“You mean Bree?” Gina picked up an apple, taking a loud bite.
“Yes. Have you seen her today?”
She swallowed. “No, I haven’t even met her yet.”
“Really?” Leroy’s concerns increased. Why was the new office manager so elusive?
“But I’ve been pretty busy, Dad.” Gina took another bite.
“I met Bree,” Judith declared with what seemed like a catty smile.
“You did?” He turned to her. “When was that?”
“Earlier today. She took me quite by surprise when she walked right into this kitchen without even knocking.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. But I introduced myself, and she told me her name was Bree. Apparently she’d forgotten to get the wineglasses for Garth’s wine tasting, so she was scrambling to catch up.”
“I usually do that,” Gina explained, “but I asked Cassie to handle it because Mara and I are working out behind the barn.”
“Behind the barn?” Leroy asked her.
She nodded and took another bite of her apple. “We need to get all the grounds ready for the upcoming events. Besides wine-tasting parties, the vineyard open house, and Grandma’s birthday, I’ve been thinking we might host some weddings. Anyway, we’re all pretty busy. Sorry about the wineglass biz. I’ll let Bree know about the dishwasher situation.”
“Well, that Breeseemsokay.” Judith’s tone sounded odd. “She’s certainly pretty enough. But if you ask me, she’s a bit of a scatterbrain.”
“Scatterbrain?” Leroy felt surprisingly defensive. “I mean I haven’t actually met her yet, but I’ve observed her a few times. She doesn’t seem scatterbrained. In fact, she seems like a diligent, hard worker.”
Judith shrugged. “Well, that was just my first impression.” She laughed. “And you know what they say about first impressions.”
“What do they say?” he asked in a flat tone.
“You only get one chance to make them.”
He wanted to point out that his first impression of Bree had been positive but didn’t really care to divulge that much to this woman. In fact, his first, second, and third impressions of Judith hadn’t been nearly as nice as his impression of the new office manager—even from afar.
“I think Bree is helping Garth with the wine tasting,” Gina told him, throwing her apple into the trash bin.
“I peeked in on the tasting and didn’t see her.” He reached for an apple. “But I guess I’ll check again.”
Leroy got caught up in fixing a loose board on the porch. So by the time he got back to the tasting room, the nearby parking lot was empty, and Garth was just closing the doors. “How’d it go?” Leroy asked him.
“Great. Nice crowd.”
“Good.” Leroy walked with Garth toward his pickup. “Have you seen Bree today?”
“Yeah, she helped with the tasting. It was her first time, and she was a perfect assistant. Very cordial with the guests and she didn’t even get confused about the order of the wines. Apparently she studied the notes I gave her yesterday. Before long, I’ll bet she could do the tasting herself.”
“Well, that’s good to know.” Leroy smiled. “Do you know where she went?”
Garth checked his watch. “She left on her bike a little while ago. Headed up to the house to help Sophie with our garden. She’s probably there by now.”
“Oh, yeah.” Leroy nodded like he knew this. “Seems like Sophie and Bree have really hit it off.”
“For sure. Bree helped Sophie yesterday too. And now Lucy’s in love with her. I think Sophie was spot-on with hiring her. Bree Philips, it seems, is a real treasure.”
A hard-to-find treasure, Leroy thought to himself.
