Nikki felt her heart racing as she thought that maybe there was a chance they could work things out. "None of that matters to me anymore. I don’t care who you were as long as you love me. I hate the thought of secrets between us, but will learn to live with them until you decide you can trust me enough to share."
"It took losing you to understand that I trust you far more than I realized." Alex stood and offered a hand to Nikki. She looked into her eyes and saw her own pain and hope reflected there. "We have much to discuss. Why don't you sit and have a drink of wine while I finish dinner. I see Zaira brought us a bottle." She looked around the room and realized they were alone. She heard the front door open and called out, "Zaira?" When she didn't get an immediate response she said, "Get your ass back in here young lady. I'm not through with you." She heard the door close, and Zaira appeared in the doorway moments later.
"I thought you two might want to be alone."
"You disobeyed me. I told you my love life was off limits." She ran her hand through her hair as she thought about how happy she was that the young woman had ignored her request this time. "We will discuss your punishment tomorrow. For now, please go make up the blue room for Nikki." She watched Zaira nod her head and turn dejectedly towards the bedrooms. She spoke softly in Italian to the young woman causing her to pause. "Thank you for bringing her home to me, my friend." Zaira nodded, squared her shoulders, and headed down the hall.
"You were a little rough on her, don't you think?" Nikki asked.
Alex turned to her and shook her head. "No. If she wants to run this vineyard she must learn to obey orders, and she must learn when not to."
Nikki looked towards the doorway Zaira disappeared through, then looked up at Alex. "I don't understand. If her family owns this place, isn’t she guaranteed the job of running it one day?"
Alex walked over to the cupboards and pulled down two wine glasses. She poured them each a glass and handed one to Nikki. "Is that what she told you?"
Nikki took the wine and set it on the table as she thought about her conversation with Zaira while in the tasting room. "No, not really. She said something about her family running the vineyard. I guess I just assumed that meant they owned it. Don't they?"
Alex walked over to the counter where she began to assemble the salad she'd chopped earlier. "No. Her family only owns about ten percent of the vineyard." She placed the chicken on the grill, and began to slice the loaf of bread.
Nikki stood and walked over to watch her work. "So who owns it then?"
She placed the bread on a plate and handed it to Nikki. "Please put this on the table." She gathered several items and took them to the table before returning to check on the chicken. "Tell me something, Nikki. Did you read my book?"
"No. I felt like that was going behind your back somehow, and I wanted to hear it from you. I hoped to hear it from you." She watched as Alex removed the chicken from the grill.
Alex sliced the chicken and set it on plates with a large serving of salad. As she handed one of the plates to Nikki, she said, "I guess we have a lot more to discuss than I thought." Together they walked over to the table and sat down. "Before we get into all of that, how's Madison?"
"She misses you, but she seems to be doing better. As much as it terrified us, the book seemed to help her." She pulled her cell phone from her pocket. "I should really call and let them know you're okay."
Alex reached across the table and took the phone from her. "You really don't want to call on this. Your roaming charges will be absurd. Trust me." She set the phone on the table, stood, and walked over to the house phone. She quickly dialed as she headed back towards the table. When Dani answered the phone she said, "Buon giorno."
"Nikki, is that you?"
Alex heaved out an exaggerated sigh. "How quickly we are forgotten."
She heard Dani's breath catch and emotion fill her voice as she said, "You have touched my life too profoundly to ever be forgotten, Alex. It's great to hear your voice. What made you decide to call?"
"Your sister wanted to reassure you that I hadn't done anything stupid. I wanted to let you know that you can stop worrying about that."
"You've seen Nikki?" When Alex made a noise of agreement Dani continued. "Have you forgiven her?"
"A long time ago, yes."
"Will you be coming home with her?"
"It's far too early to tell. There are still many things to discuss. I'm going to let you talk to her now." She paused before handing the phone over, and as the corner of her mouth lifted she said, "Hey, Dani?"
"Yes?"
"I love you. Give Madison a hug for me, okay?" She quickly handed Nikki the phone without waiting for a reply, stood, and left the room. Nikki found her several minutes later sitting in front of a fireplace in the living room, staring into the flames of the candles on a rack in front of the logs. She sat down beside her and waited quietly.
"My life has been a rollercoaster, full of ups and downs. But then, I suppose everyone's is."
"I suppose so, but yours started out a bit lower than most." She wasn't surprised to see the tracks Alex's tears had left on her cheeks when she turned towards her.
"I think we should probably eat dinner. I have a feeling that this is going to be a long night." She was surprised
