Sundown Crossing by Lynne Wilding Read Free Book Online Page B

different Rolfe—a charming, interesting man, something more than just her future brother-in-law.
    The wine-tasting was in full swing by the time Rolfe parked the sports car and he and Marta walked to the open cellar doors. There were almost eighty people inside with a bevy of waiters waiting on them, carrying trays of white and red wine, and hors d’oeuvres aplenty. In the far corner of the cellar a band, dressed in traditional costume, played German folk music.
    ‘Hope the music doesn’t make you homesick,’ Rolfe said as he handed Marta a glass of red wine. Born and raised in Baden-Baden, Marta was an only child, with one parent still living. Her father, Johan Gronow, had recently remarried and was involved at an executive level in the automobile industry. Rolfe believed Marta liked life at Stenhaus for two reasons—she was being treated like a princess and she enjoyed the larger family atmosphere in the house.
    ‘Not at all. I am having too good a time in my adopted country to be lonely for Germany,’ Marta said firmly. She sipped the wine. ‘Very refreshing. What is it?’
    ‘Sparkling burgundy. It cleanses the palate, according to Seppelts’s advertising campaign,’ he added a touch drily. ‘Australian women are fond of sparkling wines at the moment. I’ve heard that some tend to drink it as if it were a soft drink.’
    ‘That must give them a hangover. Do you know, I never get hangovers.’ She took a long drink of her wine. Marta tilted her head to one side to give Rolfe a more thorough look. ‘You and Kurt know so much about wine. I’m hoping both of you will teach me all about the wine industry. I want to learn and be able to join in discussions on the various aspects of it.’
    ‘I’d be pleased to.’
    ‘Perhaps,’ she continued to sip the wine, ‘I could come to Krugerhoff and observe the process.’
    ‘I’m sure Kurt would be happy to show you at Rhein Schloss.’
    She pulled a face, but in the next instant smiled beguilingly. ‘These days he is always too busy. We have not even had time to sit down and properly plan our wedding.’ She pouted as she stared at her almost empty wine glass. ‘I am a little cross with him about that.’
    Rolfe shrugged as if it wasn’t important but it was good to know that his brother wasn’t perfect. ‘It’s harvest time, which is the busiesttime of the year for the vineyards. In a few weeks, Kurt will have plenty of time for you.’
    He didn’t want to talk about Kurt, or about weddings, particularly their wedding. Just thinking of Marta and Kurt in the marriage bed, their arms entwined, left an unpalatable, bitter taste in his mouth. Mein Gott! No, he definitely did not want to think about that.
    Do something! he told himself. He saw the owner of de Bortoli’s Wines, who’d flown down from Griffith, no doubt to sniff out any new wines being produced, and to glean a little inside industry information. ‘Come, let me introduce you to a few people. You may remember some of them from your engagement party.’
    Marta saw a waiter passing by with a full tray of drinks. ‘But first another wine, yes?’
    He gave an inward sigh. Keeping Marta stonecold sober was going to be a challenge. ‘Of course.’
    For someone who’d probably drunk wine with dinner from an early age, as Rolfe and his siblings had, that Marta was more than a little inebriated by the time the wine-tasting wound up surprised him although she was far from being falling-down drunk. Even so she had to cling to his arm to control her wobbly legs as they walked back to the car. An evening breeze that rustled through a small stand of gums made Marta move her head from side to side to catch the wind in her hair. Rolfe took off his suit coat after he’d closed the door on her side of theMercedes, glad to be rid of it. And after putting the vehicle’s top down because it was cooler now, he slid behind the wheel. Marta put her hand on his shirt sleeve.
    ‘I had a lovely time. Thank you,