Under A Harvest Moon (12 page)

"Her ex-husband is here. I think I'll go over and check on Maria."

"Now you're talking," Jacques said with enthusiasm. "Be Danielle's ally. You said she dislikes her ex-husband. Go, be her champion."

Nico scowled. "Danielle doesn't need a champion. Believe me; she can take care of herself. She's had to, thanks to Peter."

Having enough of Jacques and his ridiculous ideas, ideas that were hitting closer to home than Nico wanted them to, he bounded down the steps, taking the path to the rose garden.

"Hey, you two," he called out to Maria and Kaiden. Kaiden held some kind of electronic game.

Busy playing, Kaiden didn't even glace up at Nico, but Maria said, "Dad, Kaiden's dad just gave him a new game. It's so cool. I want one, too."

Nico wasn't much for electronic games. He'd rather have Maria play outside in the fresh air. He came around to look over Kaiden's shoulder, watching as he appeared to interact/play with a puppy. And the dog seemed to respond to Kaiden's touch.

"Interesting," Nico said, surprised to see a puppy and not some type of car chase or gun scene.

"Isn't it cool?" Maria said, her eyes shining. "I really, really want one."

"We'll see," Nico said, still not sold on the idea. "Did you have fun in town, Kaiden?"

"Yeah. There was a pool at the hotel," Kaiden said without looking up.

"Kaiden," Peter called from the kitchen door. "I'm leaving now." Peter made his way to them, his step faltering slightly when he saw Nico. "Come say good-bye, son."

Kaiden set the game down, running to Peter. The two embraced. Danielle followed Peter out, but she didn't join Peter and Kaiden. She stayed where she was, watching, looking so damn vulnerable Nico wanted to give Peter a shove for putting the hurt look on Danielle's face.

Nico walked to her, his earlier upset with her forgotten. He wanted to comfort her. "You okay?"

She gave him a sad smile. "I've been better."

Together Peter and Kaiden walked to the front of the house, disappearing from view. Maria, seeing her opportunity, picked up the discarded toy, all her attention on the game.

"What happened?" Nico asked in a low tone, knowing it wasn't any of his business what went on between Danielle and Peter, yet he was unable to prevent the question from slipping out. "Did he say something to upset you?"

"He's asking for joint custody, something I'm not ready or willing to give him. And I'm not talking about every other weekend. He wants a fifty-fifty plan, where Kaiden spends one week with Peter, then one week with me." Danielle sat down on the back porch steps. A slight breeze ruffled her hair, and Nico fought the urge to smooth the strands from her face. "I swear to God, I'll never let that happen. I'm going to have to get an attorney. Attorneys cost money."

He knew where she was going with this. Having to get an attorney was yet another reason she should sell. The knot in his gut tightened.

"I can loan you the money," Nico said. "You can pay me back when you inherit."

One delicate brow arched slightly. "No thanks."

He read the mistrust in her eyes. "You think my motives aren't pure?"

"Are they?" she shot back. "I wasn't born yesterday, Nico. We both know your offer comes from my visit to Fox Realty."

"Does it matter what my reasons are?" he countered. "Getting an attorney now is the most important thing. You don't want to lose your son, do you?"

"Of course not," she cried, jumping to her feet. "I'll never let that happen. I'll be fine. Peter and I are going to have to work out a parenting plan that works for both of us. I know fifty-fifty custody isn't the answer, but I'm not sure what the right solution is. I do know this: bottom line, I need to be in Seattle. Kaiden needs to be in Seattle, not here, a million miles from nowhere." She looked at him then, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "I can't wait to get out of here. Excuse me." She ran up the stairs and into the house.

Nico turned away, fighting to get his own tangled emotions under control. Kaiden was back, playing the handheld game. Beside him, Maria sulked.

How could he argue against Danielle's reasoning? He knew what it was like to put your child first. She was returning to Seattle for her son. The knowledge should make him happy. Things were going his way. Jacques was right. He needed to champion Danielle, needed to befriend her, needed to do whatever he could to keep her happy while she was living at Whitney House.

So what if the thought of preying on Danielle's weakness turned his stomach? What did it matter as long as she sold to him? After all, owning the vineyard was the most important thing.

He just wished he could make himself believe that.

Chapter Six

The following afternoon, Danielle let herself into her father's office, taking a seat at his desk. What was she doing, pretending to take her father's place? When she'd gone into the office that morning, Gayle had reminded her about the meeting with Marketing this afternoon. She was supposed to look over the designs for the new wine label. She'd totally forgotten. What was the point of choosing the new label? Ultimately it should be Nico's choice, not hers, and when she had said as much to Gayle, the older woman had waved away Danielle's protests, reminding Danielle that the vineyard didn't belong to Nico.

She released a heavy sigh. Choose the label. You need the money, she reminded herself. Attorneys aren't cheap. Do the job, then leave and never look back. Danielle opened the top desk drawer and removed a pad of sticky notes and a pen, in case she wanted to jot something down. As she was closing the drawer, she noticed again the locked bottom drawer.

What was in there?

She rattled the handle, hoping to force the drawer open, but it remained stubbornly shut. If she wanted to look inside, she had to buck up and go into her father's room and find his keys. But could she do it? Could she face the all-powerful memory of Phillip Whitney? Did she even want to?

Focus Danielle, focus.

Whatever was in that drawer could wait until she'd looked over the label designs.

Danielle glanced at the first design. It was a burgundy W, edged with a line of dark green, and a line of silver. Very clean. Very classy. She moved the print to the left, out of the way.

The second design was a drawing of Whitney House. Charming. The thought popped into her mind immediately. The Blue Mountains rose behind the house, the vineyards filling the rest of the space. The drawing was gorgeous, warm and inviting, and would most likely draw people to the vineyard itself.

Her breath caught at the third design, a drawing of her father. On his head sat the well-worn straw hat that had been his constant companion for as long as she could remember. Phillip Whitney. Even though the drawing was in black and white, Danielle could still see the brown of his eyes, the iron gray of his hair. The lines at the corners of his eyes crinkled ever so slightly, like he'd been privy to a private joke but held back his smile.

Danielle traced the line of his jaw with her finger.

Oh, Daddy
.

She refused to cry, even though her chest tightened painfully with regret and sorrow -- two emotions she didn't want to feel any longer, two emotions she was destined to feel once she sold the vineyard.

Casting her father's image aside, her heart heavy, she scanned the remaining designs; A purple W intertwined with grapes and vines, too cliché, her least favorite; and finally, a plan for a series of watercolor paintings to be done by local artists. While she liked the idea of using local artists, Danielle knew she'd made her decision.

She loved the drawing of Whitney House and the surrounding landscape. Whitney House was such a vital part of the vineyard, here even before the grapes. It seemed only fitting the house should grace the label, and even more fitting that the drawing of her father be placed on the back label, on a wine that would most likely be the last produced by Whitney Vineyards.

Now she only had to convince Marketing.

She glanced at her watch. Time for the meeting. The irony of the situation didn't escape her. She was making decisions for a business she might eventually destroy. If she sold to Germaine Cellars, the bigger winery would absorb Whitney Vineyards into their own label. The Whitney name would die. If she wanted to get back at her father, she couldn't pick a more perfect revenge. Even if she sold to Nico he would most likely change the name. But did she want to kill the Whitney name? Six months ago she would have said yes, but now? Indecision gnawed at her.

The phone rang. Danielle picked up the call. "Hello?"

"Hi, sweetie."

"Hi, Mom," Danielle said, glad to hear her mother's voice. "What's up?"

"Not much," Jean Whitney said. "Just checking in, wondering how things are going."

"Okay." Danielle sighed. "It's hard to be here."

"You can thank your father for that," her mother said in a waspish tone Danielle hated. "He tainted the place."

"Mom, please." Danielle's fingers tightened on the phone.

"Sorry," her mother said. "How's Kaiden?"

"He's all right. He's been spending some time with Peter."

"What? Why? I wouldn't let that man near him after what he did to you."

Danielle closed her eyes, praying for strength. "He's Kaiden's dad. I can't keep them apart."

"The man ruined you, Danielle," her mother reminded her. "I wouldn't be so forgiving."

That's for sure, Danielle thought. Her mother hadn't given her father an inch. In fact, she felt pretty sure the word forgiveness wasn't in her mother's vocabulary. "I'm not you, Mom. Kaiden needs his dad."

"Be careful," her mother warned. "Don't trust him."

"I don't," Danielle said. "Look, Mom, I have to go. I have a meeting with Marketing."

"All right," her mother said, sounding disappointed. "Check in with me later, okay?"

"I will."

"Love you, honey."

"Love you, too." Danielle ended the call. When it came to anything Whitney, her mother couldn't forgive or forget. Jean Whitney held a grudge better than anyone Danielle knew.

Danielle stood, too agitated to sit. Her hand drifted to the locked drawer. She rattled the handle. Frustration burned through her, as if someone had touched a match to the long fuse on a stick of dynamite.

"Grrrrr!" she groaned, giving the bottom drawer of the desk a mighty kick.

The drawer popped open. Surprised, Danielle sat and pulled the drawer open wider. Inside rested two envelopes. Letters? She picked them up. Her name was scrawled across the first envelope. Nico's name was on the second envelope. Both names were written in her father's hand.

The clock on the wall chimed twice. Danielle was torn between the letters and the time. The letters would have to wait. She had a meeting to attend.

***

"Good night, honey." Danielle blew Kaiden one final kiss before gently closing his door. She crossed the hall to her room. The two unopened envelopes waited on her bedside table.

Did she want to open her letter? She picked it up. What could her father possibly have to say to her? Why hadn't he said these things aloud? And Nico's. What did her father have to say to him?

What secrets did the letters hold? Funny, she was dying to know, yet she wasn't. Would he mention his love affair with Isabelle? Discovering the affair between her father and Nico's mother had been brutal, the ultimate betrayal. Their affair had cost both families so much. Maybe the past was best left in the past.