by Ava Miles
“Jane,” Brian said, looking up at her. “I brought something from the restaurant especially for you. Will you do another blind test? I told one of my chef friends about your talent, and he insisted I make you do it again.”
“It’s all he’s talked about,” Jill said, patting a drooling Mia on the back.
With the open floor plan, much of the first floor was visible from the foyer, from the sunshine-yellow den to a large doorway showcasing the bold red dining room, where an enormous table was covered with dishes of food, everything from roasted meats, braised Brussels sprouts, mini-quiches, a basket of baguettes that made Jane’s mouth water, a plate of cheeses, a tray of fruit, and a three-layer chocolate cake covered with raspberries. Oh yeah, this was going to be awesome. Her mouth was already watering.
“Matt,” an older woman called, coming forward.
Jane immediately knew it was his mother. His blue eyes and deeply searching gaze had come from her. She was a few inches taller than Jane with chin-length brown hair shot with red highlights. “Aren’t you going to introduce us to Jane?”
One of his sisters came forward too, approaching until she stood beside them.
He kissed his mother’s cheek and then the other woman’s. His other two sisters came in next, followed by a man who had to be Matt’s brother.
“Jane,” Matt said, rubbing her back. “This is my mom, my sisters Natalie, Caroline, and Moira.” Fortunately, each of them gave a playful wave when her name was called. “And this is my brother, Andy.”
A young boy plowed into him. “Uncle Matt! What took you so long?”
“And this is my nephew, the erstwhile flier of the tenth brigade, Danny Hale.”
On cue, the boy started to zoom around with his airplane again.
“Hi, Jane,” they all chorused.
“It’s wonderful to meet you,” she said, making sure to meet everyone’s eyes in turn. “Thank you for having me.”
His family must have made an impression everywhere they went while he was growing up, not simply from the sheer number of them, but from their striking beauty. They shared the same thick brown hair with glimmering red highlights. Natalie could have been a shampoo model with her long and lustrous mane and body decked out in skinny jeans and a red silk tunic. Moria’s hair was chin-length like her mother’s. She was the shortest of the sisters, likely five eight if Jane had to guess, and dressed the most casually in a gray cashmere sweater and black pants. Caroline’s hair was shoulder length, and her style held an air of elegance, from the black wool skirt and white silk blouse to the mauve velvet jacket Jane immediately identified as Vera Wang.
“Aren’t you going to introduce her to me, Young Matthew?” an old man shouted. “What am I, chopped liver?”
Matt kissed his other sisters as they crossed to the man Jane knew to be his uncle.
“And this is Uncle Arthur. And Meredith, my cousin, and Tanner, her husband.”
She nodded to the couple standing beside his chair and then turned her gaze to the older man. She’d seen him around town before, walking with his cane, and she knew the stories about all the Pulitzers he’d won and how he’d created a newspaper empire out of nothing.
“Young lady. It’s good to finally meet you. Mac and Rhett can’t stop talking about how nice you are, and since neither of them are pushovers, that counts for something.”
“It’s good to meet you too, Mr. Hale,” she said, following her instinct and extending her hand, which he took in a firm shake.
“Please call me Arthur. If you call me Mr. Hale, at least two other people might answer, one of whom is your boyfriend, which would just be strange.”
Jane agreed. “Arthur, then. I know we’ve never officially met, but I want to tell you how much I admire what you and your paper have done. I grew up with The Western Independent in my family’s home, and I always found your articles compelling. It’s admirable how much your newspaper broadens the debate on important issues facing the country, especially around election time.”
His blue eyes might be a bit dimmed by age, but there was no mistaking the shrewdness in them. “I hope your father, being a politician himself, found the paper’s stances on key issues particularly illuminating.”
Matt stiffened beside her. “Dammit, Uncle Arthur.”
Jane forced her smile to lift the corners of her mouth. “It’s okay, Matt. Your uncle is an award-winning journalist, and from what Rhett and Mac have told me, he looks out for his family. It only makes sense that he would know something about my background.”
“Just so, my dear.”
Her belly filled with ice, but she’d been raised to smile even in the most hostile of rooms, and this was nowhere near that. “Find anything interesting?” she challenged. Best to find out right away if he knew her secret about Raven.
“Well, I knew you were a smarty pants, which you’re only proving right now. And you’re as rich as Midas from your family’s manufacturing empire, so you don’t take care of Rhett’s dog because of the money.”
She lifted her chin and stared him down. She’d been around enough powerful men to know when it was important to show strength, and Arthur Hale was just the kind of man to respect some backbone in a woman. “You’re well informed on those fronts. I am as rich as Midas, which your grandson-in-law is about ready to confirm by having me blind test a very expensive French wine. But I’ve used that money and the money I’ve made from investing—another hobby—to create a foundation for women to go to college. And you’re right. I work for Rhett and take care of his dog and my own because I love it. I also love Matt and this town. Anything else you want to know?”
Matt cleared his throat and ducked his head to hide a smile.
“Like any good journalist,” he answered, “I always ask questions when something new comes up. For the moment, Jane Wilcox, I’m satisfied.”
Meredith rolled her eyes, and Tanner’s shoulders were shaking with silent laughter.
“Well,” she responded. “That’s all that matters then.”
Brian appeared with a wine bottle wrapped in a black tea towel and a crystal glass in his hand. “You don’t mind if I pull Jane away for a moment, do you?”
“She was just talking to us about her love of good wine,” Arthur commented, stroking his chin. “Let’s have her do the blind test here. I haven’t seen one in years.”
“Oh, put a sock in it,” Meredith said, coming over to her. “I swear, Grandpa, it’s her first Hale gathering, and you’re treating her like she’s a person of interest during the Cold War. For heaven’s sake. Tanner, get him another scotch. Maybe that will help him simmer down.”
“I’ll show you simmer, young lady,” he blustered, but gave her a wink before turning to Tanner. “You should talk to your wife about speaking to her grandfather that way.”
“I don’t even talk to my wife about speaking to me that way.”
Another harrumph sounded in Jane’s ears as Meredith, Matt, and Brian led her to the kitchen. Pots and pans pretty much occupied all the counters, discarded from earlier use. The Viking range drew her eye. Only serious cooking should take place on such a stove. They’d had one in her house when she was a kid, though her mother had never used it. This was a chef’s kitchen, all right, with cooking utensils laid out like a surgeon’s and copper pots hanging on a metal rack above a kitchen island covered in caramel-colored granite.
“Thank God, Violet sleeps like I do,” Brian told her as he poured an ounce into her glass.
Her gaze went to the floor. She’d been so enraptured with his professional kitchen that she’d missed the other twin girl sleeping in her carrier, a bulldog by her side like a guardian. Man, she was cute, breathing out of her little mouth in small puffs of air.
“And that’s Mutt, our dog. Now, then. Do your stuff.” Brian extended the wine to her.
“I hope you don’t mind me watching,” Meredith said, sliding in beside her brother-in-law. “Brian couldn’t stop talking about what you did at the re
staurant on your first date with Matt.”
“This I have to see,” Natalie said, coming into the room and snaking a hand around Matt’s waist.
Seeing him being so casual and loving with his sister shot pure sunshine through her. They were a unit.
“Just you wait,” Brian commented. “She’s incredible.”
“She sure is,” Matt said, his gaze bringing a smile to her face.
As Brian rubbed his hands together like a delighted little boy, Jane picked up the glass, eyeing the color. The deep ruby shade hinted at mineral-rich dark soil.
She let her eyes close as she drew the glass to her nose and inhaled deeply. The first whiff of dark fruit and smoke had her body floating to France’s Burgundy region, to the vineyards nestled between Nuits St. Georges and Flagey-Echézeaux. In her mind, she could see the worn and crumbling stones of the Abbey of Saint Vivant where the wine had begun—the church of Vosne, the village from which the wine took its name. As she took that first sip, she knew exactly what she was going to taste: the perfect balance of weight, structure, elegance, and longevity. Her tongue soaked up the tart red fruits of cherries and raspberries like parched earth soaking up rainwater. And like the final rain turning to steam on a warm summer day, she picked up a few final echoes of licorice and smoke.
She was aware of the silence in the kitchen, but part of her was in the village she’d loved visiting when she was in France, and she wasn’t ready to return.
“What are you—”
“Shhh,” a chorus of people immediately told Brian.
It took effort to elude the lure of that place, the earthy scents of loamy soil and fragrant flowers dotting the fields, but she did. Opening her eyes, she met Matt’s heated gaze and had to look away. She was already swept away enough as it was.
“Emmanuel Rouget Cros Parantoux, Vosne-Romanee Premier Cru,” she told Brian and set down her glass.
He slapped his knee. “Holy crap! You’re like a wine superhero. Care to venture a year?”
That was always the hardest, but she ran through what she knew of the harvests. “2001?”
“Close. 2000. Shit…I mean. Sorry, I’m not supposed to say that anymore in front of the girls. Holy crap! That’s freaking incredible. Seriously.” He hugged her. “You’re my new wine diva.”
“Just so long as you remember who warms your feet at night and feeds your kids,” Jill said, entering the room to lay a sleeping Mia in the carrier next to her sister.
“I’d never want to forget that, babe,” he said, snagging her as she walked by to give her a big smacker on the lips. “But seriously. Jane is ridiculous.”
“That is pretty impressive,” Natalie commented. “Brian, please tell me you’re planning on sharing the love with the rest of us. After that little display, I will not be denied. Jane, if I were into women, I would have jumped you, watching you go through your little ritual. My brother here was on a tight leash.”
“Hey,” Matt said, bumping her.
She elbowed him. “Well, you were. Am I embarrassing you, Matty Ice?” Her voice crooned.
“Matty Ice?” Jane asked.
“It’s our way of teasing him for the frosty lawyer he used to be. He’s walking the saintly path now, but we still use the nickname because it irritates the crap out of him,” Natalie informed her with a wink.
“I see,” she said, wondering about that other man he’d been.
The look Matt gave his sister could have withered even the most stalwart vines in Burgundy. “Be nice, or I’ll start in on you.”
“Fine,” his sister said. “We don’t need Jane to head for the hills after meeting the Hales. My God, that was a lot of H’s. Try and say that fast three times.”
Jill did, and the way she boggled the final sentence made everyone laugh. Brian twirled her and then dipped her low. “I love you, even though you have a momentary speech impediment.”
“Haha. Let me up. I need to go pump.”
“And then she ruins it,” he murmured and was rewarded with a jab to the gut.
The rest of the evening ran pretty much like the moments in the kitchen. Jane being watched. Matt’s family cracking jokes while they playfully elbowed, kicked, or shoved each other—even their mother. Well, not the kicking or shoving part. But April Hale held her own, and it was clear to Jane that even though she was the shortest of her family and was drastically outnumbered by her five adult kids, she was still respected.
When she linked her arm through Jane’s and pulled her away from Matt with a smile, Jane wasn’t in the least bit surprised. For a few moments, it had looked like his sisters had wanted to do the same, but Matt had stayed by her side the whole evening, sending them a clear message.
“Matt tells me you’re a wonder with Henry, and I wanted to thank you for that. We were concerned when he told us he was planning on keeping Patricia’s dog, God bless her soul. When it was obvious Henry wouldn’t listen to Matt, I hoped he would let someone else raise the poor dog, but Matt’s conscience wouldn’t allow that.”
Not wanting Matt to be concerned, she steered his mom into the kitchen. She didn’t need protecting, and it was important to send a message to everyone here tonight. She was her own woman, not a doll to be cosseted.
“And what’s that trait, Mrs. Hale?”
“Please call me April,” she said and patted Jane’s hand. “He’s loyal. It’s mostly a laudable trait, but the flip side is that he has trouble letting go. Henry reminds him of Patricia and the guilty sentence he’s leveled onto himself.”
Was there a warning in April’s story? Rather than saying anything, Jane nodded for her to continue.
“Matt always does the right thing, and he puts family and his sense of integrity above all else. I love that about him. I’ve raised all my children to behave that way, but Matt’s profession of being a lawyer has sometimes…made it more difficult than, say, Andy’s of being a doctor.”
“He’s a good man,” she told April. “It’s one of the first things I noticed about him. That and his sense of humor.”
A string of raucous laughter from the other room seemed to make her point.
“Yes, he is, and he’s not the type to just fall for a woman with a pretty face, which is why I know there’s something very special about you. I hope you’ll allow us to get to know you better now that you and Matt are together. Come over for dinner on Sunday afternoon. Maybe someday soon, just us girls can go to lunch together.”
“How about we do lunch this Sunday and not dinner?” Natalie said, appearing by her side as if summoned by magic. “We can head back before traffic gets too crazy.”
“And this would be my eldest daughter, who always got into trouble for eavesdropping growing up.”
“Uncle Arthur told us it was the best way to find things out,” she said. “So, how about it? Lunch with us girls at Brasserie Dare on Sunday?”
“I’d love to,” she replied, and April patted her arm again. “Good. Now I need to find one of Jill’s babies. I just can’t get in enough time with them.”
Natalie rolled her eyes. “The woman has five kids. You’d think she’d be over holding babies and burping them, but not my mom.”
“What about you?” she asked. “Don’t you like kids?”
“I love them. Danny especially. I’m divorced because my ex didn’t want kids. He was too focused on football. Don’t you love a man who puts sports over everything?”
This was new. Matt had given her short sketches of all his siblings, but not this much information. “I’m sorry. Was he a professional athlete?”
“Yes,” Natalie said and went over to pull a beer from the fridge. “He’s the quarterback for the Denver Raiders.”
Jane blinked. “Your ex is Blake Cunningham? He’s like—”
“A god? I know. He knows. No one could ever fault his looks. It’s his heart that’s still in question, but that’s water under the bridge. What about you? Any exes to drive Matt crazy?”
Because her eyes were twi
nkling, and contained not a trace of judgment, Jane answered, “Actually, your brother is the first man I’ve ever loved.”
“You’re smart. He’s a keeper. I keep wishing I’ll meet a man like him who isn’t a blood relation. Andy’s the same way. Oak trees, both of them. Solid. Comforting. Awe inspiring.”
“You’re so lucky to have them,” Jane said, watching the people in the other room weave around each other with ease and familiarity. “I always wished I had siblings growing up.”
“Nat,” Matt said, grabbing her around the waist from behind. “You better not be bothering my girlfriend.” Natalie squealed when he lifted her off her feet, and her knee-high boots kicked at him. When he set her down, he immediately raised his hands in front of him, ready to bat down any attempts at retaliation.
“I’ll get you later, Matty Ice. Watch your back.” She waved to Jane as she walked backwards out of the room, her eyes flashing.
“Everything okay?” he asked, bringing Jane’s hand to his lips.
“Everything is perfect.”
And it was.
But she was still keeping an enormous secret from him, and she realized she couldn’t wait any longer to tell him the truth about Raven.
Chapter 24
On Monday morning, Elizabeth was watching tape of Rhett’s poker tourney in Cabo, looking for any signs of weakness in his play. Of course, they all knew it had been risky to go all in with a hand of three jacks against Calvin Bulrow, but it had worked. Calvin had folded, and Rhett had advanced to the semi-finals. Rhett was known for having some of the biggest balls on the poker circuit, and being with Abbie hadn’t changed that even if it had changed everything else.
She rather missed Vixen, though certainly there were no avenues for a woman like that in Dare. Sometimes she’d gone out to a club with some of her girlfriends in Las Vegas dressed as her alter ego. Elizabeth laughed at the notion of dressing like that and heading to Hairy’s Irish Bar, Dare’s most popular meeting place. A few of the men might faint.