Tangled Vines: An Australian Rural Romance (11 page)

“You weren’t meant to die, Kyle. I don’t mean to trivialize your family’s death. But I believe things happen for a reason, and even though we don’t understand it, it’s pre-destined for us.”

Kyle pulled away from Jordan’s embrace, no longer finding comfort in it. Not after her words.

“So what you’re saying is the whole fight and tsunami were pre-destined and my family had to die and I survived?” He shook his head in denial. “I wouldn’t call living without the people who loved me as a win. I lost so much that day, Jordan. Don’t you see?”

“Yes, I do. But don’t you see you also gained something, too? You gained Shey and Nate. You gained the fire to finish university and build one of the most successful stockbroking businesses in the country.”

“You don’t know that,” he scoffed. “I could’ve have started my own firm and had the same success. All the while my family could’ve been standing next to me. I could’ve provided them with everything they’d ever wanted.”

“I guess you’ll never know.”

“No, I won’t.”

A yawn racked Jordan’s body and Kyle glanced over to his bedside clock. It was getting close to dawn. He knew this was the time she normally got up to tend the vines. Guilt that he’d kept her awake almost consumed him, until she pulled him close and kissed his cheek. “I think it’s time we slept.”

He closed his eyes. His body wrapped up in Jordan’s arms. He gave himself over to a woman for the first time in his adult life. Now she knew the truth about everything. Would she look at him differently when she woke?

Surrounded by a cocoon of warmth, the last thing Jordan wanted to do was get up, but her body had other ideas. Slipping from beneath Kyle’s arm, she picked up his t-shirt and put it on. She glanced back at the bed as she walked out of the room to use the bathroom. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully. She worried that the talk of what he’d gone through would cause him nightmares.

After she used the bathroom, she went to her room, stripped off Kyle’s shirt, and pulled on fresh underwear before donning his shirt again with a pair of shorts and shoes.

While Kyle slept she would do another quick walk through the vineyard and then prepare something to eat.

“Where are you going?”

Jordan gave a little yelp of surprise. “God, Kyle you scared me. I thought you were still sleeping.”

“I woke up,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders as he walked into the room.

Jordan’s mouth dried. He’d pulled on some board shorts. His chest was bare and she couldn’t stop herself from walking up to him and placing her hands on said chest. She smoothed her hands up until she clasped them around his neck.

“I was about to check the vines again, then I was going to come back and get something for breakfast.”

“Why don’t I come with you and then maybe we can go out to get some breakfast?”

This was the last thing she ever expected to hear from Kyle. Wanting to go out and walk through the vines. Did it mean he wanted to know more about the grapes and the process of growing them? Did it mean he would consider expanding the amount of vines he had?

Stop it
. She was getting ahead of herself. He’d only asked to walk with her.

“Jordan? What are you thinking so hard about?”

Getting her wayward thoughts under control, she unlocked her fingers behind his neck and took a step back. “Just surprised you wanted to walk through the vines.”

“I don’t have to if you don’t want me to. I, uh,” he paused and looked up at the ceiling. “I wanted to spend a little more time with you. Find out what you’re doing with the vines.”

Jordan couldn’t help it. A little bit of hope blossomed to life within her. She’d been working on a business plan to present to Kyle with her expansion ideas. She’d already spoken to a local winery and the winemaker had tentatively agreed to taking her grapes and crushing them for her. He would even let her use his facilities after hours to blend the grapes she wanted. It would cost of course and that was what she wanted to present to Kyle. She’d saved up a bit of money and hoped to see if Kyle would also back her business venture. She still had a bit of work to do on the plan before it was ready to be presented.

“Sure, I’d love to show you the vines.” She glanced down at his feet. “You might want to put some shoes on.”

He laughed and leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Give me five minutes.”

As he walked out the door she called out to him. “A shirt is optional.”

She could hear his laughter as he walked back to his room.

With a spring in her step Jordan headed toward the kitchen. She grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and took a couple of long swallows. She took a moment to think back over everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. From feeling frantic with worry over Kyle to being so angry with him she wanted to hit him. To making love with him. To his opening up and pouring out the tragedy he’d been through. His demeanor seemed lighter today, as if talking to her had helped him.

“You ready?” Kyle asked as he walked into the room. Jordan suppressed a grin when she saw that he’d put a sleeveless shirt on.

“Nice compromise,” she joked.

“Glad you approve. Now dazzle me with your grapes.”

She laughed and took hold of his hand. “Be prepared to be dazzled.”

As they walked down another row she stopped and inspected the leaves of one of the vines. It looked like there were a couple of spots on it. Dread filled her. Surely it wasn’t what she thought it was. She squatted down in front of the bush.

“Is there something wrong?” Kyle asked.

“I’m not sure.”

There would be nothing worse than an outbreak of powdery mildew on the vines now. It would be the death knell for the young grapes.

“What are you seeing, Jordan?”

“I’m can’t tell for sure but it could be an outbreak of powdery mildew.” She cursed her luck. “I’ve been so careful with everything I’ve done to prevent this.”

“Is it possible it could be something else?”

“Fingers crossed it’s nothing.”

She bent closer and sniffed the leaves. If there was a musty odor then she was in deep trouble. There was no odor. She brushed the leaf and the dust came away. Had she dodged a bullet? Was it possible the light spots had come from her kicking up dust as she walked through the vines? She checked the back of the vine and all the leaves were a light green, no signs of anything to suggest she had an outbreak on her hands. To be on the safe side she broke the leaf off. She’d send it to the Agriculture Department and get them to test it. Meanwhile she would be extra vigilant to make sure nothing endangered her vines.

“Tell me what’s happening here, Jordan.”

So engrossed in the grapes she’d forgotten Kyle was with her. “Oh I’m going to send this off to get it tested for powdery mildew.”

“Right and powdery mildew is bad.”

She stood and brushed off her hands. “Yep, it can cause a lot of problems for the vines and harvest. It would be a disaster if we had an outbreak.”

His hand landed on her shoulder. “I hope it’s not bad news. How long will it take to hear?”

She grimaced. “Probably longer than it normally would because of the holidays. I imagine most of the departments are going to be on skeleton staff until after New Year’s.”

“Right. So if the tests come back positive what will that mean to you? To the vines and the grapes?”

“The end of a dream,” Jordan said the words to herself. But then closed down the negative thoughts. There was the possibility that it wasn’t powdery mildew and even if it was, it really wasn’t the end of the world. They would just have to be careful when it came to harvest time. She determined she wasn’t going to let this get her down. She was going to remain positive that everything would be fine.

“Jordan?”

She turned away from Kyle and looked out over the vines. “There’s numerous outcomes. But if it is, well, then we will see if we can contain it. Once it comes to harvest time I’ll have to see if the grapes can be used or not.”

“You’ve never really told me what you plan to do with the grapes.”

Apprehension filled her. How much did she tell him? Would he try and stop her plans? After all, he’d planned to bulldoze all the vines. Would he even care if she wanted to blend them? If he did care, would he try and take away her achievement like Don had? Maybe she could give him a barebones explanation of what she wanted to do.

“I still have to finalize things, but I hope to make some boutique wines.”

It wasn’t exactly a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either.

A hand reached out and touched her cheek, a finger trailing down under her chin. With a little bit of pressure he lifted her chin so she had to look up at him. “I think there’s more to this than just making some wine. You wouldn’t have been so passionate about staying here when I first arrived. But I can respect the need to be private.” He let go of her chin and stepped back. She missed his warmth. “When you’re ready to tell me everything, I’ll listen.”

He turned and headed back toward the house, leaving her to her vines, and the small seed of hope grew a little more. Maybe, just maybe, Kyle would be open to reviewing her business plan when she’d finished it. Maybe there was a future for them on a business level and, she couldn’t believe she was even entertaining these thoughts, a personal level too.

*

Jordan rubbed her eyes and looked down at the finished business plan. After Kyle had seemed so interested in her plans for the vineyard, she hoped he would be open to her ideas and her business plan.

She checked the figures one last time. Everything looked perfect. Now she had to work out the best time to present it to Kyle and hope like crazy all her work wouldn’t be for nothing.

“Hey, why are you in here?” Kyle asked as he kissed her on the head. His hand came down on her papers. “What this?”

Jordan gathered up the papers, not sure she wanted to discuss it with Kyle right at that moment. She wanted to work herself up to it. “Uh, nothing.”

“It didn’t look like nothing to me. It looked like a business plan or proposal of some sort. What are you working on, Jordan?”

Knowing she had no option, she faced him. “Yes, you’re right—it’s a business plan.”

Kyle hitched his hip against the table, crossed his arms across his chest. “Do you want me to look it over? Who are you planning to present it to?”

She would love for Kyle to look it over. His opinion would be so valuable. That was, if she planned to present it to a banker or lawyer. It was now or never. Her chance to prove she was more than a winemaker, that she was a person who could run a business.

“Well,” she dragged the word out, “you would be the person I’m planning on presenting it to.”

He stood a little straighter. “Me? Why me?”

“How about we move to the living room?” she suggested, needing a few moments to get her mind around what she was about to do.

Without a word, Kyle walked out the door. She had no idea how she was going to keep her focus on the task at hand and not on how it felt to be held in Kyle’s embrace. She had to put their personal relationship to the farthest part of her mind. This was business. Personal relationships had no place in a business relationship.

Jordan scooped up the papers and headed toward the living room. Kyle had seated himself on the couch and propped his feet up on the coffee table.

It was anything but a business setting. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all.

“Hit me with it.”

Was he making fun of her? Did he think her plan was a joke?

“I’m not playing around here. I’ve been working on this plan for weeks. If you’re not planning on taking me seriously then I’ll make an appointment with Shey to see you at your office when you’re back at work.”

Immediately his feet came off the table. “Sorry, you’re right. Just because we share a bed doesn’t mean I shouldn’t give you the same attention I’d give anyone presenting anything to me.”

“Right, thank you.” She handed him the proposal. “What I’ve given you is a plan to expand your current stock of vines to enable you to create your own wine label. If you turn to page five, you’ll see that a soil analysis has shown your particular parcel of land is perfect to plant a combination of both red and white wine grapes. The types that would flourish the most would be Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes in the red wine varietal. For the white wines, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon grapes are the best. The vines you currently have are Sauvignon Blanc, so adding the Semillon makes sense as you can end up with three wines: a single blend for each one and then a mixed blend.”

The further she got into her presentation, the more confident she became. “Blending wines is an art, one I’ve been working on and have become very proficient with. My plan would be to create blends that have unique flavors. The opportunity to create a boutique winery here on the property is huge.”

“This is my private property. I don’t want strangers traipsing over my property every weekend.” He flicked through the pages of her presentation. The confidence began ebbing away. “What did you base your assumptions on to get these figures?”

“You don’t have to make it open to the public,” she started. “In answer to your question, I spoke to local winemakers and growers to ascertain the cost of planting new stock. As you can see, it will take a couple of years before the new vines produce decent grapes to use in wine. In the meantime, I asked around at some of the bigger wineries in the region that I know buy grapes from small producers. They would be happy to look at our product, and then if it suits their wines, buy the grapes from us. They would crush the fruit and set aside a certain amount for me to use to produce our own wines. To do that, we’d need to purchase barrels for our use. We can buy secondhand to start off with before buying new oak barrels.”

“That’s an awful lot of outlay for no guaranteed return. What if the grapes are unsuitable? What then? I’ve spent a considerable amount of money and it’s all wasted? This is a high-risk project, Jordan.”

Ok, so Kyle shot holes in her proposal. She had prepared herself for this sort of response. Only a novice would come into a presentation without thinking of all avenues the investors might ask.