Love in the Vineyard (Tavonesi #7)(69)

The gift shop at the Casa was buzzing with excited voices when Natasha and Adrian entered.

Coco, Zoe and Alana stood next to an easel covered with a bright blue cloth.

Coco swept out her hand and whisked the cloth away. “The logo for your new business!”

The colors nearly jumped off the small canvas. The painting was exquisite. Perfect. Vines twined around bees and butterflies and wildflowers set against a backdrop of the Sonoma hills and a setting sun.

“Coco did the photo montage and then I painted it,” Alana said. She squinted at Adrian. “He didn’t tell you, did he? We wanted to surprise you.”

He’d surprised her all right. His kiss had twisted what little good sense she’d held on to and sent her senses scrambling into full-on want. But seeing his family gathered—with a surprise they’d created just for her—brought tears to her eyes.

“It’s… it’s beautiful.” There was no way she was going to bawl. If she let even one tear loose, the emotions that threatened to engulf her would drown her.

“I’m going to make a poster from this that we can sell at the Fandango,” Coco said. “And we’ll auction off the painting. Of course, all the funds will go to Inspire.” She crossed her arms and shot a pointed glance at Adrian. “It’ll have to do until my brother helps me corral the men I need for the calendar.”

A frisson of embarrassment riddled through Natasha. It was likely that by now, all the Tavonesi women knew her background. Who knew what sort of secrets sisters and cousins shared among themselves? And yet here they were, celebrating her. If only the future could be as rosy as they imagined.

Alana took Coco by the arm. “No sibling fights; this is a celebration.” She pulled a bottle of champagne from a galvanized bucket sitting on the table next to the easel and popped the cork. “A sound I’ll never tire of,” she said with a laugh. But her smile faded. “Glasses. I forgot the glasses.”

Zoe darted behind the counter and returned brandishing a stack of Dixie Cups. “These will have to do.”

“To our new native garden business,” Adrian said, tapping the paper cup he held to Natasha’s. “And to the Casa’s newest manager.”

She touched her cup in turn to those held out by his sisters and cousin. But she was feeling anything but celebratory.

“We’ve started a book group,” Alana said. “We’re going to focus on books about the local region. And Coco’s going to work on her English.”

Coco took a playful swat at Alana. “I believe my English may be more fluent than yours.”

“We want you to join us, Natasha. We’ll meet here so it’s easy,” Zoe added.

Natasha felt like she’d been dropped onto the stage of a vaudeville farce and felt laughter threatening. What other impossible challenges could the universe throw at her?

“And to celebrate the success of our new endeavor, I’m taking you and Tyler to the Giants game on Sunday,” Adrian said in his matter-of-fact tone that told her he assumed she’d have no objection. “Alex got us special tickets.”

No. No. No. She couldn’t have Tyler falling for Adrian too. Tyler would get attached. He’d already said he wished he had a dad like Adrian. One member of the family obsessed with a Tavonesi was enough for one lifetime. Her mind began to fire excuses even as her body and her heart threw water on every single one.





But two days later Natasha did go to the ballgame. She couldn’t deny Tyler the outing of his dreams just because she didn’t have a decent grip on her emotions.

Adrian’s cousin Alex played like a fiend, hitting a double, a triple and a home run. Kaz Tokugawa, Alex’s sister Sabrina’s husband, pitched six perfect innings. But when Kaz let three runners reach base in the seventh, the manager yanked him. Natasha tried to explain to Adrian why the manager took Kaz out and put in a relief pitcher, as well as some of the subtler rules of the game. When she fumbled on the balk rule, Tyler piped up proudly. She couldn’t miss the way he lit up around Adrian. Why couldn’t Adrian be just a normal guy she’d met at the grocery store or just another worker at the vineyard? A guy she could love on an even playing field? A guy she could possibly imagine having in her future? In their future?

Adrian took a call during the game. Natasha knew from his tone that it was from a woman. The realization hurt and she worried at it, like rubbing salt on a wound. She needed to remember reality, however much it hurt.

She was quiet on the way home and glad for Tyler’s excited recap of the game and his never-ending questions to Adrian about his trip to Rome. When Adrian pulled up in front of their apartment, he reached across the seat and took her hand. With Tyler in the back seat, there was little that could be said, but the beat of her pulse told her more than she wanted to admit. He asked if he’d see them at the Fandango. Tyler’s yelping a definite yes made them both laugh. But she wasn’t laughing as she watched Adrian drive away.

It hurt that they wouldn’t be spending time together—alone—after Adrian had been gone for so long. But he’d let her know that his father had scheduled a couple of meetings for after the ballgame, meetings to deal with pressing issues at the Casa. She knew she couldn’t have all his time. She could only hope that work was the only problem keeping them apart.