Free Once Tasted: A Silver Creek Novel by Laura Moore Page A

For a second her mind went blank, overwhelmed by an avalanche of things she didn’t want. How could she have been so happy on Monday, so optimistic? Now her life was falling apart. And how could Thomas stand by his nearly packed suitcases and offer up Reid Knowles as the answer to her misery?
    “Mia, we both know the winery needs help. Badly. This arrangement will allow you to make something of this place. You’ll be able to make great wine and have it actually reach consumers. Reid will make—”
    “Thomas.” She fought to keep her panic at bay. “I’ll grant that the Knowleses are talented businesspeople. Adele and Daniel are smart. Ward, too. But Reid? He doesn’t really do much except ride and have fun and—”
    “Reid’s talented.”
    She snorted. “In many areas, I’m sure. But not in the winemaking business.”
    “I’m surprised at you, Mia.” Thomas’s tone was uncharacteristically severe. “I thought you were a better judge of character.”
    When she remained silent, he sighed and glanced at his watch. “It’s a little after three o’clock. Why don’t you go over to Silver Creek now? Perhaps Reid will be free and you two can have a chin-wag. Break the ice, so to speak.”
    Right, she thought. That would happen when grapes ripened on a willow.
    She arrived at Silver Creek Ranch’s main lodge at ten minutes before five, her uncle’s suggestion that Reid and she enjoy a “chin-wag” be damned, but found not a single cowgirl, real or aspiring, in sight. Reid wasn’t around, either. No great surprise. Why would he be at the main lodge just because she was due to give her talk in a few short minutes?
    The guest ranch was impressive in any season. But Mia loved it in summertime especially, when the shrubs and gardens were in bloom, their blossoms vivid and fragrant. The landscaping was brilliant. It pleased the eye and fooled it, effectively camouflaging the cabins behind the plantings. A person could wander along the bluestone and gravel walkways that wound through the property and hardly notice the guests’ lodgings. It made for a private and peaceful atmosphere.
    She paused a moment to appreciate the gardens in the front of the main lodge, which held the reception area, restaurant, bar, and lounge, as well as the back offices where the Knowleses and their staff ran the business. The flower beds were filled with perennials. Daylilies, delphiniums, and roses welcomed the visitor with a riot of warm color. The lodge’s pale stone and cedar façade was the perfect backdrop.
    Perfection
. It was hard to think of the Knowleses’ ranch linked with the Bodells’ much smaller and, with the exception of the vineyard and the winery, far moreramshackle property. It was equally hard to imagine her family, rife with dysfunction and heartache, allied with theirs.
    As she approached the carved wood door to the lodge, a voice called to her. “Mia!”
    She turned. Adele Knowles was walking up the gravel road that led to the corrals and barns. She wore jeans and a button-down Liberty print shirt covered in pale-blue flowers that matched her eyes. Her cowboy boots were an equally stunning color of deep blue.
    The boots were incredible. But there was no point in being envious. Mia knew she would never be able to pull off a look like Adele’s. Of course, it helped that in addition to being tall, blond, and a successful businesswoman, Adele was a cowgirl, too. She’d ridden all her life. According to Quinn, her mother had won numerous reining competitions before she and Daniel married.
    Mia’s throat was still raw from her conversation with Thomas. Even attempting a “Hi, Adele” was painful.
    “Mia, I’m so pleased to see you!” Adele clasped Mia’s hands in hers. “Thank you for agreeing to give the talk today—” Her eyes, so similar to Reid’s, scanned Mia’s face. A worried frown replaced her smile. “Are you all right, dear?”
    The sympathy only made Mia’s throat ache more.
    “Yes, of