Page 73

“Yeah. You can say that again,” I bark.

Sebastian puts a hand on my shoulder.

I scratch my head. “It’s kind of a stretch, but there’s Brandy with The Naked Grape. She’s been aggressively hounding me for business ever since the mold hit. But I can’t imagine she would go this far.” But at this point, I don’t trust anybody.

Old Man Morris lets out a dry, gravelly laugh, shaking his head as he wipes his face with a rag.

“Hell, Chief, if you want a full list of suspects, you might need all of Sam’s jilted lovers and their pissed-off significant others.” Hank sneers, tossing the rag onto the rig. “The boy’s lifestyle over the last two decades hasn’t exactly made him a lot of friends in this town.”

I shoot Hank a dark glare, though I can’t even argue the point. My idiotic past is a mile long. I’m regretting most of my decisions, personal and financial. And now someone is actively trying to burn my grandfather’s legacy to the ground.

The heavy odor of smoke and charred timber follows me into the house. The stench clings to my clothes, my hair, and my skin. But I’m just glad none of us was seriously hurt.

When I step into the kitchen, the light is on. Alexis is sitting alone at the island, an untouched cup of tea in front of her.

Has she been up all night?

The moment the front door clicks shut, her head snaps up. Her eyes are wide with concern. She takes one look at my soot-stained sweatshirt and boots and immediately springs from her chair. “Sam,” she yells, rushing across the room to meet me. Her hands hover over my arms, wanting to pull me close but hesitating as she assesses the damage. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine, Lex.”

“Were they able to put the fire out?”

“Yes. It’s out,” I reassure her, my voice hoarse from breathing in smoke for so long. I capture her cold hands in mine, rubbing my thumbs over her knuckles, if only to ground myself in the reality of her being here and unhurt. “The back quadrant is gutted, but the fire department kept it from spreading to the tree line or worse.”

Alexis lets out a shuddering breath, her shoulders dropping. “Thank God. Do they know how it started? Was it a brush fire or something?”

I swallow hard. I look directly into her eyes, unwilling to lie to her. “It wasn’t an accident, Lex. I stayed back with the fire marshal after the trucks cleared out. I found a steel can tossed near the tree line. They confirmed traces of an accelerant. The police and the fire department believe it was arson.”

Alexis pales. “Arson?” Her fingers tighten around mine in shock. “Sam, who would do something like that?” She stops, a sudden, horrifying realization dawning in her eyes as she searches my face. “Do you think your mother could be behind this?” The question hangs like smoke in the quiet kitchen.

“Possibly,” I admit, my voice betraying the humiliation of being related to someone I even have to consider as a suspect. The thought makes my stomach churn with pure, unadulterated venom. “She’s backed into a corner, Lex. The fact that she’s losing every piece of leverage she ever had over me.” It’s probably killing her that Lexi and I found our way back to one another after all of her hateful taunts. “I wouldn’t put a damn thing past her at this point.”

I step closer, holding her face in my hands. I’m beyond caring that my hands are covered in soot. I need her to understand the gravity of where we are now. “Listen to me,” I demand, my gaze locking onto hers with a fierce intensity. “Sutter Creek can burn to the ground for all I care. The barn can be rebuilt; the wine can be replaced. None of that means a damn thing to me if anything were to happen to you. The most important thing to me is that you stay safe.”

Tears shimmer in her eyes. She nods, resting her hands over mine. “It’s the same for me. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.”

“I mean it,” I press, my thumb brushing over her lower lip. “No more late-night drives home from the clinic alone. We’re locking the gates at night, putting extra security on the property, and taking every precaution possible until the police finish their investigation. If my mother, or anyone she hired, thinks they can get to you, they’re going to find out real fast what I’m capable of.”

I pull her against my chest, wrapping my arms around her tightly. Burying my face in her hair and breathing in the sweet scent of her, I try to scrub the smell of smoke and ash from my mind.

And the fear of what this could do to Sutter Creek.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Sam

The dense smell of soot still hangs thick in the air. Sitting at the edge of the charred ruins of the back quadrant of our vineyard feels like enduring another death. There’s been a lot of that between the fields of our two families. First, the horrendous year Alexis lost her mom and dad, a few years later when she lost her gram, then Pop.

I stare up at the sky. There’s no shaking the overwhelming sadness I feel. “I’m trying so hard, Pop. Now this. Could you give me some sort of sign of what I’m supposed to do about this?” How do I turn this red light into a green light, as Matthew McConaughey would say?

What are the odds that both the mold and the fire would hit this one spot? It’s the farthest from the main house. Thus, someone would be less likely to be caught sneaking around here in the dark. We definitely need better security around here. Guess I need to add another line item to the list of expenses when the trust money is finally deposited. If there’s even a Sutter Creek left by that point. Scanning the remains of the fire, an idea suddenly comes to mind.

What if?

What if we could do something completely unexpected back here? We typically have enough harvest from the remainder of the vineyard to provide for a successful year. Once I can afford to rehire the needed vineyard workers, we will need a better system to ensure the grapes are monitored closely to prevent loss. As long as we can maximize the remaining rows to produce what we need and adjust our prices when there is an excellent vintage, we could use this area for something completely unrelated. Looking back and forth from my grandfather’s estate to Lexi’s family farm, an idea starts to build.

You know, this might just work.