Alexis watched from her bedroom window until the taillights of Ben’s car rounded the corner and disappeared into the morning sky. Why did her life have to be so difficult? Why couldn’t she have an affair with an exotic guy who lived on the other side of the country and not let her heart get involved?
Because she was Alexis Le Blanc. She only fell in love with men who couldn’t return her love. She had to do everything the hard way.
Ben’s last words stuck in her mind. Sono pazza di te. She had no idea how to spell what he’d said, so she did the next best thing, picked up her phone and asked Siri, the computer program that worked as a personal assistant.
“Siri, what does the Italian phrase sono pazza di te mean?” Her Italian was horrid, but she hoped the computer would understand.
“I’m afraid I can’t translate things for you, but you can search the web if you’d like.”
What good was this infamous computer program if she couldn’t translate? Alexis could search the web easy enough. Siri loaded a few websites and Alexis clicked on the first one, reading the translation. “I’m crazy about you.”
Slapping her hand over her heart, Alexis teared up. And she never cried.
Ever.
Or at least, rarely ever. Not until she met Ben.
He wasn’t in this just for the sex. She looked over at the bedside table at the barely touched bottle of wine.
Or the wine. Maybe he really did care for her? Needing to keep busy, she got dressed, hurried down the stairs, fed Hemmy and herself, and pruned the vines for a few hours. When her hands grew numb, she joined her parents in the barn, assisting with the bottling of the reds from two falls ago.
For seven days she went through the same routine: pruning back from the winter damage, then bottling either a red or a white. She’d thought of herself as a patient person, never having a problem waiting eighteen months after pressing the reds before bottling. The whites only needed six months of racking before they could be bottled, and she hadn’t ever rushed on those either.
But now, the thought of another week, another month going by without seeing Ben brought misery. She couldn’t do it. With most of the work done around the fields and waiting on Mother Nature to do her job, she had little to do but wait.
The floors in the function hall were going in beautifully. Ty explained the lengthy process of the careful extraction from the church, then sanding the boards, installing, and eventually putting down quite a few coats of poly.
That night, a week after Ben had been gone, he sent her another of the silly texts they’d been exchanging since he left. A selfie of him at his family’s vineyard, pretending to eat a bunch of grapes off the vine. It was the classic tourist picture. She laughed and stroked the screen with her fingers, wishing she could touch him. Talk to him other than through the phone.
She’d called twice during the week while under her covers, but he’d been on conference calls or in business meetings, sending her quick apology texts. If he hadn’t sent silly pictures she’d think he was giving her the brush-off.
But with the time change and his long workdays, she knew he didn’t have time for leisurely phone calls. Alexis settled for texts, sending him a picture of Hemmy from earlier in the day covered in mud, a giant stick in his mouth.
Ben later replied.
Your dog is bad ass. Miss you both.
Hugging her phone to her chest, Alexis fell asleep, dreaming of picnics on the beach, Chianti, and Ben.
In the morning, she woke with a revelation. Ben had come out and surprised her twice, why couldn’t she do the same to him? Work was caught up and at a slight standstill until the hall was done and the tourists traveled north. She could afford a quick trip west. Maybe not financially. She’d have to take a dip into her savings account. A big dip.
With a new bounce in her step, she rushed through her morning chores working side-by-side with her parents, and shared her news with them.
“Ben did such a lovely job with our new marketing strategy and helping out the town, and you both have raved about Gino and Sarah Martelli, I thought I’d take a quick visit to their vineyard. Before the tourists come.”
“You’re going to Italy?” Her mother looked up from labeling the Edelvira wine.
“No, to California.”
“Oh. I didn’t know they were back in the states. We haven’t talked to them for quite a few months.”
Meeting Ben’s parents would be interesting, as long as it didn’t take time away from being with him.
“We don’t use Italian grapes, but it would be good research to see how a large vineyard operates.” Alexis toyed with the cuff on her sleeve hoping her parents would pretend not to see through her plan and ask about Ben.
“I thought you had your eyes set on Canada. Going to the Niagara sector,” her father said, eyeing her skeptically over the stainless steel drums.
She did. For months, working on her ice wine craft had been at the forefront of her mind, but now it was all Ben.
“I’m planning on going in December.”
“What if our winter starts early and you’re gone during the ice harvest?”
The knowing smile in his eyes had her blushing and she crouched and rubbed behind Hemmy’s ears to avoid her father’s grilling.
“I’m twenty-nine. I’m not asking for permission. I’m telling you I’m leaving.” She hadn’t gone online yet to price out tickets. While she didn’t spend much, having no hobbies or social life, she didn’t make much either and would need to look for the cheapest flight. She had no idea what day that would be.
Before her parents could ask about the specifics of her travel plans, she marched out of the barn and hurried to the house. After nearly an hour on the Internet, she’d booked her ticket to San Francisco and reserved a rental car, opting out of the discounted hotel room, hoping Ben would offer her his bed to share.
She’d be taking a Thursday morning flight. Four long days from now. She had been looking forward to this week’s book night, finally feeling like she had friends, had a connection to girls in town, but spending time with Ben trumped book club.
It wasn’t because of the sex, she told herself. That would make her superficial and weak, like the girls she scoffed at. Spending time with Ben was more than that. They laughed together, shared common interests, even worked well together. He brought out a side of her she’d buried a long, long time ago and made her feel free. Worthy. Special.
When the morning of her flight finally arrived, she was more than ready. Leaving a note on the kitchen table for her parents and hugging her giant pooch, she curbed the butterflies in her belly, reassuring herself that surprising Ben was the best way to go.
It would be romantic, showing up on his doorstep…no, she didn’t know where he lived. Downtown San Francisco in a condo wasn’t exactly helpful information. He talked about his family’s vineyard a lot and how he often stayed in the guesthouse on the weekends, helping the family.
Finding Martevino Vineyard should be easy enough. She made her flight with plenty of time to spare, the connecting flight was on time, and she landed in San Francisco ten minutes ahead of schedule. So far her surprise visit to the west coast was going off without a hitch.
Not having many choices in wardrobe, Alexis didn’t have to worry about baggage claim, keeping it simple with her carryon and three outfits. One being the pink silk Ben sent to her that she’d only worn for five minutes.
The line at the rental counter wasn’t too long, and even that process was a cinch.
Destiny. Fate. It had to be.
Working her way through the lot, she found her economical Prius, tossed her carryon in the backseat, and programmed the GPS.
Two hours later, the tourist and winemaker in her went giddy with excitement when she passed the “Welcome to Napa Valley” sign. Pulling over, she rolled down her window and took a picture with her phone. And just for fun, she took an ill-attempted selfie with the sign in the background.
It wasn’t much longer until she turned down a well-cared-for dirt road, following the signs to Martevino. Once she left the crazy traffic of the city, the world had suddenly changed. Acres and acres, miles and miles of land stretched beyond what the eye could see. Strawberries, pear trees, orange trees, and another fruit tree she couldn’t identify lined the roads.
And of course, grapevines.
Napa grew varieties that the northeast couldn’t: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, even Zinfandel. Alexis prided herself on making top quality wines from lesser known, hybrid grapes, but to see the grapes known to every man was pretty darn cool.
And then she arrived. The entrance to Martevino was grand. Nestled between mountains and hillsides, a monstrous hotel-sized building that managed to look quaint and rustic stood out among acres and acres of vines.
Feeling timid and out of place, Alexis parked in the cobblestone lot and second-guessed her plan. Visiting the vineyard and tasting room as a tourist would allow her to get to know the side of Ben without the pressure of being his…lover.
And then what? Call him from here and ask if he had time to see her tonight, or drive back to the city and ask him where he lived? The seven hours on the plane should have been enough time to figure out her next steps.
The dry heat hit her like an electric blanket on a summer’s day. Maybe coming straight from the airport wasn’t a good idea. Alexis unbuttoned her flannel shirt and tossed it in the car. At least she had enough sense to wear a short sleeved shirt underneath and not her usual thermal, and sneakers instead of boots. The temperature in Maine was on the rise, but closer to fifty, not the warm seventy-nine that read on the screen in her car.
Playing the part of the tourist, she pocketed her keys and phone and made her way to the front of the building. With white stucco walls and a clay roof, it looked nothing like the buildings on the east coast. The entryway doors were open and arched and she walked in, taking in her surroundings. Clay tile flooring and dark cherry walls greeted her, as did a gorgeous thirty-something woman with an uncanny resemblance to Ben.
With dark hair pulled back in a braid and bright blue eyes that lit up with Alexis’s entrance, the woman greeted her with a smile. She hoped the woman didn’t know who she was. Heck, Alexis didn’t even know who she was anymore.
“Hi! Welcome to Martevino.”
“Thank you.”
“Are you here for a tasting or a tour?”
“Both?”
“That’s what we love to hear. Have a seat and tell me about your wine preference.” The woman escorted Alexis to a tabletop and held out a tall leather barstool. “I’m Adrianna, by the way.”
The older sister and mother to Ben’s niece and nephew. She was as beautiful and friendly as Ben had described. A part of her wondered if he’d shared stories about her, or even pictures. Adrianna didn’t seem to recognize her, and she didn’t know how she felt about that. Happy for her anonymity or sad because he hadn’t spoken of her. Tamping down the bout of melancholy, she took in her surroundings.
A tasting bar took up the center of the room with high and low tables scattered around, and three groupings of chocolate brown leather couches as well to entertain larger groups, she assumed.
“I’m Alexis.”
“Nice to meet you. Are you vacationing in the area? Here for business?”
“Do I look that out of place?”
“I think everyone looks out of place unless they’re in their own home. Even our local guests who come for events are a bit out of their element. It’s what makes life so wonderful, don’t you agree? The different cultures, ethnicities, likes and dislikes? If we were all the same…listen to me. I have a tendency to ramble. It’s the Italian in me.”
Adrianna had a gentle laugh, a woman like her was meant to be the face of Martevino. Beautiful, personable, and kind.
“The Italian goes well with your vineyard. Can you tell me about its history?”
“I’d love to! Let me get you some wine first.” Adrianna handed her an extensive list of wines. “The five samples we have for today are listed on the wall.” She pointed at the elegantly framed chalkboard behind her. “But since you’re the only one in here right now, if you see something on the list and I have a bottle open already, I’ll sneak you in a taste.”
Yeah, she liked Ben’s sister already. “What you have listed looks delicious.”
Adrianna left to get a glass and the wine and Alexis sent Ben a message. She had to let him know she was here or it would be a wasted trip. Feeling brave, she took a selfie, making sure to capture the tasting room in the background so he’d know where she was, and followed it with a quick text.
I’m in the neighborhood. Care to join me for drinks?
She turned her cell over when his sister came back.
“We’ll start with our signature Sauvignon Blanc. It’s full of exciting flavors.” Adrianna poured a healthy sample and stepped back. “You’ll notice aromas of green apple, passion fruit and white peach, even complex layers of grapefruit and guava.”
Alexis swirled and sniffed, picking up on all the flavors she’d mentioned, and sipped. “Oh, it’s crisp and has a lingering finish. I love this. Do you use oak barrels?”
“Ah, a woman who knows wine. It’s about sixty-five percent steel fermented, and aged with the remainder in neutral barrels.”
They sipped and sampled the four other wines, talking about the winemaking process. “You’re very knowledgeable. Is this a hobby of yours or do you have a vineyard as well?”
“I suppose I should come clean.” She thought back to when Ben hid his identity during their first meeting. It was hard to admit, but he was right. Had he confessed who he was back at the Sunrise Diner that morning, she never would have given him a chance.
And she’d never be so over-the-top in love.
“You’re not a wine critic, are you? If so, I can open any wine you’d like to sample.”
Alexis laughed. “I’m a far cry from one, but yes, my family has a small vineyard and winery. In Maine.” She waited for the connection to form and saw when it did in the rounding of Adrianna’s eyes.
“You’re the Le Blanc family? My parents really enjoyed your folks. My brother went out there to do some consulting work, did you meet him?”
So little brother hadn’t mentioned her to his sister, or his frequent trips to visit. The pang in her chest gave her a pause.
“Uh, oh. That frown says you have. My brother can be an ass, but he’s good at his job. I’m surprised he wasn’t able to help your family.”
“No, Ben did a wonderful job. He modified his original plan to meet my…our requests.”
“Ah, a woman who knows what she wants. I like it. Does my brother know you’re here? I’m sure he’d love to show off the work he’s done around the vineyard. You know, take credit for all his ideas. They are stellar, but don’t tell him I told you that.”
“Actually, I just texted him to let him know I was in the area. If we meet up, we meet up. He’s probably very busy.” She did her best to sound blasé`.
“Yeah. I’d say. He’s handling it all very well. Mom and Dad even cut their trip short and came home from Italy last week to help him out with the baby.”
“Baby?” The grapes turned sour in belly, fermenting past their peak, and a bitter bile worked its way up her throat.
“Yeah. He’s a private person. I doubt he shared his personal life with you all, keeping things professional is his forte`.”
“I didn’t know…didn’t know Mr. Martelli was married.” The wine turned sour in her belly and heat flushed to her cheeks. It had all been a lie. The charming words, the romantic gestures. All a farce, and she’d fallen so easily for him. The betrayal burned deep and hot in her chest.
Time stood still as the room spun around her.
“Oh, he’s not. Never will be, my bachelor brother, but you should see him with Sophie. He’s always been my kids’ favorite uncle. Don’t tell our brother Eamon. Ben has that magic touch with kids. And babies.” Adrianna rinsed Alexis’s glass, oblivious to the shattering of her heart. “I’m not a fan of the ex-girlfriend, and didn’t believe the baby could be my brother’s when I first heard, but he’s extremely supportive of her and their baby. My brother’s good like that. Loyal to his obligations. He’s even living at Felicia’s now. Ick. Little Sophie, though. She’s adorable. The spitting image of Ben. Anyway, you don’t want to hear about family drama, and I doubt my brother would be happy with me sharing his dirty laundry, so if you two do meet up, mum’s the word.”
“I don’t think we’ll be meeting up, so that’s not a problem.” Alexis ignored her vibrating phone, turning it off and shoving it deep in her pocket, standing to leave. “I’m going to take a raincheck on the tour. I’m very grateful for your hospitality, Adrianna.”
Her middle felt like she’d been punched in the gut, and she did her best not to keel over on her way out.
“Oh. Okay. Eamon is on his way to show you around if you can stay a bit longer.”
“No. I have a call I need to make and…I need to check into my hotel. With the jet lag, the wine is going to my head. Thank you, though.”
Alexis blinked back tears as she fled to her car. She didn’t know where to go, where to stay. Her flight home wasn’t until Sunday night and she hadn’t budgeted on staying in a hotel for three nights.
Speeding out of Martevino, Alexis put the windows down, the breeze and the sand drying her tears as she drove for miles, heading nowhere, her heart broken, shattered.
“What do you mean she just up and left?” Ben ran his fingers through his hair, not caring about how he looked.
“We were talking, getting along like we’d been friends for years. I really like her. Mom and dad were right about her family.”
“And…” Ben waved his hand through the air, hoping Adrianna got the sign and hurried along.
“She loved the wines, and had been looking forward to going on a tour, then something happened and she took off. Looked kinda sad, like someone ran over her puppy or something.”
“Hemsworth?”
“Who?”
“Never mind.” Ben hoped Hemmy was okay. Hell, he hoped Alexis was okay. When he got her text he nearly shot out of his seat, pushing past the owner of Mavericks Sporting Goods, forgetting about the expensive marketing plan they’d hired him to develop, to get to Alexis.
Coming to Napa wasn’t even on her Bucket List. She came to see him, to surprise him, and hell if he wasn’t surprised. It had been over two weeks since he’d touched her skin, kissed her neck, touched his lips to hers, and he was dying to hold her again.
When Felicia’s water broke hours after he’d stepped off the plane, he’d rushed to the hospital while waves of regret and sadness flooded through him.
Regret at losing time with Alexis. Sadness at the new life he was so not ready to face.
And when he held Sophie for the first time, nuzzling his nose into the tiny crook of her neck, he thought of Alexis.
Both of them were so fragile, so innocent. And he’d hurt them both. He could easily redeem himself with his daughter and make up for the lack of care and attention he gave to her while she was growing in her mother’s womb.
Alexis, on the other hand, would take more time and finesse. He’d had ample opportunities to tell her about the baby. There was the day he sort of told her about Felicia, or the morning after making love for the first time, or the second.
And then he got caught up in discovering the budding relationship between them that he put the baby news on the back burner. Hell, he pushed it as far away from the forefront of his mind as possible.
Yeah, he was an ass. An unforgivable ass. And holding and rocking and caring for Sophie made him realize it more and more with each new day.
Becoming a father wasn’t what he’d expected. The crying, the diapers, the lack of sleep, he’d been prepared for. Sort of.
What he hadn’t planned on was falling head over heels for his daughter the second he looked into her eyes. Just like he hadn’t expected to fall head over heels in love with Alexis.
“What’s the matter, Ben? Is it Sophie?”
“No, she’s fine. Felicia’s mom is with her now.”
“Where’s Felicia?”
Ben didn’t miss the tone in his sister’s voice. It was no secret that no one cared for his ex-girlfriend. Heck, Ben didn’t care for her either, but she was Sophie’s mother. Even though she seemed put out about it.
She’d refused to trade in her two-seater Mini Cooper, and couldn’t afford a second vehicle, so bringing Sophie anywhere was left to Ben, or Felicia’s mother, who, like her daughter, wasn’t keen on having her day interrupted with doctor’s visits and running mundane errands.
But Felicia and her mother weren’t the ones Ben wanted to think about right now. “Where did Alexis say she was staying?” He’d sent her four texts, and she had yet to reply to any of them.
“She didn’t.” Adrianna shrugged. “Flew out of here like a bat out of hell.”
“Did you say something to offend her?”
“As if,” his sister scoffed. “I’m the coordinator of social events and wine tastings for a reason.”
“What were you talking about when she bolted?” She scrunched up her nose in guilt. “Adrianna.”
“I liked her. We were talking about family. She told me what you did for her winery and for the town and we sort of…got to talking about you.”
“And?” Ben had always been a patient man, but his sister was about to push him over the line.
“I don’t know. I may have mentioned how stubborn you are. Well, you are.” He didn’t disagree. “But I told her how adorable you are with Sophie.”
“Ah, shit.” Ben spun around, knocking the heavy barstool over, not caring enough to pick it up, and ran out to his car.
“Ben!” his sister hollered after him. “What is it? Is everything going to be okay?”
Hell if he knew. It was his own damn fault for not telling her about the baby. He didn’t have anything to hide. It wasn’t like he and Felicia were in a relationship or getting back together. The only reason he crashed on her couch the past two nights was to give her a break with the middle of the night feedings.
Since Felicia didn’t want to nurse, there was no reason why Sophie couldn’t stay at his place. With the help of Adrianna, he’d turned the guest bedroom into a pink nursery for his daughter, who had yet to see it. But Felicia put up a fight every time he asked to take the baby home with him. It was her manipulative way of keeping him with her, he knew.
Revving his engine, he peeled out of the parking lot driving back toward the city. That’s where Alexis would go, right? To hide in the cluster of people?
No, she wasn’t a city girl. She’d want to be alone. To hide until…until her return flight. Ben pulled over to the side of the road and slammed his Audi into park. Picking up his cell, he dialed her number. Again.
And again she didn’t answer. This time he left a message. “Alexis. Sweetheart. We need to talk. I just left the vineyard. Please. Call me. It’s not what you think. Well, it is. I have a baby, but I’m not in a relationship with her mother. I care about you. Let me know where you are. Please.”
He hung up and called her parents, hoping they’d shed some light on where Alexis was staying.
“Hi, Shane. I just spoke with my sister at our vineyard and she said Alexis was in town.” He did his best to slow his racing heart and sound nonchalant.
“She didn’t tell you?” Shane chuckled. “Probably wanted to surprise you, I guess. Glad to hear she arrived safe. She hasn’t called to check in yet.”
“I’d love to catch up with her. Do you have any idea where she is staying?”
Shane paused before replying. “I figured she was…ah, staying with you or your family.”
“That may have been her plan but she didn’t let anyone in on it. I’m worried about her getting lost around here. Napa is small, but easy to lose your bearings. And San Francisco is no place for a single, beautiful woman to be alone.”
“Now you have me worried. I thought you two kids were ah…friends.”
“We…we are friends. If you hear from her, will you call me and let me know where she is? I’d like to see her…to talk to her.”
“Absolutely. Claudia and I will feel better knowing she’s with you and not wandering around the state of California on her own.”
“I won’t let anything happen to her. As long as I know where she is.”
An hour later, when Ben had reached the outskirts of the city, Shane called back, giving him the name of a sketchy, cheap chain hotel near a well-known gang territory in Oakland, proving their ignorance to California life. The most dangerous city in the state also housed the cheapest hotels. Not the place Alexis, or any woman, should be staying alone.
Instead of frightening Shane, he thanked him and followed his GPS’s directions to the sketchy dive. He spotted the motel and parked next to a shiny blue Prius in front of room twenty-nine. The car was as out of place as a hemlock growing in the middle of a Napa vineyard.
Ben shot out of his car and all but banged on the dingy green door of her motel room. “Alexis. It’s Ben.” He waited, hoping to hear the sound of the lock being opened. Nothing. “Alexis? Please, hate me all you want, but you can’t stay here. It isn’t safe.”
A frail woman dressed only in a leopard print bra and underwear, who could be anywhere between eighteen and eighty, her face wrinkled from the sun, teeth brown from cigarettes and drugs, stepped out from the next door and yelled at him.
“Will you shut the hell up? Some of us is trying to work around here.”
A man who had a few extra hundred pounds on him put a beefy hand over hers and pulled her back in the room.
“I ain’t paying you to yell at the neighbors. Get back in that bed.” He slammed the door shut and Ben tapped on Alexis’s window.
“You can stay at the guesthouse at the vineyard. I’ll leave you alone if you promise to get out of here. Send me a text. Let me know you’re not going to stay here. My sister will be more than happy to have you.”
Ben waited and finally his phone chimed in his pocket. Sighing in relief when he saw it was from Alexis, he pulled it out and growled.
“I will go to hell. I am in hell right now, but I don’t want you here, too.” He moved back to the door and rested his forehead against it, refusing to leave until she did. “You’re not safe here, Alexis.”
The door opened and he stumbled to his knees. “I may not be safe, but at least the people here are exactly what they say they are. Druggies. Hookers. Two-timers. They don’t pretend to be someone they’re not, Daddy.”
“I never pretended—” Ben stopped himself, not wanting to have this conversation outside a hotel that charged by the hour. “Will you come back to the vineyard? The guest house is yours.”
“You and Felicia too busy now that you have a baby to stay there on the weekends? Changes everything, doesn’t it? A baby? Congratulations.” She pushed past him, tossed her small duffle bag over her shoulder, and got into her car. “I’ll stay at Martevino’s as long as you don’t come anywhere near me.”
Fearing she wouldn’t go back to the vineyard if he kept talking, he bit his lip, watching as she flipped him the bird and drove off. He sent Adrianna a text, informing her of Alexis’s return and stay in the guesthouse, and drove back to the city to reschedule his already double-booked Friday, and try to convince Felicia to cancel her spa weekend so he could spend time with Alexis.
If she’d see him.
Which was as likely as the woman next door passing a drug test.