Carla Neggers - Echo Lake

“Mmm, and it would take a whole lot of ruggedness for you to notice with those brothers of yours. I can’t imagine life with one brother, never mind five brothers.” Adrienne gave an exaggerated shudder. “And to be the youngest. Yikes.”

“It’s normal to me.”

“Of course it is. Thank heaven that little devil Rohan survived his ordeal. I hoped I’d find him asleep under a bed. It was decent of Vic to take him in, but he doesn’t know much about puppies. Neither do I. They say crate training is the way to go, but maybe Rohan’s past that.”

“No one’s put up notices in town about a missing puppy that I know of,” Heather said, sitting on a chair on the other side of the hearth from Adrienne. “My guess is someone from out of town drove out here and dumped him like a bag of garbage.”

“It’s disgusting.” Adrienne waved a hand. “But we won’t think about that now. He’s safe here, even if we’re having a bit of a learning curve on how to take care of him. Three days, though, and he’s already got Vic rolled.”

“How long will you be staying this time?”

“I don’t know. I guess it depends on Vic. He won’t need me to house-sit if he’s going to be here full-time. He says I can stay whether or not he’s here, but I don’t want to get in his way.” She stood, grabbing a poker from a rack and pulling back the screen. “I thought I’d get nervous being out here by myself, but it’s been great. I’m getting a lot of work done.”

Heather smiled, warm again, less achy. “And now you’ve got Vic interested in installing a wine cellar.”

Adrienne stirred the fire. “He’ll love it.”

“I’m sure I will,” Vic said, joining them. “I can picture myself up here at ninety, opening a good Bordeaux and watching the snow.”

“Will you be alone?” Adrienne asked.

“More important, will I be alive?”

He chuckled, taking a log from a small stack on the hearth. Adrienne pulled back the screen a bit farther, allowing him to place the log on the fire. She adjusted its position with her poker. “That’s not funny, Vic,” she said.

“Gallows humor. When you’re my age, you’ll understand.”

“You won’t be ninety for another thirty years,” Heather said.

“Gad, that long?” He stepped back from the fire. “What kind of wine are we having tonight?”

Adrienne returned the poker to the rack. “I thought we could try something from Noah Kendrick’s winery.”

“Kendrick,” Vic said. “Rich guy. High-tech entertainment company in Southern California. He’s engaged to the Knights Bridge librarian.”

“Former librarian,” Heather amended. “She resigned a couple of months ago.”

“Phoebe O’Dunn. Her mother lives up the road. Elly. Raises goats. I asked her if she knows who Rohan belongs to, but she said she doesn’t. She was on her way to San Diego to visit Phoebe and Noah.” Vic settled onto a sofa facing the fire. “See? I’m not that out of touch with the locals.”

“I’ve met Elly,” Adrienne said. “She’s a widow. Did you buy this place before her husband died?”

Vic nodded. “Patrick. He was a great guy. Sad he left behind a wife and four daughters. Life isn’t fair sometimes. I’ve survived a number of close calls during my time in the Foreign Service, and here I am, alone and unscathed.”

“I’ll fetch wineglasses.” Adrienne started for the adjoining dining room. “I don’t think I’ve met any of Elly’s daughters. I suppose I could have run into them in the village and not realized it. Elly says they all have red hair.”

“They do,” Heather said with a laugh. “Maggie O’Dunn is my sister-in-law. She’s married to my brother Brandon. She’s the second eldest of the four O’Dunn sisters, after Phoebe. She’s a caterer, and she’s making artisan soaps using milk from her mother’s goats. She and Brandon have two little boys.”

“I thought they lived in Boston,” Vic said.

“They did for a while.” Heather didn’t want to get into the details of Maggie and Brandon’s near-divorce last year. Not that she knew many of the details. “Now they’re back in town.”

“Brandon’s a skilled carpenter as I recall.”

“He’ll be working on your renovations.”

Heather watched through the double open doorway as Adrienne got wineglasses from a built-in cabinet with stained-glass panels, original to the house. She brought the glasses into the living room and set them on the coffee table. “You’re a mysterious character around here, I think, Vic. Elly told me you’ve always seemed exotic and fascinating, kind of a diplomatic James Bond.”

“A diplomatic James Bond,” Vic said. “I like that.”

What did that make Brody? The real deal? Heather stood, her hands and feet warm and her pant leg almost dry but her mood suddenly off. She felt restless, confused—faintly irritated. Why hadn’t Brody told her who he was right from the start? She obviously hadn’t recognized him while she’d been in the midst of rescuing Rohan and keeping herself from falling in the icy brook.

Adrienne opened one of the wine bottles. Heather noticed the elegant, distinctive Kendrick Winery label. She’d met Noah a few times but didn’t know him well. His best friend and business partner, Dylan McCaffrey, had beat him to Knights Bridge, arriving last spring to check on property he had discovered he owned there. Dylan, too, had fallen in love with a woman from Knights Bridge.

The short version of that story, Heather thought with a smile.

“What’s on your mind, Heather?” Vic asked quietly.

“Nothing. Just warming up.”

He studied her a moment then got to his feet. “You two chat and start on the first bottle. I’ll check on Rohan and invite Brody to join us. Last night I waited too long, and he peed on the floor. Rohan, I mean. Not our Agent Hancock.”

After Vic left, Adrienne poured two glasses of wine and handed one to Heather. “I think we’re going to enjoy this,” she said, raising her glass. “Cheers.”

Heather smiled. “Cheers.” She sipped the wine, enjoying the smooth flavor. “It is good, but you’re the expert.”

“I think of myself as a wine enthusiast more than a wine expert.”

“But you enjoy what you do,” Heather said.

Adrienne nodded, returning to her chair. “I love it, even when it doesn’t pay the bills. I’ve always had a keen sense of taste, and it felt natural to put it to use with wine. I know what I like, I know what’s good and I know how to describe wine in a way that’s entertaining and makes sense to other people.”

“You’re also not a wine snob.”

“I couldn’t be a wine snob and do what I do, or love it as much as I do.”

“When you think about it, snobbery doesn’t get anyone very far,” Heather said.

“It wouldn’t in Knights Bridge, that’s for sure. You all would run me out of town if I had my nose up in the air about wine—or anything else.”

Heather laughed. “Now, now. Live and let live, right? We have a soft spot for our snobs.”

“Every place has them, I guess. Vic’s more down-to-earth than I expected. I only met him a few times before I worked out this house-sitting arrangement. It’s been good getting to know him.”

“Any closer to deciding where you want to be after this?” Heather asked.

Adrienne shook her head. “I’ve been on the road constantly for more than a year. Maintaining an apartment made no sense, but now I feel rootless. Well, more rootless than usual. I haven’t lived anywhere for more than six months since I got out of college.” She smiled. “That must be hard for you to imagine.”

“I’m definitely not rootless, but I do want to travel.”

“Would you ever consider living somewhere besides Knights Bridge?”