Under A Harvest Moon by Joleen James Page A

with pride.
    They spent the hours between three a.m. until dawn working in the vineyard, with Nico checking the grapes, pruning when necessary to allow the sun better access to the fruit. Danielle peppered him with questions. If she intended to sell, why was she so interested in the place? He'd never expected her to give a rip about anything happening at the vineyard, and her interest made him uneasy.
    When the sun peeked over the horizon, Nico didn't miss Danielle's pause as she watched the sunrise, the first beams of light filtering into the vineyard, waking up the grapes, coaxing them from their nighttime slumber.
    "I don't remember it being so pretty here," Danielle said with awe. "But then again, I wasn't usually up at sunrise in those days."
    "No?" Nico teased unable to help himself.
    "No." She smiled back, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
    She looked young and pretty and relaxed, reminding Nico of the girl she'd been. They continued to work in the fields, with Nico pruning, and Danielle raking up the discarded pieces while she listened intently as Nico explained why he removed the leaves he did.
    At seven, Nico said, "Break time. I could use another cup of coffee and something to eat. I'm sure you could, too. We can check on the kids and then head back out."
    "All right." Danielle's stomach growled loud enough they both heard it. She laughed. "For the first time in a long time I'm hungry for breakfast. That should make Lola happy."
    Nico chuckled. "She does like to fatten us up."
    Danielle smiled.
    They rode back to the house together in companionable silence, a first for them since Danielle had come home. As they pulled into the driveway, they could hear Juan talking, his Spanish high and excited.
    "I wonder what's going on?" Danielle asked.
    Nico understood Spanish well. There had been some kind of vandalism. "Come on."
    Juan met them halfway. "Mrs. Rankin," he said respectfully with a bob of his head. "Nico."
    "Is something wrong?" Danielle asked.
    Juan's face fell. "I arrived just moments ago, and I found them like this." He held his hand out, his palm filled with crushed rose petals. "Who would do such a thing?"
    "The roses?" Danielle's brow wrinkled.
    Nico didn't wait to hear any more. He started for the garden, Danielle right beside him. It took a second for both of them to see the cause of Juan's distress. Someone had cut the blooms from every plant, leaving dozens of rose-less bushes. All the petal soft flowers lay on the ground, crushed.
    "No," Danielle exclaimed, turning to him with questions in her eyes. "Why?"
    Nico had no answer for her. "I don't know."
    "My nana planted these roses," Danielle said. "No one has as much attachment to these flowers as I do. Clearly this is an attack against me." She looked straight at him, as if she suspected him of the vandalism.
    "I didn't do this," he said. "I know how much the roses mean to your family. Besides, look at the bushes, they're intact, the roses will grow back. This looks like a childish prank."
    "Are you saying you think Kaiden did this?" she asked, her voice rising. "He would never do anything like this."
    "Then who?" Nico asked, the question hanging in the air between them. "You said yourself that he's upset about coming here."
    "But he wouldn't do this." Danielle took a step back. "Kaiden has no idea what these roses mean to me. I've never told him."
    "They'll grow back," Nico said, hoping to calm her down. "We'll find out who did this. I promise."
    Danielle removed the hat from her head. "I knew everything was too easy yesterday. I let myself believe that people were happy to see me, even when I knew they shouldn't be. I've been a fool. When will I ever learn?"
    Turning, she stormed away, leaving Nico to stare after her.
    Had the vandalism been directed at Danielle? If so, was someone trying to scare her away, or was someone trying to frame him? He'd seen the accusations in Danielle's eyes. She suspected him.
    He had to do everything in his power