CHAPTER ONE
"You've booked a vacation for me in Napa Valley?" Justin Morrison was sitting with his sisters Olivia and Madison at the kitchen table in their childhood home in Palo Alto as they sprang this surprise on him. "I thought you needed me here a week early to help get all the last-minute things done for Drew and Ashley's wedding." If that hadn't been the case, he likely wouldn't have left his lab in Frankfurt until a day or two before the wedding to catch a plane to SFO. Of course, he was happy his brother was getting married to the woman of his dreams, but Justin could barely squeeze one free hour out of his research schedule, let alone an entire week.
He thought he saw a flash of guilt in Olivia's eyes, but a split second later, it was gone. "As you know, Ashley is really organized, so it turns out she doesn't need much help with anything. Which means," Olivia added with a smile that he didn't quite buy, "you're free to take a little holiday before the wedding."
"Apart from a few days at Thanksgiving and Christmas, I've barely been home for the past five years," he reminded her. "And now that I've got a free week to spend with everyone, you're trying to get rid of me?"
"Of course not." Maddie was quick to throw her arms around him to back up her words.
He couldn't believe how grown up his little sister was. When he'd left for Germany five years ago, she'd been a sweet, naive eighteen-year-old. Now, at twenty-three, while she still had that same joyful smile, Justin was all too certain that her naive years were long behind her. His jaw clenched at the thought of his little sister getting involved with some scumbag--which would be all guys as far as he was concerned. He'd been planning to pin her down on everything this week, from her love life to her cooking career, but now it looked as though she was trying to get rid of him instead.
As she loosened her hold on him, he was struck by the concern in her eyes. "We're worried about you, Justin."
"Worried?" He looked between Maddie and Olivia. "Why would you be worried about me?"
Olivia's lips pressed together as she gathered her thoughts. He'd seen this look many times, especially after their mother had passed away six years ago from breast cancer and Olivia had done her best to step into their mom's shoes. Not even his brilliant sister could manage that, however. Lisa Morrison was irreplaceable, and he felt her loss just as keenly today as he had all those years ago. Losing his mother had driven Justin to find a cure for breast cancer--and he wouldn't rest until he did.
"You work too hard." Olivia's words were soft but firm.
"You're kidding, right?" He couldn't believe Olivia, of all people, was accusing him of being a workaholic. She was in her last year of a PhD program in education, the same field their mother had worked in, teaching third grade. Last time Justin had been home for Thanksgiving, Olivia's nose had been buried in research papers for two days straight--she'd barely put her work down to eat some stuffing. "When was the last time you saw the sun?"
"Actually," Olivia said, straightening her shoulders and lifting her chin, "I've been cutting back a lot recently."
When a flush moved across her cheeks, he suddenly wondered if he'd been planning to quiz the wrong sister about her love life. Olivia was twenty-eight, so he shouldn't be surprised that she might have met someone she was interested in going the distance with. If she had, was there any chance in hell that the guy was good enough for her? All the more reason for Justin to spend the week here in Palo Alto with his family instead of in the wine country.
"In any case, we're not talking about me," she continued in a brisk tone. "We're talking about you. A week in a charming B&B surrounded by the beautiful vineyards of St. Helena is exactly what you need."
He ran his hand through his hair, still trying to figure out what was behind their decision to surprise him with this trip. "Does Grant know about this?"
Maddie and Olivia both nodded as his younger sister told him, "Grant is the one who made the booking."
Now Justin was really confused. His oldest brother ran Collide, a social networking company that now also included venture capital and a record company, which made Grant quite possibly the hardest worker of them all. Surely he couldn't think Justin was working too hard in the lab--especially when Grant's company was one of the investors with a stake in Justin's research.
"Are Sean and Drew also in on your plan to send me off into the boonies?"
"First of all,
" Olivia said, "St. Helena is anything but the boonies. It's considered to be one of the best small towns in America. And second, when we ran the idea past Sean and Drew, they both gave it the thumbs-up."
"So all of you have been talking about me behind my back?"
"We just want you to be happy." Maddie grabbed his hands and squeezed them. "Can you trust us, Justin? Please?"
Before he could reply, their dad walked in through the side door. Michael Morrison's face lit up when he saw his kids sitting at the table. "Justin, you're back!"
Twelve or twenty-seven--it didn't matter how old Justin was, he always wanted one of his father's hugs. When the two men embraced, he was glad that his father didn't feel frail or bony anymore. He had never carried excess weight, but when his wife died, he'd gone from being fit and trim to a walking skeleton.
"You're looking good, Dad."
"Thanks." His father put his laptop bag on the white and blue hand-painted tiles that Justin had helped his mother install a decade ago. "I've been playing a lot of pickleball lately. Maybe you could join me for a game this week."
"It will have to be tonight." Olivia sent his father a look. "Justin will be in St. Helena next week, remember?"
"Oh yeah." His father cleared his throat and looked a little nervous as he said, "You're going to have a great time up there. Really, really great!"
Seriously suspicious now, Justin said, "Okay, one of you had better tell me what the heck is going on, and quick."
Olivia shot both his father and Maddie quelling looks. But Justin knew whom to turn to for answers. "Mads?" He leaned over the table and put his face in line with hers. "You know I'm going to get you to tell me everything before the night is through, so you might as well just give up the info now and save us both the trouble."
She scrunched her eyes shut tight, her nose crinkling too, just like she used to when she was a little girl trying to keep a secret. Justin started the silent countdown inside his head: ten, nine, eight, seven, six--she always broke by three--five, four--
"Taylor." The name burst from her lips.
"Taylor?" Whatever Justin had been expecting to hear, it hadn't been the name of his best friend from college. A friend he'd fallen completely out of touch with during the past five years.
He still remembered the day they'd met--in a bio lab during their first quarter at Stanford University. Taylor was the prettiest girl Justin had ever set eyes on. She hadn't had any makeup on, hadn't worn flashy or revealing clothes the way so many girls from high school had. She'd slain him with nothing more than a sweet, and somewhat shy, smile.
When it turned out she was wicked smart too, he'd angled to be her lab partner--hoping it would mean that they'd spend plenty of time together outside of the lab. Thankfully, they soon became good friends. But their relationship never went any further than that, because she had a boyfriend back home in Rochester, New York.
Boring Bruce, Justin secretly called him. The guy was the son of her parents' best friends, and the two of them had been set up practically from the cradle. She never said much about Bruce to Justin--and he sure as hell hadn't wanted to ask for details about their love life. But from her side of the phone conversations he sometimes overheard, it didn't exactly seem like she was living a fairy-tale romance with the guy.