The Winemaker

by Michelle MacQueen

  I groaned. “Don’t remind me.”

  “Does your father know about this new arrangement?”

  I shrugged, trying to act like I didn’t care. In reality, that was the reason I’d barely slept the night before. He wasn’t going to be happy, and I’d never been the son to cross him. That honor went to Conrad and Carter both. Not to mention both of my father’s brothers, who wanted little to do with the winery.

  Sometimes, I wondered if I cared too much for a man who didn’t care about me, but I was all he had other than his own father, and I couldn’t leave him on his own. Plus, I loved the winery and every acre of vineyard. It was home.

  With a sigh, I stopped in the hallway. “I don’t want to tell him until I know what this town-forced partnership will entail.” I already knew I wouldn’t use Ashford money. That would come with too many strings, and not even Lena Contreras deserved that.

  No, this had to come from the trust fund my mother left me, the money my father couldn’t touch.

  I left my grandfather, who looked way too contemplative. I didn’t want to know what he and Valentina Contreras were conspiring about. What I did want to know was how this would work.

  And only one person could tell me that.

  I drove toward Orchard Hill, passing under a rusty archway depicting the name of the farm surrounded by apples. The dirt road kicked up dust under my tires. I’d need to get my car washed after coming out here. I always did.

  The Contreras family home came into view, a modest Victorian style home that had seen better days. Across the yard was the barn I’d found Duke in last time I was here and a small bunkhouse Lena shared with her brother.

  Duke had been upset, but this time, I left him at home.

  The orchard stretched along the horizon, an orchard I now had an interest in keeping going. If I was going to invest in this business venture, we’d do it right. There was no chance of failure. Ashfords didn’t fail.

  I stepped out of the car, but there was no one around. Swallowing my pride, I knocked on the front door. Footsteps sounded on the other side, and when Lena’s mother opened the door, my heart sank. I’d hoped it would be her grandmother. At least she didn’t glare at me.

  “What can I do for you?” Luciana Contreras wiped her hands on the apron tied around her waist. I wanted to know if she’d heard about the meeting, but I couldn’t find the words. She was an intimidating woman with her hard, dark eyes, hair pulled back tightly, and a mother’s protectiveness over her kids. She reminded me of my own mother.

  I cleared my throat. “I’m looking for Selena.”

  She rolled her eyes to the ceiling, muttering something in Spanish I didn’t understand, but I did catch the word idiota, and it wasn’t hard to figure out what that meant. “She isn’t here.” She tried to swing the door shut, but I caught it with my hand.

  “Please, I need to speak with her.”

  “I can’t keep that girl away from you Ashfords, can I? Dame paciencia, señor.” She slid the door open wider. “I might regret this, but Selena will come in for lunch soon. You can wait.”

  I wasn’t sure that was such a good idea, but I followed her in anyway. She led me through their modest living room, past a worn leather sectional, and into a bright kitchen. Big windows spanned the wall above the sink, letting the sunlight stream across smooth granite countertops and aged wooden floors. Jars were stacked across the counter along with baskets of apples and bowls of what looked like jam.

  Mrs. Contreras shoved things around on the counter before stirring whatever it was she had in a pot on the stove.

  I didn’t get to ask about it before the door burst open. “Luci.” Mr. Contreras walked in, not noticing me as he kissed his wife on the cheek. “I’m going to clean up before lunch.”

  A few others came in behind him I didn’t recognize. I assumed they worked at the orchard. Each gave me a nod before heading to the sink to wash their hands.

  Next, was Enzo. He stopped when he saw me, a slow smile creeping over his face. “Here to obey the town?”

  I looked to make sure his mother hadn’t heard. “Something like that.”

  He clapped a hand on my shoulder, a far cry from the indifference he’d once had for me.

  The door opened one final time, and in walked Lena, dirt smeared across her face. She didn’t wear overalls today, but her jeans were filthy, and her light green t-shirt wasn’t faring any better. Two messy braids hung over her shoulders. Even when she was a mess, there was something intriguing about her, something that prevented me from looking away.

  When she noticed my presence, the color drained from her face. “What are you doing here?” The rest of the people in the kitchen ignored our stand-off.

  “We need to talk.”

  “We absolutely do not.” She walked away from me, sidling up to her mom.

  “Mami, what’s for lunch?”

  “Patience, Mija. That’s what you’re having. Shoo, the sauce is almost ready.” She lowered her voice, but I could still hear her. “Go find out what that man wants so you can get him out of here.”

  I sighed. This was going to be harder than I thought.

  Lena walked back toward me, her shoulders dipping in resignation. “Outside.” She walked out the swinging screen door, letting it slam behind her.

  When I reached her, she whirled to face me. “Let’s get one thing straight, Ashford. I don’t need you.”

  “I know.”

  “I … what?”

  I ran a hand through my hair. “Look, Lena, I know you can do this without me, that it’s probably more appealing to take Colin Hillson on as a partner. But I can promise you, nothing in your life will be easy if you do that.”

  “Is that a threat?” She stepped toward me.

  “What? No, of course not. But this town, they’ll never forgive you.”

  She sighed, and I could tell she knew it too. This was her only option. “If you’d have just sold me the land to begin with …”

  “And the money? Did you have it?” I knew for a fact the bank had turned down her loan. She didn’t answer, so I kept going, “I know you think I’m this horrible person, and I’m going to have to go over your plans to see if I have any hope of recouping my investment, but the town seems to think we need this, so we at least have to try.”

  Those were the wrong words. Her gaze hardened. “I don’t have to do anything. Do you know how long I’ve dreamed of this, Conner? How many hours I’ve spent with Eli, going over every little legal issue? And now, you want to come in and be my white knight, throwing your money around. Before you even know if you believe in me.”

  That wasn’t what I’d said, right? It wasn’t her I needed to verify, only the business. I wanted to tell her I knew she could do anything, but the words stuck in my throat. I ended up staring at her like the fool her mother said I was. Idiota. Yep.

  She didn’t seem to notice my loss for words as she crossed her arms. “I won’t let the Ashfords take everything I have.”

  The more she argued, the more I wanted to be part of this, the more I had to. It was like she’d issued the ultimate challenge. I didn’t want to take anything of hers, but I couldn’t let it go.

  Irritation rose in me, not a new sensation around her. I inched closer until I stared directly into her eyes. Dipping my head, I brought our faces close. “There’s no way out of this, Lena.” Her breath hitched, and I could feel it’s irregular rhythm. I needed to step back, right now, but I couldn’t. Something held me in place.

  “There’s always a way out,” she whispered.

  I gave my head the tiniest shake. “Not this time. The town won’t have it.”

  We stayed that way for a long time, too long, until a throat clearing behind us made me jump back to a safe distance.

  Enzo leaned against the back of the house, a smirk on his lips.

  With a growl, Lena stormed past him, muttering, “Don’t eavesdrop,” as she entered the house.

  I wasn’t sure what had just happe
ned, but I had to get out of here.

  I turned toward my car, but Enzo’s voice made me stop. “Don’t leave yet. Wait there.”

  Something in his tone made me listen to him. So, I waited in my car, knowing Lena and her parents were probably staring at me through the windows. When Enzo came jogging back out, I rolled down my window. He handed me a folder.

  “What’s this?”

  “Just look through it.” He walked back into the house.

  When I got home, I didn’t go back to work. Instead, I asked my grandfather to go to the winery to figure out what went wrong with the bad batch. He was pleased to be given any responsibility when my father no longer let him be involved.

  I took a long shower, washing off the morning. Whatever Mrs. Contreras had been cooking for lunch had smelled amazing, and it had made me hungry. I dried off and threw on a pair of jeans, not bothering with a shirt as I made my way to the kitchen. Our cook had left some kind of fish in the fridge for lunch, but what I really wanted was whatever that barbecue scent had been.

  Barbecue was comfort food, and we didn’t get much of that around here. With a sigh, I grabbed a hard-boiled egg out of the fridge and cut up some cheese. It was basic, but it was the only appetizing thing I could find.

  I returned to my room and stared at the accusing folder Enzo had given me. My gut told me Lena didn’t know I had it. But I was too curious not to look inside.

  Flipping open the cover, I popped a piece of cheese into my mouth and started reading. It was her business plan, complete with profit projections, graphs, and even a list of everything she hoped to accomplish.

  There were sketches of what the buildings would look like—more than one of them. It was more like a complex of buildings, a destination, each with a different purpose. She’d designed everything to be more than a simple expansion of her family’s business. A trip here would be an experience.

  My lunch forgotten, I spent the next hour going over everything, only finding small issues, but nothing that made me think it was a bad investment. This business … it wouldn’t only help the Contreras family. The entire town would benefit.

  No wonder they’d rather force us into a partnership than lose this opportunity.

  My irritation toward the town faded. Because they were right. This needed to stay right here.

  And I had to help make that happen.

  Lena Contreras and I needed to have another chat. And this time, I wasn’t letting her say no to this partnership so easily. This was her dream, and I knew in my gut that I had to be there when she achieved it.

  22

  Lena

  I lay awake, staring at the ceiling, the steady ticking of the hall clock grating on my nerves. I’d told Enzo a thousand times I was going to run that thing through the wood chipper, but he insisted he found it soothing.

  I rolled over, praying for sleep. The first thing I was going to do in the morning was get rid of that clock once and for all. I gazed out my bedroom window at the moon rising high in the clear sky. It was different out here in the bunkhouse than in my childhood room at the big house. Much quieter.

  Several years ago, Enzo and I had renovated the bunkhouse into an apartment for us. We didn’t need such a big bunkhouse anymore. We couldn’t afford to pay the full-time workers who would have lived here. We kept a few beds on the other end of the bunkhouse. Wishful thinking for a return of the glory days when Orchard Hill Farm was a thriving business. Not that I remembered what that was like.

  My brother was still up at the house, and I had gone to bed early, hoping to lose myself in the pages of a novel. I needed to forget about the insanity of that town meeting, but even books couldn’t save me now.

  “How did I let this happen?” I asked the moon, but she didn’t have the answers either. There had to be a way out of this forced partnership with the one man I couldn’t work with. The town had picked the wrong Ashford. I could have worked with Carter as a silent investor. Even Conrad would have been a better choice.

  “Conner.” I said his name like a curse. He’d already shown his doubt in my plans, and he hadn’t even seen them yet. I lay there envisioning how he would change everything, using his money as a means to get what he wanted. In time, he would control Orchard Hill, and my family would suffer the consequences of my dreams that had led to this disaster.

  “That’s what you get for dreaming too big, Lena,” I whispered into the night, willing myself not to cry. I wouldn’t shed a single tear over Conner Ashford.

  Headlights flooded my room, and the sound of a slamming car door had me sitting up in bed. Who would come here so late at night? I looked at my phone charging on my bedside table. It was barely ten PM on a Friday night. When did I get to be such a boring person?

  Someone banged on the door, the sound echoing through the sparsely furnished bunkhouse. I slipped out of bed, peeking into the hall to see if Enzo had come home yet. The apartment was tiny. Two small bedrooms, a single bathroom we shared, and a narrow hallway that led to a small living room and kitchenette. No one else was home, so it looked like I was answering the door in my pajamas.

  I shivered as I walked down the hall in my shorts and t-shirt, the socks on my feet barely keeping the cool evening temperatures at bay.

  “Who is it?” I hissed, hugging my arms to my chest.

  “Conner.”

  A surge of anger warmed me up in an instant.

  “What do you want?”

  “Open the door, Selena, we need to talk.”

  I snatched the door open, fire smoldering in my belly. I was not in the mood to argue with this rich jerk tonight. “What?” I snapped.

  He was holding a folder, leaning against the doorframe in his loose jeans and faded t-shirt. His hair was a mess. I looked for Duke, but he wasn’t with him. This was the most un-put-together I’d ever seen Conner Ashford.

  Without returning my chipper greeting, he shoved past me.

  “Sure, come on in.” I closed the door. “Don’t wait for an invitation. But of course, you’re an Ashford, so you just take whatever you want.” I rolled my eyes.

  “That’s the first thing that has to change.” He glared at me.

  “Here we go.” I stalked to the kitchen, shoving the tea kettle onto the hot plate. I was going to need the mother of all calming herbal teas if we were doing this tonight.

  “Can we call a truce, Selena? Our first one apparently isn’t in affect anymore. Neither of us want this, but we can’t get out of it now, so we have to agree to be civil from this point forward. For real, this time.” Conner stood with his hands on his hips, tapping his foot on my cheap linoleum floor. “Can we do that?”

  “That depends.” I pulled down two mugs from the wooden pegs Enzo had hung on the wall over the sink. “How much of a silent partner will you be?”

  “It’s a solid investment.” Conner tossed his folder onto the pub table that divided the kitchenette from the living room.

  “What’s that?” I nodded at the folder and scooped a few teaspoons of my gram’s apple chamomile and lavender tea blend—one of many I hoped to sell in our general store if we could ever get this project off the ground.

  “Your brother gave it to me when I was here last. It’s your business plan.”

  “He is dead to me.” I flipped open the folder. It was everything I’d spent the last years working to develop.

  “If we’re going to do this, then we have to be on the same page. I have a lot of experience I can bring to the table, Selena. I can help you make this happen, but we have to work together.” Conner sank into the pub chair with a sigh.

  “Tea?” I lifted the kettle and poured boiling water into my mug.

  “Sure.” Conner nodded absently.

  I brought our mugs to the table and sat down opposite him. He’d called my plans a solid investment. As much as I hated the idea of working with him, I’d at least hear him out.

  “So, what are your thoughts?” I pulled the folder to the center of the table, laying out the
basic building plans for each phase of the project. Without asking, I loaded both mugs with plenty of wildflower honey. It brought out the flavor of the apples in the tea.

  “You’re absolutely right about the location. It has to be the land parcel you wanted to buy. It’s the perfect location near town.” Conner ran a hand through his hair. “Honestly, it’s a brilliant use of the land.”

  I tried to hide my smile, taking a sip of the scalding hot tea. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but I liked the passion I heard in his voice. He was into this. But that was just a quick hop and a skip away from taking over. That was one thing I would never allow.

  “Let’s be clear from the start, this is a silent partnership. If it’s happening at all, I am in charge of this venture. You are the wallet, and that is all.”

  “That’s not how a silent partnership works. Yes, I will provide the initial investment, but I get a say in how my investment is used. I will guide you through the project in a way that will benefit us both and allow me to recoup my investment plus a profit over time.”

  “See, now that just sounds like fancy business talk for taking over. Orchard Hill Farm and its future endeavors belong to me and my family.”

  “Selena.” Conner’s eyes filled with concern. “I will never take your business away from you or your family. I don’t want it, and when we work with our lawyers to draft our business agreement, we will put everything in writing so you have the protection of a legal contract behind you.”

  The first real stirrings of hope fluttered like butterflies in my stomach. “I still don’t trust you.” I narrowed my eyes at him.

  “It’s a good idea, Selena. I want to be part of it.”

  “Ashford money feels like blood money.” I sipped my tea, wondering how I’d gotten myself into this mess.

  “Well, then, it’s a good thing we won’t be relying on Ashford money.” Conner smiled, his eyes lighting up with mischief.

  “Wait, what now?”

  “My father doesn’t need to be part of this, so any investment I use for Orchard Hill will come from my personal funds that my father doesn’t control.”