Corked by Cabernet

Sixteen

SIMON and Marco set platters of stuffed mushrooms, shrimp scampi skewers, beef Wellingtons, and various cheeses, fruits, and veggies out for the members.

“I didn’t expect all of this,” Nikki said. “Did you get it from the restaurant?”

“What? No. Marco did all of this himself. He slaved away over the last few days, prepping and then freezing the Wellingtons.”

Marco blushed.

“You did all this?” Nikki asked.

He nodded. “I wanted everything to be perfecto, and I know how hard you have worked to help us and the S.E.E. group. We are grateful.”

She knew that Marco was a fantastic cook. He ran the café and he and Simon did the breakfasts together in the morning, but Nikki had an inkling that Marco would have liked to take over the chef position at the gourmet restaurant on the property, Georges at the Vineyard. Since Georges’s death, they’d gone through a few chefs and none of them had worked out spectacularly yet.

“I should really talk to Derek about you being the head chef at Georges.”

“You would do that, Bellissima?” He batted his long eyelashes.

“I told you to put the idea out there and our little Goldilocks, Snow White of a girl would come through.” Simon wrapped an arm around Marco’s shoulder.

“Hold on, you two. I said that I would talk to him, but try not to put the pressure on. Be realistic, okay? Derek may say that Marco already has enough to shoulder here, which is true.”

“I can take over his duties.”

They both looked at Simon and, without saying a word, started setting food out for the members, who would be arriving shortly. He opted not to fight their silence, probably knowing that the underlying meaning beneath it was accurate-everyone knew, including Simon, that he’d much rather be getting a facial or massage, or working on enlightening himself, than tackling any real work.

“I need you two to do me a big favor.” Nikki lowered her voice and looked from side to side to make sure that no one else had entered the room.

“I thought we already were.” Simon smirked.

Give him his kudos. “I know, hon, and you have been awesome. But I’ve got a little break-and-enter job for you.”

“Oh no. After that time in San Fran, I don’t think so,” Simon replied. “It’s enough that we’re pretty much phonies here at our first intimate S.E.E. gathering and now you want us to be common criminals.”

“Didn’t seem to bother you before.” Nikki picked up the plate of tropical fruit and set it on the serving table they’d brought in.

“What do you need?” Marco asked.

“Kurt Kensington is superstrange,” she said.

“I’ll concede to that,” Simon added. “Cute, but strange.”

“I told you two that last night,” Marco said, lighting the burner under the buffet server that held the Wellingtons.

“Did you tell him about the vision board session?” She glanced at Simon.

“My word, I can’t believe I forgot to do that.” Simon did a quick replay of what had happened with Kurt during the session.

Marco shook his head in disbelief. “Not a good man. He must need a lot of enlightenment.”

“So now that you two know what a strange bird we’re dealing with, I need you to get into his room and see if there is anything completely off. Anything at all out of the ordinary.”

“Like what?” Simon asked.

“For starters, see if the guy really does have a suitcase that looks like Iwao Yamimoto’s, but filled with books.”

“What does Iwao’s look like?” Marco asked.

“I don’t know. I haven’t been in the storage room yet,” Nikki said. “But take pictures of his luggage and then I can compare.”

“Do you see how her mind works? Take pictures. With what? My DCS Pro Back Plus? Am I a photographer now?”

“Use the camera on your phone. I just need a visual to compare. And I have a feeling that nut job might have something that will stand out to you.” Nikki knew that Robinson could be right that Kensington was simply one of those strange types who sought attention any way he could, but Nikki still thought he should have taken her story a bit more seriously. What if Kensington was less of an attention getter and more of a deranged killer?

“A feeling? Okay, so you want us to get into the creep’s room, take some photos, and check it out all CSI style, just based on your funny feeling.” Simon walked back over to the wine and poured himself a glass of red. “When is this shenanigan supposed to go down?”

“You said so yourself that the man is a weirdo. I’m thinking a good time might be during the wine tasting. Everyone will be focused on the wines, they may even get a bit tipsy, and your presence won’t be missed. And if it is, I’ll explain that you’re grabbing a few more things for me.”

“My presence is always missed.” Simon took a sip of his wine.

“That wine is for the guests, you know,” Nikki scolded.

“I am a guest. Remember? I’m a S.E.E. member. I’ll probably get kicked out, because now I’m a traitor, thanks to you.” He pointed at Nikki.

“Leave the guilt trips for someone else.” She looked at Marco.

“Not me. I don’t like them either. Come on, Simon. Nikki needs our help.”

“Fine.” He shook his head. “She’s spoiled. You’re spoiled.” Simon pointed at Nikki. “We spoil you. That’s the problem. No boundaries.”

“Okay, Dad. And one more thing,” Nikki said.

“Oh, just one more thing. It’s never only one more thing with you, Snow White. It’s like ten, twenty, two hundred fifty.”

“You’ll like this one.” Nikki flashed them a smile in hopes of appeasing their display of irritation. “Since you have been a good mom and dad, boys, I am going to make your favorites for the dinner party tomorrow night.”

Both men raised their eyebrows. “Chili and cornbread?” they both said.

“That and some other treats.”

“You are up to something. You only do chili for a lot of people. Who else did you invite besides us and Alyssa?”

“I thought I’d ask Alan Sansi and his family.”

“You are?” Simon was looking at her dubiously, his voice rising.

“Yes. I thought that it would be good to get to know everyone a little better for myself in an intimate setting,” Nikki replied.

“You are not telling us something. You don’t want us there to get to know us better, you want us there so you can keep snooping. I’m telling you that Alan had nothing to do with Iwao’s murder.”

“Maybe not, but one of his clan might have and I want to get to know everyone and see how they react. I also have another motive. You actually gave me the idea, Simon, when Alyssa mentioned liking the rock star look and then you brought up Detective Robinson.”

Simon twirled around her. “Oh, you! I get it. Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match,” he sang. “You are so sweet, but Snow White, arranging romantic liaisons is not your forte. It’s never a good idea to try and get involved in other people’s love lives.”

“This coming from Cupid himself?” Nikki strained to keep the incredulous sound in her voice at a minimum. “You practically stood over me and Derek with an arrow aimed to fire.”

“Yes, but I am good at it.” He bowed.

“He is,” Marco said in serious agreement.

“Debatable,” Nikki replied and grabbed his wineglass from him.

“You two live together, don’t you? I sort of had something to do with it, I think. Before you know it, there will be love, then marriage, and then one baby or two in a baby carriage.” Simon clapped his hands excitedly.

“Aren’t you moving a little too fast?” Nikki commented.

“No. You two are moving a little slow if you ask me.” He tapped his wrist with a finger. “You don’t have a lot of time on that clock.”

“Simon!” Marco and Nikki said in unison.

“What? It’s true. Forty is on the way, baby, and you know that is middle-aged and not exactly perfect for chasing babies around. Your back starts hurting and then the knees go. Before you know it, you’ll be a mess. It’s time to get that brother of mine with the program. Come on, get a ring on that finger, start doing some baby making. I am ready to be an uncle.” He snapped his fingers in the air.

“I thought you wanted to be a daddy,” Nikki said.

Marco looked at Simon with a stunned expression. Uh-oh. Looked like Simon hadn’t shown his better half the dream board.

“I like babies, and I want to be an uncle, and yes, if I could be a daddy and Marco wanted to have a baby, too, then I would say yes to that.”

Nikki could tell that Marco didn’t know how to respond. “Look, here come the Pearlmans.” This was the first time Nikki had been relieved to see the cranky wife.

“Goody gumdrops,” Simon said while Marco continued staring blankly at him. Simon felt his eyes on him and said, “I know. Shocker. Can we talk it about it later? Don’t we have to go play Agent 007 or something?”

Marco nodded and went around to the bar to pour small tastings for the guests. Nikki could tell by the change in his demeanor and how silent he’d become that Marco’s dream board probably didn’t replicate Simon’s. Where might that lead? She also couldn’t help wondering about her own fate-the whole marriage and baby carriage thing. That sure sounded good. In fact, more and more it sounded exactly like the vision she had for the future. The near future. She only hoped Derek shared it, too.