Love in the Vineyard (Tavonesi #7)(70)

It also hurt to be a realist, but life had taught her there was no alternative. Someday, maybe sooner than she wanted to admit, Adrian would no longer be her lover. And maybe not even her boss.





The next day Natasha left work early and picked Tyler up at school. He bounded to the car, full of enthusiasm.

“What do kids wear to the Fandango?” he asked.

The Fandango was a family affair. It started early enough that little ones wouldn’t be tired out, and the Casa staff had arranged for hay-bale beds and sitters for the children whose parents wanted to stay late into the night and party.

“Jeans and a shirt,” she said, distracted. The attorney Enrique had put her in touch with had called after lunch. The man was willing to help her put every obstacle in Eddie’s path.

“My Alex Tavonesi shirt, could I wear that?”

“Sure, honey.”

“What are you going to wear?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t thought about it.” She turned up the lane toward their apartment, her thoughts on the information the attorney had supplied. Even if things went well, Eddie might be able to demand visitation rights.

“You should look really, really nice,” Tyler said. “I like your blue dress.”

Why was he so keen on what she wore? And then it dawned on her—he wanted Adrian in his life.

Ever since the ballgame at Trovare, Tyler had yammered on about Adrian this and Adrian that. She tried not to read too much into his constant praise, but there was no denying Tyler loved being around him. She feared that in Tyler’s young mind he’d already formed a picture of a future that would include having the man he so admired for a father. Another job she had no power to perform. Her ten-year-old son’s attempt to help seared sadness into her soul.





Chapter Twenty



NATASHA WORE THE BLUE DRESS TO THE Fandango.

As she and Tyler pulled into the Casa’s drive, she watched him run a palm over his hair and straighten his shirt—the gestures of a boy wanting to make a good impression. A pang of wistfulness sprang up in her heart. If only she could give Tyler the opportunities she dreamed of. Still, a good school and a safe neighborhood were a good start.

“Wow,” he said, hanging his head out the window. The wind ruffled his hair and he looked more like the boy she was used to seeing. “So many lights. They even have lights in the trees and on your greenhouse.”

She didn’t correct him; in Tyler’s mind it was her greenhouse. Kids often thought that of the places their parents worked. She wondered if the daughters of the president thought that of the White House. The thought had her smiling.

Tammy pulled up beside them in the parking lot. She eyed Natasha’s dress.

“You look amazing,” she said. “You should wear blue more often.”

“I picked it out,” Tyler piped up.

“Care to loan him out?” Tammy said with a laugh. “I could use a wardrobe consultant.” She turned to Tyler. “There’s a pickup game in the field behind the barn. I hear Scotty Donovan is pitching.”

Tyler ran off so fast that Natasha couldn’t give him instructions on where to meet up with her.

“He’ll be fine,” Tammy said. “There are loads of people to watch out for him.”

“Mom!” Tyler shouted as he came running back. “We have to go home. I don’t have my glove.”

“Plenty of equipment down at the field,” Tammy said.

“Great!”

This time Natasha grabbed him before he could sprint away. “Meet me at the table for dinner.”

“Okay, Mom. Jeez.”

“He’s a cutie,” Tammy said as they watched him race away. “He’ll be a heartbreaker.”

“I hope not.”

Tammy snorted. “Some things can’t be helped. Handsome men break hearts without even trying.”

Didn’t she know.





Natasha milled around the party and accepted congratulations for the early success of the native plant business from fellow staff members and people from the surrounding community. Sonoma County was making strides in organic farming, and the Casa’s new native plant business fit right in.

She didn’t see Adrian in the gathered crowd. She tried not to scan the faces and the grounds every few minutes, but she couldn’t help but look for him. Local musicians were setting up on a stage for the dancing that would follow dinner. They laughed and joked with the good humor that Natasha was beginning to associate with the region. It was a rare person who didn’t have a smile or a good word.

As the guests began to take their seats and other boys joined their parents, she began to worry about Tyler. She headed down to the field behind the greenhouse, but no one was there. A bench piled with bats and gloves and catcher’s gear was the only sign that a game had been played. Her heart raced. She ran toward the greenhouse; maybe he’d gone inside looking for her. But only the eerie light of the setting sun met her there.

Where could he have gone? She’d worried that Eddie would try something, lure Tyler away from her, maybe even kidnap him. Wasn’t possession nine-tenths of the law? Did that work for children caught in parental disputes? God, she hoped not.

She dashed out of the greenhouse. Movement down by the horse paddock caught her eye, and she headed that way.