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“That’s a good idea. I like it,” I said.
We bought our tickets and headed to the bus that would take us up the hill and the castle. I took the time to chat with some of the other visitors and found out a couple had come all the way from Australia just to see the castle and do other things along the coast. Jason didn’t join in but I looked over my shoulder at him a few times while I chatted with the couple and could see him smiling at me.
I wondered if that would be how we would be from now on. Finding the balance and using what we were best out to accomplish what we needed. He was good with the behind the scene stuff, while I was better with people and getting them to open up with me.
We did the tour upstairs where the main library and guest suites were. The docent was informative about the history and what life was like for Mr. Hearst and his guest while they were there. I could tell that Jason was impressed with the library and I teased him that he would love to spend an afternoon reading on one of the couches. He didn’t disagree with me.
I let him take the time to explore the rooms and was impressed by how opulent everything was. Mr. Hearst knew how to make everything look incredible and it was amazing what he had done with his house, even if it hadn’t been finished before he died.
We had about a half-hour to kill between tours and we took the time to wander around the grounds. We looked at the Roman style outdoor pool, walked along the gardens and staircases before meeting up with the second tour to look at the kitchen and the guest cottages.
Jason was just as impressed with the cottages as he was the library, which had been used to house the family while the main house was being built and then to guests later on. I tried to imagine what it would be like to have been a guest back in the day.
From what the docents said, it was quite the place to be. We ended the tour going through the kitchen and then descended the spiraling staircase to the wine cellar. Mr. Hearst wasn’t much of a drinker but he was an excellent host and made sure that only the best wine was available for his guests, even during prohibition.
“Do you get to drink the wine?” I asked the docent, Mary, before we headed back upstairs.
“No. However, I wish we could. The national parks aren’t allowed to accept alcohol so all the wine is technically still the property of the Heart Family estate. But the bottles are the parks.”
“How does that work?” Jason asked.
“Simple. If the family wants to have some wine, they come and pick out a bottle. They just have to bring the bottle back once it is empty.”
“That’s an interesting little arrangement you have,” I said.
“I thought you might agree. Would you like to take a bottle?” Mary asked.
“Of course, we would, but we can’t,” I said.
“Natalie, everything is possible if you just believe it can be done,” Mary said.
I looked over at Jason and he smiled back at me. It was a statement that Kevin had made all the time. We had somehow again ended up in the right place. It looked like Kevin had arranged for us to have a bottle of Hearst wine.
“You’re right. We would love to have some wine. How will it work?” I asked.
She didn’t answer me but walked over, pulled out a bottle of wine and handed it to me. “Take this, drink it, enjoy it with a nice meal and someone special,” she said and eyed Jason and then me.
“We will,” I said and took the bottle carefully from her.
“How do we get it back to you? How does that work?” Jason asked.
“You’ll figure it out. Thank you for coming to the castle and enjoy the rest of your day,” she said and gestured to the staircase and for us to leave.
We did and when we were back outside and we looked down at the bottle. Jason stood next to me and looked over my shoulder. I could feel his breath against my ear and I had to suppress a shudder from going through my body. The label had long since fallen to decay and age and it was hard to figure out what it said but it looked to be a Bordeaux wine.
Jason tilted his head and looked over at me. “It looks like we have a bottle of wine to drink. Shall we?”
Chapter 16
Jason
“I’m sorry, sir. There must have been some misunderstanding. We only have one room available; we’re completely full. There’s a comic book convention in town this weekend and we don’t have anything.”
“You don’t have anything? Do you think anyone else will?” Natalie asked.
“It’s hard to say, you might find something down the way, a little farther away from town, but you would have to check. Do you want the room or not? If you’re going to give it up, then I need to know. I’ve already had to turn away people and I’d rather not do that if I have a room.
“We’ll take the room,” I said.
