Chapter 36
When I step out of the helicopter, my eyes are wide as I clutch my sunhat to my head and take in the scene.
Just a two-hour drive from home is this amazing estate, with rolling green hills, shadowy vales, and rows upon rows of grape vines as far as I can see. To our immediate right is a winding white gravel path that rises to a majestic fairytale castle straight out of childhood storybooks. There is a white-uniformed driver waiting for us beside a golf cart.
I turn my wide-eyed gaze to River and he grins, spreading his hands. ”What do you think?”
”It”s incredible. Is this the surprise you promised?”
The winery itself is great, but of course I”m not drinking because I”m trying to get knocked up. So I”m a little confused as to why River would bring me here.
”My folks asked us to meet them here,” he says. He gives me a side hug and hurries me toward the golf cart.
”What? Why?” As we sit on the golf cart and are whisked up toward the castle, I”m stumped.
”That”s part of the surprise.” He grips my hand. ”I promise, all will be revealed soon.”
The golf cart comes to a stop in the gravel turnabout in front of the castle. Up close, the white limestone walls of the castle are pristine, the flower boxes in every window overflowing with trailing red roses, and the castle”s ornately carved wooden front door is open. Beckoning us to enter.
”There are no cars allowed up here,” River says. ”Everything is brought up by golf cart.”
I am too busy staring up at the castle”s spires, trying to count them. It”s one of the most astonishing buildings I”ve ever seen.
”Pearl!”
I blink and see Sarah rushing out of the castle”s open front door, looking absolutely radiant in a peach silk dress. Seeing her, I”m glad that River made me dress up in a spring-green pantsuit.
”Sarah,” I say, walking over to hug her. ”It”s nice to see you. River refuses to tell me why we are here.”
I”m only half-joking and Sarah laughs. ”Sorry, that was my fault. I thought that you could check this winery out as a venue.”
”A venue...” I say, squinting. ”Wait, as a place to host a wedding??”
I spin, pinning River with a look. He is smiling with his hands stuffed in his pants pockets. As if he were a real fiancé surprising his bride-to-be.
But he”s not my fiancé. And surprising me with a wedding venue is something we should”ve agreed on ahead of time. If this is for real, my family should be here. And if it’s not…
I struggle to keep my expression pleasant when all I really want to do is throttle him.
Smug bastard.
I force a smile to my lips. ”We”re just researching, right?”
Sarah squeezes my arm. ”I”m here to help you. No pressure. The last thing I want is to be a pushy mother-in-law.” She pinches her lips together and grimaces. ”The castle does have an opening in September, though.”
I look at River, in search of rescue. He eases himself between us, giving his mom a hug.
”Let”s just enjoy the day. We can talk about dates some other time.”
”Now River, if we need to put the brakes on this wedding--” She starts lecturing.
He is fast to reassure her. ”Mom, chill. We”re at a beautiful place, which we may or may not use as a venue later. Can we agree on that?”
I suppress my rage and bob my head. Inside, though, I”m seething. River doesn”t even seem to care that it crosses the line between misleading his parents and outright lying.
”Fine,” Sarah says. She makes this funny little indignant expression. Which is basically what I feel, too.
My stomach feels off as I realize that I am really starting to warm up to Sarah. A sigh escapes my lips, unbidden.
Sarah pushes her son aside, takes my arm, and steers me toward the castle entrance.
”Come on. Us girls have to stick together,” she says.
I give her a weak smile and let her pull me inside.
The foyer of the castle makes me feel like an actual princess. The impressively high ceilings are a crisp white. A massive gold and crystal chandelier draws the eye as we step under it. There are two uniformed footmen on each side of the red carpet leading up a set of grand stairs.
”Oh my god,” I say. ”This place really is fancy.”
”So fancy,” Sarah says. ”There are accommodations for two-hundred people to stay the night here. An incredible Michelin-starred restaurant. A huge tasting room and an impressive wine cellar. Plus, they have the most gorgeous indoor and outdoor spaces for events. Oh, and a full-service spa.”
River”s stepdad waits at the top of the stairs, dressed in khakis and a canary yellow golf shirt. He holds a glass of red wine as he smiles at us.
”Welcome to the Castle Vineyard. I just got done taking a tour of the golf course that”s on the property next door.” He looks at Sarah. ”We might just have to move in here, honey.”
I”m so used to seeing Sam scowling at River that his good mood takes me by surprise.
”That”s nice, dear.” Sarah glances behind us to where River is standing. ”Maybe you could practice your swing with River later.”
Sam doesn”t skip a beat. ”I”ll take any reason to get out there again. I tell you what, that”s a thinking man”s heaven.”
River”s lips twitch but he doesn”t say anything. He just bows his head.
Great. First he drags me here without a simple heads up. And now he”s going to make me do all the heavy lifting of socializing with his mom.
River is a dead man once I get him alone.
I glance at Sarah. ”Do you have a suggestion for where you would like to start the tour?”
She links her arm with mine and bumps my hip with hers. ”You bet I do. First things first. Let”s go to the tasting room, get a glass of wine, and then have a little tasting menu from the chef.”
A real smile blooms on my face. Okay, this isn’t SO bad. But I’m still gonna kick River’s ass when we get home.
”A tasting menu?” I ask.
She pulls me toward a large set of oak doors.
”It is technically a bride and groom”s tasting. But I’m not about to let you have all the fun by yourself! We’ll pick the hors d”oeuvres and they’ll serve a sampler of what might be served for a dinner service. And then every kind of cake and dessert option that you”ve ever thought of. Trust me, it”s the best part of wedding planning.”
We walk into the tasting room. One wall is a bar, set up with a number of oak casks and countless bottles of wine stacked on thin wire shelves. The other side of the room has a window that looks off into the woods. There are tables made of old wine casks dappling the floor of the tasting room. I settle into a seat across from River, trying to keep my attention on Sarah as she seats herself and chats about the possibilities for throwing parties at the castle.
I’m mostly trying to focus on his mom instead of blowing up at River.
Sam and Sarah carry most of the conversation as we are served wine and an appetizer sampler. I lean over to catch the waiter”s attention.
”Can I please have a glass of ice water?”
He bows and fetches it for me without complaint. Sarah pauses as she”s about to take a sip of red wine.
”Everything to your liking, Pearl? You can ask for a different type of wine if you don”t like red, you know.”
I flush and shake my head. ”I have a little bit of a headache,” I lie. ”I don”t think that adding red wine to that is a good mix.”
”Ah.” She smiles, but I can see that she”s just a bit crestfallen. ”I see.”
”These crab dumplings are nice,” River says, pulling the conversation away from me. ”But I don”t like the little pancakes with caviar.”
”I love ”em,” comments Sam. ”I don”t care for the pate crostini, though. Too rich for me.”
I sip my water and try the burrata, a smooth white lump of cheese with grilled grapes and basil leaves. It”s quite nice; all of the food is excellent.
But by the time the dessert course arrives, I can”t have more than a couple nibbles of the huge slices of red velvet and traditional vanilla cakes. There are easily twenty thousand calories on the table: key lime pie, berry galette, bananas foster, apple crumble with cinnamon streusel. Usually I would be at least tempted to sample a few more.
But I push my plate away early, my stomach feeling as though it has been wrung out. I listen to River talking to his parents for a little while before I eventually get up.
”I”m going to head outside. I need some air,” I say, fanning myself.
River shoots to his feet. ”Let me walk you around. We were going to tour the event space outside next anyway.”
”I”d love some company.” I turn to Sam and Sarah. “But please, feel free to try all the desserts. I want a full report when I get back.”
Sam looks at me with a devious smile and hooks a finger on plate full of peach cobbler to pull it closer. ”It”s a tough job, but I will serve faithfully,” he jokes.
I turn to River, waiting expectantly. He offers me his elbow and swans me out of the room.
As soon as we are far enough down the hall to be well out of eyesight and earshot, I drop my hand and glare at River. ”You”re a dead man,” I say, not mincing words. ”Deeply, incredibly dead.”
”What?” He appears genuinely surprised. ”Hold on, let”s go outside.”
After trying a few doorways, we finally find the one that leads into the event space out back. I stop and stare around at the whole scene. Like earlier, I gawp at the bluff we are standing on. It eventually drops off into verdant rolling hills covered with rows of grapes. At the edge of the bluff is a woven wicker arch. All this stands against the backdrop of the castle. I can easily imagine rows of folding chairs and a white piece of fabric stretched across the ground to form an aisle for the bride to walk down.
The view is such a perfect picture that it makes me a bit speechless. River catches my eye and waves a hand at the beautiful surroundings. ”Like what you see?”
I pin him with a hard look. ”River, this place is breathtaking.”
”It is, isn”t it?” He asks, grinning as he scans the area.
Pulling at his arm, I bring the attention back to me. ”Yeah. And if I were actually getting married, I would love this place. And then I would probably die when I found out how much it cost.”
”Cost is not an issue.” River gives me a little smile. ”My parents are nuts about this venue.”
”Do you even listen to yourself when you speak?” I snap.
He pauses, confused. ”Yeah...?”
”Then why are you acting like we are going to actually get hitched?” I smack his arm. ”You”re making me feel crazy, River.”
”Ah.” He shoves his hands in his pants pockets and kicks a clod of dirt on the ground. ”Yeah. About that.”
I look at him, fundamentally not understanding what”s going on. ”What in the hell are you talking about?”
His smile vanishes and he bites his lip. ”Hear me out. What if we just get married?”
I blink rapidly, feeling a bit lightheaded. ”I”m sorry. I think I misheard you.”
He catches my hands and looks down into my face, his eyes beseeching.
”I think we should get married. We love each other, after all. And it would give our kid a leg up, for sure. He”d be a Billion Dollar Bennett instead of... you know, not.”
I swallow. ”What about your future living in Atlanta, married to some career-obsessed woman?”
River rolls his eyes and stretches out his arms.
”Look, I’m… I’m changing my mind. Is that allowed? What if we get married and make an honest attempt at being a couple?”
I shake my head. ”You”re asking me to give up all of my independence for a maybe? A ‘hey let”s try it, see if it works out?’ No thanks.”
”Don”t be so dramatic. What I”m asking for makes sense.”
”Maybe it does to you. But to me, it just sounds like a nice daydream. Meanwhile you”re always planning to leave me to chase some dream woman who I can”t possibly compare with.”
”That”s crazy. You”re the one I’m with. I want us to give this a chance.”
I stare at him for several seconds, feeling the blood pounding in my head. River is not listening to me. I need to be sure that I’m the only woman he wants, not a trial run. And I”m tired of shouting to make myself heard.
”I can”t be here anymore.” I massage my temples. ”I have to go.”
”Look… It”s just marriage. Just some gobbledygook said before our families to make things between us ”official”. Nothing more than that. All that we need to know is that we love each other, right?””
I turn abruptly. River catches my arm, making me whip my head around and glare at him. ”You’re just leaving? Come on, we can talk this through.”
My lip curls. ”I don’t know if we can. You don’t want to marry me for the right reasons. You just don’t want your parents to find out that you are full of crap.”
“That’s not true,” he says, sounding aggravated. “Give me a chance to explain, Pearl.”
I pry my wrist from his grip and move toward the exit, tears already building in the corners of my eyes.