Under A Harvest Moon (23 page)

Thirty minutes later, Peter's Saab pulled into the parking lot. She was out of her car and waiting before Kaiden had a chance to open the door. She did it for him, practically pulling him out of the car and into her arms.

"I missed you so much." She hugged him tight.

"Mom," Kaiden said, wiggling out of her embrace. "I was only gone a couple of days."

"Two days too long," Danielle said with a smile. "Kaiden, will you wait in the car? I need to speak to your dad for a moment."

"Okay," he said, "but don't fight."

"We won't," she lied.

Peter had exited his car and stood with his back against the driver's door, the picture of bored nonchalance. Danielle helped Kaiden into her car, then strode to her ex-husband.

"Don't ever do that again," Danielle said, the words low and hard. "I swear if you are as much as one second late, I will call the police."

Peter actually threw his head back and laughed.

"Danielle," he said, "if only I'd seen one-tenth that kind of passion when we were in bed we'd still be married."

She balled her fist, wanting to strike him, but held back, knowing Kaiden looked on. "I will fight you for Kaiden, and I will win. Remember that."

"I'll let you win right now," he said, all traces of laughter gone now, the deadly glint back in his eyes. "I'll walk away. All you have to do is sign over half of the vineyard to me once you inherit. I'll take cash, or a piece of the pie, whatever works for you."

Her nails bit into her palm. "Are you nuts? This is low, even for you. You're willing to walk away from your son for money? That's it. I'm done with you. You'll be hearing from my attorney."

"I'll deny everything I just said. I'll tie you up in court," Peter threatened. "And of course there's the small chance you could lose and custody would go to me. Think about my offer. I've just given you a way to cut me from your life forever."

He gave Danielle his snake oil smile before getting back in his car and slithering away.

She'd been right. Peter wasn't interested in Kaiden at all, and her heart broke for her son, but at the same time her mother's instinct kicked in. She was in for the fight of her life, and she had no doubt she'd win. She'd do whatever it took to retain full custody of Kaiden.

She wasn't about to let Peter control her anymore. She'd never give him that kind of power again.

***

Nico had been craving the sight of Danielle all day. He'd even come in from the vineyard twice to see if she'd returned with Kaiden, but she hadn't. He told himself he was merely checking on her to keep her happy, to keep himself in her good graces, but even to him, the thoughts rang false. He'd finally called her and she'd filled him in on Peter's tardy arrival.

The man didn't deserve to be a father.

As soon as Nico had come in from the fields, he'd gone in search of Danielle. He'd found the kids first, playing video games in Kaiden's room. When he'd questioned Lola about Danielle, the housekeeper had told him Danielle was in the rose garden.

He hadn't seen Danielle when he'd passed through the yard, and while that wasn't necessarily a cause for alarm, he was worried enough about her being outside alone that he'd gone right back outside to look for her.

"Danielle," he called out as he moved down the path.

No answer. In the garden, he glanced around, but didn't see her. Again he called, "Danielle. Danielle are you here?"

"Nico?"

Relief filled him. He spun around. "Where are you?"

She entered the garden from the same direction he had. She'd obviously been jogging. Her hair was in a ponytail. She wore navy shorts and a white T-shirt, running shoes on her feet. Her skin held the rosy flush of exercise.

"Thank God you're all right," he said.

"Why wouldn't I be?" She smoothed flyaway hair from her face with the palm of her hand. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Unmindful of her sweat-soaked T-shirt, he pulled her into his arms. "Lola told me you were in the garden, and when I couldn't find you -- "

"I'm fine." She leaned back to look at him. "You're overreacting. It's daylight."

"The note appeared during the day," he reminded her.

Understanding filled her eyes. "I'm sorry you worried." She touched his cheek. "I went for a run, trying to work off my anger. Peter really did a number on me today."

"What did he say about being late?"

Danielle took a seat on the stone bench. "Not much. He claimed he was running late, but that's not the worst of it. He told me he'd walk away from Kaiden for half of the vineyard."

Anger burned through Nico. "The bastard." He sat beside her. "He'll never get half the vineyard."

"Not legally, no," Danielle agreed. "But what if he becomes such a pain in my ass I want to give it to him just to make him go away?"

"No, Danielle," Nico said. "That's fear talking. You can't let him win."

"Even if it's for the benefit of my own mental health? I can't go through what I did today over and over again," she said sadly. "Nobody can smell money like Peter. His gambling addiction consumes him. He won't give up, not until I buy him off. Until then, he's going to make my life hell."

She turned to him, the look in her eyes sad and haunting.

"It's not even about letting him into Kaiden's life," she went on. "Peter doesn't want to be a father. It's so sad. Either way, he won't be a part of his son's life anymore."

Nico gathered her in his embrace, kissing her forehead, her nose, her mouth.

"Oh, Nico," Danielle whispered. Her arms tightened around him.

"I'll help you fight him," Nico vowed. "He won't win."

"I'm not about to let him win." Danielle looked into his eyes. "I made a decision today to fight him. I'm not going to let him control me anymore. I'm tired of being brow-beaten, of being afraid."

He heard the power in her words. "I'm proud of you."

"I'm scared," she admitted. "What if I lose Kaiden?"

"You won't," he said. "You're doing the right thing. Peter will never be satisfied. What's to keep him from coming back once that money's gone?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Danielle sighed.

Despite her brave words, he knew she was still upset. "Why don't we go and find the kids and do something special with them tonight?"

She smiled. "That's a great idea."

Nico stood and held his hand out to her. Danielle took his fingers and he pulled her up. Together they went to find their kids.

While Danielle showered and changed, Nico rounded up Kaiden and Maria, assigning them each specific tasks: Kaiden in charge of sleeping bags and pillows; Maria in charge of unearthing their old camping gear, the tent and the lantern. Even Lola agreed to help with the food they would need for their evening picnic. While they worked to collect the items he'd asked for, he gathered a few things of his own.

He had the perfect plan, a way for them all to be together and spend some family time, no talk of the vineyard, or ex-spouses, or the pranks that always lurked in the back of their minds.

"Where are we going?" Danielle asked when she joined them in the driveway. Her hair still wet from her shower, she'd changed into faded jeans and a simple mint green tank top. She'd left her feet bare.

Nico pointed to her feet. "You'll need shoes, preferably hiking boots."

"Hiking boots?" she repeated her eyes narrowing. "It will be dark in a few hours."

"I know, and for where we're going, the darker the better. And grab warm jackets for you and Kaiden."

Maria gasped. "I think I know where -- "

Nico held a finger to his lips. "Shh. It's our secret."

Maria smiled, the smile warming Nico's heart. How long had it been since he'd seen his little girl smile? No wonder she was having such a rough time. For too long he'd had tunnel vision where Whitney Vineyards was concerned. Dear God, was he doing to Maria what Phillip had done to Danielle? Was he ignoring his little girl all for the sake of the grapes? His heart pinched at the thought.

"Well, let's get going," Danielle said brightly. "I'll grab my boots and the coats and be right back."

Nico ran a hand over Maria's dark head. "Everyone in the truck." He exchanged a special smile with his daughter. "Maria and I are going to show you a good time tonight. And baby," he said to Maria, "we all need a good time right now."

Chapter Twelve

"Are you sure there's something up here?" Danielle asked.

They'd been driving straight up a dirt road for almost an hour now. On one side of them the Blue Mountains jutted toward the sky, on the other side loomed a drop off, an abyss so frightening Danielle knew she'd kiss the ground the minute Nico parked the truck. A thick dust shrouded the truck, casting a brown haze over everything. She thanked God it was still daylight. She couldn't imagine making a trip like this in darkness. One tiny mistake and the truck would plunge over the cliff.

She glanced over her shoulder at the kids. Both sets of eyes were glued to Kaiden's handheld game. Oh, how she hated that thing. Kaiden spent more time with the toy then he did doing anything else. She'd considered taking the game away, but after the divorce, the toy seemed to be the only thing that made him happy, and she didn't have the heart to be the bad guy. But time had passed now. She wanted the old Kaiden back, the one who liked to climb trees and ride his bike. For a moment she considered taking the game from Kaiden and chucking it into the abyss. Danielle smiled. Naughty Mommy.

She stole another glance out the window. Her stomach cinched up tight.

Maybe it was a blessing the kids were so focused on the game; otherwise they might be as freaked out as she was about the possibility of plunging over the side to her death.

"Relax." Nico reached over to pat her arm. "I've been here a million times. It's safe. I've never driven over the edge, not once. Besides, the worst is over; we're almost there. The road is starting to flatten out."

Danielle swallowed the lump in her throat. Nico was right. There was a more substantial shoulder on the right side. The shoulder began to grow, the slope flattened out, until they were driving on a level area covered with wild, sun-singed brown grass.

Nico stopped the truck in a cloud of dust.

"Are we there?" Danielle asked, thinking he was nuts. There was nothing here; just a stretch of dry hard earth, sporting intermittent clumps of wildflowers -- if you could call the dried out white plants flowers.

"We're here," Nico confirmed. He turned to Maria. "You know what to do."

She nodded, excitement shining in her eyes.

They exited the truck. The whirr of grasshoppers was deafening. The sun had baked this place dry. Even now the temperature here had to be close to eighty though it was almost seven p.m.

"Come here." Nico took Danielle's arm and walked her over to the edge. "Look."

The bottom dropped out of Danielle's stomach. They were so high up! She could see the Snake River in the distance, and part of the vineyard, but it was far away, a cool dot of green in a dry valley of brown.

"I don't understand," she said. "What is this place?"

"Our campground, for tonight." Nico grinned.

"Campground?" she repeated. "We're in the middle of nowhere."