“Yeah?” he answered on the third ring.
“Oh easy there, slugger. Did I wake you?”
“I’m up. What is it?”
“It’s official. They’re going to rename the new hospital wing after you. And the donation isn’t as bad as I’d anticipated. I recommend you do it.”
“Fine,” Billy said, scrubbing a hand across his beard. “Let’s do it.”
He’d only made it a few feet from Brooke’s door, and it would take every vestige of will power not to turn around and go back to her.
Brooke. He wanted her so badly his teeth hurt. It wouldn’t be the disaster Gigi predicted, either. But he had the distinct impression he would have to convince Brooke of that as well. As much as he thought he’d caught a hint of desire in her eyes this morning, he was still an athlete. On the field or off, that wouldn’t change. Unfortunately he represented everything Brooke believed was wrong with the system. Even if he would have thought she’d be over it by now.
“…you haven’t heard a word I’ve said have you?” Gigi was saying.
He pulled his attention back to Gigi. “Sorry. The, uh, vineyard is heavy on my mind.”
“Uh-huh, sure. The vineyard. As I was saying, the hospital wing will be finished by April and we’ll have a nice ceremony and you’ll mention all the great work being done there. Yada yada yada.”
He half-listened to the rest of the conversation, and had reached his door by the time he finished the call with Gigi. No going back now. Brooke would be taking that shower by herself, no doubt. What a waste.
Time to take his morning run now, come back, take a shower, and stop thinking about Brooke. Once upon a time she’d made it clear how she felt about him and all athletes in general. He wasn’t about to defend his life to her. She’d been right, and that was the end of it.
How many times had he regretted it? How many nights in those early years had he thought about Brooke and wondered how she was, alone in a big city? Her eyes had lit up when she’d heard about his scholarship to Chicago State. And he’d taken the light right out of those eyes.
But regrets did nothing for a man. It was the reason he wouldn’t be watching the world series this season. Correction: trying not to watch any of the world series. Best to move on from all the reminders of that time. He’d had his time in the spotlight, and now it was time to move on. According to Gigi, coaching little league or even the high school or college teams would be a huge step down. Laughable, even.
He should have taken the free ride to Chicago. But all the should haves in the world wouldn’t change the fact that he and Brooke had gone in two different directions many years ago. Just because he viewed the fact that they’d wound up in the same place again as some kind of second chance didn’t mean she felt the same at all.
An hour later, Mom called with her usual great timing, as he was dripping wet from his shower. “Yeah, Ma? Everything okay?”
“Yes, dear. It’s just this world wide web. The Internet.”
Oh hell. This had to be the online dating website. He’d neglected that altogether. “What do you need help with?”
“Well, I don’t get it. I’ve been on The Internet for a few years now, with reading the gardening and food blogs. But these chat rooms are different. I asked Wallace about this and he specifically told me to call you. It’s all these abbreviations. Have we lost the art of conversation to the point where it’s too much of an effort to spell words out?”
“Yes,” Billy answered.
“What a shame. Is there some kind of dictionary available to figure this out? What’s DH, DD, and WTF?”
“Wait. Who said WTF?”
“It’s this gentleman. We’ve been chatting online and the other day he wrote: WTF, are we going to meet or what? Does that mean well that’s fantastic? Because Wallace said no, and that’s when he told me to call you.”
Billy groaned. “Ma, do me a favor and stop talking to that guy. Anyway, I was about to call you about the menu.”
“Oh, the menu.”
“Why don’t you come by in a few days and you and I will talk with Brooke about your ideas?” Please God, let this work. He didn’t want to have to tell Mom what WTF meant.
“That sounds wonderful. I’ll get busy in the kitchen. I have so many ideas you’re absolutely going to love. And so will that darling Brooke.”
She might not be calling Brooke darling after they were done meeting about the menu. In fact, he was almost sure of it. “Yeah, it’s great. She’s going to love all the suggestions,” Billy lied.
Sure, he’d have to play referee between the two women as he didn’t think Brooke would appreciate losing any control. But she might just have to budge a bit.
He had to distract his mother from the World Wide Web.
* * *
A few days later, Brooke was back to business. Still wondering about the leak in the tank, but she’d called someone to come take a look at it. One couldn’t be too careful.
And she was still eternally grateful for Billy’s alarm, or life might be wildly off course at the moment. Instead, progress on opening night moved along swiftly. Which is why she was now in the kitchen discussing the menu with Eileen, at Billy’s request. A couple of things were becoming clear to Brooke. Firstly, Eileen Turlock might have too much time on her hands.
Secondly, Brooke didn’t share Eileen’s obsession with tofu.
“I know it’s usually cheese and crackers, but this is my own personal healthy spin on that. After all, cheese will slowly kill your customers. So instead of cheese, a little slice of tofu. With a spring of mint on top.”
The crackers were fine. The sprig was a nice touch. The tofu would be served over her cold and dead body. “But Eileen, people don’t come to a winery for a health experience. They come to be a little decadent for a short time. To indulge.”
“Ask yourself if that’s a good idea. Do you want your customers to live long enough to come back again and again or do you want them to drop dead of cardiovascular disease?”
I don’t want them to drop dead, but I’d like this tofu to drop dead. Instead Brooke said, “I’d rather they not drop dead.”
“Let me tell you a little something about indulging. After my husband left I spent twenty years indulging. And poof, before I realized it I was 50 lbs. overweight. And now, look at me. Lost all that weight, and I’m ready to date again.” She twirled around.
Ready to date again? Hmmmm. “You look great.”
“Thank you. By the way, how’s your head? I heard you took a bit of a fall.”
“It was nothing.”
Eileen continued to slice tofu. “And you’d be shocked how fast your taste buds die off. I can’t even eat sugar anymore.”
“No sugar?” Brooke felt a bit faint.
“Diabetes is a raging epidemic. I can come up with some sugar-free recipes, too.”
“But I doubt we’ll have many diabetics as customers.”
“Don’t you want diabetic customers?”
“But Eileen, there’s sugar in wine too. It occurs naturally.”
“I have some ideas for that, too.”
Oh hell no. “I see,” Brooke said, praying for patience. “Excuse me just a minute. I have to talk to Billy.”
“He went for his afternoon jog.”
She hadn’t seen him since several mornings ago when she’d wanted to jump him. Thankfully that urge had passed. Maybe she’d been hit in the head a bit harder than she’d realized. Billy represented everything that was wrong with the world. Sure, it wasn’t his fault that he’d been paid millions to have fun, and she couldn’t begrudge him his success. If not for that, she wouldn’t have this great job with its salary and benefits.
But athletes got paid way too much money for throwing a ball around.
Brooke took a little walk around the vines, trying to calm down. Eileen was driving her a little bit crazy with the tofu and the health kick. Pop usually appeared daily to sit for a while with the grapes, but him she could han
dle. She’d grown to expect his crazy baseball analogies, trying to link everything under the sun with the game. But he was harmless, especially after she’d convinced him that she was not a spy.
Scott she wasn’t all that certain about. He seemed to enjoy the attention of several women whom he occasionally brought by the vineyard for a tour. At this point tours weren’t open to the general public, but Brooke couldn’t seem to get this fact through to Scott.
Wallace was almost never around, and he was the strong silent type. She appreciated that.
The vines were beginning their metamorphosis to fall’s golden colors, despite the unseasonably warm October. Soon enough they would be dormant. Then they’d need to guard against any frost, such a rare thing in the valley that she hadn’t thought about it in years. And of course, in the spring, she’d suggest some new cuttings. Maybe by then Pop would have found this tip she was beginning to think was a figment of his imagination.
She wondered if anyone had missed her leadership at Serrano by now. Soon enough she’d find out when she got the latest report from Eric. He’d kept in touch, and asked her to call when she landed somewhere.
Well, she’d landed all right. Right in a pile of manure, it would appear.
She couldn’t do Mothers, evidenced by her own less than great relationship with Mom. She didn’t do family, either. And now she was smack dab in the middle of Billy’s family. When she didn’t even put up with her own, why did she have to deal with his on a daily basis?
Billy had told her she could have control. She didn’t know how to explain this basic fact to Eileen without sounding like a first class bitch.
Well, she was pacing the vineyard now. If Pop were here today, he’d tell her to take a load off. He’d sit there and gaze at the vines, just taking it all in. Why couldn’t she do that? She didn’t know how to relax, that was the problem. But how could she relax when she had to whip this place into shape by December fifth?
She heard him before she saw him, the thudding sound of footsteps gaining in proximity to her.
Billy was jogging through the vines towards her. One large heaping of male testosterone coming right up. With a double side order of lust.
Had anyone looked so good before, in the history of history? He wore jogging shorts with a green and white t-shirt. Not on him, where it belonged, but tucked into the waistband of his shorts. His chest was sweaty and glistened in the October sun. His pace slowed as he came closer and she heard the sound of his breathing— ragged, like he might sound after he’d just— stop it, Brooke!
“Boundaries!” Brooke shouted as he stopped in front of her.
“Come again?” Holy cow, that smile.
Yes, she’d love to but that wasn’t going to be possible right now. She put her palms out, like that could stop him. “If we’re going to work together, and live a stone’s throw away from each other, we need to establish some boundaries.”
He pulled the shirt from his waistband and used it to wipe away the sweat on his forehead. “I get it. So you’d rather not run into me when I’m all sweaty and half naked?”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
“You do want to see me sweaty and half-naked?” He grinned. Evil, evil man.
“No! That wouldn’t be appropriate.”
“Says the woman who walked out her front door in her panties.”
“I thought I was alone!” Would he ever let her live it down? Answer: probably not in this lifetime.
“You keep saying that.” Billy just kept smiling. “I take it your meeting with my mother didn’t go well?”
“It’s still going. I needed to take five when she suggested she might have found a way to remove sugar from the grapes. I couldn’t listen anymore.”
Billy winced. “There’s got to be a way to compromise. Can’t you explain that you have a different vision?”
“I don’t know how to do that and not sound like a bitch. You deal with her. I’ll be in my cottage.” Brooke turned around and marched up the hill to her cottage. Let Billy deal with Eileen. She had a winery to run, and more lists to make.
The door had been shut for all of two minutes when there was a knock. Billy.
“Did you talk to her already?”
“No. I want to talk to you first.” He didn’t look pleased, the grin wiped clear off his face.
Brooke moved aside, and he walked past her. Shirt back on, thank goodness. But he was still a little bit sweaty with that Alpha male aura emanating off him. Hair pulled back in a ponytail, which unfortunately served to highlight his face and not his long hair. This was a problem because he had a great face. Even with scruff all over the jawline.
“Why is it so bright in here?” He asked. “Do you have the lights on in the middle of the day?”
“So what? Sometimes I forgot to shut them off.” She flicked the kitchen light off. “I pay the PG&E. I keep the place neat and tidy. Are you going to complain?”
He glanced around the small living area. “The place is immaculate.”
Thanks to her great housekeeping skills, thank you very much. She’d learned how to make much of small spaces. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
“My family.”
“What about them?” She took a few steps away from him, and all those sexy male pheromones.
“Look, let’s get this straight. I understand that my family can be loud and intrusive. But they mean well. You have to get along with them. If you’re going to work here.”
Crud. Billy was laying down the law, but a strange thing happened. Rather than piss her off it started to turn her on. His jaw was tight as though the words cut.
She jammed her hands on her hips. “If I’m going to work here?” No way could he take this away from her now. She’d quit before she’d let him fire her. “Billy, you told me I could have control!”
“You do have control. Just make her feel like she’s got some, too. Even if she doesn’t. Got it?”
“Do you want me to make this venture a success or not?”
“You know I do. But it’s a family business first.”
One in which a non-family member had the control, mostly because she was the only one who knew what she was doing. “Do you still want me here?”
“You know I do, and I think I’ve made that clear enough. But this is a family business and everybody has a place in it. My family means everything to me.”
Brooke’s breath caught. “I thought baseball meant everything to you.”
He sighed and ran a hand over his face. “You have a lot of stereotypes about jocks, and you need to get over them. Maybe you don’t know me at all.”
“All right, I’m sorry.” This was new, backing down.
But the look on Billy’s face was all badass and protective and she found herself wishing she was a part of his family. If she’d been part of his family, she’d bet that George would be regretting the way he’d passed her over for that promotion. Or rather the way he’d dangled it in front of her like some carrot, so she might consider marriage to a narcissist.
“Why can’t you handle her? It’s hard for me to believe that a hell raiser like you can’t handle a middle aged woman.”
“Oh please, all that hell raising is greatly exaggerated. Just because I drive a Harley and jumped off the Merlot Bridge on a dare.”
“And skydive. Yeah. I know about that. You don’t seem to be afraid of anything.”
Oh but she was, only she wouldn’t let him know about it. It was a small phobia, and she now had it under control. Mostly. “Fine. Here’s the thing. I don’t want Eileen to hate me if I’m too honest with her. I don’t like family conflict, so I just stay out of it.”
“Deal with her like you would with your own Mom.”
“I can’t even handle my own mother. Mostly I ignore her.”
Billy continued to stare, like he was trying to decide if he could believe her. “Bummer.”
Well. Why did he care? “Sorry, not everybody can have your perfect fam
ily.”
“Perfect? We are talking about my mom, right? And Scott? Let’s not even start with Pop, who put a prize-winning tip in an old cereal box he now can’t find.” Billy cracked a smile.
That stupid grin made Brooke’s special parts start to tingle. “Don’t try to act like you don’t realize your mom could easily win Mother of the Year.”
“Once upon a time, sure. Okay. If I’m being honest here, I do have a hidden agenda. You deserve the truth.”
They were still standing near her striped blue and white couch in the middle of the small room, and Brooke found that she backed up a few more steps. A man, being honest. Would wonders never cease? “I’m listening.”
“Well, you can bring your eyebrows back down to your forehead. It’s not that shocking. Not in today’s day and age.”
What kind of bombshell was he about to drop on her? Who was gay or needed a transgender operation? “It’s okay.” She tried to sound reassuring.
He shook his head slowly. “No, it isn’t. My mother has been introduced to Internet dating.”
“Is that all?” The whoosh of relief fell out of Brooke so audibly she was worried about what Billy might think. “You made it sound so serious.”
“You might think it’s not a big deal, but my brothers and I aren’t happy about this. There are a lot of creeps out there. Unfortunately, I know some of them. And I sure in the hell don’t want my mother dating them.”
“Of course you don’t. So you want to distract your mother with the winery? Is that it?”
“You’re catching on. Wallace thought she could help with the menu. Except I’d hoped she’d leave her new health kick off the menu. She tried to serve me tofu roast for dinner.”
Brooke winced. “Tofu and roast don’t belong in the same …”
“Sentence,” Billy said with her.
For a moment Brooke only stared at the man. She wished her boss didn’t have to be so sexy, and also finish her sentences. “Thanks for telling me. Now I can think of ways she can help around here, without re-inventing the entire winery experience.”
THE STARLIGHT HILL COMPLETE COLLECTION: 1-8 Page 24