I flipped through my notes.
“Lifting floorboards, rotting pillars, water damage from the rain. I’m trying to see what can be salvaged. This whole thing falls apart if I can’t get it into a reasonable budget for Marlon to even consider it.”
Wyatt nodded slowly. “Come with me.”
“…for?”
“I wanna show you something.”
I looked back at the TaskRabbit guy. “I’ll be back. Watch Chewy.”
Then I hooked the leash on a nail that was hanging from the wood.
“My name is Hartland, by the way,” he said.
“Noted.”
I stepped out with Wyatt.
We walked through the rows, the ground still damp underfoot. The air had shifted since earlier. Warmer now, but still quiet.
“What areyoudoing up this early, Wy?”
His eyebrow cocked at the nickname but he didn’t question it.
“I like the mornings here,” he answered. “I like the quiet before the workers come in. Gives me time to think.”
“You not from around here, huh?”
“Belgium,” he said. “Before that Spain. Before that France. Chile. Argentina. New Zealand. Italy.”
I groaned. “Ugh. I’m supposed to be in Italy right now. I’m missing my Milan summer.”
He smiled slightly. “Why are you here, Ms. Rodriguez?”
“Bad decisions,” I rolled my eyes. “You? Lavender said you were helping with the launch. Why you still here?”
“I’ve been a winemaker for over a decade,” he said. “Yes, Marlon brought me on for the new line. But… I stayed. I like his approach. I like how hands-on he is. I like the property.”
He glanced at me.
“Some really beautiful things pass through here every now and again.”
Then he tilted his head toward the horizon. The sun was rising over the vineyard, light stretching across the rows.
“Wow,” I closed my eyes for a second, letting the warmth settle on my skin. “It’s really nice out here.”
“Exactly,” he said. “It’s hard to walk away from that. But I can see myself coming back for a wine tasting or two.”
“Really?”
“You gotta fix this place up, Ms. Rodriguez,” he said. “It’s too beautiful to fall to ruin. I don’t want your family to lose it.”
“We won’t.”
“Ms. Aurora!”
I turned sharply.
