Crazy about Cameron: The Winslow Brothers #3(31)

But adding the winery renovation to his docket hadn’t lessened the stress of his present circumstances, nor had it liberated the time he’d need to become romantically involved with her. He’d never been busier in his whole life. In fact, he was supposed to be working now, not having dinner with her. But when she’d asked? He just couldn’t say no to her.

Why? Maybe because, despite all the extra work and despite the fact that he’d barely seen her, he’d felt happier lately. He felt happy because he was spending time in a place she loved. He felt connected to her, even though he didn’t see her, like an intimacy was building between them simply by virtue of his growing love for The Five Sisters. And he did. He loved it. He loved every moment he spent working on the renovation of Margaret’s winery.

So much so, that he used it as a carrot throughout the day:

Get through this conference call and you can look at the plans again.

Finish these e-mails by five and you can drive out to Newtown.

Complete this spreadsheet and the moment you have it messengered over, you can call the contractor and check on the plans.

He wanted to deliver a beautiful venue for Jessica’s wedding, of course, but what he really loved was planning a state-of-the-art winery and tasting room for Margaret. Over the past two weeks, he’d somehow managed to add winery research to his never-ending to-do list, and he found he loved researching what made wineries bring in the most business. He’d decided that gardens and landscaping were extremely important, as was a covered porch wrapping around the building, with tables and chairs. The wineries that offered cheese and crackers or other highbrow snacks for sale sold more wines because the visitors lingered longer. And the wineries that partnered with local bands and offered music on summer Sundays were the hands-down local favorites.

He’d shared all this new insight with his architect, who, for the low price of forty thousand dollars, had dedicated four architects to Cameron’s project and delivered the first set of plans within five days of receiving the commission. With only a few modifications outlined in an e-mail, Margaret had approved them last week.

“What did you think of the plans?” he asked her as she chased another grain of rice around the white takeout box.

“I loved them,” she said, placing her chopsticks on her plate and the box of rice beside them.

“Really?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t have approved them if I didn’t.” She offered him a small smile. “More wine?”

“Sure.” He paused, wishing she’d say more about the winery. “Is there anything you’d change?”

“Honestly? No.” She laughed softly, adding a splash of wine to her glass too. “I couldn’t believe the plans when I saw them. It was like a perfect winery materializing from my dreams. The porch? That beautiful long copper bar on the east wall? The way it looks like a barn but is still winterized? The loft upstairs, with office space and a small meeting room? I have no idea how you did it so fast, but I know I’m going to love it.”

“I hope so.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Anything,” he said.

“When we were out at the vineyard, you mentioned your business—that it was in trouble. And I’ve been wondering . . .”

“You want to know more?”

She nodded. “If you’re comfortable sharing.”

He laughed softly. “If I’m not, it’s a little bit late now. We’re business partners, for all intents and purposes. Aren’t we?”

“I guess we are,” she said. She smiled, but it was polite only and didn’t reach her eyes. “So what’s the trouble?”

No, business partners wasn’t what he wanted either, but it was all he could offer her right now, so he prayed she wouldn’t ask him for more.

He took a deep breath and sighed. “My father started C & C Winslow in 1985 with his brother. At that time, it was called T & C Winslow: T for Taylor, my father, and C for Cameron, my uncle, for whom I’m named. My uncle Cameron managed the business for years after my father died, then turned it over to me and Christopher in 2012, and we changed the name to C & C Winslow. We doubled the clientele and added mergers and acquisitions to the established private equity business. But several months ago, Chris decided that he wanted to run for city office.”

“Controller, right?”

“Yeah. At first.” Cameron shook his head. “His plans have recently changed, though. He’s running for Congress this November instead.”

“I didn’t know.”

“He only entered the race two weeks ago. Still getting his campaign together. You’ll hear all about it soon.”

“That’s pretty amazing, you know,” she said.

Cameron bristled a little. He really didn’t care to hear how amazing Christopher was. Especially not from Margaret.

“Yeah. Well, I’m happy for him. But the thing is, I had sort of signed on for a two-man operation, and even though we’d taken on more deals, it ran really smoothly when Chris and I managed C & C together. And now . . .”

“It’s too much for one person?”

Being honest with Margaret was effortless, he realized, as he nodded at her. Something about her earnest voice and gentle eyes made it impossible for him to offer her anything but the truth. “It is.”