My twin would be bent over a computer too, no doubt, but his interests were less involved with technology and more with news and finances. He was rarely seen without his phone on him, capable of pulling up spreadsheets and other financial forms at the drop of a hat. As the kitchen had been rebuilt, he nearly committed the entire cost to memory and was able to tell Derek and Noah what could and couldn’t happen off the top of his head usually. It was impressive, just not who I was or what I was interested in.
Thankfully, everyone also seemed to feel the same way about the grapes and was perfectly fine to leave me alone to do that work in peace.
I made my way through the building, heading to the main office. I could hear voices from inside and was surprised to hear that one of them was female. Not knowing who I was walking in on, I knocked on the door and waited for the sound of both Cameron and Alex inviting me inside.
“Hey,” I said as I came in.
“Hey, Kane,” Cameron replied.
My eyes went to the woman in the office with them. She seemed to be pacing back and forth and at the moment had her back to me. She was tall, which immediately stood out. I still dwarfed her, but she wasn’t like some of the dainty, short women who were hired to be waitresses in the restaurant. But this woman wasn’t here to be a waitress. Her plain business suit gave that way.
Her hair had been tamed into a tight French braid to fit with the business look and keep it out of her face on the vineyard, but that didn’t disguise how beautiful it was. Thick, shiny, and naturally blonde, the main part of it was creamy and pale, almost like butter. The streaks of gold that ran through it sparkled in the sunlight coming in from the windows.
When she turned around to face me, I was even more struck by her.
Her bright blue glasses were quirky and adorable perched on a small nose. Thick, dark eyelashes framed wide violet eyes, and I felt my knees go weak. Her clothes and demeanor seemed to put out an impression that she was intense and no-nonsense, but those glasses tipped her off as being far more playful and interesting than that. I could tell already she was a unique woman unlike what I had encountered before. And I was instantly smitten.
This was definitely not the curmudgeonly old inspector I’d dealt with once before. If I had known something like this was waiting for me, I would have paid better attention to the time and cut my romp through the fields a little shorter.
4
Danica
The adorable little bed-and-breakfast just outside of town was everything I hoped it would be. It reminded me of exactly why I tried to stay in little places like it rather than big hotels when I was traveling. The more well-known names might have been more convenient to find off the highway and have more predictable amenities, but there was an undeniable charm about a bed-and-breakfast or a family-owned inn.
I loved how hospitable and personal they felt. Hotels could feel sterile and generic. No matter how long I stayed in one, every time I showed back up to the cold, tidied room, I felt like I was intruding. It was my clothes and my pillow, but the space never felt comfortable.
Staying at these little places felt more like visiting friends or family I didn’t actually know. That part was a little awkward, but after a day or two, they knew me by name, and it felt better. The cozy atmosphere and actual keys rather than weird plastic cards completely compensated for it. A homemade breakfast cooked in an actual kitchen also beat hotel coffee and DIY waffles any day.
I still hadn’t mastered the art of pouring the right amount of batter into the iron, anyway. Inevitably it either ended up a sad little partial waffle without enough crevices to fill with a decent amount of butter and syrup or overflowed all over the place. Nothing got a day off to an uncomfortable start like being the reason a public waffle bar got shut down for deep cleaning.
Another benefit of staying at the bed-and-breakfast was how close it was to the King Vineyard. Finding it was easy. Once I got there, finding the office was just as easy. At least I could say the King family had a good handle on effective signage. That was where the ease of my work ended, however. There were no signs to point me toward the errant vintner.
In the materials sent to me, there were plenty of pictures of the vineyard itself. I got a chance to see the vines and the buildings, and even some of the plans the brothers had. My primary concern was the grapes, but vineyard owners often sent me information about their vineyards and what set them apart from others. That bit of context could be valuable when I was evaluating their viability and could help me understand why they were growing specific varieties of grapes.