So Far Into You (20 page)

Yeah, and Montgomery Wines came with a package deal called Remy Roberts. That made this acquisition a bit different, too.

‘Okay. What are we looking at here, Lewis?' Seth began when Carney stopped with the leg crossing, and Rina flipped her notepad open. ‘You look like you need to get a few things off your chest.'

‘I didn't think there was any need to take notes,' Carney said, eyeing Rina's poised pen.

‘I'm not taking notes,' Seth said. ‘Don't worry about it. What's up?'

‘Rina says you won't be making Chameleon this vintage. I know you've been out Red Gum Valley Road this week. Max and I used to earmark the fruit from Remy's farm and the Hackett's block every year for Chameleon. What did you think? Did you taste it?'

‘Yeah. It's good. They're both good blocks,' and he thought about it some more. ‘Really good.'

‘So she hasn't poisoned all her grapes this time then?' Rina muttered.

Both men ignored her.

Carney said: ‘Rina said the two of you think you can't make a dollar from high-end Adelaide Hills sauvignon blanc. You can't compete with what the Kiwis are pumping out.'

‘Rina and I usually are on the same page, but that doesn't mean we don't disagree now and then on how best to write the book. New Zealand sauvignon blanc outsells Australian two, pushing three, bottles to one, and that share's growing. There's a restaurant market though.'

Rina made a note in her pad. Carney saw it and didn't like it. Seth could tell by the way the tall man looked at her pen like he wanted to rip it from her and ditch it across the room. Seth didn't blame him. Rina's note-taking made
him
want to throw her pen across the room all the time.

‘You told me part of your deal with Max was that I guaranteed you at least a year in the job 'cause you wanted continuity, and to be a bridge between the new guard and the old. I think I've been doing that okay, under the circumstances.' He glanced at Rina's pen.

‘You have, Lewis. I won't bullshit you. You're a valuable part of the team. You have a big part here moving forward. We see you in all of it.' What he'd seen of Carney so far had him thinking the guy might just be that general manager material he'd be looking for.

Carney took a big breath, sat forward, and everything rushed out fast. ‘You guys are moving too quick. There's been too much change. If you ditch Chameleon you're dropping our flagship brand. We've got more workplace policies all of a sudden than you can poke a stick at—'

‘That's because Max didn't have any policies
at all
, except the one about knocking-off early for Friday drinks,' Rina said.

Seth flicked his finger at her and she shut up.

‘I told you I won't bullshit you, Lewis. I meant it. I had thought we couldn't justify the input costs on Chameleon. Not this year. But that was before I assessed those blocks. Both those vineyards are premium. I'd hate to lose that by mixing it in with the middle-tier stuff. Rina's not spinning you a line. She and I did talk about pulling Chameleon from production. I'm not thinking that way anymore.'

Rina stabbed the tip of her pen at the page. Her lips were like prunes.

‘Thank God,' Carney said, putting both feet flat on the floor, hands on his thighs. ‘Honestly. This will mean a heap to the guys. They've all been thinking you're just trying to turn us into another mid-size winery, churning out cheap and cheerful wine for the masses.'

‘I'm not saying that long-term Chameleon is the best use of resources,' Seth qualified. ‘But for this year I agree with you. There's more upside in keeping it. I'd like to see what you do with it.' He glanced at Rina, sitting so straight-backed she could have been a chair, and added: ‘what
both
of you do with it.'

The mention of working with Rina dimmed the smile on Carney's face but not by much, then he stood and leaned across Max Montgomery's old desk to shake Seth's hand.

‘I'll get to it then,' Carney said.

***

It had taken a while for Rina to calm down after Carney left and it meant their afternoon meeting took longer than it should. On the fruit assessments, Rina had finished her list. Seth still had a couple of places to visit. Rina offered to do those for him because he had back-to-back meetings tomorrow.

After he finished with Rina there were reports to work through, budget figures to comb, expenditure to sign off. His email inbox was a nightmare and Sally wouldn't let him ignore it anymore. Sally Deering had gone back to the West after the merger excitement died, but that didn't stop her haranguing him twice-daily with colour-coded bullet-point lists of all the things he hadn't done.

It was after eight when he left the winery to drive the fifteen minutes into Mount Barker, pack up his room, and check-out. Without a dog, there was no point paying for a room at the only dog-friendly motel in town. So he'd decided to book into the motel units at the back of the Oakbank pub.

***

By nine o'clock that night, Remy was tired of jumping every time the dogs twitched at some mystery noise in the night and sick of flicking through television channels that couldn't hold her interest.

Then a growl from the dogs had Remy off the couch in a flash.

It was dark outside, but the house lights shone through the windows, throwing light into the patio. Occhy and Breeze were at the gate, heads up, on alert.

Remy clicked the television off. From the front, above the trill of cicadas, she heard the sound of a car engine and a few seconds later, headlights played across the garden.

She opened the patio doors, flung them harder than she wanted on a burst of adrenalin, and waited at the gate with her heart thumping.

The sensor light switched on and Seth came round the corner carrying a bulk bag of dog food under one arm. He had a shiny silver dog bowl in the other hand. She thought he looked tired.

‘Hi,' he called. ‘I hope reception isn't shut yet?'

She smiled even as she told herself not to. ‘No. But I was getting close to putting the
no vacancies
sign out the front.'

The corner of his mouth twitched and Remy had the feeling they'd called a truce. At least for now.

She opened the gate. ‘I made a bed up for Occhy just there. See?' She indicated a big cushion on the pavers near Breeze's kennel. ‘Put his bowl so it's a bit separate from hers. I don't want them fighting over food.'

‘Okay. Thanks, Rem. I appreciate this.'

‘I'm not doing it for you, Seth. I always loved Occhy, he's a great dog. I don't like the idea of him being chained up all day where people might tease him.'

‘No. I don't like it either. That's why he'll be so much happier here.' He passed her the bag of dog food. It was a bulk eighteen-kilo bag, but it must have been more than half empty. It wasn't heavy.

‘So where are you staying?'

‘I thought I'd try the Oakbank Pub.'

‘Have you eaten? They might have shut for meals now.'

‘I didn't think of that, but I'm okay, thanks. I had a late lunch.'

‘Okay.' She looked him up and down, and made a decision. ‘Hey, when you come here, don't park under that big tree at the front, okay? It drops sap. It's a bitch to get off.'

‘Thanks for telling me.'

‘Don't mention it.'

Occhilupo and Breeze crawled into Breeze's kennel, ignoring the cushion she'd put out. Occhy was a black burr in the dark. The white of Breeze's chest was a clearer target. She had her head over Occhy's back.

‘Good to see he's made himself comfortable,' Seth said.

‘He's a male and he's a dog. They're good at making themselves comfortable.'

Seth laughed and they stood looking at each other, with Remy holding the bag of dry food and wishing she could keep the same tight grip on her heart when Seth was near.

‘I'll let you go,' he said. ‘Have a good night.'

‘See you for poop-scooping duty tomorrow.'

‘Now there's an invitation I haven't heard before.'

She smiled sweetly at him. ‘And here I was thinking you must have heard them all.'

Chapter 18

‘Morning, Margaret,' Seth said the next day as he entered the admin area, where Margaret Castle was already behind her desk looking remarkably efficient.

‘Morning, Seth,' she said, and she smiled, like they'd shared a private joke. Which in a way, they had. ‘Rina's been looking for you. She asked that I let her know when you get in.'

‘I've got two conference calls this morning first-up then I'll touch base with Rina,' he said. ‘Can you hold any other calls till nine?'

He was in the middle of the first conference call when Rina knocked on his office door and entered. He waved her in, because she brought coffee.

Rina closed the door behind her. That in itself was unusual enough to make him notice. Rina liked other staff to know she was part of the inner sanctum and had his ear. She rarely closed the door when she came to see him.

She put the coffee on his desk, sat on the same chair as yesterday and crossed her legs, sipping at her coffee in silence. He couldn't see a notebook, but she had a pen behind her ear. When he finished the call, he said: ‘I've got five minutes till the next one. Thanks for this. I needed it.'

‘You might need something stronger in a minute,' she said, resting the coffee cup on his desk. ‘The newspaper says it wasn't just grapes you were tasting out at Remy Roberts' place.'

‘Yeah?'

‘
The Advertiser
has a segment in today's Confidential—'

‘Ahh. So that makes it true. Confidential …'

‘What's going on, Seth?' Rina leaned forward, cutting to the chase.

‘Remy's neighbour sprung me out there yesterday morning. I guess he must have blabbed.'

Rina went statue-still. ‘Sprung you doing what?'

‘Kissing Remy.'

‘Kissing her!' She jerked hard enough to dislodge the pen from her ear. She caught it against her thigh before it hit the floor. ‘Bloody hell.'

‘It's not so strange. Remy and I … had something together years ago.'

‘What? Before or after that bit where she poisoned your vines? I gotta hand it to you, Seth. You're the
king
of moving on.'

‘Remy tells a different story, Rina. She says she never did it on purpose.'

‘She would. Ailsa always said she's a compulsive liar.'

‘Keep it down, hey? The walls aren't that thick.' He had to add some heat to the words, almost growl it at her to cut through.

‘When Ailsa hears about this, and she will,' she pointed her pen at him and stood up to leave: ‘Just don't say I didn't warn you.'

‘That's enough, Rina. Butt out. It has nothing to do with you.'

‘She's one of our growers. That makes it business. I'm a board member these days and that makes it
my
business, and your mother's. Don't you remember what happened last time you got involved with this girl? Doesn't that mean anything?'

Margaret Castle buzzed his internal line then, and he knew she was calling to let him know the next conference call was waiting.

‘Rina, there's a line you shouldn't cross, and you're right on it.'

‘If I can't tell you when you're being a total dick, who can?' She left the room.

Seth snatched his phone up and had to force himself back to the topic at hand. Retail wine sales to supermarket chains. Beating the bastards into a better deal.

After the phone conversation finished, Seth googled the Adelaide online newspaper. He found the item in Confidential. It was a small headline link in the sidebar that said: ‘The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Love'.

Seth clicked and waited for the story to load. It didn't take long.

Is it love in them there Hills for Aussie wine tycoon, Seth Lasrey? Confidential heard Seth's been paying vineyard visits to some of our local grapegrowers in the last week, and spent extra time at a property on Red Gum Valley Road yesterday, rekindling auld acquaintance.

Long labelled one of Australia's most eligible bachelors, Seth's been on the Adelaide A-list in the month he's been in South Australia, since his wine company merged with Montgomery Wines in January.

Confidential
's
source said the lucky local lady grower is from the Margaret River wine region originally, and that she and Seth ‘go way back'.

What we'd like to know ladies is: does this mean another bachelor bites the dust?

Seth finished his coffee in a disgusted gulp.
It must have been a bloody slow news day.

He should phone Remy. Give her the heads up. She wasn't used to the media scrutiny and she might not know the mantra he used: deny, deny, deny.

Plus who was he kidding? He wanted to hear her voice. Last night when he'd watched Occhilupo cuddling up with Breeze, it occurred to him how much he'd like to be camping out at Remy's place too, and not in a kennel.

***

Rina walked out of Seth's office fuming, amazed she had enough control not to slam his door off its hinges. The mix of caffeine and adrenalin in her system had her buzzing like a wasp in the window.

She knew this would happen. She'd known when she'd seen Remy at the growers' meeting, popping up like a bloody weed that wouldn't die.

Shutting the door of her office, sinking into her chair, Rina put her hand to her temple and tried to massage away the headache threatening there. God she wanted a drink.

Leaning across her desk, Rina picked up her office phone and dialled Ailsa's number.

‘Ailsa? This is Rina,' she said, as the Lasrey matriarch answered the phone.

‘What's happened now?' Ailsa said without preamble.

‘There's an article in the local paper today that links Seth with Remy. It doesn't name her, but I know that's who it's about. Someone saw him kissing her out at Remy's property. Seth is her vineyard liaison.' And because it felt like she should, she added: ‘I'm sorry. I feel like I've let you down.'