A Vintage Murder (2 page)

“Oh yeah, when you went there for that big-time celebrity soiree and didn’t invite me,” she joked.

Derek shook a finger at her. “Let’s get one thing straight: I know I should have told you a lot sooner about my feelings. I didn’t know how you would react. I didn’t know how you felt.”

How couldn’t he have known? She thought her signals had been loud and clear, like a neon sign.

“Anyway, you know what I’ve been through in the past, so as stupid as it might sound, I guess I was apprehensive about hanging my heart out there again.”

“It doesn’t sound stupid.” Nikki knew all about Derek’s unlucky-in-love history. He’d married a conniving, horrid woman who’d totally manipulated him without ever truly being in love with him. “I just wish you hadn’t taken so long to get smart, you big dummy.”

“Funny, huh? I like funny women, you know.”

“You do?”

“Oh yeah. What I’d really like is to take you back to the hotel and have my way with you.”

Oh boy, stomach flip-flop right on over, like a pancake on a griddle. “Hmmm.”

He held up a finger. “But business first this morning, and like we agreed on the plane, the first time will be an all-day affair.” He winked at her.

Oh yeah,
that
agreement. That had been her idea. How stupid had that been? But last night had been kind of sweet. They’d talked all night aboard the Malveaux jet and cuddled, ate excellent food, and drank champagne. Then, after a bottle of Dom Perignon and some slow kisses, the topic of sex had come up.

“Wow,” Derek had said after one long swap of the tongue that made Nikki’s toes curl.

“Yeah, wow.”

He laughed.

“What so funny?” she asked, feeling confused.

“I’m laughing because this is so crazy. You and me.” He leaned back in the cushy seat.

“Well, yeah, it is a little crazy, but . . .”

He took her hand. “No, I don’t mean crazy in a bad way.” He shook his head. “I know how your mind works. I mean crazy in a great way and I was laughing because if our kiss is any indication of . . . well, you know . . .” He wiggled his eyebrows.

Her face grew hot and all she could do was nod.

“You do want to, don’t you? Make love?”

Of course she did, but things did feel sort of weird. After all, Derek was her boss and she’d run away with him on the spur of a moment. Holy cow, this was the craziest thing she’d ever done in her life. “Yes,” she said tentatively.

“I don’t want to push you, Nikki. I can definitely book us separate rooms at the hotel.”

“No, no. I want to. It’s just when we do, I want it to be special.”

“Me, too.”

So when they’d landed in the middle of the night, exhausted from travel and emotions, they’d turned in with Derek taking the sofa in the hotel room and insisting she sleep in the bed. Although she’d been exhausted, she’d fallen asleep thinking she sure would have liked having Derek’s warm body by her side. Suddenly their idea of making their “first time” extra special seemed extra stupid, because no matter what, it was going to be special.

Nikki set the fantasies aside as they pulled up to the Hahndorf Winery. A security guard waved them to a stop at a kiosk. “I thought this was a mom-and-pop operation in the middle of nowhere. What gives?” Nikki asked.

“You got me. It does seem like overkill, and I had no idea Hahndorf would have security.”

Malveaux was one of the larger and more well-known wineries in Napa, and they didn’t have a setup like this. Not even close. Derek gave the security guard his name. The man glanced down at a sheet of paper. “Yep. G’day, sir. Says here you’re visiting with the Hahndorfs. Okay then, go straight ahead and over the small hill there and you’ll see the winery and house.”

Derek thanked the man and drove off.

Unlike Napa Valley, which in May would mean summer was near and so was picking season, in the Barossa, May was the end of autumn. Winter would arrive in the next month, just as the heat in Napa started to rise into the nineties.

“What’s that?” Nikki pointed toward the middle of the vineyard, where several trucks were parked, including a large semi. There was also a row of motor homes. She squinted to see if she could get a better look. “I think that’s a film crew.”

Derek slowed down. “Yeah, it looks that way. You should know.”

“It’s been a while.” Nikki had once played the starring role in a short-lived cop show when she’d pursued an acting career in L.A. The acting had never taken off, and she’d discovered she was much better at managing a winery than she could ever be at playing a detective on TV.

They pulled past the winery, its architecture very chateaulike, reminiscent of the wineries in France. “Jeez, if that’s the winery, what must the house look like?”

“Good question. We’re about to find out. I’m curious what they’re filming out there,” he said. “Maybe a commercial.”

“I don’t know, it seems like a lot of vehicles for a commercial.”

At the end of the drive, in an area secluded behind a row of gum trees, a house appeared. It wasn’t as opulent as the chateau. Though still quite large, it looked comfortable, like an English-style stone cottage.

Derek parked in the circular drive next to a row of expensive automobiles ranging from the sporty to the luxurious.

“He must like cars,” she said.

“I’d say someone does.” Derek climbed out, went around to her side, and opened the door for her, taking her hand.

“Such the gentleman.”

“My dad didn’t send me to private school for nothing. But, I hated that place, especially the etiquette class.”

“I’d say it paid off nicely.”

“Don’t get used to it. I’m only trying to impress you.”

“You’re funny, too.” They walked up a pathway lined with flowers and plants that Nikki assumed were native, because she didn’t recognize them. “Someone keeps a lovely garden.”

Derek pressed the doorbell. Chimes rang out from the other side of the door.

Soon a young woman in her early twenties swung the door open. She had long sandy blonde hair, large hazel eyes, pouty lips, and seemed awfully thin. She wore tight jeans and a low-cut orange cotton sweater. Nikki thought her pretty in the grunge, Kate Moss way that had hit heights of popularity back in the late nineties. “Oh, the film crew is down in the vineyard. You passed them,” she said in a heavy Aussie accent.

“We’re actually here to see Liam Hahndorf,” Derek said.

“Oh. Dad!” the girl shrieked. “Some man and woman are here for you.” She breezed past them, keys in hand. They watched her get behind the wheel of a navy blue Aston Martin. She took off in an apparent hurry.

“Well, well, g’day, mate!” A tall gray-haired gentleman with warm brown eyes and soft wrinkles forming around them appeared in the doorway. “Oh damn, Hannah. She’s gone again! Silly girl. She’s surprised us by taking a holiday from school. Says she’s not sure it’s for her. Oh boy, Grace won’t be happy about her running out of here like that.”

“I won’t be happy about what?” A middle-aged woman joined him. Nikki assumed she was the girl’s mother. They had the same eyes, and the woman was as thin as her daughter. She also had the same long blonde hair, but hers was pulled back tightly into a ponytail.

“Goodness, we have forgotten our manners. Grace, this is my friend Derek Malveaux. I told you he’d be dropping in with us today for some business. Good to see you.” The men shook hands. “This is my wife Grace, and that was Hannah, our terror of a daughter, who blew past you. I’m not sure how we’ll survive her.” Liam kissed his wife on the cheek. “Grace here is far more patient with her than I am.”

“Hardly. You spoil the girl something terrible. Nice to meet you, Derek.”

“And you. This is my girlf—ah, my winery manager and my assistant, Nikki Sands.”

He’d almost said girlfriend.
Girlfriend?
Wow. That had her in a spiral—a delicious spiral. She understood why he’d used her business title, but she couldn’t wait until things were more cemented between them and the formalities could be pushed aside.

“Where are my manners? Come in, you two,” Grace said.

They followed her through the entrance across light hardwood floors inlaid with another type of wood in a diamond pattern. Maybe walnut, but it was more reddish than walnut and quite dark. Possibly cherry. “Your floors are gorgeous, Grace. What type of wood are they?”

“It’s jarrah wood. A popular wood here in the bush. Somewhat on the expensive side, but I love it. I redecorated the house a few years back and couldn’t resist.”

“It’s lovely. The entire house is.”

No joke. The house looked larger on the inside than it had from outside, and Grace had done a great job of turning the manor into a cozy home with warm golden colors, family photos, colorful throw rugs, and leather sofas. Everything about the place spoke of wealth and sophistication, but also of care. For the family it had to be a nice place to live, because it was definitely a nice place to visit. Grace led them out to the back, where the gardens spread out and a lap pool took up a portion of the yard. Behind the pool, a large patch of grass rolled down to a flowing river. Vast woods stretched out across the river.

“This is gorgeous,” Nikki said. “What river is that?”

“That’s the North Para River,” Liam said. “More of a creek typically, but we had some decent rain this year, so we have a bit more water than usual, which is good because the water can be important to the Barossa Valley for viticulture. You can’t imagine how lucky we feel to have it run right through the property like this. Good stuff for the vines. Have a seat. Enjoy the view.”

“Nikki and I were wondering what’s going on here. When we turned into the vineyard, we saw all the activity.”

“Oh yes. Hollywood has come to our village. Our place really,” Liam replied.

“Hollywood?” Nikki said.

“It’s quite a story. We’ll have to tell you all about it, but let me grab the contracts for us to go over first. They’re in my office. I would also like to discuss some new matters that have come up, Derek. Would you like your assistant to join us?”

Derek looked at Nikki, who could see Liam wanted to discuss things with Derek in private, so she stepped back slightly, nodding to Derek though she wondered what it was all about. “Uh, no. Nikki why don’t you visit with Grace? We should be back soon.”

“Of course.” It felt really awkward to have been holding his hand less than half an hour ago, and now this stilted kind of weirdness.

“Yes, yes. You two take care of what you need to.” Grace waved them away. “We’ll head into the kitchen and have some tea.”

Nikki found Grace to be hospitable, and the tea was warm and soothing. They made small talk for quite a while. Nikki told her about the Malveaux Winery and Grace began to fill her in on the scene they saw when they’d entered the winery.

“You wouldn’t believe it. Shawn Keefer is doing a movie here, with Nathan Cooley directing it.”

“
The
Shawn Keefer?” Nikki’s jaw dropped. Shawn Keefer was only Hollywood’s most sought after leading man, and Nathan Cooley was the kind of director everyone in “the business” wanted to work with. He was a genius.

“No kidding. What’s the movie about?”

“I . . . don’t think I can discuss it. We had to sign a nondisclosure agreement with the film company.” Grace lowered her voice and looked pensive.

“Who else is in it?”

“One of those young starlets. The one who is supposedly so brilliant. But she’s quite a troublemaker, from what the tabloids say. We’ve even had some paparazzi lurking in our midst. It’s the pretty redheaded girl. That Lucy Swanson.”

“Oh yes, I’ve heard of her.” Who hadn’t? Lucy Swanson was a fine actress who’d starred in some successful films. She was also one of the new breed—if that’s what they could be called—of Hollywood: young women who spent too much time partying, getting busted, and then going back for more. This one hadn’t done any stints in rehab but rumor was that she needed to. At least she supposedly had a work ethic, and that was her main driving force. It might also be her saving grace. God, Nikki really had read too many rag mags and watched way too much tabloid television.

“Yes, well, I can tell you that she is a wild one. Hannah has been spending some time with her, and also one of the crew people. Some good-looking young man—I’m not crazy about it. I’m afraid they’re going to get Hannah into trouble.”

Nikki doubted that the girl had any problems getting
herself
into trouble. Instead of saying what she thought, she replied, “Really? Trouble, huh?”

“Out partying at all hours.” Grace shook her head. “Anyway, tonight we are having an old-fashioned barbecue and the entire crew is joining us.”

“Including Shawn Keefer?”

Grace nodded and smiled. “He’s quite a cad, that one. He flirts with all the ladies.”

“I’d read in one of the tabloids that he is a huge flirt.”

“But he is a dear really, once you get to know him. We’ve had everyone up for dinner on occasion since they’ve been on the premises.”

Nikki noticed Grace’s cheeks flush and she wondered if the woman had a crush on Keefer. Many women around the world did. He was on par with Brad Pitt and George Clooney in both the looks and acting categories; definitely a superstar. People loved him, and considering his stature he did a decent job of lying low and keeping out of the limelight, except for a few years back, when he’d gone through a divorce with his actress wife, Fiona. But from what Nikki recalled when that happened, they had remained decent to each other, and she’d made out like a bandit in the settlement. It would be interesting to meet Shawn Keefer.

They talked a bit more about the actors in the vineyard before Derek and Liam returned. “Ladies, would you like to take a trip down to where they’re filming? I filled Derek in, and he said that he’d love to go, especially when he heard that Andy Burrow was on the set.”