They’d shared an incredible friendship, even when it wasn’t based on passion or desire. Yet something about it worked for the two of them, at least up to a point. Robert’s illness brought them closer. During those last few months of his life, the two of them grew to understand not only each other’s minds, but their hearts as well. If that wasn’t love, it still was all she needed to sustain her.
She didn’t realize it at the time, she yearned for something more. Something that had left her heart bereft since the day her mother died. If she could put words to that feeling it would be to love unconditionally and to be loved as such in return. Seemed like a simple enough wish, and yet up until now, impossible to attain.
Chapter 5
Julia didn’t exactly know what she expected to see, but as she neared Robert’s grave she noticed very little had been changed since she’d left it two days ago. The earth was still turned over. And the rails used to lower the coffin had also not as yet been removed.
Even the dark-green canopy remained as if to say, Welcome to your new residence, Robert Reynolds. Welcome! Of course, it was far too early for the memorial stone to have been put into place.
Yet Julia did the best she could to get as close to Robert as allowed. She knelt and closed her eyes. She took in a deep breath and listened to the silence of the evening descend around her. After some time, Julia spoke aloud the words she’d been unable to find the afternoon of Robert’s service.
“Robert, I apologize for being so quiet Saturday. The many things I wanted to say to you before you died stayed locked in my heart that afternoon. You know how quiet I can get when in a large crowd.”
Julia let out a short giggle at the private joke between the two of them. “I guess all I want to say is thank you. Thank you for loving me. For being the best friend, husband, and lover a woman could possibly hope for.
“Thank you for believing in me enough to grant me the responsibility of this winery. I want to do you and your family proud, but I’m thwarted by the very people whom I believed would help me see your wishes through. And now I don’t know what to do.”
Julia took in a deep breath and sighed. She looked up into the darkening sky.
“There’s no money, for one thing,” she continued. “For another, your brother and Duncan seem to be doing everything in their power to close the winery down. And I’ve no idea why. Even this morning James threatened to close us down and throw me out of my own home. Our home, Robert.”
Julia wiped her tears with her sleeves. “I don’t want to leave. This is all I have left of you. Of us. Please tell me what to do, who I can call upon for help. Otherwise, I’m afraid I won’t be able to keep the winery, let alone make it successful. I miss you. I wish you were still here.”
Julia was quiet for a moment and then said in a barely audible voice, “I love you. I need you to know I loved you the only way I knew how. I pray it was enough.”
She lowered her head and stared down at her hands. Darkness began to shadow the valley. Time for her to make her way back home, but she couldn’t move. Not yet.
Julia had no idea how long Diego had been standing behind her until he cleared his throat. She jerked her head around with a start. “Oh! I didn’t hear you. How long’ve you been standing there?”
“Not long, but long enough to hear some of your conversation. He was a good man Julia, better than this winery deserved.” Diego offered her his hand and helped Julia to her feet.
“I know,” she said. “And in many ways better than I deserved.”
He placed his palms on either side of Julia’s face, and with his thumbs gently wiped the last of her tears away. The intimacy of the moment wasn’t missed by either one of them.
“You’ve been crying again. Is there anything I can do to help you not hurt so much?”
Julia, unable to hold back the flood of emotions bubbling up within her, fell into the warm, hard muscles of Diego’s lean athletic body. “Just hold me. Nothing else, Diego. Just hold me.”
Diego growled low as he took her in his arms. Julia wasn’t sure what it meant, but she didn’t care. All she wanted in this moment was to be held. To be held by a man. And there was no mistaking. Diego most certainly was that. A man.
They stood welded together for what seemed like forever. Julia felt Diego free her hair from the tight signature chignon she always wore at the nape of her neck. His fingers gently caressed her loosened curls, as he planted soft tiny kisses on the top of her head.
His lips were warm and moist. Through his shirt, Julia felt his heart racing, just as she was sure he could feel hers. Part of her yearned to melt into the strength of his body. Yet, another part of her demanded she stay firm within her own power.
Now wasn’t the time or the place to yield to a man’s touch, even if that man was the kind and caring Diego Gonzales-Martinez.
Julia forcefully pulled away from Diego’s firm grasp. “Why are you here? You weren’t following me, were you? I can take care of myself, you know.”
Oh, great. Now she was being snarky to the one person who seemed to be most on her side.
“No. I didn’t even know you were out here. I lost my temper at supper and thought it best to walk the vineyard to cool down. I was about ready to turn around when I thought I heard someone crying. It didn’t take me long to realize it was you, Julia.”
Julia was surprised Diego seemed not in the least put off by her ill temper. On the contrary. The gentle way his eyes wrinkled around the edges spoke of a deep understanding and compassion. Once again Julia felt the jolt of her breath hitch around her heart.
“Well, I really should be getting back. It’s getting late and I have some things to do before I turn in.” She broke her gaze and turned away, but Diego instantly reached for her hand.
“Come. Walk with me. The sky is dark now, and getting out of the vineyard even when the sun is out can be tricky,” he said as he led her along a well-worn pathway.
Julia had failed to notice the sun had already set, the night sky now framing the lights of the compound and winery in the distance. Against her better judgment but following her heart, she took the hand offered to her. They’d only gone a few steps when Julia stopped and turned toward the man who only moments ago had held her in his protective arms.
“Thank you, Diego. Thank you so much for everything.”
“Don’t worry, Julia. Everything will work out for the best. I think Mariela and Rafael may have a plan. I’ll let you know as soon as I know myself what it is.”
He squeezed her hand with a confident gentleness as the two of them continued their slow but deliberate sojourn back. Silently they strolled hand-in-hand through the many acres of vines, aware only of each other’s breathing, his slow and strong, hers rapid and shallow.
~ ~ ~
Diego accompanied Julia all the way up to her front door. He desperately wanted to place his lips on her vulnerable mouth, but thought better of it. Not only was Julia still grieving, ultimately she was still his boss. He released her hand and was about to say good night, when Julia unexpectedly fisted her hands onto the front of Diego’s shirt and pulled him toward her.
She looked intently at him for but a brief second, and then kissed him. Not too hard, but neither too softly. Diego felt his own lips respond.
He tried to hold his passion in check, but then Julia opened her mouth only enough to allow his tongue to explore her own. Surprisingly, Julia reciprocated with an openness and intensity which took him completely by surprise.
When they finally broke away, Julia escaped from his arms and ran to the protective shelter of her home, leaving Diego standing outside her closed door. He leaned his forehead against the door to catch his breath. He could hear Julia on the other side of her door doing much the same.
What’d exactly happened, he wasn’t completely sure o
f, yet he also wasn’t a bit surprised. He’d felt something stirring between the two of them as early as Saturday’s funeral service, and if the truth be told, so had she.
Diego was the first to step away from the door. How’d his life gone from simple to complex in such a short amount of time? Since Paulina had left him six years earlier, he’d purposely steered away from anything or anyone that smacked of complication. Now he was in rough waters and sinking fast. His thoughts told him to stay away from this woman, but his heart and his body conveyed something altogether different.
As Diego made his way down the short winding lane to the compound, a slight smile gradually overtook his pervasive stoicism. Was he happy? Perhaps, perhaps not. What he did feel was a flicker of hope. Much more than he had in years.
Diego took the porch steps in front of Mariela and Rafael’s apartment in twos before barreling through door. Eduardo glanced up at his beaming uncle and gestured for him to sit beside him.
The family sat at the kitchen table playing Uno, all four of them. Diego placed his sizable hand over the cards, stopping the game in its tracks.
“So, what’s the plan?”
~ ~ ~
Julia listened to Diego’s footsteps as he moved away from the door. Her heart pounded within her chest. How could she have told Robert she loved him, and then turned right around and passionately kissed a man she hardly knew? Was she that desperate? Perhaps it was because Diego was there and Robert was not. Simple as that. Or was it?
She shook her head and stumbled into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of last year’s Nooksack Valley Madeleine Angevine. Her head kept telling her she should be ashamed, but her body told her something different, and not only her body, but her heart as well.
She sat in the Queen Anne chair near her living room window and looked out at the vineyard beyond. How odd it seemed she should at this very moment feel closer to a man she’d only connected with forty-eight hours earlier than she ever had to the man she’d been married to for more than eight years. Odd and downright ridiculous!
Julia slowly sipped her wine as she took off her sandals and dress. Too ambivalent to decide on where to sleep for the night, she instead drew a crocheted afghan up to her chest and gave herself permission to sleep where she was. She closed her eyes, wondering how long it would take for her to drift off. Within seconds, she was out.
~ ~ ~
“You’re telling me some uneducated wetback is standing you down? Look here, if you remember correctly, this was all your idea in the first place, Duncan.”
James paced the floor in front of Duncan’s desk, a straight up bourbon in his hand. His face flushed with perspiration. His suit jacket reeked from his body heat.
“I was perfectly content to simply forget about the winery entirely,” James continued, “but you kept feeding these ideas of yours about land development, destination resorts, and high-end condominiums into my head. I don’t know why I listened to you in the first place.”
It was afterhours. The window shades were pulled down and the lights turned off, save for one tiny desk lamp and the digital glow of Duncan’s computer screen.
The two men usually met at Duncan’s office, D’Angelo Accounting, after everyone else had gone home for the day. James insisted they meet secretly. He was still uncomfortable about being seen together with Duncan in public.
On the surface, one never guessed Duncan D’Angelo was anything less than an ethical business man, a pillar of society. But James knew differently. After all, he was a corporate lawyer and knew the ropes.
Duncan had a talent for crunching numbers, and the more time went by, the more James needed his own numbers crunched. No one was better than Duncan at searching out loopholes, off-shore accounts, and dummy corporation investments.
“Now, James, just relax. I have everything under control. Trust me. I know what I’m doing.” Duncan also had a bourbon in hand as he leaned back in his chair, his short stubby legs crossed on top his desk.
“Doesn’t appear that way to me!” James yelled.
“That’s because you’ve no idea what it is you’re doing. When I backed out of that meeting room this morning, I left with everyone believing I’d been defeated. That they’d won, and that’s exactly what I wanted.”
Duncan swallowed his whiskey as if he was drinking water.
“If they think I’m up to something, which I no doubt am, then I might possibly be stopped before I even get started. Now I’m free from any connection should the sheriff start poking her nose into the business dealings of the winery. Unlike you!”
“What do you mean?” James blanched.
“You show up fuming, threatening Julia and her workers, telling them you’re going to throw her and her people off the land she owns as much as you. I mean, what were you thinking?”
Duncan guffawed. “Now Sheriff Barbara is on to you, and you’ll be damn lucky if she doesn’t arrest your butt should you show up on Friday as promised.”
James fell into the leather couch stationed by the door. He pushed back a sweaty lock of hair with this free hand and gulped down the last of his drink.
“So what do we do now?”
“Leave it to me.” Duncan switched positions, setting his feet on the floor and his elbows on his desk.
“I know these Mexicans. They’ll no more come to Julia’s recue than the man in the moon. Once they hear the authorities may make a visit, they’ll disappear into the woodwork out of fear of deportation. That merely leaves Julia and Barbara. And Barbara won’t be able to do a thing once you show proof of full ownership in the winery.”
“But I don’t have full ownership and you know that.” James tried not to whine.
“Yes. Of course, I know it, and you know it, but does Julia actually have proof she owns it?”
“What do you mean? When Dad retired and gave Robert and me the winery and vineyard, we had to give a third of the ownership to Julia because the business needed her money to stay afloat. Without her financial support, Robert knew it’d be impossible to maintain the winery particularly through the recession.”
“I know all this. What I’m asking is who actually holds the paper for the winery, the deed of ownership?”
A smile surfaced across Duncan’s face as he finished his drink. “I do. It’s in my safe at the law office.” James paused for a moment in frustration. A grin appeared on his face as well. “I see what you’re driving at.”
He stood and marched toward Duncan to shake his hand. “I’ll get right on that tonight. In fact, now that you mention it, I believe I do hold full ownership. After all, I’m the only living blood relative, so it only stands to reason I’m the one and only beneficiary of Robert’s portion of the business.”
“Like I said, James, you now own the larger share and therefore can do whatever you wish with the property, with or without Julia’s consent.”
Duncan and James laughed out loud as they slapped each other on their backs, proud of their strategy and the knowledge that nothing could stop them from closing the winery. Soon they’d be able to develop the land as they both imagined.
As James left Duncan’s office and drove toward home, he began having troubling thoughts about what he was about to do. He’d never broken the law before, but then again he’d never had to.
Besides, who was to know? Not Julia, surely. Even if Gayle found out, she’d never dare risk everything they’d built up together merely to rat him out to the authorities. No. He was safe, and free at last to earn the kind of money he’d only dreamed of.
Rather than park in his usual slot behind his office, James turned his headlights off along with the engine and rolled into a darkened area of the lot shadowed by overgrown blackberry bushes. Carefully, he closed his car door so as not to be heard by anyone who may happen to be nearby.
His s
tep lightened as he neared the back door of his law practice. He had to be careful should anyone see him entering his office after closing. This wasn’t the time to make any stupid mistakes. He’d already done that once this morning. Now it was time for him to redeem himself.
~ ~ ~
As soon after Diego made it back to the compound, Mariela and Rafael put the children down for the night. Now sitting at the kitchen table, the two were strategizing about what to do with regard to James’s threat, for Friday was but three days away. As soon as Diego shucked off his boots and grabbed a cold beer from the refrigerator, he joined them.
Mariela squinted at her brother. “You’ve been gone a long time. Where were you?” She watched her brother note her judgmental tone of voice.
“Let’s not get into that, Mariela. We’ve bigger concerns right now than what I do with my free time.”
Mariela was about to give him what for but was stopped by a look from her husband, which told her Diego was right. Now wasn’t the time or place to discuss anything but what they were going to do about Friday.
Rafael broke the tension. “I’ve spoken with many of our workers, and they all seem to feel the same way. If they come out in opposition to the lawyer, then they most assuredly set themselves up for immigration to step into their lives. Perhaps several of the younger men would be willing to take that risk, but otherwise you and I and Mariela are it.”
Diego listened and thought about what Rafael was saying. “I still don’t understand how Mr. Reynolds has the right to come in and take over the business when it hasn’t even been a week since Robert was buried. Something doesn’t feel exactly right about that.”
Love's Harvest (A Salmon Run Novel Book 1) Page 7