Page 59 of Red Mountain Burning
He took a moment to admire Emilia in her western wear, her jeans and boots and clippers dangling from her belt. She belonged out here. They both knew it. And that’s why he’d chosen to give her this gift.
“These are your babies, and you’re in charge of them all the way to the bottle. You can even decide when to pick and how you want me to make the wine.”
“But I’ll be back at school,” she said.
“I’ll send you the numbers. You can be a virtual winemaker.”
A smile plastered her face. “You know this means I won’t go back, right?”
Brooks raised his hand halfway. “Hold up. That’s not the intention here. You have your whole life to make wine if that’s what you want to do. Coming from a guy who didn’t go to college, I highly recommend you finish. These vines aren’t going anywhere.”
Emilia nodded, but they both knew the truth. There was no way she was leaving the mountain again. Once the wine life got you, it was a hard thing to shake.
She ran a hand through the young leaves of one of the vines. “Thanks for this. I won’t let you down.”
“Just don’t get me in trouble by dropping out of school.”
“I’m happy to take responsibility for whatever decisions I make.”
Brooks had to hold back from laughing. He knew exactly where this was all going. Somehow, Emilia had fallen in love with Red Mountain while she was in New York.
