Grapes of Wrath (Billionaires' Secrets Book 2) (20 page)

“You do?”

Tears sparkled in her eyes even as a smile tugged at her mouth. “Yes. I think I loved you since that first night here, when I realized it was going to be harder than I thought to just walk away.”

“Don’t walk away. Stay here with me.”

She frowned, emotion tugging at her delicate features.

“I know it’s a different country, but you’ve traveled and lived in many places. You’ll help me run the vineyard, and market our wines, and anything else you want to do.” His heart soared as the vision unfurled in his mind.

Susannah’s entire expression had gone blank. Even that tricky and revealing wrinkle he loved so much had disappeared. “Me? Here?”

“Why not?” He pulled her to him, grasped both her hands in both of his.

“But I don’t have any experience.” Sadness shadowed her eyes.

“With what? Staying in one place? It’s easy. You just don’t go anywhere.”

“I mean with fitting in. Being part of a community. Look at me!” She gestured at her dress. A very lovely yellow, decorated with dusty paw marks. “I’m visiting a farm and I wore a dress.”

He grinned. “I
love
your dresses. In case you haven’t noticed, Clara and Rosa always wear skirts, too. I guess it’s an Alvarez family tradition. See? You already fit right in.”

“Do you think?” Her shy glance stabbed him in the heart.

“I know it.” Unable to control himself any longer, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her with every ounce of passion and energy he possessed.

When he paused for breath, he managed to rasp, “Will you marry me, Susannah? Will you be my wife?”

Her lips parted. “Oh, goodness.” She searched his face. “Do you think I could? Even after what I did?”

His heart clenched. How could she still feel guilty for just doing what she had to? “I’ll always be grateful you took on the unenviable task of bringing me the news about my parentage.”

Her eyes widened. “You will?”

“Yes, because now I know who I am. Not who everyone wants me to be or expects me to be. I’m glad the cobwebs of lies and secrets have been blown out of Tierra de Oro and bright new sunlight can pour in. I’m glad I met my biological father before it’s too late.” He rubbed her hands, enjoying the warmth he found there. “I found a new piece of me and at the same time I found you.” He hesitated. Drew in a shaky breath. “Please say you’ll marry me.

Tears sparkled in her eyes. “I’d love to marry you and be your wife.” She let out something between a laugh and a sob. “Will you be my husband?”

Only Susannah would feel the need to invite him into her life as well. And why not? Her quiet strength and resolution captivated him. Since she arrived he’d been annoyed and entranced in equal measure as she swept into his house, life and heart. She’d turned the family upside down and shaken loose emotions they’d kept bottled up for years. No doubt she’d keep them on their toes in the future, too. He couldn’t wait to savor every minute of it.

“It would be my great honor and joy to be your husband.” She smiled, pulled him close and kissed him full on the mouth. Exhilaration swept through him like a spring wind and he couldn’t help laughing with joy.

Spending the rest of his life with Susannah promised to be a wonderful adventure.

Epilogue

“G
oodness, what’s that?” Samantha Hardcastle grabbed Susannah’s arm. They stared at what looked like an entire cow strapped to a vast wrought-iron gate and suspended over an open firepit.

Susannah laughed. She was still getting used to the local customs herself. “Mendocinos take their
parilla
very seriously.”

“What’s
parilla
?”

“I’m sorry! I’m forgetting how to speak English already. It’s barbecue, which is a real art form here. Ignacio raised the meat himself.”

The rich aroma of almost-roasted beef was intoxicating. Sparks from the fire crackled and spat, echoing the excitement in the air. The garden glowed with the last rays of sunset, and lanterns shone in the trees and around the tables decorated for their wedding feast.

Sam leaned in to her and whispered. “Look at Ignacio and Tarrant.”

The two
padres familias
stood squared off, their arms raised wide as if to say, “it was this big!”

“Men!” exclaimed Sam. “They don’t change much, I’m afraid. I learned that somewhere between my second and third marriages. You just have to love them as they are.” Susannah couldn’t help a shy smile sneaking across her face. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“You’re so lucky, you and Amado, having so many glorious years to look forward to. Do say you’ll make me a grandma soon.”

Susannah’s heart clenched as she saw tears glisten in Sam’s eyes. Poor Sam was barely thirty and no doubt wanted a child herself, but that wouldn’t be possible with Tarrant so ill. Soon her third marriage would end too and leave her a widow, yet she managed to smile and be happy for two newlyweds with their whole lives ahead of them.

Susannah couldn’t help putting her arms around the woman whose spirit shone so brightly despite her troubles. “You’re welcome here any time you like, you know. With Tarrant or just by yourself. Think of Tierra de Oro as your second home in Argentina.” Then she laughed. “Or is it your twelfth home? I suppose you have a few already.” Sam smiled. “Tarrant always did love to travel. The doctors told him not to come here under any circumstances, but he said he’d rather be dead than miss his son’s wedding. Goodness, look at them now!”

Susannah turned to see Tarrant and Ignacio locked in a bear hug.

“What have you ladies done to my fathers?” Amado’s deep voice crept into Susannah’s ear as he stepped between her and Sam and slid his strong arms around their waists.

“I bet it was that speech Sam gave about how you can’t change the past but you can change the future. They look like they’re ready to weep and they haven’t even tasted our steak yet.”

“I think the wedding left everyone a little emotional,” Susannah whispered. She brushed a lock of hair from her new husband’s forehead. He looked breathtakingly handsome in his dark suit and white shirt. “I know I am, even after my mother gave us that sobering lecture about the duties of a wife to her spouse.”

Amado smiled his familiar crooked smile and laid a soft kiss on her cheek. “I’m going to hold you to those,
querida.
Especially the part about how you support the sacred institution of marriage when you keep your husband happy in bed.” His hushed tones sent a shiver of giggly excitement through her. Amado laughed. “I guess missionary work has changed a bit since I was in school.”

She shrugged, smiling. “They’re unusual people.”

“Just like their daughter.” He looked at Sam. “Is she the most beautiful woman on the planet, or am I just madly in love with her?”

He stepped back and Susannah blushed under his admiring gaze.

“It’s this lovely dress.” She smoothed the cleverly cut white silk that molded to her slim body and found curves where she never knew she had them. “Rosa and Clara made it themselves. Aren’t they brilliant?”

Sam’s eyes widened. “Goodness, yes. They’d give Vera Wang designs a run for the money.”

“They said they used to make all their own clothes when they were younger. Can you imagine?”

“No, way.” Sam laughed. “The fashion industry might fall apart if I started doing that.”

It was a Hardcastle Enterprises joke that Sam dressed only in couture originals. At least Susannah used to think it was a joke. Now she was a family insider, she knew better. Apparently designers even came to their Upper East Side mansion for fittings at Tarrant’s insistence.

Susannah couldn’t imagine how Sam put up with her ebullient husband, but it was obvious she loved him desperately. What would her life be like when he was gone?

As if he was thinking the same thing, Amado wrapped his arm around Sam’s shoulders. “You’re my third mom, you know? I think Marisa would be so happy to see us all here together.” He rubbed her arm. “It’s all your doing, Sam. You started the search for Tarrant’s lost children.” Tears welled in Susannah’s eyes as she watched the emotion flickering on Sam’s face.

Sam dabbed at her eye makeup with a designer handkerchief. “Thank you, Amado. I can’t put into words how much it means to me to see you all together, and so happy. This wedding is a wonderful blessing. Tarrant keeps outliving his doctors’ expectations and it’s because his children are giving him such joyous events to look forward to.” Her carefully made-up lips quivered. “Maybe he really will live a long and full life, just to spite them all.” She laughed through sudden tears, and Amado squeezed her hand.

“This evening will live forever in all our hearts,” he said softly. “Would you do us the honor of ringing the bell to call everyone to eat?”

“I’d be thrilled.”

As the sound of the old brass bell reverberated off the stone buildings, guests made their way into the lovely garden. Ignacio with his arm affectionately wrapped around his beloved Clara, Tarrant helped by his daughter Fiona, Dominic and his wife Bella already practicing their tango steps, Susannah’s own parents speaking in animated Spanish to Tomas. Susannah had even found Valentina, who traveled from the
Pampas
with her husband and three children to join the celebration.

The newly united families joined with friends, neighbors and vineyard workers to share slow-roasted steaks, homegrown vegetables and fresh ice cream. Dinner stretched into a long, sweaty, breathless night of dancing, and Amado and Susannah’s wedding was celebrated with toasts and tears and many, many glasses of the very best wine on earth.

THE END

Read on for an excerpt from
A Taste of Heaven
, the next book in the
Billionaires' Secrets
series:

Samantha Hardcastle is horrified when the sensual stranger she has a one-night fling with turns out to be her long-lost stepson. Restauranteur Louis DuLac prefers his relationships short and sweet but he's floored by deep feelings for the beautiful and loving woman who won't let him touch her again. The thrice-married “Merry Widow” has washed her hands of love-until she starts to realize that she's never truly known it before.

A Taste of Heaven 1

S
amantha Hardcastle was wound tighter than her late husband’s Cartier watch. The festive happy-hour crowd on Bourbon Street jostled and bumped her. Her new red Christian Louboutin sandals were supposed to lift her spirits. Instead they threatened to bring her down on her butt.

She pushed through the throng toward a less crowded side street, gasping for oxygen in the beer-scented darkness. Streetlights and neon bar signs blurred and jumped in her peripheral vision. Columns holding up the balconies above clustered around her like menacing trees in an enchanted forest.

She was dizzy and light-headed. Probably because she’d forgotten to eat since...had she even had breakfast before her flight?

Her ankle wobbled and she caught herself on a brick wall. She’d somehow lost her way between the shoe store and the hotel. The sun had set, transforming the unfamiliar city into a place of shadows, and now she couldn’t find her way back.

Since her husband’s death, she couldn’t seem to do anything right anymore. Every day took just a little bit more energy than she had.

“Are you okay?” a deep voice asked in her ear.

“Yes, fine, thanks,” she responded. She didn’t take her hand off the wall. The dark street was spinning.

“No, you’re not. Come inside.”

“No, really, I...” Visions of being taken captive fired her imagination as a thick arm slid around her waist. She struggled against hard muscle.

“It’s just a bar. You can sit down and rest a minute.”

He guided her to a doorway. A light-filled archway in the hot darkness. A soothing string instrument filled the air, which— strangely enough—didn’t smell of beer like the air outside.

“There’s a comfortable chair over here.” His tone was authoritative, yet soothing. The large room had the atmosphere of a turn-of-the-century saloon. Ornate gilding, polished plank floors and high tin ceilings. The colors were muted and mellow. Restful.

She let herself be helped to a leather armchair in a dark corner of the bar. “Thanks,” she murmured, as he lowered her gently into the chair. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“Just rest. I’ll bring you something to eat.”

“But I don’t—”

“Yes, you do.”

She thought she detected a hint of humor in his firm rebuttal. Maybe she did need food. She kept forgetting to eat lately. She’d totally lost her appetite for—everything.

She glanced around. There were quite a few people sitting at tables and in booths along one wall. Unlike the jovial mob outside, they spoke in hushed tones, and their laughter tinkled in the air.

Two waiters set down a table in front of her armchair, crisp white cloth and gleaming flatware already on it. A strong hand brought a steaming white plate.

“Here, crawfish étouffée with dirty rice. Just what the doctor ordered.”