Natalie made her feet move forward. She found herself positioned between Tanner and Grandpa Hal while David began the blessing.
She pushed down an unexpected lump in her throat as David prayed, looked up, and found Tanner watching her. “Remind me to kill you later,” she whispered.
The corners of his eyes crinkled. “Hal’s idea. I tried to talk him out of it.”
“Not hard enough, obviously.”
“Sorry. Hope you have your dancing shoes on because that’s next.”
Natalie shot him a look. “You better be kidding.”
“As Tanner said”—David’s voice rose a little—“we have much to be thankful for tonight.” He put great emphasis on Tanner’s name and Natalie squashed a giggle.
“Not kidding.” Tanner waggled his brows.
“Stop. You’re joking right?” she whispered back.
Tanner bowed his head and crossed his arms. “You know we’re supposed to be praying, right Mouse?”
“Yeah, you better pray.” Natalie scowled and shut her eyes.
When David finished, he marched up to them like they were in high school, about to get detention for disrupting the class.
“Sorry.” Natalie offered an apologetic smile. She remembered him to be kind, quiet, with a dry sense of humor that caught you off guard.
And now he was a pastor, apparently.
“I think you’re up.” David walked behind her as Hal moved to the table where the wine sat and indicated she join him.
Natalie performed the obligatory tasting, said a few words that she couldn’t remember later, and tried to make good her escape while the band set up.
“Oh no you don’t.” Tanner blocked her path. “You’re the guest of honor. You’ll dance with your grandfather, then you’ll dance with me. Then you can go.”
If he was kidding, it wasn’t funny. “I don’t dance.”
Tanner frowned. “A debutante that doesn’t dance? I find that hard to believe.”
“Okay, fine, but I don’t enjoy it.” This was ridiculous. “Why must I dance with you?”
“Because I’m the vintner. It’s tradition.” Tanner mirrored her scowl. “You don’t have to make it sound like a punishment. I promise not to step on your toes.”
Natalie blew a frustrated breath and marched off to wait with her grandfather. Sure enough, once the band began to play, Grandpa grabbed her hand and whisked her onto the dance floor.
“I’m so glad you’re here for this, Natalie Grace.” His eyes sparkled as they moved smoothly across the floor to a slow country tune.
“Me too.” She remembered him dancing with her grandmother one night when they’d gone to a fancy hotel for dinner, recalled the way everyone had stood back to watch and then clapped when they were finished.
“Outside of Christmas, this was your grandmother’s favorite night of the year.”
“It’s wonderful.” Natalie’s heart jumped as she caught sight of Tanner waiting nearby. “I’m glad I could be here.” If they could just skip the next part, that would be even better.
But there was no escape. As soon as the next song started, Grandpa handed her over to Tanner with a broad smile.
“Haven’t seen the old guy this happy in a stretch.” Tanner held her hand in his, the other around her waist. “He’s really enjoying having you around.”
“I guess so.” She gripped his shoulder and followed his steps. This couldn’t get any more awkward. To her surprise, Tanner knew what he was doing on the dance floor. “You’ve done this before.”
“A few times. Your grandmother taught me. Relax and at least pretend you’re enjoying yourself, would you?” Tanner attempted a crooked smile. “You’re stiff as a board.”
“Sorry, I haven’t danced in a while.” Not since her engagement party. But that didn’t bear thinking about. She forced herself to loosen up a bit in his arms and allowed him to lead.
“Better.” He pulled her a little closer. “But that fake smile you’re wearing makes you look like you just had a round of Botox.”
“Really?” Natalie positioned the kitten heel of her sandal above the toe of his deck shoe and brought it down hard.
“Ow! Crap, Natalie.” His eyes widened, but a grin got away.
“Told you, I’m out of practice.” She set a sweet smile on him. “And you should be more careful with your compliments.”
After a few more awkward minutes, the dance was over and he let her go. “Now that wasn’t too terrible, was it?”
“I suppose not.” Truthfully, she rather enjoyed it. But she wasn’t about to tell him that. She headed for the barn.
Food. She needed food. Maybe some wine too.
“Are you going to eat?” Tanner sidled up beside her, hands deep in the pockets of his blue jeans.
“I’m thinking about it.” Natalie released a shaky breath. Why was he following her? “It smells good, but I’m not sure what I can handle.” She surveyed the long picnic tables almost buckling under a foray of culinary delights. Mounds of ribs and chicken, huge bowls of coleslaw, potato salad, mixed greens, bean salad, even shrimp, oysters, and mussels. No clams. “Maybe I’ll wait a bit.” People moved past them, eager to begin the meal.
Tanner grabbed a plate and she watched him make a few selections from the feast. When he returned, he presented the plate to her. “Here. The chicken isn’t spicy. The rice and beans have a bite but they’re good, coleslaw is amazing, and if all else fails, that green Jell-O should go down pretty easy.”
Natalie met his anxious eyes and smiled. “Thanks.” She was suddenly hungry. “That’s suspiciously thoughtful of you. What do you want?”
He narrowed his eyes. “I thought we were calling a truce.”
“Well, that would be fine with me.”
“Good. I’ll be right back.”
After he got his own plate, they found a spot at one of the tables. She washed down her meal with a bottle of water and glanced around while Tanner made short work of the biggest mound of food she’d seen in a while. She didn’t doubt he’d go back for seconds.
Natalie looked around again, the twinkling lights in the trees catching her eye. And then the idea popped like the cork from a champagne bottle. “Oh. Tanner. Weddings.”
He glanced up, practically choking on his last mouthful of potato salad. “Excuse me?”
Natalie laughed and waved a hand. Everything started to take shape in her mind. “This venue. The barn. It’s perfect for weddings. There’s a huge market for barn settings. I can’t imagine why, but there you go. Brides will be beating down the doors.”
Skepticism settled over his face. “Really? A wedding in a barn? Well. That’s an idea, I guess. How do you know so much about weddings?” He blanched and looked away. “Sorry. Forgot.”
“Oh, please.” Natalie feigned nonchalance. “I’m over it, really. Peter wasn’t the guy for me. End of story.”
“What is the story?” Tanner pushed his empty plate away and propped his elbows, resting his chin on his hands. “If you don’t mind me asking.” Topaz eyes mesmerized her, made her want to tell him all her secrets.
“Not much of one. He came across a better opportunity.”
“Come again?” His brow furrowed.
Natalie shrugged. Her former fiancé hadn’t infringed on her thoughts in quite some time. She wasn’t sure she wanted him here tonight. Not when she was just starting to have a good time. “He found someone else. While we were still engaged.” The daughter of an oil baron. With more money than her father could ever dream of making, and that was saying something.
He leaned back in his chair and gave a long whistle. “And this happened when?”
“Don’t miss much, do you?” She studied her fingers a minute, waiting for the tremors. Her hands were steady. No shakes. Natalie let her breath out in a slow exhale. “At the beginning of June. I’d been working long hours. Working on a few projects, starting to make mistakes. I’d been having nightmares again. I suppose I wasn’t paying Peter
that much attention. One night I came home early from a business trip, thought I’d go over to his apartment and surprise him. He was surprised all right. So was I.” Surprised, shocked, dumbfounded. And then decimated. “A couple days afterward, everything crashed. I was in my office working on a presentation, and suddenly I was on the road, staring at a flipped Jeep, Nicole laying facedown in a pool of blood.”
“I can’t believe your parents didn’t see what was going on,” Tanner said.
Natalie shrugged. “I think they have their suspicions. I did a good job of avoiding them all summer, covering it up with my dad at the office. They assumed I’d just taken the breakup with Peter rather badly. Truthfully, I’m not sure they’d be terribly helpful if they did know.”
How was she so calm? No tears or tremors? Her food wasn’t threatening to reappear. Natalie studied Tanner’s serious expression and wrestled with the truth.
He gave her strength.
Whether he knew it or not. Whether she liked it or not.
He’d always had that effect on her.
Natalie broke his gaze and stared at her plate. No. She wouldn’t fall into that trap again. She didn’t need Tanner Collins.
She didn’t need anyone.
The touch of a hand over hers made her look up.
Tanner looked at her through serious eyes as he gave her hand a squeeze. “I’m sorry, Mouse.”
“Thanks.” She gave his hand a pat with her other hand. A friendly, sisterly pat. One that said thanks for being a good pal.
“How’d you wind up with someone like that anyway? He sounds like a real piece of work.”
Natalie smiled and sipped water. “Peter and I grew up together. Our parents ran in the same circles. My father liked him, my mother thought he could walk on water, and I, well, I guess I thought we were a good match.”
“A good match?” Tanner sputtered. “You were willing to spend the rest of your life with someone on the basis of him being ‘a good match’?”
Natalie grinned at his astounded expression. “People get married for the wrong reasons all the time. Been doing it for years.”
“I wouldn’t.” He leaned in and captured her with his eyes. “If I ever get married, and that’s a big if, it will be because I’ve found the one person in this crazy world who really gets me. The one I’d want to go to bed with at night and wake up for in the morning. Someone who keeps me sane, makes me laugh, and knows what I’m going to say before I say it. And I’d know, without a doubt, that she felt the same way about me.”
Natalie stared at this sweet and surprisingly romantic man who’d taken over Tanner Collins’s body when she wasn’t looking. “For someone who says they’re not interested in marriage, you’ve given this a lot of thought.”
“Those are my terms.” His mouth curled attractively before sliding into a frown. “But the older I get, the more convinced I become that I’m better off alone.”
“Or maybe you just haven’t found the right someone yet.”
“Not really looking.” He shrugged and sat back, drumming his fingers on the table. “You think it’s possible? For two people to live entirely separate lives, suddenly find each other, and realize they haven’t been complete until that moment?”
“Kismet.”
Tanner’s brows nearly touched his hairline. “Did you just say ‘kiss me’?”
Unexpected, uncontrollable laughter tumbled from her in waves and there wasn’t a thing she could do to stop it. Finally she sobered and gave herself a shake. “No, silly. KIS-MET. What you’re talking about. It means fate. Destiny. And no, I don’t believe in it.”
“Kismet, huh?” He undid his watch and rubbed the top of his wrist. His tanned skin created a perfect outline. Tanner fastened the strap again, shooting her a curious glance. “Do you believe in God, Natalie?”
“Ah.” The question didn’t surprise her. She could pull conversations from memory where they’d argued over faith and the existence of God—a loving father who watched over them, and guided them through life—Natalie could never get her head around it. Not when her own father held her at arm’s length most of the time, dictated and controlled, and didn’t seem capable of loving anything other than his bank account.
Tanner never tried to persuade her to share his faith, yet on some level, she always wished she had. “Essentially, I suppose so. But if God is up there plotting out every moment of our lives, He’s not doing a great job.”
He nodded. “I’ve done my share of questioning lately. But I have to admit, when it comes down to it, I’d rather have faith than nothing. God doesn’t decide for us; He lets us make choices. It’s just sometimes we make really bad ones.”
“What bad choices have you made, Tanner?”
“Well . . .” His stare was so intense that Natalie was almost afraid to hear the answer.
“Tanner! Yoo-hoo!” A female voice diverted their attention. A willowy blonde headed toward them, followed by a frazzled looking David Grearson.
Tanner got to his feet and met them halfway. Natalie watched the woman pull Tanner into a tight hug that lasted a little too long.
Perhaps Tanner had succumbed to his kismet after all. Strange disappointment pricked her. Natalie brushed the feeling aside along with the crumbs on her dress, stacked their plates, about to head for the trash when David blocked her path.
“How’s it going, Natalie? Sorry for the interruption.” His sly grin hinted at his opinion of the “interruption.”
Natalie forced her eyes away from Tanner and onto the kind face in front of her. “We’ve finished eating.” And maybe it was for the best. Having heart-to-hearts with Tanner wasn’t the wisest idea. “You’re looking well, David. It’s good to see you.”
“Likewise. How are you feeling?”
“Getting through, one day at a time. I haven’t had an easy time the past few months.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. But you look great, really.”
She touched the back of her hair. “I thought holy men weren’t supposed to lie.”
His laughter somehow soothed her rattled nerves. “I’m not all that holy. But I always mean what I say.” Brown eyes twinkled at her. Natalie was about to reply when Tanner approached, the blonde still hanging on his arm.
“Natalie, this is Candace Giovanni. She’s our sales rep. Works at the office downtown. Candy, meet Natalie Mitchell.”
“Hal’s granddaughter,” the woman gushed. “I’ve heard so much about you.” She extended a hand with bright pink manicured fingernails toward Natalie.
“Nice meeting you.” Or not. Bleach-blond hair, way too much makeup, a barely there blouse, and a skin tight black leather skirt stretched across a pair of legs that went on forever until they reached a pair of leopard print heels.
If this was Tanner’s taste in women, she’d sorely misjudged the man.
“I just got back from meetings in San Francisco,” Candy informed them breathily. “I’ve managed to get several restaurants to add Maoilios to their list of stocked wines.”
“Attagirl.” Tanner patted her shoulder.
“Great.” Natalie smiled, her stomach rolling. Although she doubted it was from the food.
“Natalie was just saying how this place might be a good venue for weddings,” Tanner mused. He surveyed the area, actually appearing to consider her suggestion. “What do you think, Candy?”
“I think it’s a marvelous idea.” She glowed under her fake tan, white teeth sparkling. “Natalie, we should do lunch. What do you say?”
Shoot me now. “Oh. Sure.” Natalie glanced at David and widened her eyes in a help me plea. He nodded to where her grandfather was trying to get their attention across the crowd.
“Hey, Tanner.” David jogged Tanner’s elbow. “Hal wants you.”
Tanner turned toward Hal, raised a hand in acknowledgment, and left them, the blonde following him at a clip. If she’d been a dog, her tail would have been wagging.
Natalie scowled. “She really works for us?”
She seemed more suited as a cocktail waitress.
“Candy’s all right in small doses.” David tipped his head. “So what’s the deal, Natalie? Are you really here to shut this place down?”
“Don’t beat around the bush, do you?” Natalie smiled and started walking away from the crowd. “You’ve been talking to Tanner.”
“He’s concerned, yes. Does he have a reason to be?”
She scanned the groups of mingling employees, children running in and out, couples dancing. Hal had called Tanner over to talk to an older couple. A dark-haired child joined them and she watched Tanner scoop him up and place him on his shoulders. He listened intently to something the child whispered in his ear, then laughed, nodded, and placed him on the ground again. The older woman gave Tanner a big hug before they moved off. Her grandfather was pulled aside by another gentleman and Tanner was soon immersed in conversation with a few younger men.
Everyone here seemed to know one another, and Natalie felt like an outsider. The hearty embraces, lighthearted teasing, groups of gossiping girls, and children of varying ages darting in and out of the crowd, all told her what this place was really about.
Maoilios was more than just a business.
It was a family.
And suddenly she wanted more than anything to be a part of it.
“Natalie?” David waited for her answer. “Is your father shutting this place down?”
She turned back to him, her eyes stinging. “Not if I can help it.”
Eighteen
TANNER LISTENED WITH HALF AN EAR TO WHAT MIGUEL WAS saying. On the other side of the gathering, Natalie walked around with Hal. When they stopped to speak to someone, she was fully engaged, attentive, and she paid special attention to the children. He’d heard her conversing in Spanish with Iliana. He hadn’t been aware she spoke the language. But he was beginning to realize there were lots of things about Natalie he didn’t know.
Lots of things he wanted to.
When she’d come down the front steps of the house that afternoon, her face lit as she caught sight of the horses, she’d taken his breath away. She looked perfect in that simple dress and possessed an elegance that surprised him. The strand of pearls around her neck added a touch of class that reminded him of her grandmother Grace, even if that necklace with the strange charm still sat under them. And the way she’d looked at him? Just for a moment, when she smiled, he saw the Natalie he remembered.
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