Risking the Vine (Romancing the Vine Book 1)

by Gemma Brocato

  Instead, she saw only weak, early morning sunlight slanting over the beige ceiling. “Oh, Luke. I wish you were here.”

  Phone sex had been a poor substitute for the real thing with her college boyfriend. At least from that asshat’s point of view. Who could say whether Luke would find a warm substitute for Jac to occupy his bed? She’d seen the way other women at happy hour had tried to attract his attention. Temptation would abound.

  Living almost a hundred miles from him almost guaranteed she’d end up with this hollow, empty feeling at least once a week. Would it be better to end it now, before she turned into a sad, needy woman who indulged in fantasies and masturbation for fulfillment? Her chest and cheeks burned and she covered her eyes, as if to hide from what she’d been reduced to.

  “Oh baby. Me, too.”

  His sincere tone slipped into her heart. She’d have loved to wake next to him this morning. Holding his body, cradling him between her legs. She clung tight to the image of him in her mind’s eye and swallowed the words she wanted to say. “Am I going to see you tomorrow?”

  “Aw, baby. I’m going to have to improvise. We’ll be back at the table by nine. If I can get my boss to keep his mouth shut, we have a shot at settling this.” She heard rasping as if he’d scrubbed a hand over his morning stubble. “I helped in the emergency room last night doing what I could, considering I’m not medically trained. When my shift was over, I was at my desk until three this morning, running numbers.”

  “Poor sweetie,” Jac cooed. She reached for the blankets and pulled them over her rapidly cooling body. Tucking them in, she slid lower in the bed, snuggling into the pillows. “You must be exhausted. Did you get any sleep?”

  “An hour. Good thing I excel at power napping. And with the wonderful way I just woke up, I’m oddly energized.”

  She laughed through a yawn. “Really? Because I could nap right now.”

  “If I were there, I doubt you’d be getting a nap.” His voice was low, suggestive.

  Renewed sensuous fire lit her up. “Luke, be serious.”

  “I am, Jac. I’m very serious.” He hesitated. “If I can’t make it for dinner tomorrow, would you mind if I came by when we get through? It might be really late.”

  “You are always welcome. I just want to see you.”

  “I wouldn’t want it to seem like a booty call.” Luke’s sincerity couldn’t be doubted.

  His concern touched her heart. “I wouldn’t think that at all. But it’s sweet that you’re worried.”

  “Good.” He sounded relieved. “I get to work on the medical floor today. Maybe you could suggest a bedpan relay as a team building exercise. Jules and Marcus could probably make that work. Hey, did you hear from your cousin? About the farm?”

  Cold reason doused Jac at the mention of Rowena. She couldn’t tell Luke about the setback Ro’s ineptitude had dealt her. With everything he had on his plate, she wouldn’t add anything else to it. Their relationship was too new for her to dump it on him.

  “Yeah. She’s planning a move into town, so the house will be mine by the end of the week.” If she could pay off the enormous debt Rowena had ignored. The mere thought encouraged another bout of anxiety. She resisted the urge to sink lower in the bed and pull the covers over her head.

  “You still planning to move to Eugene?” Luke asked, his voice flat.

  “Not for a few weeks.”

  They’d have some time together before she moved over a hundred miles away from him. More time to lose her heart to him.

  She slammed the brakes on the thought.

  “We’ll work a schedule out for seeing each other as often as we can. I have a college friend who spent the first three years of his marriage in Minneapolis while his wife worked in Dallas. We can do this. What we have is too special to let go.”

  She didn’t reply. Couldn’t make the words come. Jac’s fingers tensed around the edge of the blanket. Maybe they’d make it work for a while, but with the miles and their schedules, and the unknown of starting a brand new venture, could they really make a go of it?

  “It will work, Jac. You have to trust me.”

  “I want to. Luke, we have to be realistic. Nothing would be sadder than trying to fit a round relationship into a square hole. I don’t want that for either of us. We should just enjoy what we have until . . .”

  Luke’s breath crashed out, stinging against her ear. “Don’t give up on us yet, Jacqui. Now that I’ve found you, I refuse to let you go. If we set our minds to it, we’ll figure this out.”

  Chapter 15

  Her time with Luke made Jac late for breakfast. She’d grabbed a half a bagel from the sideboard, smeared a dab of honey-nut cream cheese on it, and gobbled it as she walked with Sally and Jeff to the pavilion.

  “You’re glowing, Jacqui,” Jeff observed. “You must have gotten a great night’s sleep.”

  Heat built in her cheeks. “Um, yeah. I did sleep well,” she lied. Truth was, she didn’t sleep much. Waking up in such a blissful way would surely make her glow. Good thing Luke hadn’t come downstairs late with her. There’d be no end to the razzing.

  Time to change the subject. “Sally, where’s your partner today?”

  Sally’s brows pinched together. “Don’t know, don’t care.”

  A little trouble with the Bickersons? Before Jac could follow up, Jules joined their group and talk shifted to the morning’s challenge.

  The task required the team to build a four-foot tower of corks. The exercise focused on team building through communication, support, and relationships.

  Distracted, Jac failed miserably at the morning’s team activity.

  “I’m sorry.” She apologized to Jules for their last place finish. She cast a baleful glance at Jeff and Steve who were high-fiving and booty-shaking over their victory. “I’m not focused this morning. Lots on my mind. It kind of sucks that the owner of the team building camp placed last.”

  “No worries.” Jules grinned as she wrestled a lid onto the barrel of corks. “It’s good to let the other guys win. Better for morale. Although, lunch might be a trifle unbearable if the insurance guys continue celebrating.”

  “I’ll bet you’ll be glad to see the last of all of us.”

  Jules let her gaze rove over the other teams as they tidied their work areas. She pitched her voice low. “Well, maybe some of you. I’m glad you’re staying an extra night. I pulled some more Ag stuff to go over tonight.”

  “Is any of it about financing?” Jac regretted her glum tone the second the words were out of her mouth. She forced her next words to the brighter side. “My cousin is an idiot.”

  “Huh?” Jules raised one delicately arched eyebrow.

  “Nothing. I’ll explain later.” Jac shut down her negative thoughts as Sally approached.

  “Too bad you guys lost. But at least you’re still talking. Belinda acts like us placing second is all my fault,” Sally grumbled. “She kept knocking over the stack of corks with her damn chunky bracelet. I told her to take it off before we started. She never listens.”

  Jac doubted the lady lawyers would ever work well as a team. She murmured an excuse about checking in with her office.

  Jules stopped her departure with a hand on her arm. “You’ll need to join us for the luncheon. We have one final exercise and the awards ceremony. Marcus has some great categories this time. Thirty minutes, okay?”

  “Perfect. I’ll have a reason to get off the phone with Deidre. See you in a bit.” Jac waved. Her steps grated on the crushed shell path leading to the main house.

  She heard footsteps hurrying behind her. When she turned, Jules trotted up to her.

  “If you’re up for a little more painting, I’d love to have you join me at the cottage this afternoon. I’m painting my new living room. I’ll even supply the
mid-afternoon ice cream break. I have a half-gallon of Death By Chocolate in my freezer. It really will cure whatever ails you.” She rubbed her stomach and finished on a big grin.

  Tipping her head to the side, Jac asked, “How did you know chocolate is my sin-food?”

  “Girl, it’s every woman’s sin-food. You get a double dip. And I have the perfect wine to go with it.”

  A girlfriend. That’s what Jules was becoming. And Jac liked it. “It’s a deal. See you at lunch.”

  Twenty minutes later, Jac had checked in with Deidre, who’d assured her everything was running smooth as clockwork. Valerie, one of her other co-workers, told a different story.

  “That’s rich. Deedle-Dum is tripping in Wonderland if she thinks things are going well. Ted’s lived on the phone all morning long with client after client. Second cycle billing went out yesterday and big surprise! It was wrong because someone forgot to change multipliers.” Valerie released a disgusted snort.

  “Wait, I left her detailed instructions on how to do this run. Why didn’t she use them?” Jac demanded. In spite of the looming issues she faced with the county tax bill, leaving was fast sliding into the ‘it’s-the-only-choice’ column.

  “Oh, she used them. As a coaster for her coffee cup. You know she’s a slob. She spilled all over them.”

  Shaking her head, Jac sighed. “Didn’t you offer your copy of them?”

  “Hell yes, I did!” Valerie screeched. “She said she remembered the steps and she’d do it herself. Bitch is my boss. Who am I to argue with her?”

  “Valerie!”

  “Oops, Ted just got off the phone and he’s heading this way. Jac, speak up, I can hardly hear you. No, you’re breaking up. Jac? Jac? Damn I lost her.” the woman’s voice faded. “Sorry, Ted. The phone lines at the camp must be all jacked up—”

  Jac snickered as Valerie disconnected. As soon as things started ticking along at the farm, she was definitely going to recruit the woman to join her. Lord only knew what she’d find for her to do, but she liked Valerie’s fast thinking and sense of loyalty.

  The luncheon was filled with laughter. True to Jules’ prediction, Marcus had come up with a few great awards. No one was spared. Jac won Best Painted Lady. Laughter had pealed from her when Marcus bowed and gifted her with a paint stirrer dipped in whitewash, with the category and Champion scrawled on it in gold.

  Jeff and Jeremy received toy microphones as prizes for their Karaoke rendition of ‘Moon River’ at the concert Jac had missed. Belinda blushed a garish shade of red as she and Sally received the Bickerson’s award for most improved. As far as Jac was concerned, the improvement was a result of the women not speaking to each other during the final exercise.

  Sweet musical notes filled the dining room as Jules tapped the end of her knife against her crystal water goblet. “I have one final thing to announce. Ordinarily, the artwork you all created on the first day is put up for sale in the gift shop. I sent pictures of what you made this week to a friend of mine who runs an art gallery in Santa Rosa.”

  She sent a warm glance toward Jac. “She wants to create a local art display in her shop, with Jacqui’s and Luke’s picture as a centerpiece. She’s even willing to forego her commission, since the proceeds are meant for a charity. She’s agreed to take all the pieces your teams made and display them for a month.”

  “What? Oh, how marvelous.” Sally clapped her hands together.

  “Hold on!” Belinda, the voice of dissent, grated out. “I never agreed to this.”

  Jules’ nostrils flared, but she maintained a pleasant expression. “Actually, you did. You signed the waiver to attend the sessions. You did read it, didn’t you?”

  How funny would it be if the lawyer was the only one to not read the legal document? Jac had read it and signed it happily.

  Belinda set her fork down with deliberation. “Your waiver won’t hold up. I do not want my piece on display in a gallery. I’m a professional for God’s sake, not an artist.”

  The slap of Sally’s hand on the wooden table cracked through the air. “Belinda, shut the hell up. You’ve done nothing but act ornery and contrary all week long. God, you go out of your way to make it hard to work together. This is for charity. Displaying the art in a big shop in Santa Rosa will go a long way toward fetching a better price.”

  She frowned at Belinda and her lips went thin, before continuing. “I read the waiver Jules is speaking of and she was generous enough to make sure participants can use the proceeds from any sales as a tax deductible charitable contribution. Did you read any of the clauses? Besides, no one in this part of California knows who the hell you are.”

  Jac shoved her hands under her thighs to keep from applauding Sally’s sudden outburst. The woman could stop looking for a spine donor. She’d grown one all by herself.

  Belinda opened her mouth, but snapped it shut without saying anything. The chair creaked as she slumped back in it. Same as any bully, once she’d been called on her bad temper, she wasn’t sure how to behave.

  It surprised Jac how tough it was to say goodbye to her fellow team builders. She’d gotten to know them fairly well in the past week. At least well enough to be able to remember names for FIG, DIG, and the rest of the insurance agents. Overall, they were a fun group. It didn’t surprise her to see a wedding band on FIG—rather, Jeff. She noticed it when he gripped the handle of his luggage.

  He stopped by the chair Jac had claimed on the porch right after lunch and gave her a card emblazoned with contact information. “If you ever need insurance, I hope you’ll give me a call. I’ll help if I can.”

  She studied the card. It read Jeff Sloan, Property and Casualty Insurance. “Do you offer crop insurance? Are you licensed in Oregon?” Would she even need crop insurance?

  Shaking his head, he said, “I don’t, but I know a guy.”

  Of course. Guys like him always knew guys. “Thanks, I’ll keep it in mind.”

  The screen door banged against the wall. Belinda burst through it as Jeff moved down the stairs to the path. She nodded curtly as she strode onto the porch rolling her suitcase after her. The large black designer duffle bag bounced drunkenly down the steps, clattering all the way. Jeff leapt off the path and let her speed past him.

  Sally dropped her bag by the porch railing and came over to Jac. She bent over and wrapped her arms around Jac’s shoulders in an awkward bear-hug. The woman’s bony shoulder dug into Jac’s windpipe when Sally tightened her grip. Jac wheezed in a breath when Sally finally released her.

  “It was so great meeting you. You are a true team player, even covered with paint.” Sally cast a gimlet eye toward her traveling companion, who cursed loudly as she struggled to load her bag into the trunk of the black Mercedes. Sally hitched her laptop bag higher on her shoulder, her knuckles white around the strap. “I think I’d have enjoyed this more if you’d been my partner after Luke left. I’m going to have to pretend to work the whole flight home to New York.”

  Not knowing what kind of response was required, Jac settled for saying, “Travel safely.”

  Steve walked out the door and saluted them with two fingers. He stopped by Sally’s luggage and shifted his own suitcase to his left hand. “You want me to carry your bag, Sally?”

  “Sure, thanks.” A broad grin illuminated her face as Steve bent and grasped the red handles of the bag.

  As the noise of the departing cars faded, the rustle of the leaves in the vineyard took over, leaving Jac with a sense of peace and contentment she’d only ever found in a rural setting.

  Excitement for the next chapter of her life flared lightning bright and irresistible.

  Chapter 16

  “I’m telling you, Bella, if I don’t get this thing with the county assessor worked out, I won’t have a farm.” Jac hated the whiny taint in her voice, it frustrated her
almost as much as the debt. She’d called her friend for moral support before she had to report to Jules’ cottage for painting detail.

  After the initial shock of the amount of money Jac needed to come up with, Bella tossed suggestions out, rapid-fire style. “Can you get an investor? Someone who will front the money in exchange for your expertise? Or how about a small business loan? Maybe the university in Eugene has some kind of start-up incubator program with grants.”

  “All great suggestions, Bella. Even a few I hadn’t thought of myself.” Jac huffed out a discouraged breath. “Without experience and knowledge of growing herbs, it’s doubtful any backer would consider my operation as a solid investment. No one in their right mind would find my skill level adequate.”

  “You can’t give up. Now that you’ve decided to ditch Ted’s company, you can’t go back there.”

  Jac gazed out the window in her room, the pretty scenery merely a blur. “This is just a setback, Bel. It isn’t the end of my dream. I have some money saved. At the very least, with whatever Rowena is able to kick in, and maybe a loan from Dad, I can raise half the funds. If I don’t sell the condo I can take a second mortgage on it for the balance.”

  Unfortunately, paying the debt out of funds she’d earmarked for start-up expenses meant she’d probably have to work for MedServices, with Deidre as her boss for at least another year. She shuddered at the thought, turning from the window.

  “I freaking hate this!” Bella exploded. “I wish I had an extra fifty grand laying around. You know it would be yours.”