Oh no. I was lucky my parents didn’t read this stuff, but someone in Carter’s family likely did, and the news would get to his father, a man who terrified me.
I looked up just in time to see Conner Ashford walking toward me and ducked into the nearest doorway. Maybe he hadn’t seen me. But now, I had a problem. I couldn’t go back out there and walk to the lawyer’s office. Not without running into Conner.
I glanced at the door I stood in front of. The Rusty Spoon. Perfect. Pulling out my phone, I dialed the lawyer’s personal cell. I’d known him most of my life and rarely called his office. He was an old friend of my brother’s but also another Ashford cousin.
“Lena, aren’t you supposed to be in my office right about now?”
“Hey, Eli.” I leaned back against the brick next to the door. “Change of plans. Think you can meet me at the diner?”
Most people would say no during the work day, but Eli only laughed. “Which of my cousins are you avoiding?”
Eli knew my family too well. “Conner.”
“Well, you’re lucky I’m hungry. You’re buying me breakfast.”
“Yeah, sure. I’m already here. See you soon.” I hung up and slid my phone into my purse, taking my eyes off the sidewalk just long enough to miss someone walking up to me.
I sensed him as one sensed a predator and lifted my eyes slowly, my breath catching in my throat.
There, standing in front of me was my least favorite person in this tiny little town. Conner Ashford was powerful, dangerous, but no matter how much his eyes hardened when he looked at me, I refused to be scared of him.
I refused to bow down and kiss his feet like everyone else did.
And I was sure he hated me for it.
4
Conner
Selena Contreras. I wasn’t sure what it was about her that set me so on edge. I’d just run into her brother when I went to meet my cousin, and I’d only been slightly annoyed having to talk to him.
But this girl, with her smug flaunting of the generations old rules dictating our families stay apart, rubbed me the wrong way. Even now, disgust rolled across her face when she looked at me. Disgust I was certain she didn’t show Carter.
“Did you want something?” she asked, her chin lifting and her deep brown eyes meeting mine. Long lashes brushed her cheeks, and I steeled myself, knowing how the dark-haired girl could worm her way into men’s hearts. Just look at my brother.
I’d never believed him when he said he wasn’t in love with her.
“Are you here for your meeting with Eli?” They were the wrong words with the wrong tone, but I couldn’t keep the taunting note from my voice.
“How …” She shook her head. “Is that any of your business?”
“It is when it’s my land you’re trying to purchase.” My father had already said no to selling to a Contreras. It hadn’t been my choice. For a reason I couldn’t explain, I wanted her to think I’d personally thwarted her plans. I was probably saving her family from ruin. She’d bankrupt them if she got the loans she sought.
“Your …” Her words sputtered before she tensed. “I didn’t know it was your land.”
“And if you had known?” I wanted her to say it, to admit she’d have walked away from all her grand plans just so she never paid the Ashfords a dime.
But she didn’t.
“Who I buy the land from doesn’t matter.” She crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes glittering with defiance.
“Your plans will never succeed.” She wasn’t a businesswoman. No one in her family since her grandfather had a real head for business. It was why they struggled so much.
“My plans—”
“Your boyfriend told me.”
“My boy—Carter.”
She didn’t dispute my characterization of him, but something I couldn’t understand flashed in her eyes. Betrayal, maybe. Or sadness. Whatever it was, I suddenly felt bad for everything I’d said. But it was too late now.
“You listen to me, Conner.” She stepped forward, pushing me back toward the crowd of onlookers who’d stopped to watch two pillars of the town knock each other down. “You don’t get to decide if I succeed or fail.”
“That’s an expensive piece of land, Selena Contreras.” Her eyes narrowed at my use of her full name, but I didn’t stop. “You’ll never be able to afford the full market price we’re asking for. The Ashfords control what happens in this town.”
Her eyes blazed with anger.
“Hit him, girl!” Mrs. Chapman called. “Sock him right in that smug face of his.”
I could tell Lena was considering it.
“I really wish he’d meet my granddaughter.” I recognized Mrs. Jeffries’ voice. I’d turned down a blind date with her granddaughter many times.
Lena, seeming to become aware we had an audience, took a step back. “You Ashfords think everything revolves around you.” She lifted her voice. “But we are not under your control.”
“I’d gladly be under his control,” someone said, I wasn’t sure who. Others tittered, no one was taking any of this seriously. But it was serious. More than serious.
The Contreras family thought they were on the same footing as the Ashfords, but what it all boiled down to was a small struggling family against the town’s benefactors. The Ashfords had a hand in everything that happened here.
My cousin, Harrison, was the mayor. We owned most of the commercial property along the Boulevard. Even my brother, Conrad, was a revered figure with all his work protecting the wild horses at the island sanctuary across the bay.
A presence loomed behind me, and Lena relaxed. I didn’t have to look to know it was Enzo, who was both bigger than I was and more willing to get into a fight in front of the entire town.
“Something wrong here, Ashford?” His voice was deep, imposing.
I held up a hand. “Just having a chat with your sister.”
“Doesn’t look like much of a chat to me.” He muscled his way through the crowd to stand at his sister’s side. Despite being younger than me, he wasn’t someone I wanted to mess with.
Brawling with townies was beneath me.
A few people had their phones out, and I knew photos of this confrontation would end up in that stupid gossip magazine, the one filling the heads in this town with lies.
Like the silly idea Carter or any Ashford would ever marry our family’s rival. Even if she wasn’t infuriating, my father would never allow it.
“This is hot.” Mrs. Peterson fanned herself. “Anyone else hot?”
Lena pushed her brother behind her, her eyes narrowing. Her voiced lowered to a hush. “I’d stand down on this, Conner. You don’t want to get in my way.”
I enjoyed nothing more than getting in her way. I always had, even when we were young.
Lena’s fists clenched at her sides, and I saw the explosion coming before it happened. “Carter always tells me you’re not as bad as you seem, but he’s wrong, isn’t he?” She got close, too close, her voice menacing. “You’re just like your father.”
I felt her words like a punch in the gut, wishing she’d take them back. I didn’t want to be my father. Cold and hard and calculating. Was she right?
“What’s going on here?”
I closed my eyes for a brief moment and sighed before turning toward the voice of my father. I was late meeting him at the coffee shop to sign the documents I’d just picked up from Eli. He was putting new rules on Carter’s trust.
The crowd parted as if they were the Red Sea and my dad had just stuck his staff in the water. Silence descended over them as they watched him walk forward, his face a mask of calm I knew he didn’t feel.
“Lena.” He nodded politely her way. “Enzo.”
“Mr. Ashford.” There was venom in her tone. “How nice to see you.”
My father grunted before pasting on a smile. “It’s been a while. How are your parents?”
The crowd watched with rapt attention, hanging on my father’s every word.
To them, he was like the father of the town and could do no wrong.
I knew better. His impeccable suit and tie and perfect silver hair couldn’t hide the fact he was a tyrant. Within his own family and within this town.
The envelope in my hand grew heavy with the weight of the secrets it carried. The amount of control this man wanted over his son. I’d managed to talk him down from the more extreme measures, but Carter still wouldn’t be happy.
Lena stared at my father, her eyes narrowing. I couldn’t blame her for hating him. He’d actively worked to hurt their business, despite my protestations that we should focus only on our own.
“Let’s just go, Lena,” Enzo said.
She shook her head. “Eli will be here soon.”
“Why are you meeting with Eli?” he whispered, ignoring us. “Is this a date?”
Something clenched inside me at that. I couldn’t see Lena and Eli together. I told myself it was because my brother undoubtedly had feelings for her, not because I secretly respected the strength in her gaze, how she didn’t cower when confronted by my father.
Not like I did.
“I’ll explain inside.” She grabbed his arm, yanking him into the diner without another glance toward us.
I exhaled slowly and turned to where my dad was glaring at the crowd until they dissipated. He crooked one finger my way. “You, come with me.”
We’d made it halfway to the coffee shop before he spoke. “I don’t want you to be seen talking to them again.”
“You think I planned that?” I couldn’t believe him.
“I think you caused a spectacle.”
“Dad, our family is always a spectacle. I was just telling her we wouldn’t sell the land to her.”
He shot me an icy look out of the corner of his eye. “Let Eli handle that. It isn’t your job.”
“I still think we should have just sold to them and been done with it.” I would never understand this family feud, even if I played into it. It went back many generations, and it wasn’t only the Ashfords playing dirty. I saw the way Lena’s parents looked at me and my brothers. I’d heard the things people said. That we were spoiled rich kids who didn’t respect anything we had.
I might be an Ashford, but that didn’t mean I didn’t work hard or that the pressure of being a part of this family wasn’t just as intense as it was to be a part of theirs.
“You picked up the documents?”
I held up the manila envelope. “Everything you need to control your youngest son.” I couldn’t keep the disapproval out of my voice.
My dad ignored it. As always. He didn’t care what I really thought, only that I obeyed.
Exhaustion suddenly came over me. Maybe I’d feel better if Lena had listened to old Mrs. Chapman and punched me. Then, I could truly despise her, instead of this unwanted admiration.
We entered the coffee shop, a cutesy name I refused to utter, and Dad made the rounds, saying hello to everyone he could. He was a popular man, a revered man.
And I, by extension, was Superiore Bay royalty as well.
Even if it wasn’t a crown I wanted.
I was much happier at the vineyard with my dog and my grapes. But there were expectations that came with being an Ashford.
I grabbed a copy of the Weekly Wine from the rack and found an open table. My father sat across from me as we waited. He didn’t order coffee at the counter. The people who worked here brought it to us. And if I tried to get it myself, he’d only admonish me.
I read through the gossip magazine, looking for any sign of my family. We ended up in these pages a lot, usually in fake stories submitted by anonymous sources.
Today, only Carter’s name appeared. It seemed my father wasn’t the only one who’d known Carter went to meet Lena. For the first time, I wondered how my father knew. Did he have spies all over town?
That seemed a little extreme, but I wouldn’t put it past him.
As I thought of my youngest brother, I wondered what it must be like to have that freedom. The freedom to ignore the family rules. The freedom to do whatever he pleased.
And what about Lena? Carter had a friend he was willing to face punishment for, to risk losing everything for. He refused to give her up, and I couldn’t help feeling the tiniest bit jealous.
5
Lena
“The Ashfords think they own this town.” I slumped into a booth at the Rusty Spoon, my brother sliding in across from me.
Enzo picked up a menu. “They kind of do.”
“That’s beside the point.” I didn’t care if they owned most of the commercial property in town. It didn’t mean they owned us. Sure, their winery thrived while our orchard barely got by, but that was going to change.
I was going to change it.
“Why are we meeting with Eli anyway? You never answered me about that.”
I snatched the menu from him. “We aren’t meeting with him. I am.”
“And you’re not going to tell me why?”
“I thought you had errands to run.”
He leaned back. “I’m not going anywhere.”
I’d tried bringing up business proposals with my parents, and it never ended well. They were stuck in the past, thinking the orchard would keep us going as it always had.
It wouldn’t. Not without significant changes.
And Enzo was more like them than Grams and me. I think that was why Grandpa left me his shares and not Enzo. He knew I’d do more with them than wait around for the harvest each year.
And I planned to.
The bell chimed as Eli walked in, his gaze finding us immediately. He was the only man I knew who wore a suit, even as spring prepared for summer. Superiore Bay was a laid back town that never cared much about appearances. Well, clothes anyway. The Weekly Wine sure cared how people appeared, how they acted.
“Hey, man.” Enzo stood and did a weird back-slapping thing with Eli.
“Didn’t know you’d be here, Enzo.” They both sat.
Enzo shrugged. “Can’t let big sis have all the fun.”
Eli’s smile faded. “Well, I’m not sure this meeting is going to be much fun.”
“Uh oh.” I groaned. “That doesn’t sound good.” But I knew what he was going to tell me. Conner had already done the deed.
“I’m sorry, Lena. I wish I had better news. The Ashfords have turned down your offer.”
“Turned down what?” Enzo asked.
Eli ignored him. “You made them a legitimate offer, but I get the feeling this isn’t about money. They don’t want your family owning any of their land.”
Kate Simpson, a middle-aged woman who was never far from her job at the diner, walked up. “Can I get you folks anything?”
Yeah, a way to ruin the Ashfords, to make them feel as low as they tried to push us. But, obviously, that wasn’t something Kate could get me. “A piece of cherry pie please.”
She gave me a strange look. “It’s not lunch yet …”
“Please.”
“Okay, dear.”
Enzo ordered coffee, but Eli didn’t want anything. So much for me buying him breakfast.
When Kate was gone, I looked back at Eli. “What are my options?”
He drummed his fingers on the table and looked at me in that annoying un-Ashford caring way he had. “You could make another offer anonymously.”
My brow furrowed. “How exactly?”
“We could set up a shell corporation for your business enterprises. That way, we wouldn’t have to list you as an owner.” He leaned in. “This is how a lot of businesses and foreign governments—and ours—funnel money to places they don’t want people knowing about.”
Something about that didn’t sit right with me. I knew it was perfectly legal, but here in Superiore Bay, I didn’t want to hide what I was doing.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
Enzo’s eyes bounced from Eli to me. “I’m still missing something.”
Eli scooted out of the booth. “I
know we talked about breakfast, but something tells me it’s more important for you two to chat. Do you want me to try upping the bid and seeing if, by some miracle, that works?”
“Yeah, let’s do that.” Not that I could afford any more than my initial offer.
“Raincheck on breakfast?”
“Any time.”
He clapped Enzo on the shoulder and sauntered out the way he’d come. There’d been a time I’d crushed hard on Eli, the smooth-talker turned lawyer.
And Enzo knew it.
He narrowed his eyes. “No breakfast dates with my friends.”
I sighed, not in the mood for his overprotectiveness, especially when I knew how unfair it was he could be friends with Eli Ashford, but I had to hide my friendship with Carter. The difference between them was, though their fathers were brothers, they had very different views on this town and on us.
Luckily, Kate returned with my pie, and the moment I took a bite, everything looked a little less dreary.
Enzo watched me patiently, waiting for me to explain any of what had just happened. There was no getting out of it.
I swallowed a bite and took a sip of water. “Okay, so, sibling secret?” It was what we said when we didn’t want Mom or Dad to know something. Even now, when we were both adults, we kept certain things between us.
“Go on.” He nodded with his serene expression, looking much older than the one year my junior he really was.
“So …” I fiddled with a napkin. “You know the business idea I brought to Dad last year, the one Gramps and I came up with?”
He nodded again.
“I’ve sort of expanded it.” I paused for a reaction, but he was waiting for more. Pulling out my phone, I brought up the pictures I’d taken of my drawings and set the phone on the table.
He picked it up, his eyes squinting as he zoomed in. Minutes ticked by. Hours, days it felt like before he finally looked at me again. “Lena, this is …” I waited for him to tell me it was too ambitious, that I’d never accomplish what I’d dreamed of.
But he didn’t. Instead, a slow smile spread across his face. “Did you really think the Ashfords would sell to you so you could do this?”
The Winemaker Page 3