Fate Interrupted: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel (Moonstone Cove Book 3) Read online

  Okay, that wasn’t the response she’d been expecting. “Right.” Megan kept her smile in place. “You’re sure it’s Rodney Carpenter you’re dating?”

  Angela laughed. “It is. I find him… quite charming. I’m sure as his ex-wife, you have your own opinions on that—

  “Oh, I have no doubt he can be charming. I’ve felt the effects of it. I hope…” What was she doing? She couldn’t give Rodney’s girlfriend dating advice! That would be way beyond weird. “I’m sure the kids will meet you, and you’ll all get along.” How had Rodney managed to score a single date—much less a relationship—with someone as smart and successful as Angela Calvo?

  Life was a mystery.

  “I’m sure we will.” She nodded. “It’s really a pleasure to meet you. Believe it or not, Rodney only says good things about your time together.”

  “That’s nice to hear.” Was this really happening? Megan pinched her toes in her heels. Yep. That hurt. She was definitely not hallucinating.

  Angela waved to someone behind Megan’s back. “I am so sorry, but I just spotted an employee I need to speak to.” She held out her hand and Megan took it. “Truly, I am so glad we were able to meet.”

  “I am too. And I’m sure you’ll meet the kids at exactly the right time for them and for you.”

  Angela clasped her own hands tightly. “I hope so.” She gestured to Toni and Katherine. “Why don’t I walk you back to your friends? I believe the tour is set to start shortly.”

  Megan walked across the room with Angela behind her left shoulder. When they arrived, Megan introduced them briefly before Angela had to take her leave with a smile and instructions to the girl behind the counter to package up a gift bag for each of them with their choice of Fairfield wine.

  Toni was still somewhat frozen when Angela walked away. “What just happened?”

  “We just met Angela Calvo.”

  Katherine cocked her head, watching Angela walk toward two men in dark business suits. “I believe what happened is that we were just charmed by someone very skillful.”

  “And I didn’t get to ask her any questions,” Toni said. “Which was the entire point of my coming here. Call her back!”

  “I can’t call her back! She has a meeting.”

  Katherine was still watching Angela with narrowed eyes. “Have we met her before? I feel like I’ve met her before. I know that’s unlikely. She’s not what I expected.”

  “It’s possible she’s been misjudged,” Megan said. “Also, she’s dating Rodney.”

  Toni’s eyes were the size of saucers. “No way.”

  “Yes way. I knew he had a new girlfriend, but I didn’t expect her to be a grown-up.” Megan watched Angela Calvo speaking and smiling with her business associates. “Nothing in my previous experience with Rodney would lead me to believe he could convince a woman like that to be in a relationship with him.”

  Toni stared at her. “Are you being serious right now?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  Katherine frowned. “Superficially, she’s quite similar to you. You didn’t notice that?”

  “That woman is basically you with darker hair, Megan.” Toni stood and attempted to straighten her outfit. “Gorgeous. Confident. Professional. I mean, change the hair color and add a couple of inches, she’s you. Or you’re her. You know what I mean.”

  “You think so?” Megan helped Toni to her feet off the elevated stool. “I’m not seeing it.”

  “Give it time,” Katherine said. “Your ex clearly has a type. And it appears to be you.”

  Chapter 8

  Megan kept her eyes open during the winery tour, which led the group over an extensive part of the grounds along with the fermenting rooms and barrel storage. Megan had to hand it to Angela; the tour was long but accessible. If she’d known nothing about wine going into it, she would have felt very well informed upon leaving.

  However, nothing about the tour even hinted that Fairfield Family Wines was exploring new wine varietals or anything of the sort.

  “Well, that was disappointing.” Megan climbed into the driver’s seat of her Mercedes and waited as Katherine helped Toni up. “I need running boards; I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be.” Toni huffed. “And in another five weeks, this won’t be an issue anymore, so don’t install running boards for me.”

  “What are you and Henry going to do about a family car?” Katherine asked innocently.

  Megan braced herself for the inevitable barrage hurled in Katherine’s direction for daring to question the family suitability of vintage Mustangs.

  The barrage never came.

  “We decided that Henry’s truck will work for most things, and I’m going to park the Mustang for a little while and drive my dad’s Ford Explorer. He and my mom only ever use one car anymore, and you know my mom loves her Cadillac.”

  Megan turned to Toni with narrowed eyes. “That’s it?”

  Toni frowned. “What?”

  “I asked you that same question two weeks ago and you about bit my head off!”

  Toni shrugged. “Sorry?”

  “Pregnant women are weird.” Megan started the car. “And that tour told us nothing.”

  “It told us that Angela Calvo really knows what she’s doing,” Katherine said. “That was a very good tour, and it didn’t even hint that the marketing for the winery is a hoax.”

  “Is hoax too strong?” Megan asked. “I mean, it’s marketing, not a vast criminal conspiracy.”

  “But it’s not true,” Katherine said. “I say it’s a hoax.”

  “Ditto,” Toni said. “Do you know how annoying family businesses are? She’s claiming one without having a crazy uncle looking over her shoulder at random moments. Total fraud.”

  Megan smiled. “That is a fair point. I do have to say she’s not the wicked witch of San Francisco that everyone made her out to be. Remember talking to people last year? Everyone acted like she was the worst.”

  “I remember,” Katherine said. “She’s either been misunderstood, as many women in business are, or she’s a sociopath.”

  Megan bit the corner of her lip to keep from laughing. “Sociopath seems unlikely.”

  Katherine shrugged. “It’s estimated that between one and ten percent of the population exhibit psychopathic or sociopathic traits, and many of them are attracted to the business world.”

  “For now let’s go with men in Moonstone Cove exaggerating her bad traits because the good ol’ boys here are threatened by successful women.”

  Toni put her seat belt on. “God knows that’s happened to more than one of us.”

  Katherine said, “I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, but I wish I knew why she looks familiar.”

  “Cool.” Toni clapped her hands together. “Where are we headed next, and do I get to drink there?”

  “Baur Cellars, and how adorable are you if you think we’re letting you drink?” Megan guided the car out of the oak-dotted parking lot and back toward the winding road that ran past most of Moonstone Cove’s wineries.

  “I’m an adult, Atlanta! I know my limits.”

  “And I know your baby daddy, your doctor, and your mama. You’re not drinking.” Megan kept her eyes on the road even though she could feel Toni’s irritation.

  As in, literally feel it. The empath was filling the car with so much annoyance Megan had the urge to slap a nun.

  She focused on the case. “So Nico had Charles Baur at the top of the list because he and his brother-in-law have been experimenting with unusual varietals from France for the past few years.”

  “From the Jura region?” Katherine asked.

  “No, but it’s not a stretch to imagine that if he got wind of a new varietal already here, he’d be tempted. From my own knowledge of country club gossip, I’d say they’re an established winery with capital and little debt. A little risk to raise his profile would probably be worth it for Mr. Baur.”

  “I thought Nico had him on the top of t
he list because the Baur kid is dating Beth,” Toni said. “My brother would pull something like that.”

  “Wouldn’t Nico want to avoid suggesting Beth’s boyfriend’s family was involved?” Katherine asked.

  “You’re assuming he likes Beth having a boyfriend,” Toni said. “Which he doesn’t. He doesn’t want either of his kids to date until college.”

  Megan had heard a little bit about Nico’s strict dating rules, but she hadn’t really explored them. “Why is he so strict about that?”

  “I think because he and Marissa met in high school and then got married pretty young. He thinks kids should travel and see the world before they get married.”

  Megan nodded. “That makes sense. I didn’t marry Rodney until after college, but I didn’t really travel anywhere new. I thought that man was the beginning and end of the world.”

  “That’s very unhealthy,” Katherine said.

  “I know that now.”

  Toni said, “Well, forgetting all about my teenage niece’s dating life, Henry had Charles Baur at the top of his list because he says after Nico’s land, Baur’s vineyards are the best situated to grow Poulsard.”

  Katherine said, “That is a theory based on science and makes me much more confident. Thank you.”

  “Do any of you ladies know what’s so special about this wine?” Megan asked, joining the stream of traffic going east.

  Katherine raised her hand. “I do. I’ve been researching it, and Baxter and I bought several bottles.” She smiled. “For research.”

  “So what’s the verdict?” Toni asked.

  “It’s very nice. It’s fruity but not sweet. Very smooth and not much tannin. It reminded me of pinot noir, but brighter somehow. I would call it refreshing, which is unusual for a red wine. I agree with Nico. It would be very popular if you managed to grow it in California.”

  “The research I read said that it’s difficult to grow anywhere but the Jura region because of how thin the skins are.” Megan steered the car toward the entrance of Baur Cellars. “It’s even difficult to grow there. But we do have the right kind of soil for it—it likes limestone and shale soils.”

  “Depending on what rootstock they graft it to,” Toni said, “they might be able to tweak some of those characteristics without affecting the flavor of the grapes too much.”

  “The science of grape cloning is fascinating,” Katherine said. “I’m tempted to try my hand at it just for fun.”

  “It’s also an art,” Megan said. “I can’t believe I used to take good wine for granted. It’s so much more complicated than I realized.”

  “You can still take it for granted,” Toni said. “There is nothing glamorous about winemaking. Do you know how many half-full two-liter soda bottles were sitting at my house a few months ago? All because Henry couldn’t decide just how much merlot to blend with the cabernet franc for Nico’s estate blend. I couldn’t wash any clothes for weeks. Fancy grape juice had taken over my laundry room.”

  Megan loved hearing Toni bitch about domestic life. It was glaringly obvious that she adored her boyfriend, and Henry treated Toni like a queen.

  “Okay, here we are.” Megan pulled into the Baur parking lot, happy to see it was half-full. She didn’t want to be too conspicuous. “Should we split up? You and Toni go into the tasting room, and I’ll wander aimlessly and snoop. I can play dumb if anyone catches me.”

  “Sure.” Toni heaved herself out of the car and braced her hand on the seat for a second. “Hold on.” She put a hand under her massive belly, and for a second Megan felt a stir of alarm. Toni waved at her. “Relax. Your worry is shouting at me; I’m fine. Just pulled a belly muscle or something.” She leaned to the side and lifted a leg. “There we go.”

  Katherine was standing to the side, her eyes wide. “I am so glad—”

  “Yes, yes!” Toni cut her off. “It’s alarming and unnatural how big the belly is now. I never planned on having a giant’s baby, but love makes you stupid.”

  “The female body is a marvel,” Katherine said. “I almost wish I’d experienced pregnancy on a scientific level. I’m so curious.”

  “But you never wanted kids?” Megan asked.

  “Oh no.” Katherine shook her head. “Baxter and I both love our nephews and nieces, but we were very satisfied without children. We enjoy the quiet.”

  “That’s an excellent reason not to have kids.” Megan laughed. “I don’t think my house was quiet for a fifteen-year stretch.”

  Toni sent her a withering glance. “Don’t tell me things like this.”

  “I had three!” She shooed Katherine and Toni toward the tasting room. “Three, Toni. And I’m sure your kid will be much quieter than mine were.”

  Toni’s glare told Megan she didn’t believe her.

  She shouldn’t. All babies were noisy and messy and chaotic. That was half the fun. Luckily, she had no doubt her friend would fall head over heels for the tiny chaos agent she was nearly finished baking in that giant belly. Megan turned and made a show of studying her purse as she wandered past the parking lot and into the working area of the winery.

  As she walked, she pulled her blond hair back into a low ponytail and grabbed a pair of blue-light glasses from her purse. She didn’t need them, but the stereotype was true. People assumed women in glasses were smart. She regularly used clear glasses to balance out people’s dismissal of blond hair.

  Once she made it past the customers lingering on the edge of the parking area, she looked around for a prop. She saw a clipboard sitting on a chair behind a warehouse and walked toward it. Perfect. Everyone looked like they were working when they had a clipboard.

  Megan picked it up, grabbed a pen from her bag, then slung her purse around her neck and toward the back of her body before she put on her glasses and marched past what sounded like the fermentation warehouse and toward a low row of farm offices on the edge of the vineyards.

  She kept her eyes moving as she walked, looking for anything that looked like a greenhouse, but she didn’t see anything. Surprisingly, no one seemed to notice her as she snooped around the winery. She walked around the farm offices, glancing into windows, but she didn’t see anything unexpected. It all looked a lot like Nico’s farm.

  “Excuse me?”

  Megan turned when she heard the voice. “Yes?” She crossed her arms, pressing the clipboard against her chest so the young man couldn’t see what was on it.

  In a split second, she considered her options. There was a stack of barrels off to her left she could direct in the man’s path. There was an air conditioner sticking out of a window near his left elbow. She could use her telekinesis on either object to distract the man while she escaped.

  Of course, there were always unexpected consequences when she used her telekinesis. Like wine fermentation tanks breaking apart. Chaos and grape seeds raining everywhere. Stains on her favorite white blouse.

  The young man frowned, clearly confused by her presence. “Can I help you? Are you lost?”

  “Are you?”

  He hadn’t been expecting that answer. “I— No, I’m not lost. I work here.”

  “Oh good.” Megan clicked the end of her pen and stared at the young man. “You might be able to assist me instead of my having to wait for her. Can you tell me which specific Baur acreage has an abundance of shale marl or limestone soil?”

  “Pardon me?”

  Megan frowned and allowed her clipboard to come down. “Don’t tell me you don’t know what shale marl is.”

  “Of course I do, but you aren’t—”

  “Central Coast soil study team.” Megan scribbled ideas on the clipboard, furiously coming up with a half-decent fiction. “I’m working with Professor Johnson and Dr. Pepper. No jokes—as you can imagine, she hears them all the time. Can you tell me the location of the limestone deposits within your cultivation acreage? And what are the levels of dissolvable solids in your groundwater?” She was blathering. She’d heard Henry talking about the water table and “d
issolvable solids” the week before, but she had no idea if what she’d just said made any sense.

  “I really— I’m sorry, I don’t know. Maybe you want to talk to—”

  “Maybe I just better find her.” Megan started walking back toward the parking lot. “But you might tell her to get her hours straightened out too.” She turned and glared at the young man following her. “I have a schedule to keep, you know.”

  “Of course you do. If you could just tell me your name—”

  “Tell her I’ll email the survey numbers.”

  “Who is her?”

  She waved over her shoulder, not turning back as she walked past the fermentation warehouse and under the blooming pear tree near the parking lot. “I’ll get them to her next week at the latest!”

  As Megan walked away, she reached out with all her concentration and pulled the air conditioner out of the office window, listening for the crash. It came as expected, along with a lot of cursing.

  “Darren! What the hell—?”

  “I didn’t do anything.”

  With another nudge, she sent an empty barrel rolling across the alley between the fermentation house and the parking lot.

  “What the hell is going on?”

  “Are we having an earthquake?”

  Megan walked directly to her car, grabbing the keys from her purse and opening it. She made a show of tossing her cross-body bag and clipboard in the back of the vehicle before she started it and drove away. The overwhelmed man was still standing on the edge of the parking lot, watching her as she drove away; three other employees surrounded him, shouting questions.

  As soon as she got to the road, she phoned Katherine. “Hey. So I had to ditch you after someone started following me. I’m going to call Nico to come pick you up.”

  “Okay?” Katherine sounded confused. “We’re having a good time here. The wine is delightful and the tour is very interesting. Toni stayed back in the tasting room. She’s enjoying a fruit plate and some of their fruit cider. They have a nonalcoholic variety.”

  “Good to know. I’m calling Nico now.”