Viola smiled, and this time her eyes met mine. “Thanks, Rayne,” she said, lightly setting her hand on my shoulder.
“My pleasure, Miss Hunter.”
Viola smiled. “Okay,” she said, turning to Alice. “I need to go, but call me if you need me, okay?”
Alice nodded. “Gonna whip up a big batch of hazelnut chocolate cream cheese and some cinnamon bagels and carb away the sorrows. Thanks for stopping by, hun.”
Viola smiled at me once more, and with a wave, walked back out.
Alice slipped her apron back on. She was fussing with the ties, not making eye contact with me, when she said, “Well, that was interesting.”
“What was interesting?”
Alice looked up at me and raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t notice anything interesting?”
“Interesting isn’t the word I would have chosen.”
Alice shook her head. “At least someone’s making progress,” she muttered under her breath. “Decide what you want to eat. I’ll be back in a minute,” she said then went off to meet Amanda and her friends.
I looked out the window. Viola was already gone, but I imagined her walking up the street, her chocolate-colored hair glimmering in the spring sunlight. Had the woman I really wanted just asked me on a date? But was it a real date or a friend date? I wasn’t sure. But for the moment, I let myself soak in the possibility that Viola Hunter might just share my feelings…and that idea set my world on fire.
Chapter 4: Viola
I parked my Mercedes in the driveway of our house, which sat among the vines near the lakeshore. A strong wind blew off the dark blue waters. My anxiety about my upcoming chemistry exam, along with meeting Monsieur Beaumont, work that night, and just about everything else, had my mind spinning. I needed to get to the restaurant. I had become the defacto manager of my father’s new enterprise, Falling Waters, an upscale restaurant located in downtown Chancellor. This was both a good thing and a bad thing. Thankfully, I’d managed to hold Blushing Grape Vineyards and Falling Waters together until my dad could patch up the pieces of himself. While he was back at the helm, running the family company once more, I still found myself locked in. It was only on my dad’s urging over the Christmas holiday that I went back to school. I was, after all, almost done with my degree in chemistry, and my dad was always partial to my idea that Blushing Grape should branch off and dabble in perfumes. Finally, I was getting somewhere. But it wasn’t easy. School all morning. Work all night. Studying into the late night hours. I had to laugh when Alice asked if I had a date for the ball. Date? I barely had time for a shower.
I sighed as I glanced across the horizon. Vines surrounded our house on every side. Their sweet new leaves uncurled like tiny green fingers. The familiar cycle of the vines seemed to be almost part of me, having grown up around them all my life. And while I loved the grapes, my true love was flowers.
I turned and followed a path to the sprawling gardens behind the mansion. At the back of the house was a large patio area that overlooked the manicured grounds. The daffodils, tulips, and hyacinth were finally in bloom. The garden was alive with vibrant yellow, varying shades of pink, firehouse red, and deep, royal purple. I walked past the beds of spring flowers, stopping to pick just one tiny blossom off a hyacinth plant. What a sweet smell. Most hyacinth perfumes smelled too heavy. The scents of spring were for younger girls. Maybe if I mixed something citrus with the aroma, lightening the scent up with something tart and fresh, I could create something new, something surprising.
My cellphone buzzed, interrupting my thoughts.
I pulled it out to see that my alarm was going off. No time to daydream. I needed to get ready for work.
I gently glided my hand along the flowers, feeling their silky petals. Before I turned and went inside, I cast a glance west where I could just make out the roof of Rayne’s barn. I smiled when I thought of him at the ball. He was going to look pretty hot in a tux. The more I thought about him and me going out for the night, the more I liked it. Who knew what could happen? A dance. A kiss. More? Ugh! Why did my thoughts of Rayne always go that direction? I mean, we were nothing more than friends, and I was about as far from his type as a girl could possibly be. With his good looks and that damned twinkle, he could date anyone he wanted.
But he didn’t.
Why didn’t he?
My alarm buzzed again.
“Okay, okay,” I said, turning it off.
I turned and climbed the stairs to the back patio then entered the house. My mother’s old grand piano was in the sitting room. With its amazing view of the gardens, I loved the space so much. I remembered Mom playing Tip-toe Through the Tulips every spring in an attempt to make me and Horatio laugh. It always worked.
“Is that you, Miss Hunter?” a female voice called.
“Hi, Dorothea,” I called to our housekeeper. “Just stopping in to get ready for work.”
“Want any coffee? Need anything pressed?” she asked from somewhere in the house.
“No. Thank you.”
“All right. You just shout if you change your mind.”
I smiled. Dorothea had been part of our household for as long as I could remember. She and mom had been very close, and when mom passed, Dorothea had taken to looking after the three of us with new zeal.
I headed upstairs to my room on the third floor. Slipping off my school clothes, I grabbed one of what seemed like a hundred black cocktail dresses hanging in my closet. Hurriedly brushing my hair while I juggled my phone, I called Blushing Grape’s administrative assistant.
“Hey, Judy,” I said when she picked up, shimmying into the dress at the same time.
“Good afternoon, Miss Hunter. What can I do for you?”
“There is a gentleman by the name of Luc Beaumont arriving at Sweet Water airport tomorrow morning. I’ll send you the flight details. Please call President White’s office and let him know we’ll send a driver to pick up Monsieur Beaumont. Send the limo. He’ll be staying at Lavender Fields Bed and Breakfast. Can you make sure he has a Blushing Grape executive gift basket waiting for him? Call Genevieve, the owner, and make sure he has the best room. Text me when you’ve got it all arranged?”
“Sure. Need anything else, Viola?”
“Not yet, but the day is still young.”
Judy laughed. “Is it? It’s almost four.”
Dammit. I was going to be late. “Oh! Tell dad to sign the invoices I left on his desk. Let’s make sure the vendors are paid on time.”
“No problem.”
“Thanks, Judy. Have a great night.”
“You too, Viola.”
Snapping a picture of Professor Wallace’s notes, I zipped the information off to Judy then sat down at my vanity to quickly apply some eyeliner and lipstick. I shouldn’t have sat. Tiredness swept over me. I’d been up late the night before studying for my comparative religions test. I thought I’d done okay. At least, I knew a whole lot more about the Sumerians than I had a week before.
I pulled my hair it into a tight knot at the base of my neck, smoothed out my black dress, and checked my makeup. Not bad. If anyone bothered to look, I might catch someone’s eye. But even as the thought struck me, I imagined Rayne’s bemused expression every time he saw me dressed like this. He always told me I looked beautiful, but half the time I thought he was joking. That damned twinkle, however, had a lot more to say, but I wasn’t sure what. I could never quite tell if he was teasing me or not. Annoying.
Slipping on one of my favorite pair of Yoko Noir heels, I grabbed my bag and went back downstairs. I shook my head. Rayne. Why in the world did I care anyway what that hippie, and my brother’s best friend, thought about how I looked? We were just friends, right? But even as I asked myself the question, a little voice inside me whispered the same thing it always did.