Love in the Vineyard (The Tavonesi Series Book 7) (30 page)

But two days later Natasha did go to the ballgame. She couldn’t deny Tyler the outing of his dreams just because she didn’t have a decent grip on her emotions.

Adrian’s cousin Alex played like a fiend, hitting a double, a triple and a home run. Kaz Tokugawa, Alex’s sister Sabrina’s husband, pitched six perfect innings. But when Kaz let three runners reach base in the seventh, the manager yanked him. Natasha tried to explain to Adrian why the manager took Kaz out and put in a relief pitcher, as well as some of the subtler rules of the game. When she fumbled on the balk rule, Tyler piped up proudly. She couldn’t miss the way he lit up around Adrian.
Why
couldn’t Adrian be just a normal guy she’d met at the grocery store or just another worker at the vineyard? A guy she could love on an even playing field? A guy she could possibly imagine having in her future? In their future?

Adrian took a call during the game. Natasha knew from his tone that it was from a woman. The realization hurt and she worried at it, like rubbing salt on a wound. She needed to remember reality, however much it hurt.

She was quiet on the way home and glad for Tyler’s excited recap of the game and his never-ending questions to Adrian about his trip to Rome. When Adrian pulled up in front of their apartment, he reached across the seat and took her hand. With Tyler in the back seat, there was little that could be said, but the beat of her pulse told her more than she wanted to admit. He asked if he’d see them at the Fandango. Tyler’s yelping a definite yes made them both laugh. But she wasn’t laughing as she watched Adrian drive away.

It hurt that they wouldn’t be spending time together—alone—after Adrian had been gone for so long. But he’d let her know that his father had scheduled a couple of meetings for after the ballgame, meetings to deal with pressing issues at the Casa. She knew she couldn’t have all his time. She could only hope that work was the only problem keeping them apart.

It also hurt to be a realist, but life had taught her there was no alternative. Someday, maybe sooner than she wanted to admit, Adrian would no longer be her lover. And maybe not even her boss.

The next day Natasha left work early and picked Tyler up at school. He bounded to the car, full of enthusiasm.

“What do kids wear to the Fandango?” he asked.

The Fandango was a family affair. It started early enough that little ones wouldn’t be tired out, and the Casa staff had arranged for hay-bale beds and sitters for the children whose parents wanted to stay late into the night and party.

“Jeans and a shirt,” she said, distracted. The attorney Enrique had put her in touch with had called after lunch. The man was willing to help her put every obstacle in Eddie’s path.

“My Alex Tavonesi shirt, could I wear that?”

“Sure, honey.”

“What are
you
going to wear?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t thought about it.” She turned up the lane toward their apartment, her thoughts on the information the attorney had supplied. Even if things went well, Eddie might be able to demand visitation rights.

“You should look really, really nice,” Tyler said. “I like your blue dress.”

Why was he so keen on what she wore? And then it dawned on her—he wanted Adrian in his life.

Ever since the ballgame at Trovare, Tyler had yammered on about Adrian this and Adrian that. She tried not to read too much into his constant praise, but there was no denying Tyler loved being around him. She feared that in Tyler’s young mind he’d already formed a picture of a future that would include having the man he so admired for a father. Another job she had no power to perform. Her ten-year-old son’s attempt to help seared sadness into her soul.

Chapter Twenty

NATASHA WORE THE BLUE DRESS TO THE Fandango.

As she and Tyler pulled into the Casa’s drive, she watched him run a palm over his hair and straighten his shirt—the gestures of a boy wanting to make a good impression. A pang of wistfulness sprang up in her heart. If only she could give Tyler the opportunities she dreamed of. Still, a good school and a safe neighborhood were a good start.

“Wow,” he said, hanging his head out the window. The wind ruffled his hair and he looked more like the boy she was used to seeing. “So many lights. They even have lights in the trees and on your greenhouse.”

She didn’t correct him; in Tyler’s mind it
was
her greenhouse. Kids often thought that of the places their parents worked. She wondered if the daughters of the president thought that of the White House. The thought had her smiling.

Tammy pulled up beside them in the parking lot. She eyed Natasha’s dress.

“You look
amazing
,” she said. “You should wear blue more often.”

“
I
picked it out,” Tyler piped up.

“Care to loan him out?” Tammy said with a laugh. “I could use a wardrobe consultant.” She turned to Tyler. “There’s a pickup game in the field behind the barn. I hear Scotty Donovan is pitching.”

Tyler ran off so fast that Natasha couldn’t give him instructions on where to meet up with her.

“He’ll be fine,” Tammy said. “There are loads of people to watch out for him.”

“Mom!” Tyler shouted as he came running back. “We have to go home. I don’t have my glove.”

“Plenty of equipment down at the field,” Tammy said.

“Great!”

This time Natasha grabbed him before he could sprint away. “Meet me at the table for dinner.”

“Okay, Mom. Jeez.”

“He’s a cutie,” Tammy said as they watched him race away. “He’ll be a heartbreaker.”

“I hope not.”

Tammy snorted. “Some things can’t be helped. Handsome men break hearts without even trying.”

Didn’t she know.

Natasha milled around the party and accepted congratulations for the early success of the native plant business from fellow staff members and people from the surrounding community. Sonoma County was making strides in organic farming, and the Casa’s new native plant business fit right in.

She didn’t see Adrian in the gathered crowd. She tried not to scan the faces and the grounds every few minutes, but she couldn’t help but look for him. Local musicians were setting up on a stage for the dancing that would follow dinner. They laughed and joked with the good humor that Natasha was beginning to associate with the region. It was a rare person who didn’t have a smile or a good word.

As the guests began to take their seats and other boys joined their parents, she began to worry about Tyler. She headed down to the field behind the greenhouse, but no one was there. A bench piled with bats and gloves and catcher’s gear was the only sign that a game had been played. Her heart raced. She ran toward the greenhouse; maybe he’d gone inside looking for her. But only the eerie light of the setting sun met her there.

Where could he have gone? She’d worried that Eddie would try something, lure Tyler away from her, maybe even kidnap him. Wasn’t possession nine-tenths of the law? Did that work for children caught in parental disputes? God, she hoped not.

She dashed out of the greenhouse. Movement down by the horse paddock caught her eye, and she headed that way.

She heard Adrian’s voice as she approached.

“Well, my father made some mistakes,” Adrian said in the overly serious voice that adults who didn’t have children often used. “Your mom probably has a very good reason not to be in touch with your dad.”

Her heart swelled at Adrian’s gentle words. He was such a good man. Such a kind man. Sure, he was the sexiest guy she’d ever laid eyes on, but it was way more than physical attraction that had carved love for him into her heart.

In the dim light she made out two figures. Adrian was sitting next to Tyler, their shoulders hunched in a posture that spoke of confidences being shared.

“But I’d like to have a dad,” Tyler said in a low, sad tone. “I’m the only kid in my class without at least a part-time dad.”

Tyler’s words slayed Natasha. He’d never admitted such a wish to her. Maybe he thought it would hurt her.

A twig snapped under her foot. Adrian and Tyler turned toward where she stood.

“Hey, Mom,” Tyler said with an almost guilty smile.

“Time for dinner, Tyler.” She couldn’t look Adrian in the eye. Not right then. If she did, he’d see into her heart. And she wasn’t ready for him to know what was written there plain as day.

“And then dancing,” Adrian said as he stood.

Tyler sprang up beside him. “Eww… dancing.” He screwed up his face.

“Just for us adults,” Adrian said with the laugh she’d grown to love. “But someday you’ll be on the lookout for an opportunity to dance with a pretty lady.”

He tousled Tyler’s hair. The gesture shot an achy yearning straight into Natasha’s heart. Boys needed men in their lives. And Adrian would be the best kind of man for a boy.

“Don’t rush him,” she said, still slammed by realizing what she wished weren’t true.

“Mom wore her blue dress.” Tyler beamed.

A slow, sexy smile curved into Adrian’s lips. “And a very fine dress it is.”

Natasha hoped that in the dim light Tyler didn’t notice the way Adrian’s eyes roved over her body. But she certainly did. His hungry gaze cut through her defenses like a diver plunging through the surface of the ocean.

After dinner Tammy took Tyler and a group of kids down to the barn for games. Natasha had barely touched the grilled salmon or the vegetables from the garden she’d once tended. Her mind was still on Tyler’s comment to Adrian about not having a dad. There were two men in her life who could’ve fit that bill, if only they’d been different men than they were.

She didn’t trust Eddie. Though his words had pointed to a future she once would’ve liked to believe was possible, something in his attitude, in his eyes and his tone, made her more than wary.

As she toyed with her food, she couldn’t help but notice Adrian talking with scores of beautiful, wealthy-looking guests—women who looked at him as the answer to their prayers. She couldn’t even bring herself to wish that he could be the father figure in her son’s life. That he could be the man in
her
life. Wishful thinking only led to disaster. Besides, why would he saddle himself with another man’s child when he could have the pick of any woman in the world and have a family of his own? He’d never said anything to her about wanting a family, and his sister had said Adrian wasn’t interested in children. Maybe he was one of those men who satisfied himself with projects and work and was happy to play the field?

Adrian’s cousin Parker came over and surprised her when he slid into the seat next to hers.

“Enjoying the party?”

“It’s lovely,” she said, still distracted by her thoughts.

“Lovely? This is a
Fandango
—it’s supposed to be rollicking, boisterous, a hoedown.”

She hadn’t meant to offend him. She knew from her first encounter with Parker at the masquerade and more recently from conversations around the staff lunch table that the man took parties very seriously. He was an enigma to her. A strapping six-foot-four tower of a man who played polo like a demon and yet apparently had a refined talent for conjuring beauty and the perfect ambiance for celebrations of all sorts.