Chapter 2
Bianca
I t’s my second day in Oak Creek Canyon and it’s girl’s night at the Golden Cougar Bar and Grill. The name is unfortunate, but it’s been around for generations and is named after the actual cougars that inhabit the valley. I’m meeting my two besties from high school, Millie and Ana.
I walk into the bar. “This place hasn’t changed,” I murmur, looking around the rustic room with wood posts and beams and faded signs. It’s packed with people at the long bar and tables. I spot Millie and Ana and head toward them across the scuffed concrete floor, smiling.
“Hiiiii!” They stand up and we exchange a round of hugs and greetings.
“It’s been so long!”
“You look amazing!”
“I can’t believe you’re back!”
Finally, we all take seats on dinged-up metal stools at the high-top table. I settle myself into place, emotion pushing at my ribs from inside, my eyes stinging a bit. “It’s so good to see you.”
They beam back at me. “You, too,” Millie says.
I’ve told myself I didn’t miss anything from home, but the truth is—I did. I’ve missed my friends, these two women I share so much history with. There’s nobody else in the world I have the same relationship with as them. Even my sisters; with Rosa being older, the perfect big sister, and Allegra the baby everyone doted on, as a kid I gravitated to connections outside the family.
“I’m so happy to see you,” I admit honestly, reaching out to squeeze a hand of each of them.
A young guy approaches to take our order.
“Oh, I don’t know what I want,” I say. In the heart of wine country, this place always focused more on beer selections. But I enjoy a beer sometimes and it’s been a while, so…. “I’ll have a Hoppy Ending.”
He nods and Millie and Ana order Baby Got Bocks.
I see the looks I’m getting from people in the bar. I doubt anyone recognizes me; I’ve changed since I lived here. No doubt they’re wondering who the stranger in town is. One of the downsides of small town living that I remember so well.
“I’m sorry about your grandma,” Millie says. “She was so special.”
“Yeah.” I drop my gaze briefly. “It still seems weird that she’s not here.” The vibe has taken a downturn, so I square my shoulders, lift my chin, and smile. “How are wedding plans coming?” I ask Millie.
Which of course reminds me of the astonishing news about Rosa and Jake.
I hear all about Millie’s upcoming wedding and Ana’s job at the local veterinary clinic. I fill them in on my time in Argentina and Tomás, the hot cowboy I was with for a few months while living there.
“Speaking of boyfriends,” Ana says, leaning closer. “Mark Watson is over there.”
I blink. “Oh.” Mark was my high school boyfriend. “I’m not looking.”
Ana laughs. “Okay. But he’s single again! He and Marnie were together for…how long?” She looks at Millie.
“Over a year.”
“Right. They just broke up,” Ana says.
“I’m not here for romance.” I make a face, lifting my beer. “I’m here to help Rosa and figure out what the hell we’re going to do with Caparelli.” And to turn the tables on Uncle Geno, but I don’t mention that.
To be honest, I’m not looking for romance anywhere. After being abandoned by my father (well, he died, but still, I felt abandoned) and my mother, then passed over by my family, I’m the poster child for abandonment issues and avoidant attachment style. Yes, I’ve been to therapy.
“That doesn’t mean you can’t have a little romance.” Millie lifts her glass.
“Or a little bit of bam bam in the ham,” Ana adds.
Millie and I stare at her then crack up laughing. I almost fall off my stool. “I’m probably only going to be here for a couple of months.”
“Oh.” Their faces fall.
“I thought for sure you’re back to stay,” Millie says slowly.
Ana pouts. “Me, too.”
I shrug and smile. “Well, who knows. We have a ton of work to do and Uncle Geno isn’t making it easy for us.”
“I’ve heard the rumors.” Millie wrinkles her freckled nose. “I don’t get it. Family is family, right?”
“Right.” I press my lips together. “We’re going to make this work. We’re determined. It’s what Nonna wanted.”
“I agree,” Ana says with a firm nod. “I loved your Nonna.”
“Thanks.” I smile.
We order snacks and more drinks and get caught up on life in Napa and Oak Creek Canyon. They tell me about friends from high school who are married and having babies. “Brittany Fox married Josh Hunter and now her name is Brittany Fox-Hunter.”
I let out a little cackle. “No!”
“And…” Ana leans in. “They just had a baby and named her Ima.”
I gasp. “You are kidding me.”
“True story.”
“Ima’s an unusual name to start with, but with that surname…that poor child.” Millie shakes her head.
“Do you think if you were born with a different name, would you have a different personality?” I tap my chin.
“Hmmm. I don’t know. I never really liked Millie. Maybe if my parents had named me something cute like Ashley or Ella I would have been super popular, with boys after me all the time.”
I make a face. “But would your personality be different?”
She tilts her head. “Maybe I would have been more confident? That would make a difference.”
“What if I were named Olga?” Ana muses. “Maybe I’d be tougher.”
“When I was a kid, I hated all the Italian names in our family,” I share. “I wanted to be Siobhan.”
Millie giggles. “Irish?”
“Yes. It means ‘full of charm’ so I thought I would be Irish and charming.” I shrug.
Ana tips her head. “I thought your Italian family was so glamorous and so big and boisterous.”
“Big and boisterous is correct.” I make a face.
After we pay our bill and head outside, we wander down Laurel Street past cute little shops that are now closed. We pause to admire a display in the window of Poppy’s Vintage Collectibles.
“I want that chair,” Ana says, staring. “It would be perfect in my bedroom.”
“It would,” Millie agrees.
We move on and stop at The Dancing Grape, a gift shop with all kinds of wine-related stuff.
“Look at those wine aroma kits!” I point. “That’s amazing.”
“Not like you need it,” Millie says.
“You should try those wine lovers’ chocolates,” Ana says. “They are delicious.”
“Sounds yummy.”
I walk a little farther and now it’s my turn to drool in front of Lavender Lingerie. This is a new store in Oak Creek Canyon, and wow, it’s hitting my weakness for anything purple. “Oh my God, look at that slip dress!” I gaze at the pansy purple silk garment with embroidered bra cups. It’s my favorite color and so luxe looking. “Wouldn’t I look sexy in that?”
A noise beside me has my head turning. I’m face to face with a man I do not know.
Almost face to face—he’s tall. And he’s eyeing me with a startled expression.
Heat rushes up into my face. Where are Ana and Millie? “Uh. Sorry. I thought you were my friends. I mean, I thought I was talking to them.”
Deep-set hazel eyes stare at me, his thick eyebrows drawn together above them.
Whoa. This is one attractive man.
I blink, in a flash taking in his firm jaw, carved cheekbones, and strong nose that’s just a bit uneven. Also wide, wide shoulders and lots of hard-packed muscle. “Uh…” I say again. “Sorry.”
This would be a good time for a big sinkhole to open up in the ground beneath me and swallow me up.
Millie and Ana appear next to me. “Oh hey, Jansen,” Millie says. “How are you?”
Wait. They know him?
His closed expression relaxes when he looks at them. “Hi. I’m good, thanks.”
Millie looks back and forth between us. “You’ve met Bianca?”
Now his lips twitch. “Sort of.”
“Oh my God, I thought it was you two beside me and I started talking to him,” I babble with a nervous laugh. “Oops!”
“Bee, this is Jansen Beck. He bought Take Flight.”
“Oh.” My scrutiny of him turns chilly, despite the pleasing width of his shoulders, the drape of his T-shirt over flat abs, the veins running down strong forearms to the backs of his hands.
“Bianca is an amazing winemaker,” Ana tells Jansen. “You two should talk! Jansen’s going to need help. He’s never owned a winery before.”
I blink at that. “Wow. That’s…amazing. What happened to Randall?” He was the winemaker at Take Flight for decades.
“Retired,” Jansen says.
“Ah.”
“Bianca Martinelli,” Millie finishes the introduction. “She owns Caparelli Vineyard.”
“Part of it,” I mumble.
“The competition, then,” Jansen says.
I lift my eyebrows. “You must be new here.”
He frowns. “Well, yeah. Why?”
“We’re not all competitors. In Napa, we all help each other.” I ignore the resentment that pushed to the surface when I learned who he is. He’s an outsider. The one who took over Jake’s heritage.
“Ah.”
“I mean, we all help each other and learn from each other. A rising tide floats all boats. That kind of thing.” More blabbing.
“ Lifts all boats,” he says.
“Right. Right.”
“We?” Millie says, arching a brow.
I go still. “Did I say that?”
She grins. “You did.”
“Well, I just meant?—”
“Never mind.” She bumps her shoulder into mine. “We know. Anyway, like you said, Jansen needs winemaking help, and here you are!”
Like I want to help him! But I kind of dug my own hole here with my talk of neighborly teamwork. I grit my teeth on a smile. “Of course! Happy to help!”
He doesn’t smile back. “That’s nice of you, but not necessary.”
Fine. He can figure out how to make wine on his own. Good luck with that.
“Okay! Nice to meet you! We should go.” I grab Millie’s arm.
Jansen nods, looks at the shop window again, then back at me. “Nice to meet you, too. And the answer to your question is—yes. Yes, you would.”
He smiles briefly at my friends, turns, and walks away from us down the sidewalk.
Heat rushes to my face. Oh. My. God.
“What does that mean?” Ana whispers.
I start speed walking, tugging Millie with me. “Nothing.”