Love in the Vineyard (Tavonesi #7)(7)
“Well, it’s a full moon, lots of magic afoot and you can stay masked until midnight. You can pretend to be a party animal.”
Adrian took Parker’s ribbing in stride. His cousin had been a rock-solid friend to him and his siblings since they’d moved to Sonoma. He’d helped design the gift shop for the vineyard and the remodel of the tasting room. He’d stood by Zoe when she’d bucked their father’s plans and even helped her design the interior of her gallery in Rome.
“Play a hard game of polo this afternoon,” Parker added, “get the blood going, and then work your charm tonight. You do still have some charm in there somewhere, right?”
“Unlikely,” Adrian responded. “Charm is your realm, Parker. There wasn’t any left over for the rest of us.”
Parker laughed and nodded toward the duffel Adrian held. “I rented you the Forces of Darkness costume. All Black. Intimidating. No one will ever guess who you are. You’ll have a blast.”
Coco tapped the duffel. “This I have to see—my irrepressibly sunny brother masquerading as a shadow force? Could set a new trend in the family.”
A masquerade was the last thing Adrian was up for. He had a bad feeling about the whole damned event.
Chapter Three
NATASHA STASHED HER GARDENING gloves in the pocket of her jeans and followed Tammy, the lively woman who’d hired her on the spot that morning, down the path leading to the gift shop and the main offices of Casa del Sole Vineyards.
After she’d bundled Tyler off to school that morning, Natasha hadn’t imagined that by lunchtime she’d have a job. And not just any job—head kitchen gardener for Casa del Sole. A perfect job.
Natasha ogled the lush landscape paintings on the walls in the opulent gift shop and ran her fingers along the polished wooden tables artfully arranged with wine, olive oil and beautifully packaged soaps and lotions.
Tammy motioned Natasha into an airy office overlooking the newest vineyard. “We’re thrilled that Mary found you for us,” she said. “Ilona left without notice. Ran off with one of the visiting polo players from Argentina last week. Not that I blame her. The man was hot, rich and gorgeous. Working in a garden can’t compete with that.”
Though Tammy laughed, Natasha could hear from her tone that she was peeved.
“Your references are stellar. Fairland Garden’s loss is our gain. But I am sorry they went out of business after all these years.” Tammy pulled some papers from a pile on her desk. “I told you about the health plan, right?”
Natasha nodded. Having health insurance for her and Tyler was a perk she hadn’t imagined.
“Most companies require a ninety-day waiting period, but Mr. Tavonesi insists that benefits start on day one. As do the employee profit shares. With each paycheck you’ll earn one fifth of a share, just like everyone else employed here.” She held out the papers. “Just fill these out and return them in the morning.”
Natasha let out the breath she’d been holding ever since Tammy had picked up the forms. At least she’d have a chance to go through them line by line, unobserved, and get some help filling the forms out from one of the women at the shelter or as a last resort, from Tyler. But Tyler was beginning to catch on that her requests, camouflaged as homework enrichment exercises, were far more than that. Someday she’d have to tell him she could barely read. But she’d put that day off as long as she could.
“You can head over and watch the polo match later this afternoon if you’d like,” Tammy said. “Most of the staff will attend. We always break for the matches. Unless it’s harvest season.” She shook her head. “You’ll soon discover that the Tavonesi family is mad about the game. Imagine—polo in Sonoma. Next it’ll be Rolls-Royces and helipads.”
Other than logos on sports shirts, Natasha knew nothing about polo. And though curious to see a game, she had a more important mission on her mind.
“If it’d be okay, I’d like to pick my son up from school. It’s his first day and—”
“Go! Nothing worse than being the new kid. I attended six schools before seventh grade—my dad was an Air Force pilot, so we moved a lot. Those first days as a newbie can be tough.”
Tammy handed Natasha a set of keys. “These are to this office, your locker, and to the toolsheds. They’re labeled and color-coded.”
Natasha said a silent prayer for color-coding. It had saved her more times than she wanted to remember.
Tammy pulled a rolled tube of paper from her desk. “And here’s a map of the preliminary plantings that Ilona put in. You can meet the vineyard chef in the morning. He’ll give you the rundown on what else we need in the garden and the rotations for the menus according to the seasons.”
The panic skittering in Natasha’s chest must’ve shown in her eyes because Tammy quickly added, “Don’t worry—there’s an organic market ten minutes down the road. If we’re short on something, it’s not a disaster. But we do like to make the staff lunches from the kitchen garden. And the Tavonesis living in the main house prefer to eat their own produce as well.”
Tammy rolled the paper and then tucked the tube into a wooden cubby. She nodded toward a desk near one of the windows. “If you need access to a computer, you can share that one with me. Just let me know if you need anything we haven’t provided. I’ll see you at eight tomorrow morning. Sharp. One thing Mr. Tavonesi does insist on is that we start on time.”