Chapter Eleven
Wyatt stood in the laboratory at Leone Estates. He checked the titration number for the new batch of juice and smiled. “It’s right on the money, Bella. Right on the money.”
Bella sat on her hind legs beside him and barked.
“You talking to yourself again?” Chip chuckled and walked into the room.
Wyatt arched a brow. “I’m talking to Bella. Got a problem with that?”
Chip held up his hands in mock surrender. “Not at all. Did she come up with a name for your new blend yet?” He shed his long-sleeved shirt, and draped it on the table. A phone dropped from the front pocket. Bending, he muffled a curse, grabbed the device and shoved it in his jeans pocket.
“Ha, ha. No.” He’d only bottled the first test batch today. This second trial would be transferred into oak barrels and aged for five months before it was ready. Full scale production would start with the harvest of the new grapes out on the north rim in a few weeks. “I’m working on it.”
Chip grinned. Tall and gangly, with a mop of curly brown hair, he looked more like a kid than a man of twenty-five. “I can’t understand why you don’t let the marketing guys handle it. Isn’t that what you pay them for?”
“This is my baby, and I want to name her myself.”
“Okay, but I suggest you come up with something sooner rather than later. Customer trials are slated for the end of this month.”
“I know.” Wyatt had scheduled them. It was time to see if his new creation would be the hit he hoped it would be with the masses. “I’ll come up with something soon.” The truth was he’d invested a lot into this project, and not only money, although the cash outlay had been substantial. He’d put his heart and soul into this and he wasn’t about to rush anything, including a name. It had to be perfect. A lot was riding on this new wine. They needed to draw in new customers, and they were counting on this new brand to appeal to a more diverse, wider clientele.
The alarm on his watch sounded. Time for lunch. His pulse quickened, and a burst of adrenaline rushed through him at the thought of seeing Maddie. And Jacob. Yeah, he was going to see his son. That’s what this arrangement between him and Maddie was all about. “I’ll catch you later.”
Wyatt walked down the hall toward the exit. A strong odor accosted him. He sniffed. The stench of yeast clung to him. That’s what happened when you spent hours in a fermentation room. He plucked the T-shirt away from his skin, sweat from this morning’s vineyard tour permeating every pore. He’d more than earned a shower. He wasn’t fit to be around man or beast smelling this ripe.
“You’re leaving? Now?”
Wyatt didn’t miss the confusion in Chip’s voice. “Yes. I’ve got other things to attend to.”
“We have interviews scheduled with several potential harvest interns this afternoon. The first is in less than thirty minutes.”
“I’ll be back in a couple of hours. You can handle the meetings until then.”
Chip stared at him as if he’d grown two heads. “Me?”
Wyatt laughed. He understood the man’s bewilderment. Most new employees weren’t given that level of responsibility, but Wyatt had faith in him. Chip had done well in the short time he’d been with Leone Estates and he could handle the task. “You should make the decision since they’ll be working for you.”
Chip grinned, a look of awe on his round face. “Great. Thanks. I’ll see you when you get back.”
Wyatt nodded. “Come on Bella. We’ve got places to go and people to see.” Wyatt snatched up a bottle of his new blend from the table as he strode to the exit. Bella trotted behind him.
###
“Son of a bitch.” Wyatt clutched the steering wheel with a death grip as he neared the guest cottage. He slammed the truck into park, bounded out, and stalked to the man walking toward him with a congenial smile. “What the hell are you doing here, Beaumont?”
“I came to see Maddie.”
Wyatt didn’t want Bryce anywhere near Maddie. It didn’t matter that he preferred men. He didn’t trust him. “You stay the hell away from her.”
“It’s Maddie’s decision whether or not I can see her. Not yours.” Bryce calmly opened the door to his Z3 and slid in. He flashed a grin. “For the record, I’ll be seeing her again later. And there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”
Wyatt gritted his teeth, his jaw clenching so tight it hurt. God, he wanted to nail the bastard to a wall and smack that cocky grin off his face once and for all. “Get the hell off my property.”
“Sure. No problem, Leone.” Bryce smirked. “What Maddie ever saw in you is beyond me. Thank goodness she’s come to her senses.”
“Meaning what? She’s back with you? Yeah, right. We both know that’s not true. You’re not interested in any woman.”
“Is that what she told you?” Bryce doubled over and let out a thunderous laugh.
Wyatt frowned. What the hell was so funny?
Bryce wiped the moisture from the corner of one eye. “Nothing could be further from the truth. The little vixen is playing you for a fool.” He shook his head. “Do you honestly think she’ll stay with a freak like you?”
A flash of heat tore through him and he clamped down tight on the urge to reach inside, drag Bryce from the car, and slug him.
“See you around.” Bryce slammed the door shut. The Z3 roared to life, and he sped away.
Shit. Wyatt prowled to the door and strode inside without knocking. Maddie sat on the couch. “What the hell is going on?”
Her eyes widened. “Excuse me?”
Wyatt gritted his teeth. “What. Was Bryce Beaumont. Doing here?”
Maddie jumped up and marched over to him until they stood nose to nose. “I don’t like the tone of your voice, and I’m not going to put up with you coming in here and growling at me. I understand you’re upset, but if this is how you’re going to act, then you can leave now, and forget our deal. I won’t subject my son to a tyrant.”
A tyrant? Was that how she saw him? Of course it was. What did you expect? God, he’d stormed in here assuming the worst before he even spoke to her. His whole body seemed to cave in on itself. What was wrong with him? Once again he’d allowed Bryce’s taunts to get to him. You’d think he’d have learned his lesson by now. Apparently not. Christ, he wasn’t eight years old anymore, and he couldn’t keep letting Bryce goad him into doing something stupid. Like fighting with his brother, or running away because his father had doled out unfair punishment. Or taking out his frustrations with the ass-wipe who’d been provoking him since they were kids on Maddie. Wyatt dragged a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. I let him mess with my head, and I shouldn’t have.”
“You’re right. You shouldn’t have.”
Maddie glanced over at the Pack ‘n Play where Jacob lay sleeping. Shit. Is this the kind of example you want to set for your son? No way. He couldn’t let his anger get the better of him. “Can we please sit down and talk about this?”
Maddie nodded, but didn’t look happy if her white knuckles and pursed lips were anything to go by. God, why did he keep getting it wrong with her? He blew out a breath and did his best to speak in a calm, rational manner. “What was Bryce doing here?”
Would she even tell him after he’d behaved abominably?
Maddie dropped down on the couch, and he joined her. “He visited my grandfather last night.”
Wyatt opened his mouth ready to fire off a bunch of questions, and closed it before voicing any of them. He needed to let her finish.
“Gramps regrets what happened between us yesterday.”
“He does?” Wyatt never would have guessed, judging from the old man’s behavior.
“He regrets what he said to me,” Maddie qualified.
Right. George still hated him. Fine. Wyatt didn’t give a flying fig how the old coot felt about him as long as he didn’t stand between him and Jacob and Maddie.
“Bryce believes he’ll come around if we give him some time.”
Bryce was an ass, and a sneaky bastard to boot.
Maddie’s gaze locked on him. Hope gleamed in her beautiful blue eyes. “If there’s a chance he’s right…”
“Are you planning to move home?” His heart pounded faster than a jet traveling at the speed of sound while he waited for her answer. He wouldn’t stop her if she wanted to go. It wouldn’t be fair.
Her brows furrowed. “I wasn’t planning to.”
Thank God. Wyatt flopped back against the plush cushion and released the breath he’d been holding.
“There’s one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Bryce offered me a job.”
Bile roiled in his gut. He didn’t want her working for Bryce Beaumont. No way. No how. Wyatt didn’t trust him for a minute. In fact, he wouldn’t put it past Bryce to get Maddie’s hopes up about reconciling with her grandfather, but he’d keep that opinion to himself for now. But, what was she going to do? Jacob needed her, and like Wyatt, she’d never held a position outside of her family’s business. “I’ll find something for you here at Leone Estates.”
She shook her head. “No. I—my grandfather asked Bryce to take over for him at Scott Hill.”
Wyatt felt as if he’d fallen down the rabbit hole and couldn’t find his way out. George asked Bryce to manage Scott Hill for him? Why? It didn’t make sense, and what did it have to do with… “He wants you to run your grandfather’s winery.” Oh yes, Bryce was a sneaky conniving bastard all right, but why did he want Maddie at the vineyard? What was in it for him?
“Uh-huh.”
“You want to take the job, don’t you?”
She nodded.
“I think it’s a bad idea, Maddie.” A really, really bad idea. George had already thrown Maddie under the bus once. He wouldn’t hesitate to do it again, no matter what Bryce said about him regretting the way he’d treated her the other day. A leopard never changed his spots.
#
“You still don’t trust me as far as Bryce is concerned.” Her heart twisted.
Wyatt pulled her into his arms and pulled her tight against him. “Yes. I do.”
Maddie wanted to believe him. With a desperate intensity she’d never known before. But, he didn’t act as if he did. Not if his reaction to Bryce being here this afternoon was anything to go by. What if he never trusted her? Not going there.
“I have to take this job, Wyatt.” Not only to keep an eye on Bryce. He was up to something. Maddie didn’t doubt it for a second. She needed to prove herself if she had any hope of convincing Gramps to turn over his precious vineyard to her.
Now more than ever.