Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
I just have to figure out if I want to explore this further and if so, how will I navigate the host of problems it will create, given our bitter past and the fact our families don’t trust each other?
CHAPTER 17
Gabe
When Kat and I arrive back at the château, it’s almost eleven p.m. I’m feeling the length of the day within the yawn I’m suppressing, but Kat doesn’t hold hers back. Our flight leaves tomorrow morning and we still have to pack.
After Sylvie found us in the vineyard this morning, we ended up taking her to the nearby town of Libourne, which is only about nine kilometers away. It sits at the confluence of the Isle and Dordogne Rivers and is famous for its vibrant market held in the Place Abel Surchamp at the center of town. It’s one of the largest in the region and offers a huge range of local products, including fresh produce, wines, cheeses and other regional specialties. We wandered through the market, hit a few museums, and I ended up buying a portrait that caught Sylvie’s eye in an art gallery. It was of the valley just outside of Saint-Émilion and while she didn’t ask for it, I could see it touched her because it is a perfect rendition of her homeland and everything she misses. After she and Kat wandered off, I met with the gallery director and arranged for payment and shipping.
We then dropped Sylvie off for her sleepover and I talked Kat into joining me for dinner at a well-hidden bistro Esteban recommended. We dined on fresh oysters from the Bay of Biscay, lamb cooked in a rich sauce made with a local red wine produced at a neighboring vineyard, sea bass with lemon and capers, and we finished it all off with a shared strawberry tart. The meal was extravagant but on the lighter side. We spent the entire time talking business, although I would have preferred to talk about the kiss we shared before Sylvie came upon us.
For some reason, Kat seems to have a renewed vigor and enthusiasm about expanding the winery. I’m not sure what clicked with her, but she seems hell-bent on being able to go to Ethan with a recommendation that we move forward.
I obviously want to move forward and I’ve got my people back in Kentucky checking out the investors. But if everything falls into place as I expect, we could begin true efforts to expand the winery according to Alaine’s vision and make a beautiful legacy for Sylvie to return to when she wants.
And there’s no doubt in my mind this child will return here. While she has learned to gain happiness with her new family and has undoubtedly formed deeply poignant bonds with Ethan, Kat and the other members, Sylvie is French through and through. She might even go to college in the States, but afterward I know without a doubt she’s going to come back one day and run this winery.
As someone who heads an empire based on something similar, nothing would make me prouder.
“I’m exhausted,” Kat says with another yawn. “And I haven’t even thought about packing.”
“We’ve got time in the morning.” The benefit of having our own plane means we can leave whenever we want and we’re not scheduled to take off until ten a.m.
“I know,” Kat says with a chuckle. She heads for the staircase that leads up to the second floor of guest suites. “But I’ve got to get Sylvie packed up too. I peeked into her room today and it looks like a bomb exploded in there. I think I’m going to do that tonight.”
She makes it halfway up the staircase before I call her name. “Kat.”
With one hand on the banister, she glances back at me with a raised eyebrow.
“Are we going to talk about the kiss?”
Her expression shutters and I can’t read a damn thing on her face. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Because you’re afraid to start something with me?”
“Yes.”
She doesn’t say anything else. She just laid it bare that she’s afraid and I can’t alleviate that for her.
“I can’t promise I won’t hurt you again,” I say to her, moving toward the staircase but not ascending, merely looking up at her. “I can’t say that not because it isn’t true, but because you wouldn’t trust it.”
She nods, rubbing the back of her neck. “I find things very confusing with you. I’m trying to reconcile an abrupt change of feelings where you’re concerned. I think us being intimate would only confuse things more for me.”
That’s disappointing to hear. I had hoped she might be willing to take a chance, but because I hurt her so badly before and because I have been working so hard to gain not only her trust but the Blackburns’ trust in general, I don’t push.