But this wasn’t the time. Or the place. Even as he touched her, she felt the reserve in him. As if he were holding himself back from her deliberately.
“Trust isn’t something that comes easy to me, Julie.”
“Try, Travis,” she urged. “You’ve known me most of my life and I think somewhere inside you, you know I didn’t betray you. I’m not in league with Jean Claude.” She reached for his hand and curled her fingers around his. “I am who I’ve always been.”
He smiled again, softly, temptingly. “And who is that?”
“Julie,” she said with a small smile. “Just Julie.”
Noise sounded in the distance. Car doors slamming, a bus engine rumbling, voices lifting, talking, laughing.
“Our guests are here,” he said, straightening up and moving away.
“Travis—” He was pulling back from her and only a moment ago, he’d been so close. So tantalizingly close, she’d thought for a second that he was going to kiss her. To tell her he did trust her. That he believed in her.
But the moment was gone and the shadows in his eyes smothered the light she’d seen gleaming there so briefly.
The door to the tasting room opened, allowing a slice of afternoon sunlight to spill inside. Voices trailed in the wake of that splash of gold and Julie knew the first of their guests were arriving. “Travis,” she said softly, frantically, “I wouldn’t betray you.”
He only looked at her as though trying to figure out who she really was. But didn’t he know? Apparently not.
“By the way,” Travis said, his voice carrying subtly beneath the encroaching noise. “You look beautiful tonight.”
Staring at her now—her dark red hair, her green eyes wide and innocent, her luscious mouth in a hard firm line—he felt a staggering rush of desire that made him wonder what he was thinking with. His mind or his hormones?
She wore a deep yellow dress with one shoulder strap. The skirt was full and ended just above her knees. He’d seen her dressing only an hour ago and had wanted nothing more than to trail his fingertips down the line of her spine displayed by the deep back of the dress. Now, he still wanted that.
Despite the newspaper photo.
Despite everything…he wanted her.
What did that make him?
A fool?
As the voices behind them grew and came closer, Travis sucked in a deep breath, held it and then released it slowly, trying to find an even keel again. If only for a short time. Long enough to get through the tasting.
“This isn’t the time,” he said finally, and told himself not to notice the disappointment in her eyes. She wanted him to give her unconditional trust and belief. But how could he when everything conspired to make him think that she was in league with ol’ Pierre?
“Travis—”
“Isn’t this lovely?” a high-pitched female voice cooed from too close by and Travis shook his head.
“We’ll talk about this later,” he said quietly. “When we’re alone.”
Then he folded the newspaper, tucked it under his left arm and turned to face the winery guests. “Welcome to King Vineyards,” he called out. “My wife and I hope you enjoy your evening.”
Because, he added silently, somebody should.
Over the next several weeks, life settled into a routine of sorts. Julie worked in the kitchen, trying out new recipes, planning for the day when she would have her bakery. Although the excitement of her plans was muted by the fact that once she had that bakery, she wouldn’t have Travis.
The ache of that thought stayed with her day and night. Every waking moment she wondered how she would spend the rest of her life knowing she wouldn’t have him with her. Knowing that she would be sleeping alone, always haunted by the memories of being in his arms. And she wondered if he would miss her, too.
When they hosted the tastings together, she was almost convinced that he thought of them as a team. They worked well together, and over the last few weeks, the King winery had received more visitors than ever. Between Travis’s fine wines and the delicacies Julie made and served, they were the talk of the area.
Now, newspaper articles focused more on the winery itself rather than the scandal that had surrounded them for so long. Julie wasn’t sorry to see the end of that disgrace, but she was worried about what Jean Claude might do next. He’d vowed not to stop in his harassment campaign and she had to assume that nothing had changed.
So this respite was probably nothing more than the calm before a new Jean Claude storm.
Not that that was the only thing on her mind. Or even the most important thing on her mind. Julie pulled in a deep breath and blew it out again slowly. As a matter of fact, Jean Claude was the last thing on her mind now.
Ever since she’d found the nerve to take a little test.
Stepping away from the cooking island, she turned and walked to the bay window overlooking the vineyard. With Travis’s cook on vacation, Julie had the kitchen to herself and right now, she needed the solitude. To think. To decide what to do. What to say.
As it was, Julie felt like an idiot. With everything that had been going on around them, she’d completely forgotten to keep track of her monthly cycle. If she had, she would have noticed sooner that her period hadn’t shown up when it should have.
Her gaze fixed on the horizon, she watched as the sinking sun began to paint the clouds deep shades of scarlet and gold. A wind was blowing, ruffling the leaves on the vines and sending a minitornado of dust dancing along the neatly tended rows of grapes.
And inside her, a different kind of tornado was taking shape.
She’d driven to Sacramento that morning, wanting to get as far from prying eyes and nosy neighbors in Birkfield as possible. She’d bought the pregnancy test kit and smuggled it into the house as if she were a drug dealer. Then the package had sat beneath the bathroom sink all day, taunting her with its presence, silently daring her to take its challenge.
Finally, an hour ago, she had.
It had only taken three short minutes to redefine her life.
One little plus sign and now everything was different.
She felt more alive than she ever had and yet more subdued. Exhilarated and worried.
How could she tell Travis that she was pregnant with his child? This was a temporary marriage. They’d both agreed to that at the beginning.
Besides, even if he wanted her to, she couldn’t stay with Travis simply because she was pregnant. If he didn’t love her, what would be the point? They’d only end by making each other—and their child—miserable.