Rose's Vintage (43 page)

They made their way down to the beach. Mark jumped from the stone wall onto the sand and held out his hands to her. She ignored them: she didn't trust herself to touch him and be able to let go again. She jumped down beside him and they walked along the water's edge as the frothing waves sucked at the dark gold sand. She took a sideways glance at Mark, going weak at the memory of his mouth on hers, the feel of him, the sound of his voice, the curl of his hair, the spicy, soapy scent of him. They were all so familiar to her. She forced herself to look away. She didn't want him to notice her staring.

‘So, how've you been?' Mark asked.

‘Fine, thanks,' she replied. Then, after a beat, ‘Mark, let's not make small talk. Why are you here?'

‘Jake showed me this,' putting his hand in his pocket, he pulled out a crumpled newspaper cutting and thrust it at her. The review. ‘I had no idea you were still in the country. Jake told me you went back to the UK. But as soon as I saw this I had to come and see you. What happened?'

It was Rose's turn to look uncomfortable. ‘I decided to stay in Bondi. Philippe had a job going … I wasn't ready to go back to England, but I wanted you to think I'd left the country. I didn't want you to try and contact me. It was all too much, with Isabella—'

He nodded. ‘You've done so well, Rose. You really deserve this.'

Rose gave him a small half-smile. ‘Yeah, well, it's been quite a ride.'

‘There's something I need to tell you. Why I had to come and see you as soon as I found out you were here,' Mark ran his hands through his hair. ‘Rose, I'm not one for fancy words.' He took a deep breath. ‘All I can say is that I'm here because I love you. I miss you. I miss your sunny smile, your laughter, every part of you. I'm half a man without you. Home is not the same without you there. You're the first thing I think about in the morning, and the last thing at night. I can't live without you, Rose.'

Rose couldn't believe her ears. This was everything she'd wanted to hear, for such a long time. But there was still an obstacle. A pretty immovable one at that. ‘But what about Isabella?'

Mark took her hand in his and she trembled as she felt his warm, strong touch. ‘It was all about the money. It was only ever all about the money. When I won the Jimmy Watson she was back in a flash. But I'm finally free of her.'

Rose still didn't believe him. ‘Really? But that's what you said last time.'

‘This time it's really true,' he insisted.

‘Oh, Mark, a lot's happened. I couldn't come back, not anymore, not now …' Rose's voice trailed off.

‘Right, yes, I understand. Of course.' Mark looked devastated. ‘Pretty foolish of me to come and think I could persuade you back, hey? You've achieved so much here. Look, perhaps I can see you when I'm in Sydney? I can get here every week or so. I really want to work something out Rose. I don't want to lose you again. I've never been more certain of that.'

Rose was torn, but resolute. ‘I'm sorry, Mark, I just can't. I can't share you.'

‘Share me? What are you talking about?'

Rose was exasperated. ‘Do I have to spell it out?'

‘But I thought I explained. Isabella has gone. Back to Spain. She left a few days after you did. In any case, when she does see the kids I'll be there to stand up for you. In fact, she's promised that when she does come to see them she will stay in Eumeralla, not at the house. You won't have to take any nonsense from her ever again. I've told her how I feel about you. She's agreed to a divorce.'

‘Oh.' Rose was floored.

‘And the kids miss you so much.'

‘I miss them too,' cried Rose, thinking of Luisa's merry dark eyes and Leo's shy smile. She paused, letting the full meaning of Mark's words sink in.

He looked so forlorn. Her heart broke for him.

‘Oh, Rose, won't you believe me when I tell you just how much I've missed you, longed for you? I never want to let you go again,' he said fiercely. ‘But I understand if you don't want to leave Sydney. I can see how well you're doing here. You're doing what you're really good at, what you were meant to do.'

‘No. That won't work.' Rose was definite.

She saw his devastated expression and took pity on him. ‘I'd want to see more of you than just every few weeks. Just quietly, life without you isn't all it's cracked up to be either. All the newspaper reviews in the world don't make up for being with the one you love and knowing you're loved to bits in return.'

Realisation dawned on Mark's face. ‘Really?'

‘But Mark …' she paused, moving away from him and biting her bottom lip. ‘There's still something I need to tell you.' She had to come clean with him. It was now or never.

CHAPTER 45

R
ose swallowed. ‘I, um, well, I didn't really come to Kalkari just to be your au pair.'

‘I know.'

Rose was gobsmacked. ‘What?'

‘Henry confessed. He also told me you make a bloody awful spy. He said he got absolutely no useful information from you at all.'

Rose looked up, mortified, but was astonished to see the glint of amusement in his eyes.

‘Oh, Mark, don't tease me. I'm not sure I can take it,' she wailed. ‘I've been feeling awful about that for months.'

‘Forget about it,' Mark took her hand. ‘Anyway, there's something you didn't know, too.'

‘What?'

‘I didn't meet Henry when he showed up in the Shingle Valley. We met each other when I was in London. It was then that he asked me to look after you, and said that he'd told you to spy on Kalkari for him – not that he had planned to do much with what you might have been able to tell him, in any case. He said it was more of an excuse to get you out of the country and give you something to do with yourself. He knew you'd never leave London unless he gave you a really good reason to. He knows you well, sweetheart – you're always so quick to help others out. It's one of the things I love most about you.'

‘What the hell? I spent all that time feeling guilty about having to betray you and the whole time you knew what was going on?' Rose was suddenly livid. ‘God, I'll kill that brother of mine when I see him. He completely played me.'

‘Don't be so hard on him. He only wanted to do what was best for you.'

‘Humph. Well, he'd better stop interfering in my life from now on.'

‘Forget Henry, Rose. Will you really come back? Back to the Shingle Valley? Be mine?'

‘If you're asking,' she said, suddenly shy.

‘Oh, you'd better believe it, Rosie: I'm asking.'

‘Okay, but if you don't kiss me soon I'll not be answerable for the consequences.' Rose revelled in her boldness.

Mark looked at her and a huge smile spread across his face. He didn't need any further invitation. He held out his arms.

Rose looked into his eyes and she couldn't hold back any longer. She fell into his arms and breathed in the dear, familiar smell of him. She raised her face and pressed her lips to his, drowning in the sensation.

After a few moments, Mark reluctantly drew away from her. ‘Wait a sec.'

‘What?'

‘There are a few other people who'd like to see you. I figured if I couldn't persuade you, they might be able to.'

Rose was puzzled.

‘Come with me.'

He took her hand and they walked to the far end of the beach, where she could see two small figures and a taller one pushing a stroller that looked like it had been engineered by NASA. The children!

She broke into a run. ‘Leo! Luisa!' she called out, her voice carrying on the wind towards them.

They looked up and, seeing her, raced to meet her.

‘Hey, guys. How are you?' Rose laughed, the sound coming deep from her belly. The sound of joy. She hugged them each tightly, showering them with kisses.

‘Wosie!' cried Luisa. ‘Wosie! We've missed you.'

‘So have I, babycakes, so have I.'

‘Astrid had her baby,' added Leo, pointing proudly at the stroller.

‘Hey there, Rose,' said Astrid, catching up to them and enveloping Rose in a huge hug. ‘Come and meet Max.'

‘Oh Astrid, he's even cuter than the pictures you emailed me. I'm so sorry I couldn't be there for the birth.'

‘Don't even worry about it. I had Thommo, who was just wonderful. He's such a proud papa.'

After Rose had cooed over the gorgeous, fat, fast asleep bundle in the stroller, Mark pulled her away again. ‘Rose, there's something else.'

‘Something else?' What more was in store? Rose didn't think she could stand any more surprises.

‘Yes. Hopefully this will convince you beyond any doubts. I assume you don't know this, but Isabella actually owned half of Kalkari.'

Rose nodded. ‘I heard.'

‘When first I set up the business she invested her money – from her family's business – in it too. When she went back to Spain last year she used it as a weapon against me, threatening to sell her share to a rival winemaker in the valley. She told me she desperately needed the cash – she had taken over her family's winery in Spain and wanted to expand. I spent all of last winter trying to raise enough to buy her out, and playing for time. I didn't tell you about it, and now I realise I probably should have. I guess I didn't want to scare you off. Now I'm finally free of her, even if it did cost me over the odds.'

‘But how could you afford to buy her out?'

‘Actually, I've gone into partnership.'

‘What? Who with?'

A lightbulb exploded in Rose's brain as she put two and two together. ‘You're kidding me. Henry? Really? No way!'

‘Got it in one,' Mark gave her a grin.

‘Hang on, let me get this straight. Henry now owns Trevelyn's and half of Kalkari? What's he trying to do, buy up half the Monopoly board?'

Mark laughed. ‘And I couldn't be happier. He's got no plans to interfere in the way I make wine, and he's even got plans for a further injection of capital.'

‘Oh God. You're going to be stuck with both of us!'

‘And I couldn't be a happier man, Rose Bennett.'

CHAPTER 46

A
s she walked up to the top of the hill above Kalkari, Rose could see her breath: the vapour hovered in the freezing air. Reaching the top, she stopped to take in the scene that lay below her. A bleak landscape of dormant vines, stripped bare, emerged from the mist. The sun was rising over the Shingle Hills and a shaft of light broke through the clouds, illuminating the valley below. A blessed land. Her land now. She belonged to it as much as she and Mark belonged together, though she was still incredulous that a small part of it was all hers.

She pulled the zip on her jacket up to her chin and was glad of the beanie that covered her hair. ‘Christ, it doesn't get any warmer out here,' she muttered to herself. The summer had been so long and scorching, she'd almost forgotten just how cold it could get in winter in the valley.

To her left, the red-tiled roof and white walls of Trevelyn's could be seen starkly against the hillside. She couldn't resist going over for another look. Shucking off her muddy boots on the front verandah, she reached for the front door. It was new, but old, like much of the renovations that had been done over the past few months to resuscitate the fire-damaged building. They'd been able to make good use of a load of timber and bricks reclaimed from a decommissioned church further down the valley. ‘You've transformed it into something really quite miraculous,' Mark had said just the day before as she had proudly showed him around the finished project.

She pulled a key from her pocket and inserted it in the shiny brass lock. The clean, sharp smell of fresh paint assaulted her.

Rose padded down the hall and into the sparkling new kitchen. While the rest of the place had a rustic aesthetic, the kitchen was state-of-the-art, with enormous industrial ovens, gas ranges and a huge walk-in coolroom already stocked with meat, fish, fruit, vegetables and vats of milk and cream. She'd hired two young chefs to help her and together they had already completed most of the
mise en place
for the pre-opening dinner that was planned for that night, including the dessert: three perfect six-layer chocolate glacé tarts that sat glossily on the coolroom shelves.