Gabe stood up and pasted a bright smile on his face. “Let’s join the women,” he said and walked over to Liz and Maddie.
“I’ll buy anything you want, friend,” he told Liz. “The sky’s the limit.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
AFTER SPENDING AN HOUR with Maddie and Nate at the café, Liz felt she couldn’t decline Gabe’s offer to drive her home. Insisting on taking the train back to Indian Lake sounded absurd even to her ears, so she gave in. He’d parked his Porsche in a garage halfway between the café and the Merchandise Mart, and Gabe had set out to trudge through the rain with Liz’s umbrella while she stayed dry at the café with Maddie.
Liz listened to Maddie complain about the new stainless steel shelving that hadn’t arrived and the fact that she was still training the new manager. Nate spent a good amount of time on his cell phone returning phone calls to patients. She was impressed with the deep concern in his voice as he calmly answered each question, adding a bit of humor to ease their fears and concerns.
Liz saw Gabe drive up and waved through the large window. She turned to Maddie and hugged her.
“Don’t forget that you, Sarah and I are going to look for bridesmaids’ dresses on Wednesday,” Maddie said. “Audra at the Bride’s Corner called and said the winter collection has just arrived.”
“Winter.” Liz glanced outside at the summer rain that was just beginning to dissipate. “Seems forever away. Thank goodness. I hate the cold and the long, silent months at the vineyard.” She took in Maddie’s glum expression. “Sorry. I bet you can’t wait for your wedding to get here.”
“No kidding. But the house has a long way to go, and I’d like to have a place to actually live together once we’re married.” Maddie frowned. “I think building our supposedly uncomplicated lake cottage is more work than running my café.”
Liz, Nate and Maddie said their goodbyes and Liz headed out the door.
Inside Gabe’s Porsche, Liz took a moment to appreciate the luxurious interior. Her 1978 Ford pickup with a clutch and four-on-the-floor transmission, an AM radio and hand-crank windows was about as utilitarian as it could get. Although Gabe’s car was over a decade old, he kept it in pristine condition. She wondered if he waxed and polished it himself. She glanced over at his large biceps, which strained against his linen jacket. Yep. No question he did the work himself. His car was important to him, and he obviously took a personal interest in his belongings. She liked that. A lot.
Gabe synced his phone to the car to return three calls, all of which were business-related. Apparently, they were also urgent. Gabe apologized for the calls, but Liz noticed he apologized even more to his family for taking the afternoon off.
They were going through the tollbooth on the Skyway when he finally turned his phone off. “I bet it’s like that for you, as well. Always being in demand. They probably can’t live without you and your guidance at the vineyard.”
“You’re right. But today was special and they all knew it. So I turned my cell phone off.”
“That’s brave,” he said.
She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply as she sank back in the luxurious seat. “I wanted to make sure I absorbed every scrap of knowledge I could. I’ve looked forward to this symposium for months.”
“I know exactly what you mean. Stealing time to do the things we want to do is getting harder by the day.”
Liz watched the trees stream by as they exited the busy interstate for the much calmer traffic on Indiana Toll Road.
“I’m curious, Gabe,” she said. “You’re clearly swamped with all the work you do for the farm. How are you going to manage the time to build a proper vineyard on the Mattuchi land?”
He cocked the right side of his mouth into a lopsided grin. “Caffeine.”
“I’m being serious,” she said.
“I’ve found ways to carve out time. Plus, I’ve hired an excellent manager for the vineyard who will live in a used trailer I’ve bought for the first year.”
“Do I know him?” she probed.
“Probably not,” Gabe answered but didn’t offer any more information. Then he glanced at her. “I’m not going into this thing on a whim, Liz. I’m committed to building one of the best little vineyards in the country. This has been my dream forever, and I’m going for it. Nate taught me that.”
“Nate? I don’t understand.”
“He was only nineteen when he took off and joined the navy. He wanted to be a doctor rather than the farmer my father expected all of us boys to become. As far as Dad was concerned, there were no options for our futures. In order for Nate to take charge of his own destiny, he had to lie to us, break Mother’s heart and let the entire city of Indian Lake believe he was a monster for leaving Maddie the way he did. I actually wanted to deck him for all those reasons and more. But he did it. He got his degree and went to med school and became a doctor. Now look at him. He’s got the world by the tail.”
“And you don’t?”
He stared straight ahead and ground his jaw. “I will,” he said with tangible determination.
Liz understood his tenacity. To be a vintner took more than sweat and toil. It took superhuman grit and resolute faith—you had to believe the vines would give back, eventually, no matter how long the wait.
“Have you always felt like that, Gabe? About the vines and the wine, I mean?”
“Ever since I went to Davis. I had applied for a scholarship without my parents’ knowledge. I don’t know why I chose Davis, except that it was as far away from Indiana as I could get. My grades put me on the dean’s list in high school. I must have written one heck of an essay for that application, because I got pretty decent funding. How could my parents not let me go?
“Anyway, about a month after I’d started my boring freshman courses, I went on a long weekend holiday to Sonoma. I can’t tell you the feeling I had. It was like dying and then being reborn. I have never felt as at home as I did touring the vines. I couldn’t stand it. I wanted to lie down and sleep among them. I don’t know what exactly happened to me, but my explanation since then has been that I found my destiny. I went back to school and signed up for an elective in viticulture. I was hooked. Then, after my junior year, Nate took off. My dad went ballistic, essentially. He demanded I finish my degree at Purdue so I could help at the farm.”
“And you’ve been working for your father ever since?”
Gabe nodded with a look so solemn and steely she thought it would cut the windshield. “Au revoir, le vin.”
“And you figured that buying the Mattuchi land would be your breakout, like Nate’s running away?”
His eyes slid from the highway in front of them to Liz’s face as a perceptive smile creased his lips. “That’s part of it. I had promised Mario not to say anything to anyone, but the truth will be all over town soon.”
“The truth?” She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
He patted her knee. It wasn’t a patronizing gesture, but a reassuring and understanding one. She liked the feel of his hand against her knee. “You of all people deserve the real story, Liz. Nearly six months ago, Nate told Sophie Mattuchi, during one of their surgeries together, that my dream was to be a vintner. Sophie had just learned her father had cancer. The Mattuchi family had okay, but not great, insurance, and his treatments were going to wipe out their savings and then some. To me, Sophie proposed I buy some of their land to help them out financially. You can guess how excited I was. But I had no idea how good or bad the soil actually was.”
“So that’s when you started spying on me?” Liz turned in her seat to look at him squarely.
He exhaled his exasperation. “Why are you so suspicious, Liz? Do you do this to everyone or just to me?”
“What?” she asked innocently.
“You think I’m out to hurt you for some reason. I’m not. Whe
n you found me that day, I had been over at the Mattuchis. I had my test tubes in my trunk because I’d tested their soil. I was committed to buying the land to help Mario, and because common sense told me that since their land butted up to yours, there had to be some good qualities and nutrients I could bank on. I was curious about your soil, I admit that. It was the first time I went to your place. I didn’t even know you had more land. Liz, honestly, I’m sorry about not asking you if I could test your soil. It was very wrong of me.”
The sincerity in his voice touched her. She chose to believe him. “Accepted and forgiven. Would you agree with me that we need to put that behind us?’
“I agree. By the way, how much unplanted land do you have?”
“A hundred acres.”
He whistled. “I had no idea it was that much. Then that means the largest part of your vineyard hasn’t been tapped yet.”
Liz gazed out the windshield but all she saw was her father’s face, beaming at her. “That’s right. Only about fifty acres is planted now. My fallow land is my inheritance. My grandfather owns the rest of the vineyard, but the fallow land was deeded to me. It’s my father’s dream. He told me exactly how to plant it. Nowhere in the Midwest, not even in Michigan, is there a stretch of land like that one, and it’s right in our own backyard. The air currents, the wind off the lake bringing the humidity, the rich soil...it’s perfect for chardonnays and champagnes. That land is the reason I went to France. I’m going to turn it into something incredible and I won’t stop until I do.”
Gabe reached for her hand, but before he touched her, he retracted it. Liz saw his hand slide back onto the steering wheel. “Sorry. I get carried away sometimes.”
“I know just how you feel. We share a love of the land. The only thing we do not share is the heritage.”
“My father’s dream is the most important thing in my life,” Liz admitted.
Gabe pursed his lips. “I wish I could have known him,” he said sincerely.
“I wish I could have known him longer. I like to think we would have had fun working the vineyard together.”
Gabe smiled. “Well, I think it’s pretty cool that you and I will be working nearly the same land together, trying to make some really great wines. So, since we’ll be work neighbors, do you think you could possibly dial down your distrust of me?”
Liz tore her eyes from him and looked at the highway. “I do have a suspicious nature, don’t I?”
“Yes. You do. Why is that?”
“I’ve always been that way. My grandfather says my first word was why, and I guess I haven’t changed since then.”
Gabe rubbed the back of his neck and shot her a thoughtful look. “That’s just natural curiosity. But when it comes to me, you jump to the worst conclusions.”
Liz didn’t like how discerning Gabe was. How was it possible he’d come to know her better than she knew him in such a short period of time? Didn’t it take hours and hours of conversation and working on problems and projects together to really get to know a person? She had known her grandfather all her life and she was still learning new things about him all the time.
Gabe was dead-on this time. She hadn’t trusted him in the least. She questioned everything about him, from his motives to his charming smile. She was convinced he wanted something from her. Now that he’d explained how his purchase of the Mattuchi land had come about, she truly believed he hadn’t had any ulterior motives when she’d caught him on her land. He’d just wanted to find out what kind of soil he’d be working with.
That, however, didn’t account for why he appeared to be manipulating events and circumstances so they could be together more often. It had been Gabe’s idea for the two of them to be paired up for Maddie and Nate’s wedding. That was circumspect, wasn’t it?
Liz folded her arms across her chest. “Maybe that’s because you do things that aren’t always so straightforward.”
“Oh, yeah?” He guffawed. “Name one.”
“Fine,” she countered. “You manipulated your brother into appointing yourself as my groomsman for his wedding.”
“I merely suggested it.” He smiled to himself and glanced at her. “Aw, c’mon, Liz. It was a great idea. How else was I going to get you to dance with me in the moonlight?”
“That’s why you did it?” she demanded. “You wanted to dance with me?”
“I sure did.” He chuckled. “And it worked.”
Part of her was flattered that Gabe had gone to all that trouble just to dance with her. But she wondered why he felt he had to work so hard to get what he wanted, when all he had to do was ask. He could have asked to test her soil. He could have asked her for a dance. Now that he’d told her so much about his relationship with his father, she guessed that Gabe had learned the hard way that asking permission only opened him up to rejection and dismissal.
Liz peered out the windshield and noticed the light was fading. “We should be back in Indian Lake soon.”
“Uh-huh.”
They were silent for a long moment. “Gabe, how long have you been looking forward to today’s lecture?”
Gabe gripped the steering wheel. Liz had a feeling she wasn’t going to like his answer. “About a week,” he confessed.
“And I’ve had my ticket for months,” she said quietly. “How did you find out about the lecture? Don’t tell me. From Maddie?”
He nodded. “Yep. And she mentioned you were going to visit her afterward. I knew Nate was going to be in Chicago, too. I just thought—”
“What?” she interrupted. “What did you think, Gabe?”
The exit for Indian Lake loomed ahead. Gabe signaled and left the toll road. “I thought it would be a great way to see you again, and if I got lucky, maybe you would talk to me and spend some time with me.”
“Is that so?”
“Oh, yes, Liz.”
Liz’s mind was reeling. On the surface, Gabe’s actions seemed controlling. Yet at the same time, her heart told her that wasn’t the truth. She’d felt his passion for winemaking as if his words came from her own soul. He’d told her a great deal about his relationships with both his parents, good and bad...certainly more than she’d revealed about herself. She actually found herself empathizing with him for never having experienced the kind of love she’d had with her father. One moment, she felt compelled to reach out to him with comfort. The next, she wanted to withdraw. Why was he so insecure when it came to her? Was she that off-putting? The only thing she knew for certain was that these tangled vines of uneasiness and caring had planted themselves deep within her.
She’d never felt these feelings before Gabe. Ever. And she wasn’t sure what they meant.
* * *
BY THE TIME they arrived in Indian Lake the rain had stopped and the clouds had cleared enough to create a striking sunset.
“I have an idea,” Gabe said, turning onto the gravel drive to Cove Beach. “Let’s steal just another minute to watch the sun go down.”
Liz checked her watch. She was stunned to see it was nearly nine o’clock. “I really should get home.”
She realized she couldn’t wait to get away from him. If she stayed with him any longer, she might like him more. And then what? Throwing aside the fact that he intended to become her competition, there was something else that threatened her. Something that could change her forever, if she let it.
“Five minutes. What difference can five minutes make now?” he said, parking the car and turning off the engine. He opened his door. “Come on. Sunsets are always gorgeous reflected in the lake. I never get to see them like this. I’m always at the farm.”
“Okay,” she relented, opening her door.
Gabe jogged around the front of the car and took her hand.
“Let’s go over there,” he said, pointing to the picnic table closest to the water
’s edge. There was a thicket of cattails to the right, and swirls of lake weeds wove around the stalks, glittering in the pink light.
They sat on top of the table rather than on the bench. Gabe let go of Liz’s hand and she was surprised by her disappointment. Why should she feel snubbed? They’d just spent the entire day together. They’d exchanged some private information about themselves and shared their intimate histories. Had she thought they’d become closer? Was she getting more emotionally involved with Gabe? Was she actually growing to like him?
Maybe he believed they were just two people who’d gone to a lecture together and met friends for coffee. Or perhaps she had wounded him by being distrustful. Maybe he was feeling guilty for going to the lecture and crashing her café date with Maddie.
Liz had told herself for weeks she didn’t want a romance with Gabe. Or with anyone, for that matter. Love was dangerous territory for her, and the risks to her heart weren’t worth the benefits, as far as she could see.
It was one thing to be a bridesmaid to his groomsman, and to be working neighbors. But that was all. It was really best that nothing romantic happen between them.
Gabe appeared to be totally absorbed by the lavender, pink and orange striations ribboning the horizon. As the sun sank, the clouds above them morphed into pink puffs against an ever-darkening sky. It was nature’s light show. Until the day she died, Liz would never tire of watching sunsets.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” she said softly, hoping not to disturb his thoughts too much.
“Amazing. And there are never two alike. I must have a thousand photographs of sunsets on my computer. I use different ones for screen savers.” He chuckled and turned to face her. “There’s nothing more...beautiful...”
Without warning, Gabe kissed Liz. It was a quick kiss, and as he abruptly pulled away, Liz heard him breathe in sharply, as if something had shocked him. Then he kissed her again. He cradled her face in his strong hands and held her close.
Liz placed her hands over his. Though his lips were soft and full against hers, she felt the same power and purpose she’d seen in his eyes when he’d talked about his vineyard. With her eyes closed, she felt as if she were floating into space. Liz felt emotions she had long ago forgotten—longing, comfort and building excitement, as if she were sailing out of a stormy sea into a safe harbor. But just as quickly as she had found pleasure, she was filled with a biting terror that made her pull away from him.
A Fine Year for Love (Shores of Indian Lake) Page 11