Fate Actually (Moonstone Cove #2) - Elizabeth Hunter Page 0,17
and old-fashioned. And that Nico likes to make things difficult for Fairfield and his whole crew just because your cousin doesn’t like the guy.”
“You got that from his employees?”
Drew nodded.
“So… you got the ‘he’s not that bad’ bit from the people that Whit Fairfield pays?”
Drew shrugged. “Fair point. But they seemed pretty sincere.”
“And what did you get from Nico’s people?”
“That Nico’s a hard boss, but everyone respects him. He minds his own business and the only thing he’s really obsessed with is winning awards for his wine while Whit Fairfield is the devil incarnate who wants to raze the Dusi winery, burn the oak trees, and turn all of Moonstone Cove into a wine theme park.”
Toni pursed her lips. “I mean… that may be slightly exaggerated, but the wine theme park idea has merit.”
Drew cracked a smile. “So I’m pretty clear what your cousin and his employees think about Whit Fairfield. What do you think about him?”
“Me?” Her eyes went wide. “What does it matter what I think?”
“For all the reasons I said when I came in. You’re a good judge of people and you know everyone.”
Toni glanced at the 1968 Chevy Corvette she’d much rather be working on in the garage.
Or a nap. A nap would be good.
“Am I getting paid a consultant’s fee or something for this?”
“My wife makes excellent brownies.”
Toni considered the offer. Her sweet tooth was already acting up. “Deal.” She cleared her throat and leaned back in her chair. “So what do I think about Whit Fairfield?”
“Yep.”
She reached into the small fridge sitting on her desk and pulled out a ginger ale. Maybe the sugar would wake her up. “You want one?”
Drew narrowed his eyes. “I’m good.”
She cracked it open and took a drink. “I know it’s not just my cousin. No one in town really likes Fairfield. Lots of people put up with him because he has so much money. He’s an arrogant SOB who thinks he knows more about making wine because he hired a fancy guy from Napa Valley to come down here and show everyone up. He may have thought he was hiring an expert, but this isn’t Napa, and people didn’t take it that way. People think that Fairfield thinks he’s better than people from the Cove.”
Drew glanced down at her desk calendar, then met her eyes. “And people from the Cove think he’s less because he’s not local.”
“Speaking from experience?”
“This town can be brutal to new people.”
“I know.” She thought about how much Megan used to hate Moonstone Cove. “It takes a while for people to break out of their shell around here. But once we do, we’re loyal. And people in the wine business around here? They’re suspicious of fancy packaging.”
“Whit Fairfield is fancy packaging?”
“Oh yeah. Personally, I think his wine is… fine. Nothing special. But he’s cozied up to enough wine reviewers who buy into his plans for the town that they tend to cut him slack. He set the bar low for himself, so he leaps over it every time.”
“Slack they don’t cut your cousin?”
She took a deep breath and tasted the temperature of the air. Drew was searching for something, but he seemed genuinely curious. She didn’t pick up any negative vibes when the man mentioned Nico, nor did he seem antagonistic toward Fairfield.
Toni leaned forward. “Okay, real talk? The winery was never a big deal in the family until Nico decided to change that. My grandpa liked to diversify, if you know what I mean, but the vegetable farm was the moneymaker. Still is, to be honest. So Grandpa grew some grapes, raised some cattle, helped my dad and my uncle start this place, helped my Aunt Gina start her restaurant. All that stuff was good. And the vineyards always made money.”
Drew nodded. “Okay. I’m getting the picture.”
“But we never really made Dusi wine—like an upscale label—until Nico went to my grandpa and asked for the reins to do something bigger than just grow the grapes. And making really good wine is way different than growing grapes. So for him, making a name for himself and Dusi wine really is an obsession. He’s worked his ass off to start to get critical respect for a winery that a lot of people around here considered kind of on the level with stuff you buy in jugs, you know?”
“Okay. And he resents Fairfield because…?”
“The guy bought his way in. He didn’t work at it. He just threw money at the idea, and because he was a