There was something inherently calming about JB. He’d settled her nerves on the plane and reassured her as he’d rescued her from her vehicle.
The warm tenor of his deep voice had sluiced over her skin like warm honey while he’d graciously made her feel less bad about wrecking her rental car on an open country road.
As they drove past a sign welcoming them to Magnolia Lake, home of the King’s Finest Distillery, JB had asked whom she was visiting. Chandra had reluctantly explained.
“I keep thinking of all the possible reasons my father would call us out to a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. None of them are good.” Chandra rubbed her arms as she scanned the road in search of more migratory bears.
Julian cranked up the heat. “I can understand why you’d be worried. But let’s hope your dad has a positive reason for bringing you all here. Like maybe he’s planning to move to Magnolia Lake.”
“Why would he move here? Not that Magnolia Lake isn’t a perfectly lovely place to live,” she added quickly.
“It is,” he said, only slightly defensive.
“Yet you couldn’t wait to escape and haven’t been back in three years?” Chandra’s smile widened when JB’s did.
“The urge to put as much mileage as you can between yourself and the small town you grew up in is a rite of passage for two-thirds of the kids who grow up in them,” he said with a slight chuckle. “But in the end, a lot of folks develop appreciation for home and return.”
“Like you?” she asked.
On the plane, JB had mentioned that he was returning home after being away for several years. He hadn’t seemed thrilled about it. Chandra was curious as to why he’d chosen to return, but it seemed like an intrusive question to ask a complete stranger. She hoped her current prompt would elicit more details.
“My dad died in a traffic accident when I was a kid. Being home reminds me of that.” Deep lines spanned his forehead as his brows furrowed. “Probably not the healthiest approach, but I’ve avoided returning home as much as possible.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize—”
“Not a big deal.” He stared ahead as they hugged a curve in the road. “Besides, it was a long time ago.”
“When it comes to losing a parent, it always feels like it happened yesterday.” Chandra sighed.
“How’d you lose your mom?” He glanced at her momentarily.
“She walked out when I was eight.” Chandra shrugged. “Raising four kids under the age of ten while her husband worked sixty-plus-hour weeks in the family business apparently wasn’t her thing. Haven’t seen her since.”
It’d been thirty-one years since Mary Valentine had walked away. Yet a hole practically burned through her chest every time Chandra talked about it.
“I’m sorry, Chandra.” JB squeezed the hand that gripped the edge of the seat. “I lost my dad when I was ten. But something about being back here... It feels like it happened yesterday.”
The heat from JB’s large hand enveloped hers. Warmth trailed up her arm, her skin tingling in its wake. When she’d held his hand on the plane, she’d been so nervous about the flight that she hadn’t been able to take in anything else. She’d been simply clinging to him like a lifeline. But now she was distinctly aware of the strength of his hand, the warmth of his skin pressed against hers. And she was reminded of how attracted she’d been to JB the moment she’d laid eyes on him in that airport. A distraction she couldn’t afford.
Chandra discreetly tugged her hand from his. She raked her fingers through her hair. She could only imagine what a mess she must be. Thankfully, JB had been kind enough not to mention it.
“My family has owned a very successful textile firm in Nashville for several generations. My father has been devoted to the place his entire life. In fact, his dedication to work was a point of contention between him and my mom,” Chandra explained. “We have a sizable family estate in Nashville. So why would he suddenly want to own property here?”
“Lots of people own cabins around here for fishing and hunting or just to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life.”
Her father and brothers did like to fish. But even if her dad had purchased a cabin here, what about that would be so urgent that he’d insist they all needed to come see it?
“I don’t know. It just doesn’t make sense.” Chandra rubbed the chill bumps that suddenly formed on her arms, despite the heat pumping in the truck.
“Guess you won’t have to wait long to find out.” JB nodded toward a sign that said Richardson Vineyards. “We’re here.”
“Are you sure this is the address I gave you?” She studied the sign and the vast property surrounding it.
He read off the address and she checked it against the one in her dad’s text message. The address was the same, but maybe it was a typo. Why would her father want them all to converge on a broken-down old winery? “This has to be a mistake.”
Another car whipped into the driveway and pulled around them. It was a black convertible with the top down, despite the chilly fall weather. A song by Doja Cat blared from the speakers and her baby sister was behind the wheel wearing a dark pair of designer shades. Likely a gift from one of her high-end sponsors. A hot-pink wig shaped in an adorable bob framed Naya’s gorgeous face.
She whipped into a space in the small paved lot near cars Chandra recognized as her father’s and younger brothers’.
“I guess it is the right place. That’s my sister.” Chandra studied the large old house sorely in need of a paint job, a new roof and several other repairs. She stepped down from the truck carefully. There were more potholes than pavement in the parking lot. “Sorry in advance for anything uncouth my baby sister is about to say.”
“Duly noted.” JB chuckled as he stepped out of the truck. “I’ll grab your bags from the back.”
“Hey, sis.” Naya waved as she slid her sunglasses atop her head. “I was on the phone with Erica when you called the first few times. I tried to call you back, but I can see you’ve been...busy.” Naya lifted her eyebrows mischievously as she studied JB letting down the tailgate and bending over to reach for Chandra’s luggage.
It was the first time she’d seen JB from behind. And to be fair, the man was in possession of an incredibly impressive set of glutes, spotlighted by ass-hugging gray sweats.
Chandra’s cheeks heated and there was a fluttering low in her belly. A man with a traffic-stopping ass was definitely her weakness. Not that she’d dated much in the five years since her engagement had ended.
“You’re blushing,” Naya whispered loudly as she poked her in the side and giggled.
“First of all, you couldn’t tell if I was blushing.” Chandra held up a finger, thankful for her deep brown skin. “Second, did no one ever teach you how to whisper? Because the point of it is to not be overheard by other people.”
JB snorted, glancing away when they turned toward him.
“See what I mean?” Chandra gestured toward JB.
“Hi, I’m Naya Valentine.” Her sister extended a hand and batted the ultralong mink eyelashes nature definitely hadn’t gifted her with. She nodded her head toward Chandra. “I’m this one’s baby sister. And you are?”
“This is JB,” Chandra said quickly. “We met on the plane. The rest I’ll tell you later.”
She’d opted not to call her family once she’d finally located her phone. Her car was being taken care of, and she already had a ride to the house. There was no point in alarming them for nothing. Thanks to JB, she was fine.
“I’ll see you inside in a few. But in the meantime, could you pop your trunk? That way, JB can put my bags inside until we figure out where we’ll be staying. Assuming there’s room in there.”
Her sister traveled heavy. She usually had a full suitcase just for her makeup and colorful wigs.
Naya popped the trunk, as requested.
“I’m surprised Erica didn’t come with you,” Chandra said.
Naya frowned at the mention of her current love interest. The two had been together a little more than a year. They’d met at an Instagram influencer convention.
“We’ll talk about that later, too.” There was a hint of sadness in Naya’s dark brown eyes, though she turned up the wattage on her ever-present smile. “Nice to meet you, JB. I hope we’ll be seeing you again soon.”
Chandra turned to the handsome man whose warm gaze made her temperature rise and her stomach do flips. “Thanks for everything, JB. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you today.”
“You would’ve managed fine. I have no doubt of that.” He scratched at his beard and flashed a devilish smile that sent heat rocketing up her spine and left her wondering about the taste of his full lips.
She shuddered, ignoring the beading of her nipples and the steady pulse between her thighs.
“Well, I’m really glad I didn’t have to find out.”
“Let me put these bags in your sister’s trunk.” He grabbed her bags and moved toward the open deck lid of her sister’s rented convertible. She walked over with him, impressed when he managed to squeeze her two bags inside the space overflowing with her sister’s Gucci luggage, stamped with the company’s iconic logo.
When Chandra closed the trunk, she winced in pain.
“You did hurt yourself.” JB’s eyebrows furrowed with concern as he examined her wrist. An angry bruise had become visible and her wrist was much sorer than it’d been before. “That’s a nasty bruise, Chandra. Can you move your wrist?”
“Yes, it’s... Ow,” she muttered as the pain shot up her arm when she tried to move her wrist in a circle. “It’s fine. Just a little sore.”
“You have complete range of motion, but still, it could be a bad sprain. If the pain persists or if that headache doesn’t go away—”
“The headache is already gone, and my wrist is fine. But I promise to see someone about it if it’s still hurting in a couple of days,” she said.
“All right, then.” JB let go of her hand and she couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed.
You are not here to hook up with the sweet, sexy lumberjack with the perfect ass. You’re here to see about Dad.
“Well, thanks again.” Chandra hugged JB, trying to ignore how wonderful it felt as he wrapped her in his solid arms and squeezed her to his chest. She reluctantly pulled free of his embrace. “It was really nice meeting you, JB.”
She shoved the too-long sleeve back up her arm—then remembered where she’d gotten it. “Your shirt. I’ll run inside and change so I can give it back to you.”
“How long will you be in town?” JB asked.
“A week, maybe two.” She shrugged.
“I’ll get it next time we see each other.” A flirtatious grin curved one side of his sexy mouth.
Electricity crackled down her spine. She folded her arms over her chest and tried to ignore her body’s reaction to the possibility of them seeing each other again.
“I have no idea what I’m walking into here. So it doesn’t feel right making plans.”
“Fair.” He nodded sagely, folding his arms and widening his stance. “But I’m betting your dad invited you here for a happy reason. If I’m right, you call me and then we can meet for coffee maybe. You can bring the shirt then.” His dark eyes glinted in the sunlight. “Deal?”
She pushed her hair, still sticky with coffee, behind her ear and nodded. “Sure. Why not?”
He grinned. “Pen?” He nodded toward her purse.
Chandra produced a pen from her handbag and JB scribbled his name and a phone number on the white plastic bag she’d put her coffee-stained shirt in. He returned the pen and headed toward the truck.
“Hey, what if...? I mean...what if I can’t go out with you?”
“Then you can keep it.” JB winked, then hopped into the truck and drove off.
Chandra watched him drive off, wishing they’d met under different circumstances. Then she turned and surveyed the old house more closely.
With its deep gold stucco, terra-cotta roof and antique arched double doors, it looked like a Tuscan villa that had been transported to the Smoky Mountains from another place and time.
Rather than the typical front porch she was accustomed to seeing on Southern homes, the house had a bona fide loggia. The Italian-style porch ran the length of the front of the house. Its stucco-covered columns formed arches that ran across the entire structure. Black wrought iron lanterns and sconces—in desperate need of refinishing or replacement—dotted the walls and hung from the ceiling.
The stucco exterior was stained and discolored. In some places, there were substantial cracks. Still, the place had enormous potential. If the owners would put some money into it, the building would make a great space for wine tastings and small events. Maybe even small wedding receptions. But in its current state, it felt as if she was risking her life just climbing the three cracked stucco stairs.
Chandra pushed open the heavy antique wooden door her sister had disappeared through earlier. She stepped inside and scanned the dark, dated decor. A beautiful young woman stood behind the large front desk made of dark wood. Behind her, the words Richardson Vineyards were burned into a wooden wall.
“Welcome, Ms. Valentine.” The woman offered a guarded smile that revealed none of her teeth and didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m Dejah Richardson, the vineyard manager. Your family is waiting for you in the game room. If you’ll follow me.”
Chandra followed the woman through a large, sunny great room with dated decor and a few gorgeous antiques. They walked down a long narrow hall past the dining room with a large table. Finally, Dejah opened another antique door and Chandra heard the voices of her siblings.
Chandra stepped inside. “Hello, everyone.”
The space went quiet.
Her brothers—Nolan, Sebastian, Alonzo and Nyles—had tentative expressions that matched her own. Her sister, Naya, had been chatting happily with their father, who appeared to be in an equally cheerful mood.
Given the gravity with which he’d impelled their presence here and his generally bleak mood for the past few years, Chandra was surprised to see her father so upbeat.
Maybe JB was right. Perhaps her father had summoned them all to this place for a happy reason. The family equivalent of a company retreat, perhaps? After all, they’d grown apart over the past five years or so. And she was likely to blame for that.
After her mother’s unexpected departure, Chandra had made it her mission to be the single thread holding their family together. But following her failed engagement, she’d needed a change.
A part of her had grown resentful that she was still the one always cleaning up the family messes. So she’d done something unexpected. She’d left their family’s textile firm and taken a job in San Diego with Phillips Athletic Wear.
Her father had been hurt but understood that she needed some space. Naya, who had an inherent gift for rolling with the punches, easily adapted. Her four brothers had been decidedly less understanding.
Nolan, the CFO of Valentine Textiles, a company started by her paternal great-grandfather and run by her father, had said it felt like she’d pulled the rug out from under them.
Maybe she had. But it had forced all of her siblings to become less dependent on her. Alonzo, Nyles and Naya—the three youngest—were forced to finally grow up, handle their business and clean up their own messes.
Chandra had spent the past five years consumed with her work. Her relationships with Nolan, Sebastian and Alonzo had become distant. And without her there to coordinate family vacations, holidays and general family get-togethers, they’d become like individual satellites circling their father but rarely connecting.
She felt bad about that. So maybe a family retreat was exactly what they needed.
“Glad you could make it.” Nolan hugged her.
Chandra hugged Nolan back, ignoring the hidden jab referencing all the times she hadn’t been able to make it home for birthdays, company celebrations and a few major holidays. “Good to see you, Nole.”
Nolan adjusted his ever-smudged glasses, his smile shifting to a more genuine one. “You too, Chandra.”
She exchanged similar greetings with Sebastian, Valentine Textiles’ VP of operations, and Alonzo, who worked for an advertising firm in New York.
Nyles, whom she still spoke to regularly, gave her a warm hug. “Good to see you, sis.”
“Now that your hot new friend is gone, maybe I can finally get a hug.” Naya approached her with a mock pout.
“You brought some dude to the family meeting?” Alonzo raised one of his thick brows and frowned.
“No, I didn’t.” Chandra gave Naya the evil eye, then hugged her little sister, getting a whiff of her delicate perfume. Chandra released Naya and pointed a finger at her. “Snitch.”
“Guess some things never change.” Alonzo chuckled. Naya gave his arm a playful punch.
“That perfume smells amazing and insanely expensive,” Chandra noted.
“It is.” Naya smiled proudly. “A gift from my latest sponsor. I’m doing a photo shoot in France with them in February.”
“Good for you.” Chandra squeezed her sister’s arm.
They’d all been a little worried when Naya had graduated college, spent two years traveling the world, then declared that she was going to become a full-time Instagram influencer rather than joining the family textile firm. But in the past four years she’d continued to increase both her income and her follower count while working on her own terms.
Chandra envied her little sister for that.
“Guess I’ll just stand over here and be ignored.” Her father folded his arms and tried to look serious, but a slow grin spread across his handsome face.
“I always save the best for last.” Chandra smiled.
“Am I the only one who feels insulted by that?” Sebastian’s dark eyes flickered.
“Hush, Bas.” Chandra crossed the room and hugged her father. She settled into her dad’s lingering embrace and inhaled his familiar scent. Abbott Raymond Valentine gave the best hugs. They made everything better. “Missed you, Dad.”
“Missed you too, pumpkin.” He hadn’t called her that in years.
A knot tightened in Chandra’s stomach. She searched her father’s dark eyes. “What’s going on, Dad?”
“Have a seat, and I’ll tell you everything. Promise.”
Chandra sank onto the love seat beside Naya. Tension rolled off her sister’s slim shoulders and marred the handsome faces of her four brothers.
Clearly, she wasn’t the only one worried about their dad.