“Conner?” I called for him as I stepped inside, where it resembled a barn far more than the exterior had. Fresh straw filled the empty stalls at the front of the building, but they were all empty. “Conner?”
I turned a corner and was startled to find an office. A really nice office with a huge oak desk and beautiful lighting and seating. It looked like something out of an interior design magazine.
Duke wrestled in the corner with a huge teddy bear missing an eye and quite a bit of its stuffing.
“Lena?” Conner called from a room behind his office. “In here!”
I followed the sound of his voice into a room filled with really old-looking wine-making equipment. Aged barrels, vintage wooden wine presses and stills. “What is all of this?” I turned around in a circle. “And where are you?” I wandered through a maze of wine casks until I found him at the center of the mess, examining the contents of a barrel of grapes.
“This is my wine room.” Conner didn’t spare me a glance. “One second and you can freak out.”
I folded my arms across my chest. “I am not freaking out.”
I watched as he studied his grapes, casting out ones he seemed dissatisfied with, though they looked perfectly fine to me. I drifted to his side, peering into the barrel of the vintage wine press he was using. It smelled funny.
I reached for one of his discarded grapes, but he smacked my hand away.
“Hey!” I rubbed my hand. “What was that for?”
“Don’t eat those, they’re rubbish.”
“Rubbish?” I arched a brow at him, but he didn’t answer me. I studied him in his grubby t-shirt and worn jeans. I’d never seen him so … focused.
He set the old press to do its thing, pressing the grapes the old fashioned way, churning and beating the grapes to a pulp with a heavy stone stained with juice.
“Come with me.” He grabbed my hand and led me to yet another room.
This one was filled with small wooden casks and dozens of dusty bottles on racks.
“How much coffee have you had to drink tonight?” Conner perused the shelves of bottles.
“Two or three … pots,” I admitted.
“Hence, the freak out?” He smirked at me, lifting a bottle from its place on the shelf.
“I am not freaking out,” I said calmly.
“Have you looked in a mirror lately?” Conner moved to a table covered in the makings of a barrel.
Did he make them himself? I wondered, watching him open the bottle of wine.
“Come, we have to let it breathe for a few minutes.” He guided me back to his office and sat me down in front of his desk.
“You have a sticky note stuck to your forehead.” He leaned back in his chair.
“What?” I touched my forehead, and sure enough, my fingers came away with one of those small, square sticky notes in bright pink. Ignoring his chuckle, I tucked it into my pocket. It was one of many notes I’d stuck to the drawings. “Whatever.” I shook my head. “We need to talk about scaling back this monstrosity.” I waved the tube of drawings at him.
“Monstrosity?” Conner wiped his hands on a towel.
“It’s too much.” I rolled the drawings out in front of him. “I know you want to go right to phase four, and that’s fine, but we need to scale back. Just because you have more money than Midas doesn’t mean we need to build a theme park.” I shook my head, standing and pacing in front of his desk.
“Theme park? I wasn’t aware we’d escalated to apple-themed ferris wheels and roller coasters.” Conner bent his head to study the drawings with my notes. There were a lot of sticky notes.
“We don’t need a bed and breakfast. Or the chapel. And I think the current location of the orchard is a mistake.”
“Okay.” Conner nodded. “Why don’t you tell me what you’re worried about, and then we can work on a plan to scale things back a bit.” He leaned back again and put his feet up on his desk.
I sat down in the leather chair opposite him. “What if we aren’t as successful as everyone thinks we’ll be? What then? We go straight to phase four with things we might not need yet, and then what happens if we struggle to get this business off the ground? Then, we’re stuck with buildings we didn’t need that we can’t afford to keep open.”
“I see. A valid worry.” Conner nodded.
“I mean, Conner, there are buildings in these plans that I don’t even know what they’re for. I just think we’d be smart to trim some of the excess.”
“Hold that thought.” Conner stood. “I’ll be right back, but find whatever you’re not sure about, and we’ll make sure we discuss it with the architects.”
I moved behind his desk to flip through the documents to find the pages with the rows of shops I didn’t remember discussing. There were at least twelve shops I had zero plans for, and a few of them looked like they had two stories.
“Taste this.” Conner came up behind me with two glassed of amber-colored wine. His arm wrapped around to my front, cupping the glass of wine in his hand.
I took the glass and pointed to the pages laid out on his desk. “We don’t need any of this.”
“Lena, sit and drink your wine. I need an opinion.” Conner pointed to my seat.
I moved to the chair and sipped the wine. “It’s good.” I set it down, turning back to the drawings.
“Good?” Conner leaned forward. “Good?”
“Tasty,” I offered.
“Try it again and focus on what you’re doing, Lena. One does not merely sip a fragrant hybrid wine and say it’s good. You need to experience the wine.”
“Experience it?” I rolled my eyes. It was wine, for crying out loud.
“That’s it.” He stood up. “Sit back.” He ordered.
“Fine.” I sat back against the soft leather seat.
“Put your feet up.” He scooted a low footstool out from under his desk, and I humored him.
“Now, close your eyes and take three deep, cleansing breaths. In and out, slowly.”
“What, are we meditating now?” I scowled up at him.
“No scowling permitted while we are tasting wine. Wine tasting is supposed to be fun.”
“Wine tasting is fun when you don’t have a million other things on your mind.”
“Do you even know how to relax?” Conner laughed at me, and I couldn’t help but return his smile. I liked this version of him, the one he’d probably never have let me see outside this office.
“Fine, I will taste the wine.” I started to take another sip.
“Start with the fragrance first,” Conner instructed.
“I have to smell it?”
“Yes, that is part of the experience.”
“Rich people are so weird.” I sighed into my glass, inhaling the scent. “Oh, that’s nice,” I hummed, taking another whiff. “What is that, apple blossoms?”
“Yes.” I could practically hear Conner’s grin. “But it’s not really apple wine, per se.”
I took a careful sip, letting the wine run over my taste buds. There was a distinct floral taste, but with a hint of pear and apple notes in addition to the underlying grape flavors.
“This is really good, Conner.” I took another sip. “We should totally serve this at the restaurant.”
“My thoughts exactly. We should only serve it at the restaurant and nowhere else.”
“I love that idea. It’s perfect without being too appley.” I lifted my glass for a refill. “Did you make this yourself?” I gestured at the room behind his office.
Conner nodded. “I started working with the apple blossoms right around the time we got serious about this partnership. It’s not perfect yet, but it will be in time for our big restaurant opening. Unless, of course, you think we need to cut that too.” He gave me a mischievous smirk.
“No, the restaurant is a must. But I’m serious about all this other stuff.” I pointed to the drawings on his desk.
“This is what set you off tonight?” Conner ran a hand acros
s the pages.
“I don’t even remember talking about these buildings.”
“That’s because we didn’t. I asked the architects to include plenty of commercial space.” He leaned forward to refill my glass.
“We already have plenty of commercial space,” I protested.
“For your plans, yes. We have allotted a space for each of your shops and event spaces, but this is for back up.”
“Back up?” I took another sip of the most perfect wine I’d ever tasted.
“Just in case our business struggles to get off the ground.”
“How are a bunch of empty stores supposed to help us if that happens?” I was growing impatient.
“Well, on the off chance that we need the extra income, we can lease these shops to other store owners. That will increase our monthly revenue to help us through any difficult times.”
“Wait. What?” I leaned over the drawings.
“Commercial property is a good investment, Lena. It’s good to have the space for our own growth and also for others to come join us and benefit from our success.”
“Okay. I didn’t know that.” I felt a little foolish for coming all the way over here in a freak out.
“Should we discuss the inn? If you’d like to scale back at all, I agree that is probably the best place to do it.”
“I don’t know.” I leaned against his desk, putting my head down on my arms. “I’m so confused. It all just feels too big. Like we’ve thrown everything into this but the kitchen sink. Did you see where they added a park with a carousel?” I flipped to the third page of the documents.
“Of course they added things. That’s what architects do. It’s like they can’t help themselves.” Conner sipped his wine, swishing it in his mouth before he scribbled something in a notebook.
“We need to take that out, though …” I stuttered, trying not to say what I was going to say.
“Though, what?”
“The carousel would be so pretty. But it’s definitely got to go.”
“Along with the inn?” he asked. He was going to leave it to me to make this decision.
“Is it necessary? Aren’t we just taking business away from the other B&Bs in town?”
“Wait. Let me get this straight.” Conner chuckled. “You’re not worried about the competition. You’re worried for the competition?”
“Well, yes.” I frowned at him. “I don’t want to put anyone out of business.”
“That’s why we made it cozy and small.” He turned the pages to the drawings of the inn. “It’s only sixteen rooms. It will stay booked that way, and it won’t take business away from your competitors. At least not too much.”
“So, what you’re saying is, I’m pretty much overreacting again, right?” I put my feet up on the desk and lifted my wine glass toward his. “Probably won’t be the last time.”
28
Conner
“I have another wine for you to test before I call a car to take you home.” I grabbed the empty bottle and went to retrieve the second one. I hoped she liked it as much as I did.
“I drove here.” Lena frowned at me.
“That thing you ride is hardly more than a bicycle, I’m not even sure how you made it all the way here.”
“It was touch and go.” She giggled, and I liked the sound of it. I wondered what it might be like to be the one to make her laugh every day.
“Besides, we’ve put away a whole bottle of wine already. Neither of us should be doing any driving tonight.” I stepped into my wine cellar and grabbed the test bottle. I’d opened it earlier to let it breathe longer.
“My grams would say that makes you a gentleman, but I’m not so sure she has the best judgment. She’s kind of cagey, my grams.”
“And you’re a little drunk.” I set the dusty bottle of wine on my desk between us, shaking my head at Duke, who was curled up beside her with his head on her lap. “You sorry traitor.” I laughed. “I think my dog likes you better than he likes me.”
“He’s got good taste.” Lena brushed her fingers through his fur, and I could swear his eyes literally rolled back in his head.
“You may regret spoiling him. He’s a big baby, and he’s pushy when it comes to head scratches and belly rubs.”
“He can have all he wants of both.” Lena leaned down and kissed him on the head. And just like that, I was jealous of my dog. I poured another round and handed her the glass.
“I don’t drink much so I’m a light weight. I don’t usually even like wine, but that first one was really good.” She reached for her glass, and our fingertips brushed for a brief moment. Despite the urge to curl my hand around hers, I yanked it back.
“Then, this should knock your socks off.” I swirled the deep red wine in my glass, trying not to look up into her gorgeous eyes.
“It’s pretty.” She studied the rich wine before she inhaled the bouquet, an adorable crease of concentration forming between her brows. “And spicy.”
“Mulled wine. I thought it would be an excellent holiday-only, private label for purchase in our finest store.”
“I love that idea.” She breathed in the fragrance like I showed her with the last bottle. “Oh, that smells like Christmas.” She took a careful sip. “I taste cinnamon and nutmeg.” She took another sip. “Allspice and something more savory with a bit of a bite.”
“Cardamom and orange zest, with hint of apple blossom.” For a reason I couldn’t begin to unravel, I wanted her to like my wine, needed her to.
“It’s delicious but not overpowering. I’ve never had mulled wine. I always thought it would be too spicy, but this is lovely.” She swirled the contents of her glass and took another sip. “I could get used to this.”
“The secret is adding the mulling spices early in the process so they don’t overpower the wine but complement it.”
“Well done.” She lifted her glass with a smile, meeting my gaze. “My mom will be our best customer. She’s going to love this stuff.”
“I have several bottles, you should take her one.”
“Oh, she’s not ready for that yet.” Lena laughed, but her face pinched in sadness. “She still doesn’t like this whole partnership thing.”
“I’m sorry for that. I hate to be the source of any … tension within your family.”
“She’ll come around once she sees the results. Once she sees my plans are actually moving forward.” Lena let her hands fall back into her lap, and Duke was quick to nudge her to work on his ears.
“And your father?” I couldn’t imagine how he must have reacted to our partnership.
“Dad is … reserved.” Lena sat quietly in her chair, staring over my shoulder. “He is never quick to give an opinion until he sees the big picture. He doesn’t like you very much.” She gave me an apologetic smile. “But he will respect what we are trying to build together. He just will never want to be beholden to an Ashford for our family’s success.”
“Sounds a lot like my dad.” I was familiar with the type. Quiet. Stern and unforgiving.
“Oh, not at all. My dad’s a big old softy when it really matters.” Fondness entered her gaze. “I’ll talk to him again before we break ground and convince him this is the right move for us. Even if he never agrees with me, he will support me. That’s what dads are for anyway.”
I was definitely not familiar with that type of father.
“I remember when we were little, Dad was always so excited for the first big snow. It didn’t matter if it was the middle of the night or during the school day. Once the ground was covered, he’d come get me and Enzo to play in the snow for hours. He was like a kid himself. We’d go sledding and have snow ball fights, build snowmen. It was always the best day.”
“It’s no wonder you wanted to create a winter wonderland for kids to experience the magic of the holidays.” I smiled into my wine glass, trying to hide my jealousy. I’d never known what it was like to have a father like that, and I never would.
“Maybe
. If my—our extension of Orchard Hill can bring that kind of magic to other families, then my job is done, and my dad will be proud.”
“It must be nice to be so sure of their support even when they haven’t given it.”
“I may not have their approval yet, but I’ll always have their support, Conner.” She reached for my hand, and I saw pity in her eyes. That was one emotion I never wanted to see from her.
Maybe it was the wine, or maybe it was the fact that I couldn’t get her out of my head—couldn’t get the idea of her and Carter out of my head, and that left me feeling irrationally jealous. But I leaned forward, closing the distance between us.
The moment my lips brushed hers, something within me shifted. I wanted more. Reaching to cup her face, I let my fingers slide through her silky hair.
She let out a breath in surprise. She had no idea what she did to me, how much she made me want to be better than I was.
“Conner, no.” She pushed against my chest, shaking her head. “We can’t.”
“Why not?” I blurted. “Ever since that day you pushed me into the bay, I haven’t been able to get you off my mind, Selena.” I reached for her hand, hoping we could find the easy intimacy we’d shared over the last few hours.
“Is that why you invested?” Anger sparked in her dark eyes, and I knew I had to lay it all on the line.
“No.” I leaned back in my chair, scooting away from her to give her some space. “I invested in an amazing woman with an incredible plan and a brilliant mind for business. I invested because this town needs you and your fire and creativity.”
“That sounds like a lot of waffle.” She frowned at me.
“I’m serious, Lena.” I smiled, trying to reassure her. “You deserve a chance to make Orchard Hill Farms one of the premier businesses in this region. You will succeed at anything you set your mind to. As Conner Ashford, the businessman, I want to be part of that.” I propped my elbows on the desk between us. “Conner, the guy, though, he likes your fire and the way you stand up for yourself and your family, despite all my family has done to keep you down. I didn’t …” I pushed a frustrated hand through my hair. “This is a surprise to me just as much as it is to you.”
The Winemaker Page 17
