Oddly enough Rai and he had never been better together. Somehow their bond had never been stronger and more united. They were a couple in every sense of the word, except in the bedroom, of course, where they had soon discovered they weren’t fully compatible. And so this arrangement had worked out well for the both of them. And for Larry and Hazel, of course. Though maybe less so for Joe.
He walked along the path that led to the edge of his property, until he reached the fence. He leaned on it, and glanced in the direction of the Kosinski place. He thought he could see it, even from this distance, but he could be mistaken. It was dark out, and the moon was concealed behind a thick pack of clouds.
A twig snapped, and he jerked his head up. On the other side of the fence a thickset figure materialized.
“Are you alone?” he asked.
“Yep. You?”
He nodded, and stared into the face of Ben Kosinski.
“Remember how we used to meet like this?” asked Ben.
“Long time ago,” said Ian.
Their dads had feuded, the same way they had. Only they were boys back then, and hadn’t understood any of the silliness their dads got up to, so they used to meet here at the fence that divided their farms, to play in the shade of the old willow tree nearby. Until someone must have seen them and told their dads, and gave them a good thrashing, and that was the end of that. Later on, Ian understood why the Kosinskis were the enemy: they wanted to lay their hands on Stewart land, and so had to be fought every inch of the way.
He didn’t know when exactly the feud had become personal for him. Maybe when Ben asked Raimunda out on a date, even though everyone in town knew that Ian and Raimunda were meant to be together. It had cemented the idea in his mind that Ben was trying to take what was his, the way all Kosinskis did.
“Tough day?” asked Ben now.
“You can say that.” He eyed the man closely. “Did you know about Kevin and Dom?”
Ben nodded.“Have known all along. But the boys swore us to secrecy.”
“They should have told us,” said Ian, still feeling annoyed. He hated things being sprung on him, or his relatives keeping secrets. Though he knew he was being hypocritical, of course, since he had also kept secrets from his kids.
“They were afraid of how you’d react,” said Ben. “And with good reason, wouldn’t you say?” He had quirked an ironic eyebrow in his direction, which annoyed Ian.
“Okay, so looks like there’s gonna be some changes,” he said, deciding to get down to business. “Our families are going to be united by this marriage between our two boys, and so we need to decide how to handle things from now on.”
Ben barked an incredulous laugh.“You’re a real romantic, aren’t you? How to ‘handle’ our sons’ marriage? Nice way of putting it. I’d say we organize a big party to celebrate that our sons have found each other, and invite the whole town.”
Ian pursed his lips into an expression of disapproval. He hated spending money on strangers, and if they invited‘the whole town,’ as Ben put it, that would mean spending a small fortune on a bunch of hangers-on and other loafers.
“I was thinking more along the lines of a small gathering. You know, friends and family only.”
“Of course you are, you cheapskate,” said Ben with a grin. He clapped him on the shoulder, a gesture the fastidious Ian did not appreciate in the least. “Why don’t you and Rai come over to my place for dinner tomorrow? We can discuss this in more convivial circumstances. I pour a mean wine,” he added archly.
Ian’s lips moved into a reluctant smile. “Fine. Dinner it is. And then we can talk about the future of our farms as well.” Loath though he was to admit it, this marriage between their sons was going to change things for their respective businesses as well, since both Dom and Kevin were the designated future heads of their family wineries. And if Kevin was to be believed, there was even talk of joining the two wineries into one, something that would have Ian’s dad turn in his grave. But Kevin had presented them with afait accompli, apparently.
The two men said their goodbyes, and soon Ben was swallowed up by the darkness. And as Ian started heading back to the house, he wondered what the future would hold for the Stewart Winery. Nothing good, he thought somberly.
CHAPTER 41
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Chase had finally been able to get Bill Cymbal in front of him. Not face to face, since we were in Hampton Cove and Mr. Cymbal was in Paris. But they were talking on Zoom, with the future mayor of Paris taking up a lot of screen real estate. Either he was sitting too close to the camera, or he had a very large face. Frankly I thought the former was the more likely explanation.
“Detective Kingsley!” said the politician. “So nice to see you, sir!”
“Likewise,” said Chase.