Love, Chocolate, and Beer (Cactus Creek #1)(70)

“No,” she said softly, pulling him to his feet. “Nothing can top what you’ve already given me, what I’ve already won just by having you look at me the way you do every day, not just today.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked into his eyes. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Luke. Thank you for helping me see this day the way you do.”

Hours later, after taking their Valentine celebration back to her apartment, Dani was up at four a.m.—voluntarily—kissing Luke at the door and wishing him a good day as he left for work. It was all very domestic, and strangely, she wasn’t feeling the normal quicksand of unease that was her normal allergic reaction to anything resembling 1950s marital bliss.

Gliding back into her apartment, she noticed her blinking answering machine. Yikes, ten messages—a bigger than usual pile-up this week. She quickly hit play and chuckled as she at last heard Derek’s airport pick-up reminder. They both knew he shouldn’t have put money on her remembering, but per usual, he didn’t bet against her. That’s just the kind of big brother he was.

Her smile vanished, however, as she heard the message in its entirety:

“...I got a voicemail from Noah the other day. Something about a winery...”

Oh god.





CHAPTER TWELVE


“YOU’RE ACTUALLY considering my winery idea?!”

“Why do I get the feeling you’re not screeching in my ear out of joy, Dani?”

“Because I’m not!” Dani all but yelled into the phone. Noah remained silent while she tried to calm down. “When I didn’t hear from you, I thought you’d dismissed my idea as financially unsound. You didn’t even contact Connor about it.”

“On the contrary, it’s a very good idea, Dani. One that will be very lucrative for Cactus Creek. And the reason I didn’t bother Connor with it was because the man was barely getting any sleep at home with the newborn. I wasn’t going to ask him to do things I could very easily do on my own. And the more research I did, the more I saw the extreme potential in your proposal.”

Strange how the words she’d been hoping to hear out of Noah’s mouth at one point now made her sick to her stomach. “But I pitched it to you months ago. Why now?”

“You do realize this is an entire business we’re talking about here right? Two businesses, if you include Luke’s. I needed time to research, study the investment potential, weigh the pros and cons. And that was around the actual work I do on a daily basis. You didn’t think my response to your proposal would happen overnight, did you?”

Actually, she had. Sheepish now, she sounded almost childlike when she asked, “Okay, but why did you contact Derek about it before talking to me?”

His patient sigh sounded anything but. “Because I’d yet to hear from your brother at all about this even though he is the proposed vintner. His wines are good, yes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s cut out to run his own winery. I wasn’t going to proceed one step further without talking to all the players involved in this proposed deal.”

Damn, his logic was taking the wind out of her sails.

“Noah, I’m sorry, but I’ve wasted your time. I just don’t want to go through with it.”

She swore he was silently counting to ten.

“I’m disappointed you feel that way. It’s a solid plan. Is there anything I can do or say for you to reconsider? I’d like very much to help you make your brother’s dream a reality.”

The man fought dirty. “You’d back this plan at the expense of one of your tenants who’s done nothing wrong?”

“Yes.”

This time, she was the one counting in her head…the number of synonyms for bastard.

“Look, Dani, I know you and half the town think I’m an ass, but really, I’m the one who’s been keeping things from changing all these years. I own seventy-five percent of the town commercial real estate even though they’re downright lousy investments. Of all my business dealings, my properties in Cactus Creek are by far the most money draining.” His voice softened a bit. “Still, I’ve been steadily buying up the lots to try and keep things how it’s always been, the Cactus Creek we all grew up in.” He cleared his throat abruptly. “But I can’t do that forever.”

Dani was stunned. “Noah, I had no idea.”

“Clearly.” Though she knew it wasn’t possible, Noah sounded almost…wounded. “By following through with your winery idea, yes, Luke would lose out on the space, but based on my research, the presence of a winery would bring in a new customer base that could attract more traffic to the town as a whole. Further, if you and Derek take over the lease for the amount you said you were willing to pay in your voicemail, I could keep from increasing the monthly lease of three older businesses who desperately need the help—Gavin’s breakfast diner, Dan and Barb’s grocery store, and Libby’s ice cream shoppe. All three of those businesses were there from when we were kids, Dani. Do you really want to see them have to close their doors?”

No. She didn’t. Still. “Noah, I can’t do this to Luke. I won’t.”

“Fine.” His voice hardened over the phone line. “Then I’ll bring in another winery that will. After your little tirade in my father’s office, I called a few friends in the wine business. They took one look at my building blueprints and told me how ideal it is for a winery because of the layout and the cellar. Location was another big selling feature. Ironically, even if it isn’t tied to Ocotillos directly, any winery sitting next to a successful brewpub like yours would apparently do well. And thanks to your little throwdown with Luke, Cactus Creek has sparked a lot of interest. I now have two wineries interested in purchasing the building outright and a third who wants to lease, but is willing to pay far more than what Luke is currently paying monthly.” He paused for a beat before adding coolly, “Just like you were willing to.”