9. Noah
Noah
“ARE YOU DONE yet?”
“No.”
“What about now?” I threw a daisy over the top of Laurel’s book, and when it landed on her page, she picked it up and twirled it between her fingers.
“Still no .”
“But you’ve been reading for—”
“Ten minutes?”
That was about nine minutes more than I ever liked to read, but Laurel? That was her thing, and since I was the one who’d suggested doing our homework together, I was stuck, whether I liked it or not.
“That’s enough time, right? I mean, how much more could you possibly need to read today?” I plucked the book from her hands and rolled to my back. We’d picked a sunny spot under one of the large oaks at the end of Willow Lane.
It was Laurel’s favorite place to come, because there was only one house at the end of the road—that was currently empty—and other than that, the place was secluded. Perfect for reading and relaxing, according to her.
Me, however? I was getting restless. I hated sitting still, even for ten minutes.
“Noah, give it back. I want to be finished before next class, and—”
“We only have to read to chapter twenty. You’re already up to”—I flicked through the pages of her book—“chapter twenty-five.”
She leaned over to take the book, and I dropped it to the grass to grab her arm, pulling her down over me. She landed with a cute little oomph , and her long blonde hair fell forward to curtain our faces.
“Now this is better.”
“How is it better? We have an exam tomorrow, and I need to study. You need to study.”
“I am studying.” I kissed her gently, her soft lips always so tempting. “I’m studying the shape of your mouth. The color of your hair in the sun. The way you feel squirming around on me the way you are.”
“I’m not squirming.” She planted her hands on either side of my head and pushed up from me. “I’m trying to get away from you so I can study . I need this grade if I’m going to have a chance at that scholarship.”
She was right, and suddenly I felt like a total asshole for interfering with that.
“Sorry,” I said, and reluctantly let her go. “I wasn’t thinking.” I picked up the book and handed it back to her, before settling in against the trunk of the tree.
“Don’t be sorry for wanting to kiss me.” She laughed. “That’s why I’m working so hard. I want you to be able to kiss me for the rest of my life, and you won’t be able to do that if I’m stuck here and you’re—”
I placed a finger to her lips and grinned. “What did you just say?”
She frowned, and I swear I could see the wheels in her head rewinding. Then a rosy flush hit her cheeks. Yep, there it is.
“I didn’t mean that like it sounded.”
“You didn’t? ’Cause I kind of like the idea of you and me for the rest of our lives.”
Laurel looked down in her lap as she fiddled with the edge of her book. “You do? I mean, I know we talked about going to USC together and getting out of here, but—”
“But what? You don’t think I’m going to let you go once we get there, do you?”
She raised her head so we were eye to eye.
“I’m not letting someone else have you. You’re mine, Bonnie. We go together, you and me. Forever.”
Her shy smile made my heart thump. Laurel put her book to the side and moved to her knees next to me. “Give me your keys.”
“What?”
“Your car keys. Give them to me.”
I handed them over and watched as she began to carve something into the trunk of the tree, and when she was finally done, she sat back and grinned.
“There.”
I looked at her handiwork, and when I saw what she’d written, I smiled. Bonnie & Clyde , and under that, Together Forever.
“Come here.”
Laurel nodded and closed her eyes as she moved into my arms and snuggled into me. “I don’t want to read any more.”
“No? I thought you wanted to finish the book.”
She shrugged and tipped her face up to mine. “You were right. We only have to read to chapter twenty. I was being ambitious. Overreaching, as always. I just don’t want to mess this up for us.”
“Stop worrying. You could never mess this up.”
She smiled at me, and with the sun in her hair and her blue eyes twinkling, I knew I was done. Laurel was my forever, and I knew I’d love her—always.
YEAH… FOREVER HADN’T really worked out for us, and it seemed Laurel was content to leave anything we did have well in the past.
In fact, I didn’t think I’d ever seen a woman run away from me so fast in my life. But as Laurel had shoved out the door of Dave’s Coffee House, you could all but see the cloud of dust in her wake.
Not that I could blame her—up until she’d asked about Italy, we’d slipped back into familiar territory as we tried to reacquaint ourselves with one another.
There was too much history there, however, too many landmines to dodge.
So it wasn’t that much of a surprise when one of them blew up in my face.
I finished off my coffee and headed back to where I’d parked my car behind the courthouse, and when I climbed inside, I pulled out my cell. For a minute I just sat there staring at the screen, trying to come up with a solution to the problem facing me.
I had one of two choices. I could say fuck it and Harry and go back to Italy, and in the process screw over my mom and siblings, giving them every reason in the world to hate me. Or I could call up Sergio, explain to him what had just gone down, and see what kind of options we had.
Honestly, it didn’t feel like I had any. It was like déjà vu: Harry blackmailing me and threatening me with something he knew I would never say no to.
He’d put me in a horrible position, one I’d never actually wanted.
CEO of Chamberlin Winery? I didn’t want that.
I didn’t want to carry on his legacy. Not to mention that it was so much fucking work running a business that size.
Not only were you in charge of making sure the vineyard was a success, you were also in charge of the lives of the people working for you, and unless you were all in, it was a job that would make you truly miserable.
I was no stranger to hard work, so that wasn’t the problem here. The problem was that I’d have to give up my life in exchange for the one Harry had decided for me, and that was the exact same thing he’d done to me all those years ago.
Not seeing any other choice, however, I called my mom and waited for it to connect.
I needed to sit down with her and see where her head was about all of this.
I also wanted to know where the business was.
How it was doing? It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that Harry had left me a sinking ship just to be spiteful.
But if that were the case, I would do everything I could to turn it around for Mom, just so he could roll over in his damn grave.
One year. That wasn’t all that long in the scheme of things, right?
“Noah?”
“Yeah, hi, Mom. Are you back at the winery or still here in town?”
“I’m back. Ryan drove me.”
“Good, that’s good,” I said, and gripped the steering wheel as I stared out the windshield. “Do you mind if I head over that way now? I think we need to talk about what happened this morning.”
“Of course. I can’t begin to imagine what you must be thinking…or feeling. I’m still trying to process it all myself.”
“It’s a big ask, Mom. A year?”
“I know. He shouldn’t have done it.”
I closed my eyes and leaned back against the headrest. “Well, what else is new when it comes to Harry?”
There was a pause, and then she said, “There’s a staff meeting scheduled this afternoon at three to talk about how we’ll be moving forward. But we don’t need to tell them anything until you’ve made a decision.”
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “Let me come over there and talk to you. Then we can try to work out what to do.”
“Okay.”
I was about to end the call when I heard her say my name.
“Yeah?”
“I really am sorry.”
“I know, Mom. I know.”
BY THE TIME I arrived at the property, the sun was high and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It was a beautiful spring day, and this time when I pulled into the drive, there were only a handful of the staff’s cars.
I parked in one of the guest spots and made my way to the front door, and this time, instead of knocking, I headed right inside. There was no one to greet me today, no one to cut me off at the pass and make sure I only went where I was told. So I took a second to look around the front entrance.
It hadn’t changed much over the years. A circular rug covered the hardwood floors, and beyond that a thick wooden desk that was a hand-carved work of art served as the check-in point. It housed a computer at one end and a display of souvenirs and knickknacks at the other.
There were wine glasses, bottle openers, keychains, and postcards.
They all had the winery’s logo, phone number, email, and address stamped on them, and behind the desk, built into the wall, was an enormous wine rack that went from one side to the other.
It must’ve housed over fifty or more bottles, and the overall feel of the place was warm and inviting, classy and elegant.
I was about to hunt down my mom when she walked out of the hallway that led to the tasting area. Her face lit up the second she spotted me, and as she crossed the lobby, my anger at Harry from earlier begin to ease.
I didn’t want to be tied to this place—that was the God’s honest truth.
Small-town living was not how I’d envisioned my life.
Laurel and I had talked of L.A. and college, and after that, traveling had been the dream.
But that hadn’t happened, so maybe getting to know the family I’d been forced to leave would be one of the highlights of this shitshow Harry had made me the star of.
“Noah. I can’t tell you how nice it is to walk in and see you standing there.”
When she reached me and held out her hands, I took them in mine and gave them a light squeeze. “It’s been a long time.”
“Too long,” she said, and moved in beside me, slipping her arm through the crook of my elbow.
“I know you didn’t get to really take in the place yesterday—too many people watching you.
How about we go and sit out on the back deck?
It’s a beautiful day, and it offers such a lovely view of the vineyards. ”
I nodded and patted her hand, letting her lead the way, and when we stepped out onto the deck, the sight that greeted me was breathtaking.
With spring now in full season, the first buds were beginning to appear on the vines.
It was known as “bud break,” and it turned the bare, dormant vines into a thing of beauty, as the cover crop—which was a vibrant mustard color—blanketed the grounds between the vine rows.
It went on and on for as far as the eye could see, and under the bright rays of the sun, the fields looked golden.
“It’s beautiful,” I said in a reverent tone, as we stopped by the rail and looked out at the property.
“It is. It’s my favorite time of the year. Although it makes your brother kind of a bear.”
I chuckled, knowing just how stressful bud break could be, especially for the vineyard manager.
It was one of the most precarious times for the crop.
It could either make or break you for the season, because one night below freezing and all of those new shoots could sustain irreversible damage.
That meant long nights monitoring the weather, and often having to implement strategies like giant fans as loud as airplanes to save the fragile harvest.
I knew firsthand the strain and pressure that could put on a person. It was enough to even make Ryan foul-tempered.
“Thanks for the heads-up,” I said as I looked down at her. “Are there are any other helpful hints you need to tell me before I start working here?”
Mom gasped, and then she quickly covered her mouth. “Do you mean it?”
“I do. It’s not going to be easy, though.
I’m going to have to get in contact with Sergio and work out how I can make this happen.
But there’s no way I’m going to hand this place over to the town.
It’s yours, Mom. And if I have to stay here for a year and work the place to make that happen, then I’ll stay. ”
“Oh, Noah.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and held on tight, and when she began to shake, I knew she was crying. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry he did this to you again. Disrupting your life like this.”
So was I, but it wasn’t her fault. “Don’t you be sorry. That’s on him. Let’s just get everything squared away so the year can begin. I want a smooth season, and that’s going to start with me getting the lay of the land.”
She wiped the tears from her cheeks and nodded. “You’re right. Of course. Where do you think we should start?”
I turned around and faced the main building behind us. “You said there was a staff meeting this afternoon?”
“Yes. I was just going to let them all know that they didn’t need to worry about their jobs with Harry being gone. That’s all.”
“Okay. Well, that’s a good place to start.” I thought about Laurel and what a shock she was about to get when she found out I was her boss. But there was nothing I could do about that now, and it wasn’t as though I’d really had a choice.
“Why don’t I show you where your father’s—well, your office will be, and I can run through the staff and who works what.”
“That sounds good. Is Ryan here? It might be helpful to bring him in on all of this.”
“He is, yes. Let me call down to him and have him meet us.”
“Sounds good. You lead, I’ll follow.”
With a final look at the vineyards I’d just agreed to take on, I followed Mom inside and wondered what in the hell Harry had just gotten me into.