Two to Tangle (A Tangle Valley Romance #2) - Melissa Brayden Page 0,14

food. Ambitious and fun. She grinned as she started cleanup for the day.

“What in the world are you smiling about?” Billy asked. “Dust everywhere. This is gonna take an hour.”

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about me.” She grabbed a broom and tossed him one. “Nothing to see here.”

“Sure, boss,” Billy said, knowingly. “Just a woman who loves to clean so much, she gives it her smolder.”

She got to work. “Don’t be jealous.”

Chapter Four

Peach sangria on a warm day had to be about the most refreshing drink on the friendly face of the Earth. And that wasn’t hyperbolic at all. As someone who’d traveled through Spain on a food trip in her early twenties, Gabriella was a fan. And this particular batch, prepared by Loretta Daniel herself, a staple of the Tangle Valley tasting room for decades now, hit the spot.

Gabriella stared at her half-full glass. “This stuff is liquid crack. I might have a second glass and it’s a weekday. Don’t tell my priest.”

Madison frowned. “You have a priest?”

“No. But I wouldn’t want him to know.”

With the tasting room now closed, Joey, Gabriella, and Madison could relax with Loretta after a long day at the wine office. If only there were wine secretaries and personal assistants to wait on them. One could dream.

“Recap time,” Gabriella said. “I made zucchini fritti, a vegetarian carbonara, kickass meatballs, and toasted ravioli. Sold out of all but the fritti. What did you do?” She tossed the question to Joey.

“Poured about six hundred tastes, met with our distributor, visited three of our local wine shops, and called your priest to turn you in. Go,” she said and passed the baton to Madison.

“Worked all morning with Bobby on disbudding to remove as much weight as possible from the vines. We then lifted and trellised the good vines. The afternoon had me checking in on the tanks personally. One at a time. We’re getting well acquainted. The pinot is coming along nicely. I also gave a tour of the barrel room to a seventh-grade class. Gabriella’s priest stood me up for lunch, but there’s always tomorrow. Loretta?”

Loretta, their surrogate mother, smiled wearily. “People. Sangria. People. Sangria. And repeat. I also ate an oatmeal cookie from Knead Me on my break. Those guys are my new best friends. I’d send a box of ’em to the priest, but I can’t give away what I need for myself. Bless me, Father, for I am selfish.”

“Well, that calls for a cheers. We all killed it today,” Joey said, initiating the clinking of glasses. Gabriella sipped the cool, sweet glass of sangria as the door across the room opened. Since they were officially closed, everyone swiveled to see who might be approaching.

“An executive walks into a bar.” Gabriella said the words as Becca Crawford, Joey’s girlfriend, appeared in a muted maroon business suit that had her looking like a million bucks, per usual. With sunglasses perched on top of her head and a small smile on her lips, she looked like an ad for an expensive car, one Gabriella would totally buy. She wondered what it took to look that sophisticated and put together.

Joey’s attention rose like a dog who just heard it was dinnertime. “Va-va-voom,” she said as Becca approached with a soft sway of her hips. “The Jade Resort’s loss is my gain. You’re here. With me.”

“Hi, baby,” Becca said. She leaned across the bar and placed a soft kiss on Joey’s lips. The two of them were so perfect together it made Gabriella’s insides turn to Jell-O with every loving look they passed. She believed in love when they were around. Oh yes, she did.

“Hi,” Joey replied. “Loretta’s sangria made fresh. Want some? The visitors went nuts for it. I had to fight them off with sticks.”

“Painful. Your specialty, I hear?” Becca asked Loretta, whose cheeks went pink with pride.

“Well, yes.” She tossed a towel onto her shoulder, and her green eyes sparkled. “I’ve spent a few years perfecting my recipe. I think brandy is the key, and in the right balance to fruit.”

Madison offered Loretta a fist bump, which she accepted. “Woman after my own heart.”

“Hey, I passed Ryan Jacks’s truck on the way over here,” Becca said. “How did the first day of construction go? Exciting.”

All eyes shifted to Gabriella. “Starting to look like a crazy disaster area, which I suppose is the point, so I’m going to go with successful?”

Joey nodded seriously. “The real question is did you see Ryan Jacks actually wearing