Page 40 of Beachside Kisses With My Bodyguard

“Anyone want a top off?” From her place on the white wicker loveseat, Kelsey holds up a bottle of her family’s wine, with its bright yellow label.

“Hit me up!” Lucy rocks forward in one of the Adirondack chairs in our little circle, where Elisse, Marilee, and I are sharing a couch with tasteful blue cushions that matches the shorter love seat.

Kelsey pours a ribbon of dark red liquid, finishing off the cabernet, some of which is currently in my glass. “Anyone else?”

The rest of us are still working on our first glasses, so we refuse a refill, and chatter resumes as the women gossip about the latest goings on in town. A fire pit table sits in the middle of our circle, flicking heat our way in an attempt to combat the cool evening breeze. I tug my sweater closed as I lean forward and take up my plate filled with wonderful goodies from the charcuterie board in the kitchen: a selection of fancy meats, cheeses, and crackers, as well as olives and grapes. And, not that I need the calories after the cake testing today, but I’ve also grabbed a white chocolate cookie that Marilee made.

I pick that up first and sit back against the cushion. In the distance, the sun has begun to set behind the hills, but it’s not so dim that I can’t clearly see a group of guys loading up three pickup trucks. The group includes four of the six Loveland brothers—who are all well-built and handsome—and Frederick, who actually seemed happy to come tonight. Perhaps he needed to do some manual labor. After all, he’s been hindered from completing his normal workout routine, which has to be quite rigorous to create the bulging muscles I currently see on display under his tight T-shirt as he lifts crate after crate of wine into the truck.

When he wipes his brow with the back of his forearm, my insides swoop at the sight of his triceps on full display.

“Enjoying the view, are we?” Elisse pokes me in the side, and I nearly drop my cookie.

All the women giggle.

“It’s quite lovely.” I know she’s teasing me about watching the guys, but I pretend to be oblivious as I point to the sweeping landscape. Besides the open land extending from the end of the vineyard to the hills, there’s this main house—two stories and completely lovely, a mix of modern and classic—as well as another building Frederick and I passed on our way in. And on one side sits the underground cellar cut out of the side of a hill where the Lovelands store their wine. “How long has this winery been in your family?”

“Our grandparents bought the land for our parents when they got married,” Elisse says as she steals a cracker off my plate. I love that she feels comfortable enough to do that. Then again, maybe she simply has no sense of shame. “Our parents basically built it from the ground up. It was always Dad’s dream to do that, so Mom went along with it.” She stuffs the cracker in her mouth.

Marilee frowns into her glass. “That’s hard, when one spouse calls all the shots.”

Sounds as if she’s speaking from experience, and if the scowl on Lucy’s face is any indication, there’s definitely a story there.

But I shift the focus back to the Lovelands, turning to Kelsey, who is cute and put together tonight in an adorable green baggy jumpsuit over a white tank, her brown hair in relaxed curls that fall to her shoulders. (And PS, I need to find out where she got her clothes—along with her long, boho fringe necklace—but I digress.) “And what did your mom want to do?”

“She always dreamed of putting up cabins along the perimeter of the vineyard, running it like a resort, holding events, that sort of thing.”

“Ah, like you do at The Purple Seashell.”

She pinches her chin between her thumb and the middle knuckle of her pointer finger. “Well, I don’t own The Purple Seashell, but Janine’s talked about retiring soon. So it’s possible I’ll get promoted to the main manager someday. I have a lot of ideas for how she could improve—”

“Boring!” Elisse tosses a cracker—not the one from her mouth, but a new one she takes from her own plate—at her sister. “We all know you have your brilliant business mind, Kels, but what we really need to talk about now is Chloe and this wedding.”

Kelsey laughs good-naturedly, but I can’t help but wonder if her sister’s big personality might be hard for her. I wait for her to look at me, and then flash her a sympathetic smile.

She smiles back. “Yes, I’d love to hear all about your plans so far. Any luck with a venue yet?”

“No, but thanks to Marilee, we finally have a lead.” I explain about the Graber house.

“Ooo, come and find me tomorrow at The Green Robin’s booth and I’ll take you over to meet Greta and my aunt and uncle,” Lucy says. “Uncle Burt’s heard all about you and said any friend of Shelby’s is a friend of his. He wants to meet you guys.”

“I forgot you said he knew Shelby.” So why didn’t we meet him when we were here to finalize details of Shelby’s wedding?

“Yes,” Lucy nods so enthusiastically that her wine nearly spills over the rim of her glass. “And he was so sad he and Bea were out of town when she came by to see him last week. He’s actually the very first one to meet Shelby and Eric—who was not yet her fiancé—when their car broke down on the way to somewhere else.”

Ah yes, I’ve heard the story. Back when Shelby and Eric were just best friends. How Hallmark Beach was where they first admitted their love for each other.

“Guess there’s just something about this place that calls to all the lovers out there.” Marilee gives me a wink. “So once you get a venue, you’ll have everything sorted?”

“Maybe. It depends on whether the venue offers food packages or if I need to hunt down a catering option.”

Lucy groans. “I know for a fact Greta usually recommends the Robin for any events at her place, but Tiny’s got a big catering order next weekend already.”

Drat. I frown. “Well, if you ladies can think of anywhere else that caters …”

Marilee chews on her thumbnail. “How formal does it need to be?”

“At this point, I’d take any recommendations.”

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