Maybe that wild reaction of the audience could be blamed on the anxiety and stress we’d all been suffering. After weeks of preparation and then three days of festival frenzy along with two murders and several attempts at a third, maybe things had simply caught up with all of us.
Not only that, but we had all just watched a vicious killer get taken down, live on stage at the grand finale of a lighthearted musical. It was operatic, for goodness’ sake!
So yeah, everyone in the crowd just sort of lost their minds.
The police had taken Ryan away and had finally managed to calm the crowd down. But before they could get everyone out of the theater, Shandi came to the edge of the stage and shouted for attention. “The police have a job to do, but so do we. We want to finish the show.”
“The show must go on,” London yelled from the side of the stage.
Stevie wasn’t about to make everyone in town hate him, so he gave a big wave to Shandi. “Nobody leaves until we see that big final number.”
With a flourish, the orchestra struck up the chords to the big finale and the entire cast joined in to sing “Sometimes When You Dream.”
And there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.
The police instructed everyone to leave the theater in a single-file line. It was slow going, but the authorities had to get names and contact information from each person before they were allowed to go home.
Unfortunately, that didn’t include me. Or Mom. Or anyone else who was still on stage, including all of the actors and Derek, Alex, and Gabriel. Stevie assured us all that we weren’t leaving anytime soon.
I noticed that Saffron Bergeron had slithered out with the rest of the audience. I really wanted to know what schemes she had been running with Banyan and Ryan and anyone else who was willing to sabotage the festival and my mother. But those questions would have to wait.
I sat in the first row with Mom. Inspector Lee had disappeared a while ago to commiserate with the local police detectives, but now she strolled toward me, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. “Jeez, Brooklyn, we really can’t take you anywhere.”
I let out a heavy breath. “I know.”
“So, let’s talk motives,” she said. “Was it all about the book this time?”
“The book definitely complicated things,” I admitted. “But mostly it was all about obsessive love and greed.”
“Two of my favorites.” She sat down next to me. “So I guess you kind of saved the day.”
“Would you mind mentioning that fact to Stevie?”
The Inspector’s lips twisted in a wry smile. “Stevie?”
I winced. “I mean, Detective Willoughby. He and I were in grammar school together. Back then he was known as Stevie.”
“That’s sweet.” She watched the goings on up on stage for a minute, then gave me a sideways glance. “Nice vault, by the way.”
I remembered how I’d hurdled over the heads of several people to get to my mom.
“I wasn’t even thinking,” I admitted. “I just did what I needed to do.”
“You stopped the show, kid.” She gave me a light elbow jab. “And probably saved your mother’s life.”
Her warm words shocked me so much that I felt my eyes burn. I had to breathe in and out for a few seconds. I refused to break down and cry in front of Inspector Lee, but my heart was full. I guess she was right about saving my mother’s life, but it hadn’t been a conscious decision. It was simply an instinctive reaction in the moment. Gun. Mom. No!
Four days later, the grape harvest began. Each night Derek and I went home exhausted but happy. We dined at Arugula one night, spending a few minutes in the kitchen chatting with my talented chef sister Savannah and Derek’s brother Dalton.
I had breakfast with Robin finally—pancakes with the most decadent banana whipped cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce—and we talked about nothing but babies. I was so thrilled for her and Austin, and laughed a lot, especially when she lamented the inevitable loss of her cute figure.
I spent two days working my butt off with Keith at the Dharma Dojo and he pronounced me “not bad.” I couldn’t wait to tell Alex how much he had gushed over my progress. And I seriously couldn’t wait to get back to Alex’s studio and really start pushing toward my very own green belt. I dreamed of the day when I could finally match moves with my sister China.
Gabriel filled us in on the latest happenings in Ryan’s double homicide case. Apparently Shandi was happy to spill everything she knew about Ryan and his machinations on her behalf. She admitted that she’d ignored most of what he did because she was the beneficiary of his actions. But when it came to murder, she refused to condone his behavior.
Which made her okay in my book.
After the last long day of the harvest, we all gathered at Mom and Dad’s house to celebrate another fantastic season. As Dad poured drinks for everyone, Mom pulled me aside.
“You’ll never guess what I found out this afternoon.”
I smiled. “You’re right, I’ll never guess. Tell me.”
“Saffron’s house is up for sale.”
I blinked in surprise. “What does that mean? Is she moving away, I hope?”
“Yes,” Mom said. “Far, far away, I imagine. She has no more friends here and her flower shop is going under.”
I frowned. “I hate to wish bad luck on anyone, so I won’t. But darn it, Mom, that woman was evil.”
“She was definitely constipated,” Mom said, nodding.
I had to laugh. “Okay, good enough.”
“I have more news,” she said.
“You’re full of news, aren’t you?”
“All I have to do is walk down the Lane and people talk to me.”
“So what else did you hear?”
“Misty got her winery back. She threatened to sue the bank for selling her deed to Banyan and they rescinded the foreclosure notice.”
“Now, that’s wonderful news,” I said, and gave Mom an enthusiastic hug. It was the perfect ending to a long, painful period in the young history of our beloved Dharma.
On our last day in Dharma, Derek wanted to take a ride around the hills and enjoy the views. I jumped into the car, happy to be with him as we meandered through the valley. We drove past both of our parents’ homes, then crossed over Dharma Creek toward the winery. Derek turned on Vineyard View and headed for Red Mountain Highway.
“It’s so pretty up here,” I said, as we drove toward my two brothers’ homes in the hills overlooking the vineyards.
Before we reached the top of Red Mountain, he turned on a smaller road and followed the mild twists and turns until we reached an overlook. He edged off the road and stopped.
“I’ve never been up here,” I said, gazing out at the green hills with their terraced rows of rustic grapevines. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“It is.” He smiled and unbuckled his seatbelt. “Let’s have a look around.”
“Okay.”
I joined him on the narrow path and held hands as we took another long look at the spectacular view. Then he walked toward a narrower road a few yards up the hill.
“Where are we going?”
“Just up here.” He turned down the narrow road and we walked for another forty or fifty yards. Then he stopped in the middle of a wide swatch of land that stretched from the narrow road all the way to the edge of a shallow gorge a few hundred yards away. “What do you think?”
I smiled at him, mystified. “About what?”
He spread his arms out. “About building a second home here.”
I opened my mouth, but no words came out.
“Is that a yes?” he said, laughing.
“You’ve managed to stun me into silence,” I admitted.
“A moment for the history books.” Still laughing, he wrapped his arms around me. “We need a more permanent home here, darling. We visit often enough and it’s fine to be able to stay in the houses of our friends and family. But there’s a baby on the way and I know you’re going to want to be here for Robin. And with my parents visiting more regularly, I’d like to see them as well. What do you say?”
“This land is for sale?” I asked, my voice sounding tremulous.
“Yes. Robson owns it and is willing to sell it to us for a good price.”
“Okay, you’ve shocked me again.” I blinked away tears of happiness and looked around again, loving what I saw from every angle. I knew that Derek had probably checked out every square inch of dirt on this large, lovely plot of land so I wasn’t worried there would be too many flaws to consider. And not only did it have views for miles, but it was also ten minutes away from our parents’ homes and five minutes away from Robin and my brothers. A few minutes more would take us to Gabriel’s house on the other side of Montana Ridge Road.
“I’m amazed and thrilled that you thought of it,” I said. “I love you so much.”
“And I love you back,” he whispered, and stroked my hair. We turned toward the view. “So what do you say?”
I laughed and squeezed my arms around him. “I say yes.”