Happy Crazy Love Boxed Set

by Melanie Harlow

  But I wouldn’t say anything to him. Jesus Christ, I could only imagine what he’d do if I told him I loved him. I didn’t really have any hangups about it—I came from the theater world where everyone loved everyone, loudly and proudly (of course you could hate someone in that world and still love them loudly and proudly too but that was a different matter)—but I felt that Sebastian wasn’t the type to use or hear a word like love lightly. I understood that about him.

  “So what do you think I should wear to my interview?” I asked with mock seriousness. “The navy and white striped skirt or the black dress? This is life or death, so think hard. I really want this job.”

  “Hmm.” He sliced off a piece of New York strip and chewed while pondering. “I’m a little partial to the black dress for obvious reasons, but I also like the striped skirt. You were wearing it the day I saw you at the beach.”

  My jaw dropped. “You remember that?”

  “Of course I do. With a white blouse and bare feet.”

  “Well, I actually had shoes, just not when I ate sand in front of you. God, that was so embarrassing. I wish I could go back and undo it.”

  “Don’t you dare.” He picked up his wine glass. “If you hadn’t fallen on the sand, I never would have talked to you.”

  “Never?” I asked incredulously. “Come on. Yes, you would have. You came in to the shop later that day.”

  He shook his head. “I came into the shop because I’d just come from my therapist’s office. And the reason I’d called an emergency meeting with my therapist was because of my run-in with you.”

  I set my fork down. “So you’re saying if I hadn’t fallen on the beach, you wouldn’t have talked to me, you wouldn’t have needed that appointment, and you wouldn’t have been in the shop that afternoon?”

  “Exactly.”

  I sipped the wine and let the flavors mingle on my tongue. “Do you think we’d have found each other eventually?”

  He shrugged. “Hard to say. I probably would have done my best to keep avoiding you.”

  “Why?” I set my glass down. “I thought you always liked me.”

  “Fear. It’s powerful.”

  “Yeah. I guess.” But I hated the idea that we’d been such a near miss. In my mind we were destined to meet. Fate was powerful too, right? “So maybe…it’s a good thing I got fired? I mean, that’s what led me to the beach.”

  “Maybe.”

  My mind was already working backward. If Sebastian and I were the real deal, not only was it a good thing I’d gotten fired, but it was a good thing I’d done Save a Horse, a good thing I’d hated New York, and a good thing my career as an actress hadn’t taken off. Not only that, but it was a good thing he hadn’t married that tart in Manhattan. My god—Sebastian could be married right now! Eating dinner in some New York apartment with some other woman across from him! Someone who didn’t understand him at all.

  For the first time, I felt grateful for the crappy decisions I’d made in the last year, because they’d all led me to this table, this man, this moment. It gave me a little boost—maybe, somewhere deep inside me, there was a woman who knew what she wanted, and what’s more, she knew what to do to get it.

  Tuesday morning dawned bright and sunny. A good omen, I thought. Per Sebastian’s advice, and because I thought it would bring me good luck, I dressed in the navy striped skirt, pairing it with a bright pink blouse this time. Based on the web site and the wardrobe I’d seen in pictures, Mia Fournier looked like a woman who appreciated color.

  I’d spent Monday night at home since I wanted to get a good night’s sleep and look refreshed, and Sebastian and I tended to stay up too late when we were together. My mother made me eat breakfast (a cherry turnover, which I ate standing up and leaning over my plate so I didn’t drip on my blouse, and wished me luck before heading out.

  While I was brushing my teeth, my cell buzzed with a text from Natalie. Break a leg this morning! Love you!

  When I was almost out the door I texted back thanks, and noticed I’d missed a message from Sebastian too. Hi Beautiful. You don’t need luck today, but I bet it’s with you. Let me know how it goes. I’m thinking of you.

  I smiled, pulling the door shut behind me. I did feel lucky, but I also felt confident for the first time in weeks.

  Abelard Vineyards—named, I’d learned from an interview with the Fourniers, for a medieval French scholar who had a tragic but passionate love affair with a young student of his—was only about a ten-minute drive from my parents’ farm, about midway between it and Sebastian’s cabin. As I drove up the tree-lined drive, my heart started to pound. The place was absolutely breathtaking.

  The architectural style was French, but rather than the dark, formal faux-chateau style of the Rivard family, the Fourniers had built a Provencal-style villa of light weathered stone with a faded red tiled roof and shutters painted a soft blue. It was luxurious without being imposing, authentic but not stodgy-looking.

  The gravel drive circled in front of the main building, and I followed signs to visitor parking. When I got out of the car and looked around, I saw that the vineyards stretched out behind the buildings, a big red barn sat off to my left, and a sign pointing to the tasting room was straight ahead. Since I was meeting Mia Fournier in the tasting room, I followed the sign down a narrow gravel path around the side of the villa, admiring the flowers and herbs planted along the way.

  Around the back was a large patio with tables and chairs, where guests could sit and watch the sun set over the rolling fields. Jutting off the stone building was a covered, tiled area lined with built-in upholstered benches and long picnic tables on either side of double doors. Six chairs lined the other sides of the tables, and adorably chic little topiary trees in clay flower pots rested on the tables. It was absolutely stunning, and already I wanted this job so badly I could taste it.

  The glass doors to the tasting room off the patio were propped open already, allowing for plenty of natural light and a soft breeze. When I walked in, I noticed right away how the two-story ceilings and ample windows let in plenty of natural light, and the colors in the light stone walls were echoed in the neutral couches and chairs, which were grouped in one large sitting area in front of a huge fireplace at one end of the room. The plank floors were a medium-toned wood, as were the large square coffee table and several end tables. The one bright spot of color was a massive floral centerpiece on the coffee table—probably three dozen roses in various shades of pink.

  Guess I wore the right thing, I thought with a smile.

  “Hello! You must be Skylar.”

  I turned and saw a petite, curvy woman with long, wavy brown hair walking toward me from the other end of the room, where a curved wooden bar lined with stools took up one entire wall.

  I smiled, moving toward her. “Yes. Good morning.”

  “Good morning.” We met in the center of the room and she held out her hand. “I’m Mia. Welcome to Abelard.”

  I took her hand and met her eyes, noticing we were about the same height, although I wore heels today and she wore flats. “So nice to meet you. The place is stunning. I’m in love.”

  “Thanks. It’s been a long road to get here, but we’re happy with it. Can I offer you something? Coffee or tea? A glass of wine?” She laughed, putting a hand on her slightly round belly. “I’m pregnant, so I can’t join you, but it’s never to early for wine.”

  “Congratulations. Sebastian mentioned you were expecting. That’s wonderful.”

  “Yes, our third. I thought we were done after two, but my husband had other ideas.” She rolled her eyes. “When we first met, he didn’t even want kids. Now he wants an entire litter!”

  I laughed, wondering how old she was. She was radiantly beautiful with lovely skin, little tiny smile lines around her eyes the only sign of aging on her face.

  “So anyway.” She fluttered a hand. “Can I get you anything?”

  “No, thank you. I do love the Abelard pinot, but I should probably comp
lete my interview before I indulge in it.”

  She smiled and started walking toward the couches. “Let’s sit over here. I was going to do this back in my office, but it’s such a beautiful morning.” She sat at one end of a large couch and I chose a high-backed chair adjacent to it.

  “It is. And I love the way you designed this so your guests have this gorgeous view, even when they’re inside. And that air!” I inhaled, taking in the scent of the fields outside. “So wonderful that you’ve made the sight and smell of the land the grapes are planted on part of the tasting experience. You’re hitting all the senses. Taste isn’t the only important one with wine.”

  “Oh god, my husband’s going to love you.” She smiled, settling back on the couch. “So tell me about yourself.”

  Taking a breath, I started with my roots on Old Mission and growing up here. I talked briefly about performing on cruise ships and my time in New York, but emphasized that I’d really missed home and my family and had decided to return this spring. “I didn’t really love living in a big city,” I confessed. “Maybe the shopping, but other than that, I prefer life here.”

  “I agree.” She nodded. “Lucas, my husband, lived in New York when we were first dating, but when we decided to move in together, I was really glad we agreed on Detroit. It’s a fun city, but it’s less crowded and manic than New York.”

  “Yes, I read that he opened an absinthe bar there? The Green Hour?”

  Her eyebrows lifted. “Done your homework, I see.”

  I lifted my shoulders, felt a blush warm my cheeks. “I figured I’d better. You run a pretty impressive operation here. If I want to be your assistant, I need to know my stuff.”

  She laughed. “Thanks. So what else did you learn?”

  “Well, I know that you ran a successful event planning business for years in Detroit, so I figured you might want to expand the event schedule here…maybe start promoting Abelard as a wedding venue? Possibly host small corporate events?”

  She looked amused. “Go on.”

  “I researched pinot noir and gamay, the two red wines your husband makes here, and learned quite a bit about why those wines should do well even in a cool climate like ours, and how our position along the forty-fifth parallel mimics the growing conditions in other parts of the world where those grapes do well. Part of that I knew because of growing up on a cherry farm,” I admitted. “Cherries do well here too for many of the same reasons—the soil, the hilly land, the water surrounding us.”

  “My goodness. You really have done your homework.” She tilted her head and crossed her arms. “And you worked at Rivard?”

  I shifted uncomfortably. I’d known it was coming and had rehearsed how to handle it, but it was still embarrassing. “Yes, for about a month. I really enjoyed the job, and I learned a lot there, but Mrs. Rivard had a problem with my performance on a reality television show, which painted me as a bit of a villain.” Please, please don’t have watched the show.

  “Seriously?” She blinked. “What show?”

  I screwed up my face and cringed. “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy).”

  Mia burst out laughing and clapped her hands together once. “Oh my God, that’s funny. Wow.” Giggling, she tucked one leg beneath her and winked at me. “So did you? Ride a cowboy?”

  “No.” I shook my head. “The only thing I rode was a mechanical bull, and I only lasted seven seconds.”

  She gave me a sympathetic look. “Ouch.”

  “Yeah. The entire experience was pretty embarrassing, and I’d like to forget all about it. I asked Mrs. Rivard if I could list her as a reference, and she said I could. I don’t believe she had any issues with my work there—it was simply a matter of my persona on the show not gelling with her vision of a good employee.” I took my resume from my bag and handed it to her. “Her contact information is here, if you’d like it.”

  “Thank you.” She studied the resume a moment. “Ah, you were a Cherry Queen.”

  I sighed, feeling like I should come clean. “Yes, I was, but they asked me not to advertise it. I put it on the resume because it’s something I’m proud of, but after the show aired, they effectively dethroned me for bad behavior.”

  “Really?” Her eyes went wide. “What the heck did you do on that show?”

  “I just wasn’t myself,” I said. “I acted a certain way because the producers wanted ratings, and they figured I’d get more attention if I played devious and mean.”

  “Did it work?”

  I shrugged. “For a little while. But it sure backfired on my life. I shouldn’t have done it, but…live and learn. On to better things.”

  She nodded. “I agree. We all make mistakes.”

  “There you are.” The deep voice came from the far end of the room, and I looked over to see a ridiculously attractive man walking toward us. I think my jaw hung open a moment before I remembered to close it.

  Mia looked over her shoulder at him. “Yes, I decided to sit in here. I didn’t feel like climbing those stairs again and it’s so pretty this morning.”

  He reached the back of the couch and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You OK?”

  “Yes.” She patted his hand and gestured to me. “This is Skylar Nixon, the friend of Sebastian Pryce. Skylar, this is my husband, Lucas.”

  I stood and he reached over Mia’s head to shake my hand. He had dark eyes and hair, worn a little long and shaggy, and a fantastic smile. My god, what did their children look like? “Very nice to meet you,” I said. “You have a beautiful place here.”

  “Our little Provence.” He glanced at Mia. “My family has a vineyard there and we tried to create some of that magic here.”

  “Oh, I bet she knows all about that.” Mia’s eyes twinkled. “She’s done her research.”

  “Oh?” Lucas looked at me.

  “Yes.” I smiled. “I know the location, I know you grew mostly grenache, and I know you got married there.”

  “See?” Mia glanced up at her husband and pointed at me. “This is what I need. Someone who looks like this and has the brains to come prepared to an interview.”

  “Thank you.” I rocked forward onto my toes, I was so happy.

  “Sounds like this is going well, then. I’ll leave you to it. Skylar, very nice to meet you, and you”—he leaned down to kiss her, the back of his hand in her hair—“take it easy.”

  “I will.” She reached up and touched his scruffy cheek, and something inside me twisted a little. They had such an easy way about them, you could just tell how close they were, how much they loved each other. I wondered about how they met, and decided if I got the job and we became friendly enough, I’d ask. Lucas waved at me once more before heading out the glass doors.

  “Well,” Mia said, getting to her feet. “I suppose I should call your references, but unless I discover you robbed Rivard blind, I’d love to give this a try. The job involves assisting me in various capacities—from running tours to planning events to manning the tasting room to helping with marketing and PR. I’m very hands-on and I’ll train you for that stuff myself, but you’ll have to get some wine training from Lucas and the winemakers here.”

  “Sounds great.”

  “It pays hourly to start, sixteen an hour, but after three months we can revisit that number and even consider salary. I’ll call your references this week and confirm with you after I’ve spoken to them.” She made a face. “Not that I’m looking forward to speaking with that old bat Miranda Rivard, but I’ll do it.”

  I laughed. “Thank you.”

  She walked me outside, waving hello to someone watering the flower beds. “How soon could you start?”

  “I’m working for my sister right now, but she said she could find someone to replace me within a week.”

  “So Monday?” Mia asked hopefully. “Sorry to rush, I just want you to be as comfortable as possible before I have this baby, which is in the fall.”

  “No problem,” I assured her. “Monday would be fine.”

 
; “Great.” She held out her hand, and I took it. “So nice to meet you, Skylar. I’m glad Sebastian sent you my way. I have a feeling this is going to work out great.”

  I smiled. “Me too.”

  Later that night, Mia Fournier called my cell phone and told me the job was mine if I wanted it. She said Miranda Rivard had praised my work ethic, performance, and attitude, and even admitted to feeling some regret at having let me go. When Mia heard that, she decided to snap me up right away, and asked if I could come in on Friday to fill out paperwork.

  I was at Natalie’s when I got the call, and she and I both squealed and jumped up and down once I hung up. The next day, a sign went in the window at Coffee Darling looking for help, and by Friday, she’d already hired a college student who was home for the summer.

  Sebastian was thrilled for me, and took me out for dinner at Mission Table the next night to celebrate. When he showed up at my parents front door, he presented me with a congratulatory bouquet of honey sticks tied together with a bright pink ribbon. I threw my arms around him and he lifted me right off my feet, laughing in my hair. If he’d have let go, I swear I’d have floated right into the sky.

  At dinner that night, I laid out my summer plans, and he listened attentively. “I’m going to bust my butt to prove my worth there, and hopefully negotiate a raise after three months. At that point, I think I’ll have enough saved, and a good enough income, to afford a nice apartment and maybe buy or lease a car. The other thing I was thinking of is offering to rent a guest house from my mother come fall when the tourist season is over. Then I could continue to save and maybe buy something next year.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Suddenly I realized I was doing all the talking. I eyed him carefully. “You’re awfully quiet tonight.”

  “Am I?”

  “Yes. What’s up?”

  He offered me a slight smile. “Nothing. I had a rough day, I guess. But it’s making me feel better to see how happy you are. I’m glad you got the job.”