Carmen’s breath caught. The shimmering blue and gold was stunning. Lake breezes ruffled a stand of aspens atop the hill and cooled her skin. She was acutely aware of Evan behind her, his solid height. If things had been different… But they weren’t. She steeled herself for the night ahead. She couldn’t let the wine, or Evan, mess with her head. All Papi’s work would be for nothing. The land, she knew, was everything. It had never occurred to her that one day it would all be resting on her.
She didn’t move. Her thoughts raced as she enjoyed the view, listening to Evan’s steady breathing. How amazing would it be to enjoy a single night without worry? To be a summer girl. Barry paced anxiously on the patio, his tags jangling, eyeing them. A few pebbles broke free from her heel, skittering down the hill.
“Are you all right?” Evan’s voice was different. Warm, inviting.
“Yes. It’s beautiful. This is different from the view at Orchard House. Higher up.”
“The first time I came here, I swam out to a rock and lay on my back watching the sun go down. The sky must have changed to a hundred colors. I never wanted to swim back to shore.”
“I know the feeling.”
For a moment, she felt like they were out on a rock. Between the complications, on an island of solitude, if only for a moment.
“Yeah. When you’re a kid, you think you’re going to have it all figured out by the time you grow up. Then you realize you knew it all when you were a kid. Swim, play, eat, repeat.”
“Isn’t that the truth?” Carmen sighed.
“It’s nice. Being here. When I think of my life in Seattle, the traffic, the meetings, the complications, I don’t miss a thing. This view is worth everything.”
Carmen got the feeling he wasn’t looking at the lake, which was silly. Her back stiffened. This was business. “We should get going.” Thinking she sounded rude, she added, “Thank you. For coming down to help me.” It came out overly formal.
“Ready?” He called out to the dog, reassuring him they were coming. “Look at him, pretending he’s worried. It’s only because he hasn’t eaten dinner.”
She loved the way he talked to his dog.
Stop it, Carmen. We’re enemies.
This was business, Carmen thought. It was hard to remember with Evan rolling up his sleeves to grill the steaks, chatting casually, pouring the wine she’d brought. He was so sure of himself, so comfortable cooking and talking. Carmen could either cook or talk. She couldn’t do both. She didn’t understand the magazine spreads featuring people in the midst of a dinner party, chopping and sautéing while their guests mingled in the kitchen. Evan was a natural. He checked on the steaks, squeezed lemon on the grilling vegetables, and tossed a salad while telling her about his decision to buy the vineyard.
“I’d come out here as a kid, you know, to sail and water ski and play on the beach while my parents socialized, but we didn’t have a second home here. I’d always loved it. As soon as we arrived, before we unpacked, I’d dive off the dock and swim out, right to that rock. It was my tradition. I’d sit out there until it was getting dark or my mom got angry enough to yell. Whichever came first. I was king of the castle.” He laughed. “I guess that’s what I’m playing at up here.”
And you want to invade the neighboring castle, Carmen thought to herself, along with, No, we didn’t sail or water ski, we worked and went to school. While everyone else sailed and water skied. That was life in a resort town. You led your life while everyone else goofed off. You never let your feet get dirty for fear that someone would call you a dirty wetback.
“One time, I came with this girlfriend,” Evan continued. “She and I were sort of over, but we had this trip booked with friends and I didn’t want to be the bad guy. She ended up spending half the time at the pool and the other half chatting up one of the single guys. I took these long drives and ended up stopping at some open houses on the lake. I was coming back from one of them out by Twenty-Five Mile Creek and I came around the corner and noticed this place up on the hill. You know how you can’t see it when you’re driving north? I’d never really noticed it. I thought it was the most amazing location. The tasting room was open, so I stopped. I didn’t think much of the wine, but the view just blew me away. The house wasn’t really the thing that got me. It was looking down the lake. I left the guy my business card and told him to call if he ever wanted to sell. Then I went home and started learning everything I could about making wine.”
He stopped for a second, shaking his head at the memory, removing the steaks from the grill. “I just thought, you know, if I could live in a place like that, I’d never want to leave. I’d never had a single thought like that. Of permanence. Of thinking, yeah, I want to settle down. Put down some roots. Make wine I could be proud of. I even imagined kids splashing in the pool. Which was kind of funny because I was all of twenty-five and basically single, particularly since my date was making the move on someone else. And here I was having these crazy thoughts.”
“Not so crazy,” said Carmen, taking a sip of her wine. He’d opened the Blue Hills wine she’d brought. A special bottle that tasted of chocolate, pepper and plums. It reminded Carmen of the reason she wanted to keep the winery in her family. Miracles like this bottle. Wine that tasted of moonlight, velvet and the bite of winter wind. Wine you couldn’t forget.
“If you worked at Microsoft back then, you’d think it was crazy. We barely had time to breathe.”
“That sounds familiar.”
He looked back at her with raised eyebrows. She stayed quiet, nodding for him to continue.
Evan brought the steaks to the table, followed by the grilled vegetables. “The money made up for it.” He slapped his hand across his mouth. “I’m sorry. That sounded terrible.”
Carmen grinned. “I get it.”
“No, I know what I am. I’m that Microsoft guy who comes here and ticks off everyone.” His hand swept the valley. “We raise the land prices, drive too fast and insult everyone.”
Carmen smirked. “You said it, not me.”
Evan took a sip of his wine. “Wow. This wine.” He swirled it around in his goblet, holding it up to the glow from the house lights. “The color, the depth. Everything. It’s like the perfect wine.”
Carmen glowed with pride. “That’s my dad. When he wasn’t in the winery or the fields he was talking to people about viticulture, reading reports from WSU on winemaking. There was never an endpoint, but at the end of the day, you could always share this wine. It made up for all the hard work.”
Evan unwrapped the garlic bread he’d toasted. It was striped with grill marks, drenched in olive oil and butter, rubbed with pungent garlic. “I’d love to talk to him more.” Evan served them both steaks, pouring more wine. He was the perfect host, solicitous without being overbearing.
They ate for a moment, savoring the food and the view. A coyote howled in the distance, calling to his pack. “My dad has forgotten a lot. Makes me wish I’d paid attention.” She chewed for a moment, trying to decide how to broach her main objective for the evening, unsure if this was the right moment. “Don’t you have a wine master?”
Evan leaned back, crossing his long legs, clad in faded Levis. “Oh, Paolo. The prince of Lake Chelan.”
Carmen nearly snorted wine out of her nose. “Sorry. What?”
Evan shook his head. “I’m doing everything I can to keep him here. I pay him a fortune. I’ve rented him a house on the lake. He has a cleaning lady, a gardener who tends his organic garden. He’s still miserable.” Evan waved his hands around theatrically. “It’s not Italy. No kidding, pal. You take a job in Central Washington State, it’s not Tuscany. He’s the worst kind of snob.”
No, Carmen thought, Evan was the worst kind of snob. Mr. Center of the Universe. Paolo was probably just homesick. Carmen decided to be blunt. “I’d love to meet him.”
Evan frowned suspiciously. Or maybe jealously. “He’s a little crazy.”
“I have some questions about my vines.”
<
br /> Evan tilted his head. “That reminds me. I have some questions about hosting weddings.”
Carmen took another bite of steak. When she was finished, she took a sip of liquid courage. “Maybe we can make a deal.”
Evan studied her over the top of his wineglass. “What kind of deal?” He spoke slowly, looking out at the lake. Carmen couldn’t read his eyes. Which made it easier to keep this on a business footing.
Part of her missed their lighter, easier tone. She wiped that thought out of her brain and kept going. “A mutually beneficial deal.”
“I’m listening.” His eyes were far away, locked on the lake as it vanished into the blue hills.
Liar. His mind was elsewhere. He was motionless, knuckles taut around the fragile wineglass. She spoke anyway, hoping he would agree to her plan. Because everything was riding on his answer.
Seven
The Plan
“I’d try and talk her out of a champagne fountain, if you can,” Carmen said, moving to the corner of the patio with the best view. Saturday night boaters cut white wakes across a swath of peachy light from the setting sun. A white sail flapped in the breeze. Evan moved towards her, so she crossed back towards the pool. Nothing had been overtly spelled out in terms of helping one another. She’d wanted to offer her help, in exchange for a promise that he wouldn’t go after a single acre of their property. Adella thought it unlikely that he’d agree but Carmen hoped to persuade him. Now she wasn’t so sure. He was an ambitious man who exuded confidence. His proximity only confused the issue. His aftershave. His hair, curling up at his collar. The way his eyes crinkled when he smiled. Evan Hollister was a confusing man.
“Because Hollister sparkling wine isn’t as good as the Blue Hills sparkling rosé?” Evan finally stayed put, tracking the sailboat.
Carmen shook her head. “Because they’re tacky.”
Evan nodded. “That’s what I told the wedding planner, but she said it was all about the bride.”
Carmen nodded. “From her point of view, it is. She wants word of mouth. You have a brand to protect. No winemaker worth their salt is going to put their wine in a fountain.” She waved her hand across the air, including the Hollister Estate vineyard and palatial Mediterranean house. “It’s not just the wine, you want every experience to reflect the same image, the style. People can have a beautiful wedding at a city park if it’s done right. You want a wedding that is personal and stylish, yes, but also reflects the world of your wine. A sophisticated wine that not only works for every occasion, it elevates.” Her years slaving in marketing were finally paying off.
Evan nodded. “Where have you been all my life?”
Carmen gulped. “What?”
A small grin. “I’m joking.”
Carmen’s face flushed as she nodded briskly. “Right. I knew that. I just assume that’s what every vintner is shooting for.”
“Like your dad. He’s brilliant!”
Everyone in the winemaking community listened to Papi, or at least they had before he had started shutting down. When he had an opinion, it counted. “Right? He spent his whole life learning this business and to him it is much more. It really is about family.”
Evan nodded in agreement. “Every time the wedding planner came up with this stuff—the champagne fountain, the ice sculpture, the miniature horses…”
Carmen’s eyes went wide. “Seriously?”
“Little horses carrying baskets of flowers. With lace braided into their manes. I kid you not. Anyway, every time she opened her mouth, I knew that it was all kinds of awful, but I felt trapped. I’d signed this contract and I had to meet certain obligations.”
“Miniature horse obligations?”
“Thankfully, no.”
“But…” Carmen’s eyes narrowed. Here goes nothing. “I do have some ideas.”
Evan moved towards her. “I’d love to hear them, but you’re so far away. Maybe I can come over there?”
He took a step closer. Then another. Each time Carmen felt her heart beat a little faster. Time to implement phase one. “What about goats?”
Evan raised his eyebrows. “Goats? Now that’s romantic.”
“Miniature goats. They’re trendy. People love them.”
Evan made his way slowly towards her. “Cloven feet and creepy eyes. What’s not to love?”
“Unlike miniature horses, they won’t poop much.”
He swirled his wine. “Not much. Just a little. What’s a wedding without a little poop, right?”
“They’ll add some whimsy.”
His eyebrows shot up in a look that was mischievous and sexy. “And poop.”
“Now I know what you were like in kindergarten.”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “I made everyone laugh.”
“By saying poop?”
“It’s a great word.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “I bet you were a funny little boy.”
He was close enough to stop. But he didn’t. One more step and they’d be nose to nose. “Stick around. That kid is still there.” He tapped his chest lightly.
She could smell his cedar-scented soap, earthy and fresh. He was a collection of opposing forces. Hateful and lovable. Complicated and simple. Ambitious and down to earth. Why couldn’t he just be slotted into one category or the other? “You still like to cause trouble.”
He lowered his voice. “With the right people.”
“I don’t like trouble.” Carmen took a step back.
“Maybe this isn’t the kind you’re used to.”
“You’re pretty flirty for a businessman.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I’m not all business.”
“Maybe we’d better get back on track.”
He leaned into her. “Watch it, Carmen.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
He nodded, raising his eyebrows, looking, Carmen thought, hatefully adorable. “I would.”
“Then you’d be able to take over everything.”
“Not what I was thinking.”
“Oh sure!”
He moved so close the toes of their shoes were touching. His breath was a heady mixture of wine and berries. “Do you want to know what I was thinking?” he whispered.
She took a small step back, then she was falling. Her arms spun in windmills as she tried to right herself. It was no use. Evan tried to grab her, but his hand caught air. She fell backwards into the pool, emerging from the lit marine blue seconds later, blinking through her wet eyelashes. She gasped, pushing her hair from her face, furious.
He crouched down by the side of the pool, waiting to help. “Now do you want to know what I was thinking?”
She scraped her hair off her face as she treaded water. One sandal bobbed up beside her. She grabbed it before swimming to the edge. “No, I don’t.”
He leaned onto his stomach, reaching for her with a long, muscular arm. She ignored him, swimming for the ladder. “I was thinking that you’d better not step backwards.”
“Now you tell me.” The skirt of her dress floated around her in the blue light.
“It was pretty adorable.”
“I’d rather be dry than adorable,” she snapped.
He stood up, wiping his softly wrinkled khakis. “I’ll go get you a towel. And a robe.”
“A towel will be fine.”
Evan’s face softened. “Please don’t go.”
As Carmen climbed from the pool, she stood on the ladder, furious that he’d clearly known that she’d fall into the pool and didn’t warn her. What a colossal jerk. It was time to instigate the plan she’d hatched with her sisters. Ruin his weddings. This one. All of them. Leave his reputation in tatters. Cause so much mischief and have a great time doing it. The Alvarez sisters would wreak havoc on the entitled Microsoftie who thought he could buy his way into a life that took decades to build. Who thought a fat checkbook gave him rights to the best growing land in the valley. Land that took a lifetime to cultivate.
Wr
ong.
Meet the Alvarez sisters.
“I’m soaking wet. I’m not getting a thing from you. I still haven’t met Paolo, the prince of Chelan. Give me one good reason that I should stay here and help you.”
Evan crossed his arms. “What do you want Carmen?”
She twisted her hair, wringing the water from it, exasperated. “I want you to promise that you won’t, under any circumstances, buy our vineyard.”
He lifted his hands as if pushing her back. “Carmen, hang on. If, and let me be perfectly clear, this is not what I want, but let’s say if the bank does put it on the market—”
“You’re the only one in this valley who could afford it.”
“Better to do business with the devil you know.” He waited for her to react, but her face stayed stony. “There are other buyers out there, trust me.”
“Promise me Evan.”
He sighed. “I can’t do that. If it goes on the market, it wouldn’t make sense for me to abstain. Carmen, I’m a businessman. If you were in my shoes, you’d feel precisely the same way.”
She hated that he was right. Despised his sound reasoning. “Give me one good reason why I should help you.”
Evan spread his hands. “I need you.”
Carmen looked up at the night sky, at the stars twinkling. It was the sky of her childhood: open, bright and full of promise. Everything she wanted to save. Miles and miles of promise. She had him exactly where she wanted him. He offered her his hand. She took it.
Shouting with laughter, she pulled him into the water.
“Keep it together, dude,” Evan said to himself in the shower. He’d promised himself, after seeing the Alvarez sisters on the patio that night, that he wouldn’t let himself get emotional about Carmen. From the first moment he’d seen her, he’d known it was going to be tough. That hair. That smile. That determination.
Everything.
He’d never fallen so hard, so quickly.
But.
She was clearly up to something. The very thing that attracted him, her willingness to leave her life in Seattle to keep the land in the family, throwing herself at something so hard; it was very hard for him to resist.
Summer at Orchard House: An utterly compelling and heart-warming summer romance (Blue Hills Book 1) Page 7
