Free Be Mine Forever (A St. Helena Vineyard Novel) by Marina Adair Page B

seek-and-destroy.
    Trey glared at Marc. “What? Is there a vending machine in the lobby with everyone’s room key in it?”
    “Nope, just yours.”
    ChiChi slammed the door and narrowed her eyes. Right. In. On. Trey. “I just got off the phone with Sara from Tap and Barre School of Dance.”
    Well, at least Trey knew that Sara had the ability to use the phone. Now he had to figure out a way to get her to use it with him.
    “She said that you haven’t signed up for lessons yet,” ChiChi chided, hand over her heaving chest. “Deidra Potter’s got forty years of dance on you, young man, and she is out to take what’s mine.”
    Trey stood, walked over, and kissed ChiChi on the cheek. “Nonna, Mrs. Potter is not—”
    ChiChi smacked the day’s issue of the St. Helena Sentinel right between the two handprints on his chest. “First she sells me tainted soil, killing my best pansies to up her chances of winning, and now she’s out to ruin my Valentine’s Day.” She smacked him again. “Read.”
    Trey took the paper, unfolded it, and looked down at the headline and the six photos that followed, then read aloud, “Finalists for Winter Garden: Best in Show were announced Sunday by the St. Helena Garden Society. First finalist, Peg Stark, owner of Stark Corking, the largest plastic cork company in the valley—”
    ChiChi flapped her regal hand impatiently. “Peggy got the green vote. Her granddaughter stuck her in a retirement home last Christmas. Her patio’s only six-by-eight. She recycled all those malformed corks from that discounted cork-making machine her son bought off eBay, and fashioned them into planter boxes. Keep reading.”
    “Second finalist, Charlene Love—”
    “Pity vote. For God’s sake, get to the important part. Here.” ChiChi pointed her pudgy finger at the bottom of the page with so much force she nearly punched a hole right through it.
    “Holding the county record as an eighteen-time finalist, and nine-time winner, Chiara Amalia Giovanna Ryo, co-owner of DeLuca Wines and Ryo Wines…Congratulations, Nonna.” Trey looked up and went in for the hug but ChiChi fended him off with one arched brow and a pair of very pursed lips.
    Trey sighed. ChiChi was nominated every year and every year she acted surprised, which meant that every year, Trey and his brothers were expected to act surprised. Only this year she looked pissed. Which could only mean one thing.
    Skipping to the photo of Deidra Potter in feathers and some kind of weird flamingo, showgirl costume, Trey read the last line, “…will face off against the nineteen-time finalist, and eight-time winner, Deidra Potter, owner of Petal Pusher: Buds and Vines.”
    “If she wins, she’ll tie me for the county record and her picture will go up next to mine in the Hall of Fame.” Trey refrained from pointing out that the “Hall of Fame” was a stretch of wall between the men’s room and a janitor’s closet in town hall. “She’ll put up that picture of her in those stripper clothes and shame us all. Make a mockery of the most treasured event in St. Helena history.”
    “I thought the unveiling of Randolph the Reindeer was the town’s most treasured event,” Gabe said, referring to St. Helena’s version of lighting a Christmas tree in town square.
    ChiChi ignored him and started fanning herself. “And she’s not against playing dirty, even if she resorts to sabotage. By poison.”
    “You told me that the gophers ate your prized pansies,” Nate reminded her as he stood and pulled her in for a hug. “Which is why I spent six weeks in the rain placing no-kill cages around the property and the next two finding a safe sanctuary for them to roam.”
    “That was before I remembered that Deidra sold me all that fertilizer. Plus, she’s an agricultural professional. Professionals can’t compete in an amateur contest! It’s against the rules!”
    “I’ve never seen that rule,” Gabe said, bending down and kissing ChiChi on the