Vintage Pride Read Free Page B

anymore.”
    “That is not true.” He slammed his hand down on the table.
    “Really? Then tell me how far along we are with the harvest and how the quality of the grapes compares to last year.”
    “They’re a good month off being fully ripe and you know it.” Jean-Luc snorted, amazed Marcus would doubt his instincts. He was more alert to the passing of the seasons and the ripening of the vines than any man he knew. “But I’ve told you ever since you first came to work for me, back when you were just some snot-nosed chancer trying to get a job picking fruit, that I need to have my privacy respected. So what do you do? You invite a television crew to poke around the château, looking to expose secrets. And none of this would have happened if you hadn’t talked to that stupid journalist, the one who writes for that in-flight magazine.”
    “That stupid journalist, as you put it, is an old friend of your sister’s. She and Thérèse shared a room when they were at university in Paris. But you’d have known that if you’d actually bothered to spend five minutes in her company.” Marcus flopped down in a chair, indicating he wasn’t intending to leave the room any time soon, however aggravating Jean-Luc might find his continued presence.
    “Well, you could have just discussed business with her. You didn’t have to send her away with the impression the château is haunted.”
    “How else would you explain everything that goes on here after dark? We’ve had two members of the kitchen staff quit on us in the last six months, saying they were afraid to be alone in the scullery. Jean-Luc, something isn’t right here, and you know it.”
    “You’re talking nonsense.” Jean-Luc tried to dismiss his brother-in-law’s words, but his thoughts flew to the certainty he’d had on more than one occasion that eyes had been watching him as he’d walked the deserted passageways. Of those moments when he’d thought he’d heard a voice whisper his name. Benoît’s voice.
    “Anyway, the interview was good publicity for us, and this will be, too. Spirit Seekers is the top-rated show of its kind on American television. It regularly pulls in audiences of just under three million viewers, and that doesn’t count the syndicated repeats and online streaming.” Marcus sounded like he was reading from a press release. “Don’t you see? This could be our chance to start exporting to a whole new market.”
    “I just don’t want to bring a crowd of strangers into my home. You can understand that, can’t you? And these people will be looking for the unusual, the different. Just imagine how they’d react if they discovered what we truly are…”
    “You’re getting worked up over nothing. How would they ever know? I mean, it’s not as though any of us is casually going to turn to the camera and announce that hey, we can turn into lions if we want to, is it?”
    “You’re entirely too flippant about this.” Jean-Luc studied Marcus for a moment.
    His brother-in-law had always had a much more relaxed attitude to existing among those who were different to him. Perhaps it had to do with the fact he’d been born and brought up in the English city of Bath, spending his whole life surrounded by humans who treated him as an equal. Whereas Jean-Luc had always lived in the château, his nearest neighbors a couple of miles down the road. His family employed human staff, of course, both as servants and employees of the vineyard, but he’d never fully been comfortable around them, not the way Marcus appeared to be.
    “The truth is I’m worried about you.” Marcus ran a hand through his white-blond hair. “And so is Thérèse. Don’t think we haven’t noticed how you’re becoming a recluse. You barely leave this wing of the château unless you have to. When was the last time you actually went outside and examined the grapes?”
    “Marcus, please…”
    “You’ve always been more in tune with nature than anyone I’ve ever