“It is. And I love the way you designed this so your guests have this gorgeous view, even when they’re inside. And that air!” I inhaled, taking in the scent of the fields outside. “It’s like you’ve made the sight and smell of the land the grapes are planted on part of the tasting experience. You’re hitting all the senses.”

“Oh God, my husband’s going to love you.” She smiled, settling back on the couch. “So tell me about yourself.”

Taking a breath, I started with my roots on Old Mission and growing up here. I talked briefly about performing on cruise ships and my time in New York, but emphasized that I’d really missed home and my family and had decided to return this spring. “I didn’t really love living in a big city,” I confessed. “Maybe the shopping, but other than that, I prefer life here.”

“I agree.” She nodded. “Lucas, my husband, lived in New York when we were first dating, but when we decided to move in together, I was really glad we agreed on Detroit. It’s a fun city, but it’s less crowded and manic than New York.”

“Yes, I read that he opened an absinthe bar there? The Green Hour?”

Her eyebrows lifted. “Done your homework, I see.”

I lifted my shoulders, felt a blush warm my cheeks. “I figured I’d better. You run a pretty impressive operation here. If I want to be your assistant, I need to know my stuff.”

She laughed. “Thanks. So what else did you learn?”

“Well, I know that you ran a successful event planning business for years in Detroit, so I figured you might want to expand the event schedule here…maybe start promoting Abelard as a wedding venue? Possibly host small corporate events?”

She looked amused. “Go on.”

“I researched pinot noir and Gamay, the two red wines your husband makes here, and learned quite a bit about why those wines should do well even in a cool climate like ours, and how our position along the forty-fifth parallel mimics the growing conditions in other parts of the world where those grapes do well. Part of that I knew because of growing up on a cherry farm,” I admitted. “Cherries do well here too for many of the same reasons—the soil, the hilly land, the water surrounding us.”

“My goodness. You really have done your homework.” She tilted her head and crossed her arms. “And you worked at Rivard?”

I shifted uncomfortably. I’d known it was coming and had rehearsed how to handle it, but it was still embarrassing. “Yes, for about a month. I really enjoyed the job, and I learned a lot there, but Mrs. Rivard had a problem with my performance on a reality television show, which painted me as a bit of a villain.” Please, please don’t have watched the show.

“Seriously?” She blinked. “What show?”

I screwed up my face and cringed. “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy).”

Mia burst out laughing and clapped her hands together once. “Oh my God, that’s funny. Wow.” Giggling, she tucked one leg beneath her and winked at me. “So did you? Ride a cowboy?”

“No.” I shook my head. “The only thing I rode was a mechanical bull, and I only lasted seven seconds.”

She gave me a sympathetic look. “Ouch.”

“Yeah. The entire experience was pretty embarrassing, and I’d like to forget all about it. I asked Mrs. Rivard if I could list her as a reference, and she said I could. I don’t believe she had any issues with my work there—it was simply a matter of my persona on the show not gelling with her vision of a good employee.” I took my resume from my bag and handed it to her. “Her contact information is here, if you’d like it.”

“Thank you.” She studied the resume a moment. “Ah, you were a Cherry Queen.”

I sighed, feeling like I should come clean. “Yes, I was, but they asked me not to advertise it. I put it on the resume because it’s something I’m proud of, but after the show aired, they effectively dethroned me for bad behavior.”

“Really?” Her eyes went wide. “What the heck did you do on that show?”

“I just wasn’t myself,” I said. “I acted a certain way because the producers wanted ratings, and they figured I’d get more attention if I played devious and mean.”

“Did it work?”

I shrugged. “For a little while. But it sure backfired on my life. I shouldn’t have done it, but…live and learn. On to better things.”

She nodded. “I agree. We all make mistakes.”

“There you are.” The deep voice came from the far end of the room, and I looked over to see a ridiculously attractive man walking toward us. I think my jaw hung open a moment before I remembered to close it.

Mia looked over her shoulder at him. “Yes, I decided to sit in here. I didn’t feel like climbing those stairs again and it’s so pretty this morning.”

He reached the back of the couch and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You OK?”

“Yes.” She patted his hand and gestured to me. “This is Skylar Nixon, the friend of Sebastian Pryce. Skylar, this is my husband, Lucas.”

I stood and he reached over Mia’s head to shake my hand. He had dark eyes and hair, worn a little long and shaggy, and a fantastic smile. Christ, what did their children look like? “Very nice to meet you,” I said. “You have a beautiful place here.”

“Our little Provence.” He glanced at Mia. “My family has a vineyard there and we tried to create some of that magic here.”

“Oh, I bet she knows all about that.” Mia’s eyes twinkled. “She’s done her research.”

“Oh?” Lucas looked at me.

“Yes.” I smiled. “I know the location, I know you grew mostly grenache, and I know you got married there.”

“See?” Mia glanced up at her husband and pointed at me. “This is what I need. Someone who looks like this and has the brains to come prepared to an interview.”

“Thank you.” I rocked forward onto my toes, I was so happy.

“Sounds like this is going well, then. I’ll leave you to it. Skylar, very nice to meet you, and you”—he leaned down to kiss her, the back of his hand in her hair—“take it easy.”

“I will.” She reached up and touched his scruffy cheek, and something inside me twisted a little. They had such an easy way about them, you could just tell how close they were, how much they loved each other. I wondered about how they met, and decided if I got the job and we became friendly enough, I’d ask. Lucas waved at me once more before heading out the glass doors.

“Well,” Mia said, getting to her feet. “I suppose I should call your references, but unless I discover you robbed Rivard blind, I’d love to give this a try. The job involves assisting me in various capacities—from running tours to planning events to manning the tasting room to helping with marketing and PR. I’m very hands-on and I’ll train you for that stuff myself, but you’ll have to get some wine training from Lucas and the winemakers here.”

“Sounds great.”

“It pays hourly to start, eighteen an hour, but after three months we can revisit that number and even consider salary. I’ll call your references this week and confirm with you after I’ve spoken to them.” She made a face. “Not that I’m looking forward to speaking with that old bat Miranda Rivard, but I’ll do it.”

I laughed. “Thank you.”

She walked me outside, waving hello to someone watering the flower beds. “How soon could you start?”

“I’m working for my sister right now, but she said she could find someone to replace me within a week.”

“So Monday?” Mia asked hopefully. “Sorry to rush, I just want you to be as comfortable as possible before I have this baby, which is in the fall.”

“No problem,” I assured her. “Monday would be fine.”

“Great.” She held out her hand, and I took it. “So nice to meet you, Skylar. I’m glad Sebastian sent you my way. I have a feeling this is going to work out great.”

I smiled. “Me too.”

• • •

Later that night, Mia Fournier called and told me the job was mine if I wanted it. She said Miranda Rivard had praised my work ethic, performance, and attitude, and even admitted to feeling some regret at having let me go. When Mia heard that, she decided to snap me up right away, and asked if I could come in on Friday to fill out paperwork.