“So much.”He shrugged.“You want Tommaso’s number?He’s terrible at texting back, and never answers when you call, but you could try.Or you could just rock up to his place like I did.”
“I’ll think about it.I’m glad Cesca is doing better though.”I headed for the driver’s side door of my SUV.Cameron followed me a few steps, shielding his eyes from the glaring sun overhead.“Just out of curiosity,” I started, prompting him to tilt his head to the side, “the reason you haven’t left her alone with him isn’t because you don’t trust him, is it?He doesn’t give you like …creepervibes?”
Cameron’s eyes widened as he continued to shield them from the sun with his big hand.Then he shook his head.“Absolutely not.He doesn’t give off those vibes at all.Honestly, I haven’t left her yet because I’m not sureTommasowould be comfortable with it.I know he has a kid, but he’s grown and still lives in Italy.Leaving the poor guy with an anxious little girl would probably be his worst nightmare and traumatizehimmore than it would Cesca.”He chuckled and kicked a large rock into the nearby brush.“But no, the guy doesn’t give off creepy vibes.Iwouldfeel comfortable leaving Cesca there if Tomas said it was okay.”
Even more concern and worry dissipated from around my heart.After the shit I went through with my ex-husband, that thought was always at the forefront of my mind.Maybe I was a tadtooprotective of Sam at times, and perhaps that had contributed to her anxiety—in fact, I’m sure it had—but I’d rather she be an anxious person and protected, than the alternative.
“Good to know,” I breathed.My phone vibrated in my pocket.Cameron’s did as well.
Weird.
Unless …
We each pulled out our phones and checked our messages.Mine was from my cousin Gabrielle, the winery manager.
Island Elders have asked to see ALL five parties that they heard extended proposals from.They want us there tonight.
I glanced up at Cameron.
“I’m guessing you just got notified about the meeting tonight too?”he asked.
I nodded.“What do you think it means?”
“I’m hoping it means that they’ve finally decided who they’re going to give Bonn Remmen’s land to and stop putting us all through the freaking wringer.It’s been exhausting and frustrating, and just plain annoying.”
I slid behind the steering wheel and exhaled.“Yeah, for us too.”
“They’re all retired hippies.They have nothing better to do than sit around and smoke peyote or dance naked around their monthly bonfire.Why has it takenthislong for them to decide who gets the land?”
“Why’d you conjure that visual in my head?”I asked, pressing the start button for my vehicle.“I still haven’t been able to erase the image of a bunch of them nude sunbathing down at the beach below the vineyard.Abe Jefferies is a very pale, very wrinkly man.”
Cameron snorted and adjusted where he was standing so he wasn’t staring straight into the sun.“Thanks for that.”
“I’ll see you tonight, I guess.And hey, we’ll finally get to learn who the mystery fifth interested party is.You guys haven’t figured out who it is yet, have you?”
He shook his head.“Nope.Not for lack of trying though.”Then he patted the roof of my white RAV4 and closed the door, giving me a wave as I put the SUV in gear and drove off with an empty trailer.
This time tomorrow, would we be the proud new owners of a new chunk of land?A chunk of land we now planned to share with the McEvoy brothers since my youngest cousin, Raina, and Jagger McEvoy had buried the hatchet of their long-standing feud with each other, and fallen madly, sickeningly, adorably in love.It helped that our visions for the land were very similar.So we just blended them to create something even more spectacular.
However, we also knew that Cameron and his fellow distillery dads also wanted the land since they each lived in different places on the island, while their distillery warehouse was outgrowing the land they rented to have it on.And the women who owned Twisted Sister Cidery also wanted it.Though, none of us really knew why, since their land was bigger than the vineyard with its orchards and everything.
Then there was the mystery party, who was also among the final five proposals the Island Elders narrowed the pitches down to.Nobody knew who this party was, where they were from, or why they wanted the land.Hopefully, they’d be there tonight and the mystery could be put to rest once and for all.
I made a mental note to Google “Tommaso Barone” when I got home.The fact that this man lived on the island, and ran an animal sanctuary, and I’d never heard anything about it before not only sat oddly in my craw, but it also intrigued me.How was he able to staythathidden from all the gossipy, meddling islanders who used rumors like their own personal oxygen tank?
I was halfway home when my phone in my back pocket rang.
Hardly anybody ever called me.Everything was done through text these days.Leave a paper trail, and let people answer you when they can.
This meant it was either a spam call, or something serious.
Careful not to drive off the road into the ditch, I leaned over and grabbed it out of my pocket, getting hit with instant dread when I saw that it was the school calling.
I hit “speaker” and set it in the phone holder on my dash.
“Hello?”
“Danica?”Sierra, the San Camanez Elementary School secretary, asked.
