Autumn in the Vineyard (A St. Helena Vineyard Novel) by Marina Adair Read Free Book Online Page B

her.
    Frankie forced her lips into an unsure smile, one she’d given a thousand times as a kid, and waited for him to respond. She watched him take a breath, a small step off the curb, another tentative one closer, and everything inside of her stilled.
    It was stupid to think that Charles might have come to support her. Even stupider to hope he would tell her how proud he was of her for Red Steel Cellars, the wine she was making to target the collector’s market. Not after the way he’d reacted when he’d discovered Red Steel. But she had still hoped.
    During the hearing, she’d even managed to convince herself that Charles had been at the back of the courthouse, hidden among the crush of people. But that silly, childish hope was extinguished now when she raised her hand and waved—and he took a huge step back, into his car and further out of her life. The disapproval rolling off of him as he drove away was like a physical blow.
    “Good to see you too,” Frankie called out and kicked at a pile of leaves in the gutter. This was why she’d bought Sorrento Ranch. Charles was so easy to disappoint and too stubborn to forgive. And she was tired of trying to live up to unattainable expectations.
    “Frankie?” Nate asked quietly.
    With shaky hands, she set her helmet on the seat of her bike and fished though her pocket, not wanting to turn around. She knew if she did, she’d see Nate standing behind her, wanting to make sure she was okay while his team of lawyers and supportive family waited for him inside. Nate with his Italian swagger and warm brown eyes that had a way of looking at her until she felt as though she weren’t all alone.
    He didn’t say a word but she could feel his concern radiating off him, drawing her in and she turned. Big mistake, because Frankie had never been a hugger, but for some reason she got one look at those arms—arms that made a woman feel safe—and wanted to walk right in and make herself at home. But like she said, she wasn’t a hugger.
    “If you’re here to make me an offer on the land, the answer is no.”
    His eyes went warmer, if that were even possible. “We’re prepared to offer you double what you paid.”
    “Wow. Did you expect me to jump up and down and say yes, when the entire town just discovered that the land is worth seven times what I paid?”
    He took a step forward. Toward her. “Look, I just want to help. You and I both know that Saul screwed us.”
    “
You
, golden boy. He screwed
you
,” she laughed. “I was straight up with Glow, did my homework, knew exactly what I was buying. And you heard the judge, I’ll be just fine.”
    “What if you lose the house?”
    “Then I sleep in the shed. Thanks for your concern.”
Not.
    Frankie fumbled with unlatching the chin strap of her helmet, but her damn hands weren’t working. Okay, maybe she wasn’t going to be fine. Her personal life was nonexistent, her family life was a train wreck, and she really didn’t want tothink about how alone she’d felt in that courthouse. Even though she knew her brothers were in San Francisco picking up Dax, that Charles was probably never going to talk to her again, and that Aunt Lucinda would have had her back if Frankie had told her, some stupid part of her heart had held out hope that her family would come rushing in to stand by her side. Like Nate’s had.
    But she had the land and a house—well, for at least the next thirty days. And she wasn’t going to screw this up. Now if she could just get Nate to stop looking at her like she was about to burst into tears at any minute she’d be fine.
    “Francesca,” Nate said, stepping closer and making her wish she was the kind of girl who could cry. Because then he’d give her a hug, and she really needed one. “I know how much a new tank costs. I also know that Charles never paid you a cent of what you were worth, because he knew you were trying to prove yourself. After buying the land and losing the water tank, you have