Love in the Vineyard (The Tavonesi Series Book 7) (16 page)

As if she needed any clearer warning. A friend. He’d called the long-legged beauty a friend. Did he think she was an idiot? That she didn’t have eyes?

Tyler snapped on his seat belt. “Mom! We got invited to go out to Ryan Rea’s ranch.
Ryan
Rea
! He’s about the best center fielder in all of the Major Leagues. He has a batting cage. A
real
one.”

“We have to get ready to move into our new place, Tyler. We’re busy.”

“We aren’t moving until next week. I’d get to practice with the guys. Alex’s friend Adrian said he’d call you later today with directions.”

Alex’s friend. The guys.
Tyler had been scooped up from right under her nose. Her son was off limits. Using him to get to her was underhanded.

“And Ryan has a baby donkey,” Tyler went on. Natasha’s heart softened and she felt her brain turn to mush at Tyler’s pleading tone. “And he has a
big
garden. And maybe we can go to the beach after. Adrian says there’s a good boogie-boarding spot close to Ryan’s ranch.” He smacked his hand into his glove. “A
real
batting cage! And you know, knowing these guys who play in the majors could help Brandon and me. We’d have an
in
. I mean when we get out of college. They could—”

“Whoa. There’s a
lot
of schoolwork to be done between here and college. And years of practice if you want to play professional baseball.
Years
.” The fact that Tyler was already planning his career in the majors unsettled her. One out of a million boys made it to baseball’s Major League. And while she didn’t want to throw water on the fire of his dream, she wanted him to be realistic.

“Mom,
you
said that if I paid attention to my dreams, I’d never go wrong.”

Had she? She needed to be more careful with what she said. Tyler’s memory stored information like an armored Brink’s truck. She must’ve said it before her foolish bet. Before
her
dreams had steered her wrong. She’d learned a thing or two since that night.

“We can go to Ryan’s, right? Can we take Brandon? I bet he’s never even met a real baseball player. And Scotty Donovan might be there. He’s a pitcher. A stokin’-great pitcher. Brandon’ll
die
. He’s still mad at his mom for not letting him come with us today.”

“We’ll see.”

Tyler twisted in his seat to face her. “That means no.” He tapped her on the arm. “It’s not a very long drive.”

It wasn’t the drive she was worried about, but she couldn’t tell Tyler that.

She could avoid Adrian at work—he couldn’t cross the employee-employer line there, couldn’t make advances, not if she held to her boundaries. But if she saw him socially? Then the rules changed. And it wouldn’t be long before he discovered the monumental gap between them. Before he realized that though she hadn’t lied, she sure had been keeping information from him. She’d known all along that their worlds wouldn’t mesh—
he
hadn’t. This was no fairy story, no Hollywood movie. Heirs to fortunes did not marry women like her. And she liked him too much to see him casually. She wished it weren’t true, but it was. Sure, in the blush of infatuation they might believe their story could have a happy ending, but she wasn’t naïve. And she had been a fool. Her heart was all in and reality did not look pretty.

She’d known from the beginning that there’d be an end like this. Well, maybe not exactly like this, but an end. Maybe she’d better just throw her cards down and end it cleanly. Tell him that she lived in a homeless shelter. That she’d bet her
and
her child’s future on a vision from a dream. That she could barely read or do math. No,
that
she wouldn’t tell him. She needed her job.
Loved
her job. And she was good at what she did. No one at Casa del Sole needed to know about her disability.

She might as well face Adrian, square off and get the pain over with. And give him a piece of her mind for leveraging Tyler to get to her.
That
she couldn’t forgive.

But a part of her felt exuberant that he’d gone to such measures to try to spend more time with her.

“Mom—you’re doing the thing.”

Startled back from her thoughts, she dropped the strand of hair that she’d twisted around her finger.

“Okay, honey.
If
Mr. Tavonesi calls and formally invites you, you can tell Brandon he can come with us.”

Tyler whooped as if she’d just told him he was playing in the World Series.

“But remember, we still have to keep to our rules. No one gets our address. No one. Not even when we move into our new place.”

“Not even Brandon?”

Especially
not Brandon. His mother was the biggest gossip in the school PTA. A rich mom with nothing else to do but hawk everybody’s business. Discovering Tyler and Natasha’s hard luck would be a fine kernel of gossip indeed.

“No one, honey.”

“Got it. Can I use your phone to call Brandon and tell him about the batting cage?”

She nodded. She’d been impulsive again.

No, she was doting. She was the worst sort of doting mother. And damn proud of it.

Chapter Twelve

NATASHA SURE LEFT IN A HURRY,” COCO SAID as she tossed one of the baseballs in the air. “Didn’t you invite them to lunch?”

Adrian eyed his wily sister. “How do you know her name?”

“What do you mean? You’ve talked about her.”

“
I
didn’t even know her name until the night of the ballet.” He grabbed the ball out of the air on the next toss. “That date for the ballet was a colossally bad idea, by the way.
You
should have gone and
I
should’ve done something a whole lot more low-key. People could have fawned all over
you
. It was embarrassing for me and uncomfortable for Natasha. She must think I have an ego the size of LA.”

“No one could ever consider you a snob.”

“Coco, spill. How did you know her name?”

“She lives at Inspire—the homeless shelter I’m crafting the fundraising calendar for. But you have to keep that confidential. I shouldn’t have told you. I only know all this because I’m on the board of directors.”

“You mean she lives there like a sort of chaperone?”

“As a guest.”

“Define guest.”

“She was homeless.”

“But she has a son.”

“Adrian, did it ever occur to you that homeless women have sons? Daughters?” Coco planted her feet and fisted her hands to her hips. “Maybe
now
you’ll help me with my calendar. They need money for the Work in the World program. That’s the program that landed Natasha at Casa del Sole.”

“
You
hired her?”

“Goodness no. I just told Mary—Mary’s the director of Inspire—what sort of person we were looking for. I had no idea at the time that you’d be dating Natasha. Besides, once you did start seeing her, all Zoe and I knew was that you were dating some mystery woman. If you recall, you didn’t share much information.”

“I didn’t have much information.”

“But we knew from what you told us that you were falling for the woman you were seeing. And when Mary mentioned to me that Natasha had gone out hiking on the very same mountain you told me you’d been to, I put it together.
I
invited her and Tyler here today. I popped by the bake sale the boys were having and gave them an invitation.”

He kissed her. “For that, you get my undying love.”

“I thought I already had that. What I want is for you to help me with my calendar.”

“I can’t believe you’re negotiating at a time like this.” He kicked at a rock in the path leading up to Trovare Castle. “There shouldn’t be homeless women with children. There shouldn’t be homeless people at all. It’s crazy. Especially in a place like this. In a country as wealthy as this.”

Coco put her arm around his waist. “You know why I love you?”

He shook his head, still steaming that he’d been so clueless about Natasha and the facts of her life.

“Because you think the world should be a better place than it is. Because you do the work to
make
it a better place, Adrian.”

“Are you sure you weren’t left on Mama’s doorstep by an alien? You’re way too young to be so darned wise.” He paced a circle at the foot of the Trovare drawbridge. “None of this changes how I feel about Natasha.”

“I think you might have a hard time convincing her of that.”

“You know where she lives.”

“Inspire is off limits, Adrian. House rules. No visitors and no exposure. Some of the women are on the run from very nasty men.”

“I invited her to Ryan’s place tomorrow. Well, I invited her son to Ryan’s.”

Coco raised a brow. “You baited her boy?”

“I just told him about the batting cage. And the donkeys.
And
the boogie boarding Alex told me was nearby. What’s a boogie board, by the way?”

Coco ignored his question. “She isn’t going to like that.”

“I’ll apologize. I need to talk to her and I don’t feel right doing it at the vineyard. And since you won’t tell me where this Inspire place is, apparently it’s a good thing I invited them.”

“There are laws in this country about harassing employees.”

“For God’s sake, this is not harassment.”

“Only if she feels the same about you as you do her. You need to make sure she feels the same.”

“That’s exactly what I want.”

“Can I offer you some sisterly advice?”

“Why do I have the feeling that I’m going to regret saying yes?”

“You have no idea the effect you have on women; I don’t think you have a vain cell in your body. It’s another thing I love about you. But give her some space, Adrian. I can only imagine the shock she must be feeling. She’s likely to be unmoored by finding out the extent of your wealth.”

“If you thought that, then why didn’t you talk me out of taking her to the ballet?”

“I thought she’d really love it. And besides, I didn’t say unmoored was a bad thing. Natasha was going to find out who you are one way or another. And last I checked, the boat has to leave the dock to get the journey started.” She poked him in the ribs. “Just go
slow
. And follow your heart.” She poked him again, harder. “And get Matt and Alex to agree to pose.”

He put his hands to her shoulders. “Ah, you’re back. I was afraid the forces of life had replaced you with a woman with integrity. I see I have nothing to worry about on that front.”

But he had plenty to worry about on every other. He shouldn’t have dangled the lure to the boy. As he’d opened his mouth to extend the invitation, he’d known it was a devious tactic. He wouldn’t be surprised if Natasha decided to never speak to him again. But it was his best shot. Maybe his only shot.

Natasha pulled up in front of the brick mansion where the Exeters lived. The broad street was lined with other houses just like it. Big, impressive and old. According to Mary, these were the homes the wealthy owners of poultry farms had built at the turn of the twentieth century. Now they housed software moguls and people Mary referred to as “Silicon Valley escapees.”

Brandon dashed out of the house toward Natasha’s car, looking every inch like an escapee on the loose.

“Brandon Exeter!” Monica yelled as she followed him at a reserved pace. “No running.”

Brandon pulled up to a fast walk. When he reached the car, he threw his gear bag into the back seat and hopped in after it, slamming the door as if to keep his mother from spoiling any more of his fun. Natasha could only imagine the arguments he’d had to make to gain permission to go on the outing with her and Tyler.

Monica came around to Natasha’s window.

“Happy weekend,” Monica said with an uncharacteristically warm smile. “I still can’t believe the players are making time for our boys on a day when they have a night game. You’re so wonderful for inviting Brandon.”

Natasha’s defenses went on high alert. Monica had never been so cheery toward her before.

“Henry and I had a romantic brunch planned and then our sitter canceled.
You
are my new savior. It’s rare that Henry’s in town for a full weekend.” She peered into the back seat. “Please mind Mrs. Raley, Brandon.” She turned back to Natasha. “We’d like to have Tyler over tonight for a sleepover if you’ll let him. Henry rented the Ken Burns
Baseball
series and since there’s no school tomorrow because of the teacher in-service day, the boys have a marathon viewing session planned.”

Natasha took in a breath. All she needed right then was Monica Exeter mixed up in her life.

“Ken Burns!” Tyler’s excited voice had her shoving down her misgivings.

“I’ll have the boys back here around three.”

“I know this is last minute,” Monica said. “Tyler can borrow PJs from Brandon, and I have a stash of new toothbrushes.”

“You’re sure about this?” Natasha looked at Monica. Saw the lines etched in her face that had softened when she smiled. She’d never really looked at Monica before. She’d always seen what Monica represented—wealth and the prejudices that went along with it. Natasha began to wonder what else her own prejudices had prevented her from seeing.