Saving The Family Vineyard (Cali Reunion #7)

Chapter 1

This was supposed to be a party, wasn’t it? Natalie Fitzgerald sat on a red velvet couch in a short-stay apartment in San Francisco, sipping a poorly made gin and tonic while her two best friends cast awkward glances at each other.

“So, is Gemma coming soon?” she asked, hoping the friend they were bon-voyaging would lighten the mood a little.

She had no idea why the mood needed lightening—she, Izzy, and Louise had been friends for so long, and they always had a great time together.

The addition of Gemma would’ve normally had the opposite effect.

She was a nice girl but could be a bit of a wet blanket, especially compared to how energetic the three of them usually were.

“Uh, yeah,” Izzy said, glancing at her watch. “Another one?”

Louise nodded, finishing her drink and wiggling the glass once it was empty. “Nat?”

“No thanks, still working on this one.” She glanced down at the gin and tonic that was far more gin than tonic and tried not to think about the effect this—and the doubtless more coming—would have on her run tomorrow morning.

Met with a weird silence, Natalie took a sip. She intended to finish it like Louise but found she didn’t want to.

“So…” Louise said as Izzy took her glass. “Anything new with you?”

Since Christmas, Natalie Fitzgerald’s life had been comparatively silent save for the few bumps in the road caused by Jordan’s idiotic behavior after their breakup.

Somehow, he had gotten away with community service for his drunk driving—a lot of community service, to be fair—but anyone else would’ve been punished far more severely.

He was, however, trying to make amends in other ways, too.

Or, at least, it seemed that way from what Natalie had heard around town.

She had successfully avoided him since the last court date.

“Well, not really,” she said. “Compared to a long-lost relative showing up out of the blue and totally turning my entire family upside down…”

“Yeah, but that was months ago. Are you seeing anyone? Or has Jordan gotten his claws back into you?” Louise’s tone felt unnecessary. Jordan had shown no signs of attempting to claw at anything.

“Hardly,” she replied. “He’s stayed away like I told him to.”

“You almost sound disappointed,” Izzy said from the makeshift bar cart in the kitchen. “Don’t tell me you’re secretly hoping for some big stalkerish gesture?”

“No!” Natalie exclaimed. “Absolutely not. I’m not disappointed—it’s got nothing to do with Jordan.”

The expectant looks on her friend’s faces bore into her, and she realized they were both waiting her out.

She groaned and shot them both a playful glare.

“There are very few things a person can do to snuff out any lingering attraction I might have, but one of them, perhaps unsurprisingly, is getting black-out drunk and then getting behind the wheel of a car. Not to mention scaring the life out of my elderly friends and family by sounding borderline dangerous.”

She sighed when Lou gestured for her to continue. It became clear that she would only receive silence from the group until she opened up a little.

“While it seems like he is making an effort to turn his life around, whether he’s doing that because he’s scared for his inheritance or because it’s the right thing, I don’t know.

” She shook her head. “He’s not drinking, which is good.

I mean, it’s not like he had an actual alcohol problem or anything, but he thinks it’s best to take a break from it—at least while he’s still doing community service for DUI. ”

A derisive and highly unladylike snort erupted from Louise, who quickly covered her mouth.

“Sorry, but that sounds like a badly thought-out apology from some famous sports star,” she said.

“And I know, I know, he’s not an alcoholic…

but if that’s the kind of thing he does while drunk, he shouldn’t be drinking at all. ”

Unable to distill her feelings quickly enough, Natalie settled on not commenting. “That is entirely outside of my concern. Seeing as, you know, I’m not in any kind of relationship with him anymore. Nor do I want to be.”

“What about Neil?” Louise prodded with a knowing smile.

Despite the conversation she’d had with her newly discovered aunt before Christmas, Natalie still hadn’t made up her mind about Neil and what she should do.

Her aunt Maddy thought she should go for it.

She’d asked what was the worst that could happen, but that was coming from a woman whose ex-husband had stolen, threatened, and blackmailed people out of greed and spite.

So, a little rejection would hardly intimidate her.

It intimidated Natalie, though. Neil wasn’t just a co-worker but a star in his field. “Listen—”

Louise cackled and flipped her coppery red hair over her shoulder with a flick of her wrist. “I knew it! You’re still all pining and no action.”

“I’m not pining!” Natalie exclaimed with a huff. “And for the record, other things have taken priority.”

Embarrassment crept in, and she took another sip of gin, which was, thankfully, now watered down a little from the melting ice.

Lately, she’d had a lot going on. Her research was doing well, the business side of Fitzgerald Hills Winery was looking up, and she was in better shape than ever, thanks to all her running.

So why do you feel so empty? The thought crossed her mind and silenced her other mental justifications.

“Uh-huh,” Louise said, taking her fresh drink from Izzy. “Like always, then? But so much more than when we were in school.”

Natalie hesitated to point out that she was, technically, still in school.

Despite being in her thirties, she was taking the long route to academic accomplishment—part-time post-graduate research.

Post-grad had a reputation as it was for taking years, so doing it part-time felt like eons. It was all part of the plan, though.

She was on track.

Her life had always been on track—good grades, college, save the family business.

She would’ve been fine with that—mostly—if she had been expected to save the winery through her education in viticulture and business acumen rather than by marrying the wealthy, successful son of their biggest competitor.

Granted, she felt like she had opened up that can of worms by dating him in the first place.

Maybe the thought wouldn’t have entered her family’s mind if she hadn’t agreed to go out with him.

Once it had, though, it seemed like the answer to everything.

Natalie had never been pessimistic. However, if you had told her six months ago that she wouldn’t marry Jordan and that her last-minute and semi-public announcement about calling it all off wouldn’t even be the second-most dramatic event of the holiday season, she would’ve laughed until she cried.

“That’s because everything got incredibly screwed up,” she replied. “I screwed everything up—”

“Uh!” Louise interjected, looking fierce.

She held up a hand to silence her. “Not on my own. Jordan did a lot of it, with his almost constant cheating and all that. Not to mention Maddy’s sudden appearance and everything that went hand in hand with that didn’t help. That doesn’t matter, though. I need to get everything back on track.”

The fastest way to getting back on track was the routine she had—dare she say—almost perfected. Up at six, out for a run, and shower before breakfast. Start on her research with a coffee, transition to winery work, break for lunch, more work, yoga, TV, and then bed by nine or ten.

Perfect routine, right?

So, how’d she end up sitting on a couch flanked by her two best friends, who looked like they were about to launch an intervention?

The thought hit her, and she snapped her head to look at her friends sitting across from her.

Oh my God. They wouldn’t…