Page 54 of A Vineyard for Two

‘She still left?’

‘Last time I checked, she was by Georgia’s bedside.’

He didn’t realise he’d been holding his breath the moment he mentioned Harper’s name and only when Leo shared the news that Harper hadn’t left that he heard himself sigh with relief. Hope prevailed. ‘When are the guests due?’

‘Around six tomorrow evening. We need to have everything ready before five in case someone arrives early, and often they do. There’s also prep work around the yard, but I’ll get to that this afternoon, hopefully both Zoe and Harper can pitch in too.’

‘Send me the list. I’ll see you in about an hour.’

As he made his way back into Aldi, his phone beeped again, delivering the list of items he had to buy. It was important to Georgia, so it was important to him. She’d done everything to include him, make him a part of the family, a part of the business. They were going to make sure the evening was a success, and as good as she envisioned it should be. He knew how important it was to get investors on board if they were to have a future.

Leo was already cleaning up outside when Brookes arrived with bags of groceries. He took them straight to the kitchen and started unpacking. There were steaks and prawns and halloumi. He put together a marinade and left everything in the fridge for the next day. It was all about simple cooking that tasted good. Here, less was definitely more, and with the right ingredients, the flavours popped.

‘Harper phoned,’ Leo said as he walked into the kitchen. ‘She confirmed they’re going to keep Georgia admitted until the end of the week. As you can imagine, Georgia wasn’t too pleased about that. Apparently, the only good thing is the attractive doctor that’s tending to her. I think she’s already playing matchmaker for Zoe.’

Brookes laughed. ‘Bless that woman. She’ll have them all wrapped around her little finger before the end of the week.’

‘Apparently, even the crocheting club has already made plans to hold one of their gatherings to keep her company.’

‘Bet she was pleased about that too?’ Brookes said, but he wasn’t thinking about Georgia, he was thinking about Harper. The train of questions befell him again. Sure, she made her way back, but how long was she going to stay? Would she pack up and leave the moment Georgia was back home?

‘She’s going to pick up some flowers for the table. Is there anything else I should tell her we need?’ Leo said.

Brookes could say there were a lot of things he needed, but none of them came from the supermarket. He needed her to want the vineyard. He wanted her to stay in town and he wanted her to tell him she felt exactly the same way he felt about her. That’s all he wanted and needed. Everything else could be bought, but none of it really mattered without Harper.

‘I think we have everything. Now we just have to get the outside looking good. Thankfully, Georgia is good with explaining details,’ Brookes said. ‘Are these investors serious?’

‘Seem like it. It’s their second visit and they’re looking to invest some serious change into the place. It could be exactly what we need to expand. There are a lot of changes happening and Georgia knows that if we don’t attract a younger demographic, well, you know how it is, the future looks grim.’

‘As long as they don’t take over.’

‘The last ones tried.’

‘You don’t want to be going through that again.’

‘We’ve vetted them and from the sounds of things, Georgia has gotten a lawyer to write up a tight contract. She wants this place to stay majority with the family, especially as long as she’s here. If we can get a fifty-fifty deal, at least then one party can equally buy each other out and no one can have the upper hand.’

‘Which hopefully will be for a long time.’

‘Yeah, she gave us a bit of a scare today.’

She did, but Brookes couldn’t help but feel glad that at least it caused Harper to stay put. He felt bad for feeling such things, but it was what it was. He was listening to Leo, but his focus was on something else. Looking out the window, he saw an unfamiliar car approaching the house. ‘Were we expecting anyone today?’

‘Maybe they got the dates wrong. I’ll go check it out,’ Leo said.

Brookes put down the peeler, ran his hands under some water, and dried them with a tea towel, before following Leo outside. He was walking down the steps when the car door opened, and a man got out.

‘Hi, sorry, I’m not sure if I have the right place,’ he said. ‘Is this the McGregor property?’

The guy had slicked back hair, white pants and loafers. He looked like he had stepped out of one of those home magazines covers who came to wine country to pose for a few photos but couldn’t wait to get back to the city.

‘Are you here for the dinner tomorrow? If so, you’re a bit early.’

‘Um, no, I was here to surprise Harper, actually. Is she here?’

Brookes didn’t realise his fist was clenched until his short nails were digging into his palm and his jaw hurt. ‘She’s in town, actually. She should be back shortly. How do you know Harper again?’

‘I’m David. David Powers, I’m Harper’s boyfriend.’

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