The Sparkling One

“You’re right about the vines,” she said, staring out at them. “I can’t escape them.”



“Not even when you try. I heard about your husband. That he tried to claim some of this for himself. That will never happen. This is only for family.”



“I know, Grandpa.” His words made her feel guilty, as if Jeff’s greedy grasping were her fault. “I should never have married him.”



“No. We all thought he was a different kind of man.”



Brenna wasn’t so sure anyone had thought anything except relief that she had married right on schedule. Even at eighteen she’d felt the pressure to marry young and produce a son. She thought of how the current circumstances would have affected a child.



“At least we were smart enough not to have babies,” she said. “Better that they not go through this. Plus Jeff would have been tied to the family forever.”



She expected a word of agreement, but instead Grandpa Lorenzo sighed heavily. “I would have forgiven many sins for a grandson.”



Anger flared inside of her. “You need to get over your gender bias, Grandpa. It’s the new millennium. Women are just as capable as men, and they’re finally getting a chance to prove it.”



The old man looked at her. “They may be capable, but are they as loyal? You left. You went away and the vines were forgotten.”



“That’s not fair,” she protested. “You wanted me to get married. All my life I’d been told my duty was to have a husband and a family. I did what I was supposed to do, and now you’re blaming me for leaving?”



He ignored the question. “What are you going to do now?” Grandpa Lorenzo asked.



“Get a job.” She turned to him. “I want to work here.”



He nodded. “I think there’s an opening in the gift shop.”



She stepped back as if he’d slapped her. Tears sprang to her eyes, but she blinked them away. He would be expecting weakness. She had to be strong to prove herself.



“Except for you, no one knows more about the vines than I do,” she said.



“You knew. Nine years ago. What do you remember?”



She thought about her years in an office job she hated, and how at night, when she wasn’t at her second job, she’d studied. She’d used money they’d needed for things like food to buy textbooks from the UC Davis Viticulture and Enology Department. She’d continued her education, even when Jeff had fumed at her, not understanding why it was so important to her.



“I remember everything,” she told him.



Her grandfather looked at her. “What’s to keep you from running off with the next man who asks?”



The unfairness of the question fueled her temper. He wanted it both ways—great-grandsons and a promise never to leave.



“Let’s just say I’ve learned my lesson,” she told him. “I’m not interested in being stupid a second time.”



He studied her, staring into her eyes for several seconds before turning away. “There might be something. Come into my office in the morning and we’ll talk.”



She nodded without speaking because her throat had tightened and she didn’t think she could form words. When he left, she stayed where she was, raising her face to the light rain, letting the cool drops wash away her tears.



Finally, when the cold seeped into her bones, she forced herself to head back to the house. As she turned in that direction, she caught sight of a distant hillside, also covered with dormant vines. But this land wasn’t part of the Marcelli legacy. Instead it belonged to Wild Sea Vineyards.



Marcelli wines had an excellent reputation for quality. They consistently received high scores and won medals. But Wild Sea Vineyards was an international success that dwarfed its neighbor. The two wineries had been founded together, by best friends as close as brothers. Until sixty years before, when there had been a falling out between the Marcelli and Giovanni family.



Wild Sea had grown big enough to dominate the valley. One by one small family wineries faded into bankruptcy or were swallowed up by larger labels—not just here, but in Napa and Sonoma. The days of the “gentleman vintner” were numbered.



Did her grandfather know? Had he recognized the changes coming?



She told herself that in time they would speak of it. Or she would talk, he would listen, then they would argue. It had always been that way with her grandfather.



Brenna walked toward the hacienda. She and her sisters had never paid attention to the feud, which, sixty years after it happened, still influenced Lorenzo Marcelli’s every action. They’d listened to the grown-ups talk and had rolled their eyes. But her grandparents had taken it seriously, as had her parents. So when she’d turned sixteen and had fallen in love with Nicholas Giovanni, she hadn’t told a soul.



A lifetime ago, she reminded herself. Back when she had been young and idealistic, and had thought that love would last forever.



Zach made notes on the file in front of him, but it was difficult to concentrate with the beat of loud music swirling around him. He glanced at the ceiling, toward David’s bedroom. His son was home for a few days, recovering from finals, and he’d invited a few friends over to help him celebrate temporary freedom. While Zach enjoyed having his son around, even for a short time, the teenagers and their loud music made him feel old.



He glanced at his watch, then at the phone. He hadn’t seen Katie or spoken with her since she’d disappeared from his bed three mornings before.



Sneaking out before dawn was usually his job, he thought ruefully. As a rule, he preferred to be the guest rather than host so he could end the date when he was ready. That hadn’t happened with Katie, and when he’d awakened to find her side of the bed cold and not a trace of her in the house, he’d had a moment of compassion for all the women he’d treated in the same way.



“Payback’s a bitch,” he murmured.



He knew she’d enjoyed their time in bed, as had he. He guessed the physical connection had left her as rattled as it had left him. So they both needed time to regroup. Not a problem. He could wait her out.



But the cool confidence of his thoughts didn’t keep him from glancing back at the phone and wondering why the hell she hadn’t called him.



He returned his attention to his notes. He was involved in a particularly tricky case between a software multimillionaire and his high-school sweetheart turned soon-to-be ex-wife. This time he represented the husband who had found out that the love of his life hadn’t just been screwing the pool boy. She’d also had a torrid affair with the maid and the maid’s husband.



“To each his own,” he muttered as he checked a few minor points of law.



Sometime later David turned off the music. Zach barely noticed. However, he did look up when he heard footsteps on the hardwood floor. The kids trooped toward the front door. A couple paused to yell out thanks for allowing them to visit.



“No problem,” Zach told them.



David came downstairs last, a pretty redhead walking with him. They were deep in conversation.



Zach made a few more notes in the margin. He and David were going to go grab an early dinner, then take in a movie. Mia had some plans with a club on campus, so he and David were just going to be a couple of wild guys on the town.



Real wild, Zach thought with a grin. Dinner and a movie, home before ten.



A soft giggle caught his attention. He glanced up and saw David still talking to the redhead. She leaned against the wall by the front door. One hand toyed with a long strand of hair, the other rested on his son’s chest. David stood pretty damned close and looked cozy enough to make Zach feel as if he were spying.



Zach swore. What the hell was his kid up to?



He slammed the law book shut and they both jumped. David glanced at him over his shoulder, then opened the front door. “I’m going to walk Julie to her car, Dad. Be right back.”



Zach watched him go. This wasn’t his business, he told himself. Except David was supposed to be engaged—something Zach was still trying to change—and if there was another young woman in the picture, then there were even more reasons the marriage shouldn’t take place.



Indecision held him in his seat for nearly fifteen seconds, then Zach rose and crossed to the front window. Julie had already climbed into her car. The door was open and David had crouched next to her.



They were talking, Zach could see that much, but he had no idea about what. Nor was he sure what happened when David leaned forward slightly. Shit. Had he kissed her? Was David cheating on Mia? Was his problem solved? Or was David going to take after his grandfather and be a cheating spouse? The possibility of the latter made Zach’s stomach clench.



Annoyed with both David for acting like an ass and himself for witnessing it, Zach returned to his seat. David strolled back into the house a minute or so later and slumped down on the sofa across from Zach’s seat.



“How’s work going?” his son asked, jerking his head at the pages on the table.



“Slow, but I’m getting there.”



“I don’t think I’d want to be a lawyer. Too much boring reading.”



“There’s a lot of that.” Zach couldn’t decide if he should say anything or not. If he pushed, David could dig in his heels. Maybe a more neutral topic would be safer.



“Have you given any thought to what you would like to do?”



David shrugged. He wore a UCLA sweatshirt and jeans. As usual, his hair was too long. At least the kid had never been into earrings or tattoos. He thought briefly of Francesca in her fake tattoos and shuddered. Going around dressed up like that was a strange occupation for a woman in her late twenties.



No. It was a strange occupation for anyone.



“What classes do you like?” Zach asked. “I was never interested in math, but your mother’s father was an engineer. You might have inherited some aptitude from him.”



“It’s okay.” He shifted in the sofa, stretching out. His head practically rested on the arm of the sofa. “Biology has been kinda interesting, but I hate the lab. I dunno.”



Zach picked up a pen and turned it over in his hands. “You still have a lot of time to decide.” He glanced back at David. “Is Mia pressuring you to pick something?”



“What?” David straightened. “No. Not really.”



“Okay. I just wondered. Katie said Mia has known what she wanted from school for years.”



“Mia’s like that.”



“What about Julie?”



David grinned. “She’s like me. She doesn’t have a clue.”



“She seems nice.”



David glanced out the window. “She is. We’re friends. We were just talking about some stuff.” He cleared his throat. “You know, I’ve been thinking.”



Zach wondered if he should pursue the “Julie” line of conversation, then decided to let it go rather than tip his hand. “About what?”



“About school and stuff. I’ve been thinking that I might want to transfer to a different school in a year or two.”



It took Zach a couple of seconds to realize what he’d heard. “You want to leave UCLA?”



Leave? But that was the only college David had ever wanted to attend. They’d been going to football games and basketball games together for years. Now David went with his friends more than his father, but he still went.



“I don’t understand,” Zach said. “Don’t you like your classes?”



“They’re okay.”



“I know you’ve made friends. What’s the problem?”



David looked as if he’d just tasted liver. “Why does there have to be a problem? I’m doing great. I really like UCLA. I don’t want to leave, I just—” He studied the floor. “Mia is going to be graduating next year, and she really has her heart set on going to Georgetown for her master’s.”