by Kate Kisset
***
Six months later
The small gathering of guests huddled around Boone and Becca on the makeshift outdoor dance floor in the middle of one of the corrals at Dream Maker Ranch.
“Thanks for making the hike up to our waterfalls. It meant a lot to have you there with us when we took our vows,” Boone said into the mic.
“So the falls are yours now?” Colt teased, leaning against the railing.
“Yeah, and thanks for buying the property for us.”
Colt cracked up. “No problem. Happy to do it.”
“So there’s this song I’ve been working on, and you know I’ve probably sung it for you a hundred times,” Boone explained, reaching out and taking Becca’s hand. “And I never seemed to be able to finish it, and I finally figured out why. The title’s all wrong.” He laughed. “It’s called ‘Maybe it’s Me,’ with a lyric, maybe it’s you.” He kissed the top of Becca’s hand. “But there are no maybes about it, not anymore, not after today. Becca, today is the day, the hour, the moment, that you know it is me. It’s always been me.”
Becca grinned, shyly taking the microphone from his hand, making Boone light up in a way Colt had never seen before.
“And today, you know,” Becca said softly, “that it’s always been me, for you.”
Colt Beckett turned his eyes away from Boone and Becca. The way they held each other’s gazes, Becca in her white gown, Boone in his tux, felt like too intimate a moment to invade.
“Get a room,” Harlan yelled from next to him, Boone laughed from the dance floor while Colt sipped his beer and chuckled.
Looking out past the corral to the picture-perfect mountains, Colt straightened with pride, happy to have hosted Becca and Boone’s reception at Dream Maker Ranch, even though the ranch wasn’t officially open for another few months.
When he offered to throw the party, the only thing he hadn’t planned on was the last-minute change to have the band play outside.
“Who knew you could turn a corral into a dance floor so quickly? Great job,” Colt complimented his best friend, who was flanking his other side. Wyatt Walker, one of the best horsemen in the county and a savvy investor in resorts across the U.S., had taken time out of his schedule to help put the final touches on the barn’s remodeling job.
In addition to being his right-hand man, Wyatt would soon be supervising everything that had to do with the horses on Dream Maker—from the groomers, to the staff giving riding lessons, to taking guests on trail rides.
“It turned out well.” Wyatt studied the corral. “There were a few holes we had to fill. It took the crew a while to get the ground level, but it was worth the effort. Can’t have anyone taking a header.”
“And now we know how to throw a proper wedding, we can host your reception here too”
“Ha! I’ll have to let you know about that. Not sure.”
“Not sure Naomi’s the one?”
Wyatt gave him the same boyish grin he’d been sending his way since grade school. “No comment.”
“And what are you two gentlemen whispering about?” A silky voice asked, just as Colt got a whiff of lily of the valley and musk.
He’d only smelled the intoxicating combination once before. On one woman. The only woman on the planet who was off-limits. The only woman on earth he’d broken every rule with. Wyatt’s younger sister.
Colt’s chest tightened, and every other part of him hardened too, his standard reaction to Mariah. Slowly Colt turned toward the voice.
“Hey, Colton. Nice day for a white wedding, huh?”
Christ almighty, Mariah. Hyperventilating at the sight of her in heels and that form-fitting dress was a distinct possibility. Colt didn’t know where to look first. He tried to pull his eyes away from her lips, but her red lipstick made them look even more ravishing than usual. He looked up at the sky and prayed no one could see his hard-on.
Mariah rested her hand on his shoulder and leaned closer, intoxicating him with her addictive scent. She brushed her soft cheek against his and gave him a peck on the cheek.
“You look beautiful,” just spilled from his mouth. Colt didn’t mean to say it. Didn’t even know he was saying it until he did. Christ almighty, Mariah.
Wyatt shot him a pointed glare.
“What?” Colt asked, doing his best to look innocent. “Mariah does look beautiful, doesn’t she?”
Wyatt eyed him for another few seconds and shrugged before turning to say something to Harlan.
“It’s just little ole me,” Mariah purred. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Colt met her mesmerizing green eyes and stayed locked in her stare. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”
“What are you talking about? You saw me last night at The Owl.”
He frowned, trying to recall. Boone had his bachelor party last week, so he and Harlan had stopped into The Owl with Boone for a quick drink and a toast, but he didn’t recall—unless...
“I was right in front of you. Thought for sure you’d come over and say hi.”
He jolted at a flash of memory. “In the hat? On the bull?” Colt took her in, remembering her moves, the way she rode Linda’s new mechanical contraption with abandon, consequently giving every man in the bar who was watching her an erection—just like the one he had now.
“That was you?”
“Sure was. I’m back in town for a while.” Eyes sparkling with mischief, Mariah licked her lips and zeroed in on his. “And I happen to know for a fact that we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other, Colt, so you better get ready.” She grinned and stretched up to give him another kiss on the cheek.
The End
Find out what happens in Colt and Mariah’s steamy best friend’s little sister romance
Dream Maker!
Or, book one, Harlan’s story: Heartbreaker
Love’s Home Run Synopsis
When a gorgeous baseball player accidentally hits Danica Vargas with his baseball, and visits her in the hospital, she doesn’t realize the outrageously sexy stranger is her former crush. Luca Santino is about five feet taller and a thousand times hotter than she last saw him.
In school, Luca’s best friend’s older sister Danica swatted his heart around like a ball… except when they were making out in her bedroom.
Back in Napa Valley a decade later with his semi-pro baseball team, Luca rediscovers the girl he loved. As a woman, she's even more captivating than he remembered. As a couple, their chemistry hits a home run every time.
But when an unexpected curveball involving Danica and Luca’s older brother comes out of left field, Luca will have to change his game if he wants to play for keeps.
Older and wiser, maybe this time, they’ll realize what started long ago wasn’t a game.
Read Love’s Home Run today and fall in Love in the Vineyards, where the men will do anything for the women they adore, happily ever afters are around every corner, and love flows like wine.
Love’s Home Run: Chapter One
She’d gotten it all wrong. Danica Vargas scanned the packed crowd at Arnold Baseball field through the dusty lenses of her sunglasses and tucked her hair behind her ears. She’d flown here after work, rushing over the hill from Napa to Sonoma with ten minutes to spare before the Crushers’ game started.
Her timing wasn’t the problem. Michael Santino had just shot her down with the innocent phrase, “Come sit with the rest of my friends.” And his devastatingly charming, yet, oblivious grin told her Michael was clueless about how let down she was.
She’d believed they were finally having a real date. When her chin started to tremble, she panicked and bolted for the Snack Shack before anyone could see her disappointment. He hadn’t offered to join her.
Dammit, Michael Santino. Stop playing games with me. Now her cheeks ached from the fake smile she’d barely managed to hold in place while walking to the concession line.
She was a reporter, for
crying out loud. How could she have misread his cues?
At twenty-nine, Danica knew the difference between romantic interest and friendship. And Michael wasn’t a stranger. They’d known each other for years, moved in the same circles and, because his brother Jamie was dating her best friend Sarah, they’d spent hours socializing.
They’d even kissed. Granted, mostly pecks on the cheek, but their lips connected on at least two occasions.
Nonchalantly checking the park’s grapevine-tangled perimeter she spotted him and let go of her smile. Towering over his buddies in the shade near the bleachers, Michael tossed his head back laughing. His thick brown hair gleamed in a pocket of light, she caught a flash of his smile, and inched closer to the front of the line.
She rarely saw Michael, of Napa Valley’s Santino Family Winery fame, outside of business-related events, or dressed in anything other than impeccably cut Italian suits. But the perfect fit of the basketball shorts and white T-shirt he wore today made her knees weak.
She angled her head around the strangers in front of her in line, struggling to keep this version of the perfect male specimen in sight.
The possible images this added to her bedtime fantasy arsenal were endless: the weekend Michael, the breakfast in bed Michael, Michael feeding her grapes in the bathtub. She made a note to remember that one and moved another foot forward.
Glancing down at the dusty straps of her sandals, Danica smoothed the front of her new navy dress. Why had she spent money she didn’t have trying to impress him? She’d barely cover the minimum payment on her credit card this month. Michael hadn’t even noticed her face. His attention never made it down to her dress.
Sighing into the motionless air, she ran a hand down the back of her head and grabbed a handful of her long brown hair. Waving the impromptu ponytail, she managed to make a little breeze on her neck. Apparently, Sonoma Valley’s entire population of ten thousand-plus was at the game, and baseball was the new religion.
“Hi!” A little boy with braces, wearing a mitt, waved over a wobbly chain link railing laden with blackberry and wild grapevine. The rickety fence looked ready to collapse.
Danica straightened the shoulder strap of her purse, which was digging into her collarbone. “Hi back.”
His rag-tag group of fly ball catchers stood at the ready.
The announcer boomed over the PA, old-school style, and the crowd got louder. “Now batting for the Soooo-Nooo-Ma-Crush-Herrrsss—Dandy…Daaa-nnny-Deeeep!”
She scooted another foot in line and kept her eyes on the kids tussling with each other, elbowing and then running past the bike racks. Where were their parents? Should they be playing so close to the road?
“Ball... My ball!” the boy with braces shrieked, and his group scrambled into the street with their mitts in position.
Turning her attention back to the front of the Snack Shack line, she zoomed in on a clear plastic bucket of Red Vines licorice. Someone behind her yelled “Heads!” before the sky fell and everything went black.
“She’s going to be fine. She’s just concussed.” Danica’s heart ached at the sound of her mother’s shaky voice. Although she could hear conversation around her, the words came in fragmented and murky, like she was listening underwater.
“Con-cuss. Is it possible there’s pus on her brain?” her brother Brandon asked.
The voice of her oldest brother Matthew rang out. “What are you, five?”
“Shush,” her mother said softly. “According to the doctor, she might be able to hear us.”
Danica hated to hear her mother sound so shaky. Her parents worried about her even before she was born. She hadn’t meant to take so long to arrive. If it had been up to her, she would have skipped all the years her parents spent trying to have a girl and arrived two years after Brandon, just like they planned.
She tried opening her eyes, and really started to worry when she couldn’t. She couldn’t move or feel her breath, either. But I must be breathing.
“Was it a direct hit?” Matthew asked.
“She’s going to be okay, right?” Brandon added.
“I will not have this kind of talk with your poor sister lying there.”
Mom, please don’t cry.
“Of course she’s going to be all right, and you’re upsetting your mother. Matthew, Brandon, leave the room, and give us a minute, please.”
Dad’s here too…with Mom, and he’s losing it with Matt and Bran? This cannot be good.
The pain in her head intensified while she imagined her parents fighting while she was passed out, unable to play peacemaker and hoped they hadn’t been bickering because of her accident. But, since their split they’d never let a good opportunity to argue go to waste. And being within ten feet of each was the only opportunity they needed.
Not knowing if she’d ever be able to open her eyes, or move again, made her sob, but not in the usual way. She felt no relief and couldn’t feel the wetness of tears. Will the tears just stay in here, trapped in my head with me?
She dug deep and dredged up every ounce of energy to focus it on opening just her right eye...and, hallelujah, both eyes opened.
“Ama,” Danica mumbled to her mother.
“Boys, come back to the room. She’s awake!” her father’s voice boomed in her ear.
“Apa?” she whimpered to her father.
The pet names slipped. Her Spanish parents, both proud second-generation Americans, insisted she and her brothers speak English in public. Maybe there was a different rule for language in hospital rooms? Staring straight up at the dingy ceiling of the colorless room, Danica let go and cried. Warm, salty tears streamed down her cheeks, while her mom stroked her forehead with the nurturing touch that always made her feel better.
“You’re going to be okay, honey. We’ve got you,” she cooed.
Her father leaned in close. “Don’t you worry mi vida, I’m here.”
“Thank goodness you’re all right!” Lulu Castelli, Danica’s landlady, and Juliet St. John, her roommate, crowded into the room, with Matthew and Brandon trailing behind.
Lulu, the great granddaughter of Count Castelli, the man commonly referred to as the father of California’s wine industry, appeared to be in her late seventies or early eighties, but she never revealed her age. Danica rented a room in her massive Castle Road estate, Bella Villa. Castle Road was named for the Castelli Family, and if Wine Country had a royal pecking order, Lulu was the queen of Sonoma.
“We brought some clothes from home.” Juliet looked like she’d just rolled out of bed. Her newly blond hair was in a messy half-bun, half-pony tail. “Lulu couldn’t get her contacts in fast enough, so I drove her.” She turned to Danica’s parents and brothers. “I hope I’m not intruding.”
“No, I’m happy you’re here. What happened?” Danica threw the question to everyone in the room.
Brandon’s eyes got big. “You were knocked out and—”
“Thankfully, it’s a minor injury.” Her mother shot him a pointed look. “You were only sleeping a moment ago, nothing to worry about, honey. It’s been a traumatic day, and you need your rest.”
“It’s lucky the ball wasn’t a direct hit." Matthew threw his hand up like he was catching a fly ball. "It ricocheted off a bicycle before you caught it with your head, but the ball was movin’…”
“That’s enough.” A muscle ticked in her dad’s jaw, and he turned back to Danica. “The CT, MRI scans, and the neurological test they gave you in the ER show no damage.”
“Mom, Dad, I’m so sorry.” Danica winced at the worry lines etched on her parents’ faces. “My head is killing me.”
“The doctor says a headache is normal.” Her dad brushed her cheek with his fingers. “They want to keep you here for twenty-four hours so they can check in on you regularly.”
“You are going to be very well taken care of, I can promise you that.” There wasn’t a single strand of grey hair out of place in Lulu’s
chignon, and her silk tank top, black slacks, and pearls were, as usual, immaculate. She pursed her lips and crossed her crepey arms. “I know people. People who work here. And they owe me.”
Her dad’s eyebrows shot to his forehead, but Danica wasn’t surprised Lulu would call in favors to help her. That’s just how she rolled. Although her family had known Sonoma’s queen for years, after several years of living on Lulu’s estate, Danica had heard all her stories firsthand. Lulu wasn’t accustomed to taking no for an answer, and prided herself on the many tactics she employed to encourage people to say yes, baked goods and bribery included.
Danica fiddled with her bedsheet. “I’m sorry I dragged all of you here.”
“It’s not a problem.” Juliet gently patted her foot. “I’ve got your robe and your favorite leopard slippers in here.” She plopped a large straw bag on the table in the corner of the room.
“And I brought my flask,” Lulu piped in. Everyone in the room turned to her.
“Um, what a thoughtful gesture, Lulu, but the doctor doesn’t want Danica to drink any alcohol for at least a week.” Her mother sighed.
“It’s not for Danica. What do you think I am? It’s for you and Daniel. A little nip will take the edge off.” Lulu reached under the scoop neck of her blouse and pulled a small silver container out of her bra. She offered it to Danica’s dad.
“No, thank you.”
“You sipping?” Lulu tipped the flask to her mom.
The corners of her mom's mouth turned up. “No, I’m good, but thanks.”
“I’ll have a swig,” Brandon nodded.
And Matthew chimed in, “Yeah, it would really hit the spot, thanks.”
Lulu swigged a long, loud gulp of liquid and smacked her lips. She tucked the shiny flask back under her fuchsia top. “Nope. No can do, boys. My bra isn’t big enough to pack anything that'll take the edge off you two.”
