Passionate Harvest (2 page)

Lucy stared out of the passenger window at the dreary wetness. Her heart ached as she remembered her godfather. For the last two years he had emailed her almost daily, sending jokes, information on causes that he thought she would be interested in and snippets of conversation about his daily life. They had talked on Skype once a week on her day off, where he’d brushed aside her worries about his health with his usual humour.

“I wish I’d had the chance to say goodbye.” Overwhelmed by her emotions, she tugged a tissue from her pocket and dabbed at her eyes.

At least if she’d been in time for the funeral she would have had some sense of closure. Instead she was trapped in this ghastly mockery of reality where she still felt as if Nick would appear again at any moment to crack a joke or give her a hug.

Dominic didn’t reply, instead he put on the car indicator and took the next turn.

“Where are we going? She realised he’d turned off from the road that led to Nick’s house.

“I’m giving you chance to say goodbye.” He pulled into an empty parking space outside the crematorium, before jumping out and crossing around the back of the car to open her door.

Lucy hooked her handbag onto her shoulder and accepted his hand to help her down. His touch was curiously reassuring, helping her to gather her skittering nerves.

“We can go round to the memorial garden, all the flowers are there.” He tucked her hand through the crook of his arm so that as they walked towards the small redbrick building she could lean on him for support.

The memorial gardens stretched all around the building, green and peaceful despite the drizzle. Flowerbeds crammed with roses of varying colours perfumed the damp air with their heady scent. Dominic led the way around the back of the building to a small enclosed courtyard. A grey stone fountain played in a centre pool and all around the perimeter were the floral tributes from different funerals.

Lucy was glad of his support as they made their way to the area set aside for Nick’s tributes.

“He asked for money to go towards the causes he supported but Nick had a lot of friends who wanted to leave flowers too,” Dominic said quietly.

Her vision blurred as she read the cards, each of them paying tribute to the man who had provided her with the one piece of certainty in her chaotic childhood.

“Thank you for bringing me. I wish I could have been here for Aunt Maggie. This must have been so hard for her.” She dropped his arm to find more tissues from her bag so she could blow her nose.

“We’d better go, it’s getting wetter out here.”

 “Goodbye Uncle Nick,” she murmured, taking a last look at the flowers.

Dominic appeared to sense her need for silence when they returned to the car, and to her relief he made no further attempts to engage her in conversation until they had pulled into the sweeping drive of Nick’s former home.

“We need to meet to talk about Nick’s bequest.” Dominic climbed out of the car once more and collected her case from the boot. “Have you ever visited the vineyard?”

Lucy’s pulse quickened once more as he helped her from the car and passed over her case. When he wasn’t being angry he was strikingly handsome. “No, I haven’t been home for over two years. I’ve seen e-mail pictures of course.”

He walked with her the couple of paces to the front door. “If you’re free tomorrow I could pick you up and give you a tour. We could talk over lunch?”

“That would be nice.” She heard her aunt’s footsteps hurrying along the polished parquet floor of the hall to let her in. “Would you like to stay for coffee? I’m sure Maggie will have the kettle on.”

He glanced at the large steel watch on his wrist. “I’m afraid I can’t. Besides, I’m sure you must be pretty exhausted by now after all the travelling. I’ll see you in the morning about eleven.”

He strode away, waving a hand in farewell as her aunt opened the door.

“Oh, is Dom not coming in?” Maggie asked.

“No, he said he had to get back.” Lucy couldn’t help feeling oddly disappointed by his quick getaway.

“Humph, well he isn’t much of a one for socialising. Nick always used to nag him about being too wrapped up in work. Come on in, you must be shattered.” Maggie helped her to get her case into the hall.

Maybe it wasn’t the thought of spending more time in her company then after all that had made Dominic leave so rapidly, Lucy thought as she followed her aunt along the hall and into the kitchen.

“I’ll pop the kettle on, I bet you’re dying for a proper cup of tea. You always said how you missed your tea when you were away.” Maggie bustled around clattering mugs, spoons and other bits of kitchen equipment as she busied herself with making Lucy’s drink.

The house hadn’t changed much since her last visit. The kitchen still smelt of fresh baked bread and percolated coffee. The curtains were still a cheery blue and white checked gingham and Maggie herself, although a little older, still wore her favourite rose pink cardigan. Lucy took a seat at one of the pine kitchen chairs and slipped off her jacket.

“There you go, love.” Maggie placed a mug of tea and a plate of custard creams on the table before taking her seat in the chair opposite Lucy’s.

“Thanks Maggie, you were right, I do need this.” She picked up her mug and cradled it between her hands allowing the heat from the china to warm her skin.

“Did everything go all right with Mr Fullwood? He explained about the house and everything?” Her aunt’s eyes darkened with anxiety.

“Yes, and I’m thrilled that Uncle Nick left you the house. It’s been your home for such a long time.” Lucy gave the older woman’s hand a reassuring pat. “Uncle Nick left me his share of the vineyard.” She took another sip of her tea.

Maggie helped herself to one of the custard creams and frowned. “That must have come as a surprise.”

“Of course, being Uncle Nick there are strings attached.” Lucy wondered if Maggie had known what was in the will. Nick had confided in his elderly sister about almost everything.

“Ah,” Her aunt blew out a breath.

“What was he thinking? I don’t know anything about growing grapes or producing wine. I’m sure Dominic isn’t happy about it.”

“Oh love, you know your Uncle Nick. He worried about you taking those jobs with the holiday companies and he said lately you’d seemed rather unsettled.”

Lucy nibbled at the edge of a custard cream. She thought she’d done a good job of sounding bright and breezy in her emails and during the Skyped conversations with her godfather. She clearly hadn’t done such a great job after all.

Maggie surveyed her shrewdly over the brim of her mug. “He thought maybe a year back home, here, might help you to decide what you really wanted to do. When he knew that he wasn’t going to get better he changed his will. I told him he should talk to you first but you know what he was like. You do know you can come back and live here, don’t you pet? This is your home too you know.”

Surrounded by the cosy comfort of Maggie’s kitchen, Lucy allowed herself to dream of coming back. Of leaving Tenerife which held both good and bad memories for her, and swapping her tiny apartment share for her old room here in this house.

“That’s really kind of you, Maggie.” To Lucy’s dismay her voice wobbled as she tried to answer her aunt and two large tears plopped onto the scrubbed pine surface of the table.

“Oh love, there now.” Maggie grabbed a box of tissues from the countertop and passed them across to her.

“I’m sorry.” Lucy grabbed a handful of tissues and scrubbed at her eyes and nose uncaring about the black streaks of mascara that appeared on the soft paper.

“What is there to be sorry about? I’d love to have you back here, you know that. I know you have your job and everything but I got the impression that you aren’t as happy out there as you’ve been making out.” Maggie gently rubbed Lucy’s arm, the way she’d always used to when Lucy had been younger and had come home from school upset about something.

“What would I do though at the vineyard?” She didn’t add ‘and what about working with Dominic’, although it was at the forefront of her thoughts.

“Dominic would soon show you the ropes so you could learn how the business runs. He can seem a bit cold when you first meet him but when you get to know him he’s got a good heart. Nick has lots of books in the study which would help you, I’m sure you’d pick it up without too much trouble.”

“I’ve signed a contract, I’ve got obligations, I can’t simply drop everything and move back here,” Lucy sniffed. It was a mad idea, even if her inheritance was worth so much money. How could she possibly manage everything?

“Do you really want to go back to Tenerife?” Maggie asked.

Loneliness swept through Lucy like a physical ache as she considered returning to the island. It had been such fun when she’d first arrived there. Blue skies, a job she liked and above all there had been Christopher. What a fool she’d been where he was concerned. There wasn’t anything on Tenerife now to really draw her back, except a sense of obligation.

Maggie sighed, “Forget I asked that. You’ve just come home and with the funeral and all the travelling now isn’t the time to be making any kind of decision.”

“I am glad to be back, Aunt Mags. I only wish that it wasn’t for such a horrible reason.”

“I know love.” Her aunt drained her tea and stood, steadying herself with the edge of the table before carrying her empty mug to the sink.

Lucy realised she had been wrong earlier, Maggie had aged. Perhaps it was time she finally came home to take up her unexpected inheritance and to stay with her elderly aunt.

* * *

Dominic headed back to his small cottage on the edge of the vineyard properties. Mr Fullwood’s revelations about the contents of Nick’s will still hadn’t quite sunk in. What had Nick been thinking, to leave his shares to Lucy? The girl had no idea of what was involved in running a business, any kind of business. She was a nursery nurse.

When he’d impulsively made the offer to buy her out he’d known he wouldn’t be able to raise so much capital in such a short time frame. If Lucy decided she couldn’t make it through the twelve months and the shares went onto the open market there were plenty of buyers out there who’d be anxious to snap them up. He and Nick had received offers before, usually from larger conglomerates eager to incorporate Oakdale into their businesses.

The only thing he could do was to persuade Lucy to stay for twelve months working for the vineyard. Somehow he had to find jobs she could do which would keep her happy but not so happy that she wouldn’t be relieved to give him first option to buy her out at the end of the year. It also meant he had twelve months to raise as much capital as possible.

Lamplight shone from one of the cottage windows as he pulled up outside. It looked as though Bob, one of the vineyard workers had remembered to stop by. He slipped his key in the lock and heard the familiar patter of Mutley’s paws on the red quarry tiles of the boot room floor as his dog came to greet him. He grabbed the huge dog’s collar to prevent him from planting his huge paws on his one good jacket.

“Hey, down boy. Did you miss me?” He scratched the dog’s head, fussing him until the animal contentedly settled and followed at his heels as he entered the kitchen.

Dominic slipped off his coat, draped it over the back of one of the kitchen chairs and dropped his keys onto the counter top. He opened the fridge and pulled out a small bottle of lager. Popping the stopper he took a long pull of the cold drink. Tomorrow he had to take Lucy on a tour of the vineyard and convince her she wanted to stay. Not an easy task when they hadn’t exactly got off to the best of starts. To make matters worse there was something about her that unsettled him.

He wasn’t sure if it was the sadness in her dark blue eyes or the frisson of electricity that he’d felt when he’d tucked her arm in his at the cemetery. Either way it wasn’t good. He didn’t have time for relationships, especially ones which mixed business with pleasure. That was a lesson he’d learned the hard way and the reason he’d left his home in California behind to take up a partnership in the UK, in Oakdale. A fleeting memory of Sasha, smiling like a contented cat the last time he’d seen her flashed through his mind.

“Damn you, Nick.” He took another swig of lager. Perhaps by tomorrow he would be able to come up with a plan.

Lucy woke the next morning to bright sunshine and the aroma of a freshly made cup of tea next to her bed. A hasty panicked glance at her bedside clock told her that she’d overslept. She only had an hour before Dominic was due to call and take her on a tour of the vineyard.

Lucy sat up and took a long draught of her tea. She’d dreamt about Dominic, a crazy hazy dream involving grape vines, her Uncle Nick and Dominic’s ice blue eyes. If she were being honest with herself, she thought as she dragged her slightly crumpled jeans from the wardrobe, her dreams had mostly involved Dominic. The idea felt faintly disturbing and she shivered despite the warmth of the morning as she pulled on her pale blue tee shirt.

She took extra care with her hair and make-up before running downstairs to the kitchen. Quite why she felt the need to impress him didn’t bear too close an inspection, especially given the nature of a few of the dream fragments she could remember. She could only assume the stress of the previous day had unsettled her both equilibrium, and her libido.

Her Aunt Maggie had already gone out, leaving her the spare set of house keys along with a note on the pine table.

‘Gone to the supermarket, the cereal you like is in cupboard. Have a good time at the vineyard. Maggie’

Lucy smiled as she dropped the keys into her bag. Darling Maggie, she’d almost certainly gone to buy more of the things that she knew Lucy liked best. Like the blend of coffee she preferred and the extra strong cheeses that Uncle Nick had always said smelt like old socks. Maggie and Nick had always spoilt her.

The smile left her lips as quickly as it had bloomed as she remembered her godfather. Before she had the opportunity to follow Maggie’s instructions to fix herself some breakfast the dull diesel roar of Dominic’s car sounded at the front of the house. Nervous butterflies replaced low level hunger in her stomach and she left the cereal packet unopened on the counter.