Two years later
“WE’VE BOOKED THE TWO SUITES and the small loft space through the summer. But there is a small problem.”
Sophie looked up from the books she’d been poring over, trying to decide if it was too soon to think about the upgrades she wanted to make to the front parlor and library. The Lassiter Inn had only just celebrated its second anniversary, but business had never been better.
“Well, that’s why I hired you. To solve problems.” She smiled at Mick. “What is it this time? Sheep got loose again and into the orchard? Guests are asking again about stomping their own wine? Because this is New Zealand, not Italy, and our grapes—”
“No, that’s not it. It’s just, I have this gentleman at the front desk and he’s demanding to see the proprietress of the inn. I believe those were his exact words. He’s not settling for me, and Dee has her hands full in the kitchen, getting dinner ready for our guests. Roast duck tonight.” He sighed in deep appreciation. Not unusual for any of Delia’s fare.
Sophie closed the book on the pile of receipts she’d been tallying. “Whatever could this man want that you can’t provide him help with?”
Mick disappeared from view and Simon’s head full of tousled dark hair filled her view instead. “He’s an amazing majordomo and Brian would hire him away to run the winery single-handedly if he weren’t afraid of you, so far be it from me to diminish Mick’s skills in any way.”
“However, here you are, going over his head to the boss and interrupting her very busy day.”
He stepped into the room, and she spied the picnic basket in his hands. “I was thinking perhaps I could interrupt it on a somewhat more involved scale?”
“Were you?” She was already pushing her chair back.
“And though Mick is going to be involved in the discussion, as you have the final say, I thought it best to bribe—er, that is, deal with you directly.”
She had rounded her desk, but paused and leaned back on it. “Okay. So, what is it I need to give my final say on?”
He slipped his hand inside the basket lid and drew out two plane tickets. “Seeing as Mick could also probably run this inn single-handedly, at least for a short while, and Dee chases anyone who even thinks of commandeering her kitchen out with a spoon, I was hoping perhaps the boss lady could accompany me on a university speaking engagement.”
“To?”
“London.”
Her eyes lit up and her heart skipped a beat. “We haven’t been to the flat there in a long time.”
“Not since the honeymoon.”
“Nope. Not since.”
He fanned the tickets out further. “There might be another leg to the trip.”
“To?”
“Philadelphia. It’s been a while since you’ve seen your family, and I was thinking—”
She flew across the office into his arms. “You were thinking you missed out on my cousin’s Philly cheesesteak and were hoping to sneak the recipe back for Dee.”
“Well, that, too.”
“When do we leave?”
“Can we at least pretend to have a picnic before you decide?” He hitched her up against him with one arm and wiggled his eyebrows. “I packed a blanket.”
“Did you.”
“I did.”
“And might there be some wine in that basket.”
“There might be.”
“Then what are you waiting for, Mr. Lassiter?”
“You, Mrs. Lassiter. In fact, I’ve been waiting for you my whole life.”
He dropped the basket on the chair, and kicked the door shut.
It was a while before they got to the wine.