’s a silly rule. Always has been.”

  “Silly. Really?”

  Karen turned in her seat to face him. “Yes, really. Technically I am the navigator, so when you have both hands on the wheel—”

  “One hand on the wheel, one on the gear shift.”

  “Exactly! Don’t interrupt.” She slapped his leg.

  Leo grabbed her wrist with lightning speed. “Be careful.” His voice hissed out the warning, but his eyes promised her things she was afraid to think about. Suddenly the car was stifling hot, and she had trouble breathing.

  “Eyes on the road.” Her voice was a raspy whisper.

  Leo looked at her for a few more seconds then did as she asked. “And as my navigator?”

  Grateful for the question, Karen leaned forward. “I’m in charge of temperature control and music.” Leo grunted. “Come on. I promise I won’t break anything.”

  “There are rules for a reason.”

  “Aren’t rules meant to be broken?”

  Leo jolted the steering wheel to the right and pulled the car over on the side of the street.

  “What are you doing?” Karen yelped.

  He knocked the gear into neutral to park then undid his seatbelt.

  “If rules are meant to be broken, then this will be allowed at all times.” He reached over and pulled her as far forward as her seatbelt allowed and kissed her—long, hard, and very thoroughly.

  Karen drowned in the sensations that swirled from her head down to her toes. If she hadn’t already been sitting, she would’ve fallen. As if they had a mind of their own, her hands reached up to caress the back of his neck, her fingers entwined in his hair. Their bodies were too far apart. Damn seatbelt!

  As if reading her mind, Leo undid her buckle, and she crawled over the console into his lap, not breaking the kiss for one moment. All she wanted was the sensation of this pure kiss, with all reason thrown out the window at the cars that whizzed past them. Not giving consequences a second thought, she would have taken him right there in his sexy red car with no protection between them. She craved it more than anything else in the world.

  This kiss matched the one Paul had given her at Les Sens the night before… Damn!

  Karen pulled away, her head down. Why on earth would she think about Paul at a time like this? The feather-light tingling sensation was replaced by a heavy rock in the pit of her stomach.

  Leo tilted her head up, forcing her to look at him. “What’s going on?”

  Things had been going so well, and the day was still young. “Nothing.”

  He let go of her and sat back. “Liar.”

  Karen moved back into her seat and buckled up.

  Better for him to think
her a liar than tell him she was comparing his kiss to another man’s. The worst of it was that her mind wanted Paul—handsome, successful, and funny—but her heart wanted Leo—the one who’d already broken her heart once and refused to grow up and accept responsibility. She needed to go forward, not backward.

  “Some rules shouldn’t be broken.”

  “I suppose not.”

  Back on the road, the silence grew deafening. Karen itched to turn on the radio, but decided against it and looked out the window instead. They were heading out of town. What the hell?

  “Where are we going? I thought we had to reshoot at Rockefeller?”

  Leo didn’t say anything right away. When he did, he kept his eyes focused on the road. “There is no reshoot.”

  “Pardon?”

  “We’re headed to the Hudson Valley.”

  Had Karen heard him correctly? The Hudson Valley was a good two hours away. Panic set in as she pictured Natasha screeching like a banshee before firing her on the spot.

  “Leo, we can’t go that far.”

  “And why not?”

  “I owe you some hours and have a huge Ms. Nasty Vale list to get through before the end of the day.”

  “You don’t owe me any hours, Karen.”

  “But…”

  “And I’ll have you back with plenty of time to at least tackle most of that nasty list.”

  “Gee, thanks,” Karen mumbled.

  “My pleasure.”

  Karen couldn’t help the smile that sprang to her lips. “So, you lied to Natasha and me for what reason?”

  “I need another pair of eyes.”

  “I do have those.”

  Leo laughed as he steered the car toward the ramp that took them north.

  “Are we checking out spots for future shoots?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Okay, Mister Mysterious. I won’t ask any more questions…for now. But…” She flicked the radio on, and “Crazy” by Aerosmith filled the space between them. “This means I get my full navigator duties reinstated.”

  Leo grunted again.

  “Go team!” Karen cheered, and she started singing along with the radio.

  »»•««

  The two-hour car ride whizzed by as they sang along to the Classic Rewind station. It’d started to drizzle an hour into the trip then turned into heavy, wet sleet. Leo had slowed down, and the windshield wipers were going at full speed. Karen concentrated on the scenery as it changed from city to farmland with occasional rows of vines. Depending on the size of the winery, some of the estates towered over the fields like Scottish castles, but more were homey cottages.

  Leo turned onto a gravel road with a “For Sale” sign posted in the ditch. Huge sycamore trees arched over the road like a covered bridge, and after a few minutes they emerged into a wide yard with a huge cement water fountain as the dominant feature. Behind that monstrosity, a cute little two-story cottage was nestled among a variety of bare shrubs. An “Open” sign flashed in the front window.

  “How charming,” Karen exclaimed as Leo pulled into a parking spot. Her mind went into instant work mode as it played with scenes, colors, and models that would best bring out the striking character of the place.

  “Yes,” Leo agreed reluctantly, and he got out of the car.

  The rain refused to let up as they dashed inside. Karen wiped her boots on the welcome mat and stepped up to the desk.

  “Leo, this is a B&B.”

  “I see that… Interesting idea.”

  An elderly lady emerged from a back room to greet them. Pleasantly plump, she wore an apron around her belly, and her gray hair was in a bun on top of her head. Her hands were flour-covered and her face, hair, and shirt were also dusted with the substance.

  “Welcome to Happy Haven Bed and Breakfast. I’m Bea. Do you have a reservation?”

  “No,” Leo answered. “I saw the for-sale sign at the end of the drive.”

  Bea wiped her hands on her apron and took a step closer. She eyed Leo up and down and then rang the desk bell three times. “You’re interested in this old place?”

  A man wearing mud-covered coveralls and a faded baseball hat came in through a side door. “You rang, Ma?”

  Bea nodded. “This here is Walter, my husband. You can talk to him about such business.” Dismissing them, she walked back through the door she’d come in.

  Karen didn’t know what was going on. Here she’d been in full work mode, staging shoots and scribbling in her notepad, when Leo had blurted out “for-sale sign.”

  “I can give ya the tour,” Walter announced as he shuffled his feet, apparently in no hurry to help them out.

  “I’d appreciate a tour of the building,” Leo said. “Karen, can you take notes?”

  “Umm…sure.”

  The cottage itself was bigger than it had looked from the outside. Once they left the front foyer, they entered a huge living space with a roaring fire and overstuffed furniture. “Cozy” came to Karen’s mind. The kitchen at the back of the house was small but fully equipped to host guests. A set of narrow stairs took them up to a master bedroom with its own en suite bathroom, plus three other small bedrooms with a bathroom in the hallway for the guests to share. Not ideal, Karen scribbled in her notepad.

  After the tour, Walter showed them back to the foyer, leaving them alone.

  “I’ve never been involved in such detailed shoot scouting,” Karen said, breaking the silence. She opened her notepad to the beginning of her notes. “So I’m going to assume this isn’t for a shoot either.”

  Leo glanced over at her and sighed. “Right again.”

  “What’s going on here, Leo? Why all the secrecy today?”

  He paced in front of the desk, his stance hunched and his feet dragging. Boy, he was struggling.

  “My parents wanted me to check this place out. They’re thinking about buying it.”

  Karen’s notepad slipped out of her hands. “You…the family business? No way.”

  “Only as a favor. I’m here anyway,” he spat out.

  She couldn’t believe it. He was doing something for his family. But… “This isn’t a winery, Leo.”

  “It could be,” he sighed.

  Chapter Seven

  Leo knew this was a bad idea. He didn’t want to be sucked into the family business. It had ruined his parents’ marriage, consumed all of his brother’s time, and his sister…well, if his parents had been home more instead of gallivanting around the world in their quest for success, she wouldn’t have been left alone with an eighteen-year-old who detested being stuck babysitting…and in the end had failed her; failed them all. He’d vowed never to take responsibility for anyone else again.

  But…an unfamiliar excitement buzzed in his belly, different from his usual forms of pleasure—drag racing, poker games, and women. Those things brought him intense desperation, that wild urge for speed, chance, and self-satisfaction. But this…he’d never felt this way before.

  Leo’s gaze drank in the gold wallpaper, dark wood, and bright overhead lights in the foyer. His photographer’s eye saw the potential in this out-of-date B&B. And heaven help him, he wanted it. Giddiness he hadn’t experienced since Christmas morning in his childhood swept through him, and he had the sudden urge to dance a jig.

  “What do you mean it could be a winery?”

  Karen’s voice was barely a whisper, but he heard it through the buzzing in his ears.

  “Can’t you see it?” he asked, and he swept his arms in a wide arc to indicate the room. “Customers will enter through grand double doors into a foyer with a vaulted ceiling and rows upon rows of estate wine. One door will lead out to the vineyard for tours, and another will lead to a huge living space, a common area, where customers staying overnight can hang out and enjoy the evenings. A spiral staircase will lead up to the bedrooms, each with an en suite and a balcony facing the vineyard.”

  It clicked together so clearly, like putting the final piece in a puzzle that had t
aken forever to finish.

  “I want this, Karen.”

  “And, therefore, you shall have it.”

  A bit of the excitement was knocked out of him by her sarcastic comment. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means exactly that. You always get what you want.”

  Leo closed the space between them. He hovered a few inches away but didn’t touch her. The green flecks in her eyes darkened in a matter of moments. “Not everything.”

  Karen stepped back, and the spell was broken. “Perhaps not, but this is a passing fancy, a new toy that Mr. St. Clare has to have.”

  “No!”

  “Tell me, do you want this for you or for the family business?”

  “The family business. What on earth would I do with a winery?” Prickles of doubt crept across his skin when he considered her questions. Just like in college, she got under his skin and made him doubt himself. No one had been able to do that but her. No one had been able to come so close to the truth but her.

  “Is there even a decent vineyard here?” Karen asked, bringing him back to the present.

  “We have vines,” Walter said as he entered the room.

  “I’d like to see them.” Leo zipped up his coat and headed toward the door.

  “Not possible.”

  “Why not?” he snapped.

  “The storm brewing all day is here.”

  Leo went to the window and pulled the curtain back. It was snowing so hard he couldn’t even see the car. Karen joined him at the window and wrapped her arms tight around herself. He noticed her slight shiver and made to put an arm around her shoulders, but she stepped away.

  “I need to call Natasha.” Karen dug into her purse for her cell phone.

  “There is no cell service or Internet here,” Walter said.

  “What about the landline?” Karen asked.

  “Dead for the last hour.”

  Karen groaned. “Great…I didn’t even realize places were off the grid anymore.”

  “I think that is a great feature,” Leo piped up. “Makes the B&B experience more intimate.”