“Love you too, pumpkin.”
After she hung up, I stood in the driveway, staring at my phone.
I thought I loved someone once, but I really didn’t.
What Isabel said the other night came rushing back.You didn’t know about Felicity and Snapper?
No. I wouldn’t do this. I wouldn’t let Isabel’s poison twist everything into something ugly.
But the doubt remained, a small seed taking root.
I was still standing in the same spot when a car drove through the front gate. A sedan I didn’t recognize at first, then did—Isaac Brennan’s Lexus. He worked at First Coastal Bank. We’d gone to high school together, though he was three years ahead of me.
My heart pounded as he climbed out of the car.
“Saffron.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Is your father home?”
“No. He’s in Napa with my mom and sister. Felicity’s about to have a baby.”
“Oh, that’s right. I forgot. Congratulations.” He shifted his weight, clearly uncomfortable. “When will he be back?”
“I’m not sure. Why?”
“I just needed to speak with him about—” He stopped. “It’s bank business. Nothing urgent.”
Liar. Everything about his body language screamed urgent.
My courage built slowly, like water rising. “I know about the foreclosure, Isaac. How bad is it? Really?”
His expression shifted to pity. “Saffron?—”
“Please. Just tell me.”
“You should talk to your father.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one I can give you.” He looked away, toward the vineyard, then back at me. “I’m sorry.”
We stood in awkward silence as a hawk circled overhead, riding the thermal currents.
“Saffron,” he began. “You know you don’t have to carry the world on your shoulders, right? This isn’t your doing or your responsibility.”
I couldn’t speak.
“Your father has been in this business for years, and his father before him, just like most of us in the valley,” hecontinued. “Some of the decisions he made worked out; others didn’t. But none of that is on you.”
“It feels like it is.”
“I know. But it’s not.” He squeezed my shoulder once, then retreated to his car. “Tell your dad to call me when he gets back, okay?”
I nodded and waved as he drove away.
I stood still until the dust settled. Until I could breathe again without feeling like my chest was caving in.
You don’t have to carry the world on your shoulders.
Didn’t I? Who would if not me?
