Love in the Vineyard (The Tavonesi Series Book 7) (9 page)

“Let’s just wander,” she said as she stood.

To her relief he tucked the brochure back into his pocket as they started up the path.

The garden had been minimally pruned, allowing plants to grow into one another. It was the closest thing to wilderness she’d experienced except on TV. Bliss flooded her as they walked deeper into a wooded area canopied with tall trees. Birdsong mingled with the sound of their footsteps on the gently sloping path. Magnolias stretched high above them, and with every gentle breeze, flowering quince blossoms showered down on them like confetti. People spoke of spring fever, and she’d never really known what they’d meant. But she felt it now, felt the rising energy of new life coursing in her.

And was she dropping into fantasy or did she really feel a strange connection to the mysterious man who walked beside her?

They reached a bench in front of a pond filled with water lilies. A huge climbing rose with deep pink blooms arched over a rock wall off to one side.

Her heart clenched as he pulled the brochure from his pocket.

“That’s
Rosa chinensis Spontanea
. It says here that it’s a key parent of modern roses. Once thought to have been extinct,” he read smoothly, “it was reintroduced in the 1980s.”

“I think all roses originally came from China,” she said, hoping he wouldn’t hand her the dreaded booklet. “I do love roses. Their colors, their transporting scents.”

He sat on the bench and draped his arm across the back of the curved wood. “I was surprised to discover such a place around here.”

Evidently he was new to the area too. Or maybe he was simply visiting. Suddenly she had a nearly uncontrollable urge to find out more about him. But then there’d be the inevitable questions about her life in return. She’d just have to stick to her rules.

She sat at the far end of the bench, barely out of reach of his fingertips. He drew his arm away and leafed through the brochure again.

“This place was a pile of rubble in 1968. The woman who bought this land first planted the vineyards we passed. And then she traveled to China and collected all the starts and seeds for this garden for twenty years. Imagine.”

Her chest tightened when he handed her the brochure.

She turned several pages and looked at the pictures. And miracle of miracles, she could read a couple of the captions. “Twenty expeditions,” she read. “That’s quite a dream.”

“I wonder why she loved China so?” Adrian pointed to the brochure. “Does it say anything about that?”

She turned her gaze back to the pages, and the words began to wiggle. It’d be only moments before the whole thing was one big blur. She stood and handed the booklet back to him.

“I’d have to squint to read the small print. You have a look.”

He flipped through the pages, hunting for information. She envied the ease with which he could so quickly scan the tightly packed paragraphs.

“I find these sorts of guidebooks truly frustrating,” he said as he folded it and tucked it into the pocket of his jacket.

Not as frustrating as she did, she wanted to say.

“They never tell you the backstory, what motivated a person to pursue such a near-impossible feat.”

“Perhaps it was her dream,” Natasha said.

He crossed his arms and stretched out his long legs and surveyed the blooming plants covering the hillside. “I trust the power of dreams. I always have.”

She didn’t. Not anymore.

“Do you?”

She’d been hoping he wouldn’t ask.

“I have in the past.”

“But not now?”

He looked genuinely surprised. She hated to throw ashes on his enthusiasm.

“I’m not sure. Maybe.”

“Maybe’s better than no,” he said with a chuckle that reached into her heart.

He walked to the edge of the pond and looked out toward the mountains in the distance. “This place is extraordinary. Almost magical.” He turned to her. “Do you feel it?”

Did she ever. She nodded, not trusting her voice.

“I have to bring my sister here the next time she’s in the States. She’ll love it.”

And then she knew. He didn’t live in Sonoma. He was from some rich Italian family that probably flitted from place to place all over the planet. Resignation bloomed in her. He was from a world she could never belong to. When had she begun to entertain the possibility that she might? It must have been in her dream.

Natasha paced her room when she returned to Inspire. Tyler was an hour late.

Scenarios of disasters ran through her mind. Had someone kidnapped him? Was he injured and in the hospital? Had he gotten lost? Had he got caught in gang crossfire? No, she could cross that one off her list. There weren’t any gangs active in this area. She was thankful for that.

But Tyler was the heart of her life. It made sense she’d worry over him.

She’d called the cellphone she’d bought for Tyler. And to her horror she heard it ring in the small drawer under the counter. She should’ve double-checked that he’d put it in his pack. She’d been distracted that morning by the disturbing feelings her dream had left swirling in her and by her upcoming meeting with Adrian.

She was still distracted.

After a quick lunch in a café near the gardens, Adrian had insisted on driving her home. When she’d insisted that she had errands to run in town, he’d offered to accompany her and then drive her home. She’d made a quick excuse about meeting a friend near the café. He’d conceded but asked if she’d like to hike Mount Saint Helena the following weekend. She was so rattled from making excuses for why he couldn’t drop her at her house, she’d said yes to the hike before she’d thought twice.

She
needed
to get her thoughts in order, get her life on track. Save some money and get out of Inspire. Mary had helped her fill out an application for one of the new low-income housing units just three blocks on the other side of the town center. In a month, if she was lucky, she and Tyler would have a brand new home of their own. A home that her salary at Casa del Sole would easily pay for. But she couldn’t afford distractions. And Adrian was one heck of a distraction.

Just as she was considering calling the police, Tyler bounded through the doors all smiles and with tales of his day at the YMCA’s baseball day camp.

Maybe she did worry too much. But how much was too much?

He drank the glass of apple juice she set before him in four quick swallows. “The guys are playing a pickup game in the park. Can I go?”

“Aren’t you tired, honey? You’ve been playing baseball all day.”

“Mom, I’m
ten
,” he said almost somberly. “I could play baseball for twenty-four hours straight.”

She had to laugh.

“Okay, but be back in an hour. You have homework.”

She opened the drawer and handed him the cellphone. He took it with a sheepish grin and stuffed it into the pocket of his jeans. Then he fished in his other pocket and drew out an envelope. “Mary said to give this to you.”

She looked down at the envelope that had been sent through the safe-house mail system. She read the first three lines of the letter and her heart stopped in her chest.

Chapter Six

PETEY ANSWERED NATASHA’S CALL ON THE fourth ring.

“It’s Tash.”

“You think I would’ve answered if I hadn’t thought it was you?”

His friendly chuckle was a welcome sound. She should’ve just given Petey her number, not made him jump through the protective hoops that the shelter had put into place, procedures that kept the women and children at Inspire safe and undiscoverable. Anyone who wanted to communicate had to send mail to the central office in San Francisco. No one was allowed access to the addresses or phone numbers of the “guests” at Inspire. All cellphones had to have location services turned off. And none of the women were allowed to have visitors. Not on campus. It made for awkward moments for some of them who had school-age children. But following the protocol kept danger at bay.

When she’d received the forwarded note from Petey asking her to call him, an ominous feeling had clutched at her. A feeling she tried to ignore. Anxiety made her crazy, made her make bad decisions. Maybe he was just checking up on her.

“Your timing is perfect, Petey. I want you to come on a picnic with Tyler and me. He’s grown. You won’t recognize him.”

“Tash, it’s been less than a week since I helped you two pack up and get out of that fleabag motel. He can’t have grown that much.”

She laughed. Petey always knew how to make her laugh.

When Petey had offered to let her and Tyler live in his place for a few weeks, she’d considered it. But his neighborhood was worse than the one she’d left behind. His neighbor had been shot dead in crossfire while washing his windows. The motel had been safer but horribly depressing. The greedy proprietor had done her a favor by forcing them to leave.

“You doin’ okay?” For a big man, he had the gentlest voice.

“Amazing. I mean, I don’t like being in the shelter, but it’s comfortable and the people are nice. Helpful. The director helped me get a job. I’m gardening again.”

“Never understood why you love diggin’ around. My people did everything they could to stop all that. I’ll take bright lights and city life any day. I’m thinking about taking that job in Vegas.”

But he wouldn’t. His family lived just south of San Francisco. For Petey, family came first. She heard the edge in his voice. They were dancing around the reason he’d written to her.

“Petey, tell me what’s up.”

“Never could hide anything from you.”

He told her about Eddie coming into the casino.
Again
.

“Are you sure it was Eddie?”

“He gave me his name and card this time. But he believed me when I said I didn’t know where you were. Hell, I
don’t
know where you are. From the way he interrogated me, it’s probably a good thing. I’m guessing he’s a pro.”

“A pro?”

“That he’s had some training. PI or Fed. Maybe a cop.”

Her mouth went dry. She cleared her tightening throat. “Oh, Petey.”

“He said he’s looking to make amends to people he’s wronged. Some AA thing. Sounded true to me.”

“He’ll have to make do with apologizing to other people. I don’t want him ever knowing anything about Tyler.”

“I think you’re safe there. He said he had to go out of the country on business. He seemed like a man short on time, nervous-like. He’s probably long gone by now. You know how those rich boys are. Fickle-hearted bastar—”

He stopped before finishing the word.

“It’s okay, Petey. I’ve heard the word before. Thanks for keeping my secret.” Her pulse had slowed at the news that Eddie—if it really had been Eddie—was leaving the country. Good riddance. “I’m glad he’s leaving. I still look over my shoulder way too much.”

“Sorry to have to bring all this up, but I thought you should know. Be prepared, just in case.”

“It’s another world over here.” She wasn’t allowed to say where. Not while she lived in the shelter. “And I can’t believe my luck in getting the job they found for me. They have
health insurance
, Petey. The real deal, all paid for. And employees get to own shares of the business.”

“They need a bouncer?”

She laughed.

“I’m aiming to get a place in a few weeks. Tyler and I are on a list for some low-cost housing and it looks pretty sure we’ll get in. It’s a new place. Imagine living in a place where no one has lived but you. Once we’re settled, I’d like to cook you dinner.”

“I’ll take you up on the picnic. I need to check out that boy’s swing. He’s got potential, you know. I can see it.”

Petey had done a stint in baseball’s minor leagues before a back injury had put him out of the game. But to Tyler, he was a hero. Over the years, he’d taken the time to play ball with Tyler during school breaks and on weekends.

“He’s ten, Petey. It’s a bit early to—”

“Talent is talent. The boy has good genes.”

There was an awkward silence.

“I like to think the half he got from me are good, at least. Thanks for the warning. And thanks again for keeping me off the radar.”

“You gonna make fried chicken?”

“Only if you bring biscuits.”

“It’s a deal, Tash.”

She clicked off the phone. Whoosh, just like that, information could rock what had seemed to be a secure world.

Eddie was looking for her after all these years? She’d heard about the making-amends thing—women in the evening groups talked about their AA programs, the steps, the work to get their lives on track and rebuild respect in themselves and trust in others.

Well, Eddie would have to live with the truth of what he’d done without apologizing to her. He’d broken her jaw. She should’ve called the police. Should’ve put the bastard behind bars. But something had stopped her. Something in his eyes. She couldn’t do it. And they might not have found him anyway. All she knew was his first name, if it even was his name. She thanked the heavens that was all he knew of her too, her first name. She might’ve been a naive eighteen-year-old, but she’d been savvy enough not to tell him her last name. Or maybe somewhere deep down she’d been aware he’d be trouble.