“You never cleaned up to eat at Sophie’s before,” Gina argued. “Something’s fishy. What’s going on?”
“I think it’s that new manager.” Judith elbowed Gina with a sly wink. “She’s sort of cute in a girl next door sort of way, and he was looking for her earlier, remember?”
“That’s right.” Gina nodded. “Is that it, Dad? Are you having dinner with Bree?”
“I told you, I’m going to Sophie’s, and if I don’t get out of here, I’m going to be late for dinner. I hate to keep my grandchildren up past their bedtime, so if you ladies will excuse me.” He opened the door, then seeing that Babe was trying to follow, he told her to stay. “You can hang here with all the other females.” He patted his disappointed dog’s head. And before anyone could question him further, Leroy dashed out of there.
As he drove to Sophie’s he wondered if he had overdone it. What if Sophie thought he looked “too nice” or Garth smelled his cologne, which really wasn’t only soap, and got suspicious? This could get embarrassing. And really, why had he gone to so much trouble to impress a woman he had never even met? Maybe he could make up some excuse, like he had a wine-growers meeting later on tonight. Except that Garth would know that wasn’t true ... and Leroy hated lies. Fine. As he parked in front of their house, he decided he’d just tell them he cleaned up because he felt like cleaning up. No big deal!
The front door was open, so he walked right in and was immediately attacked by his grandkids. After the usual hugs, rocket rides, and general horseplay, they returned to the animated video playing on the TV, and he went into the kitchen fully expecting to find Sophie and Bree putting the finishing touches on dinner, maybe opening a bottle of Cabernet to go with the cannelloni.
“Hey, Dad.” Sophie beamed at him as she set a huge pan of cannelloni on the counter. “You’re just in time.”
He took a whiff of the delectable concoction—realpasta, savory meat sauce, dripping with cheese. “Smells fabulous.” He kissed his daughter’s cheek. “I barely escaped dining on brown rice pasta smothered in vegetables. What is brown rice pasta anyway?”
“It’s a poor excuse for pasta.” Sophie laughed. “Seriously, doesn’t that woman ever cook meat?”
“Nope.” He glanced around. “Where’s Garth?” Of course, that wasn’t the foremost question on his mind, but it was the safest.
“Probably on the computer. Why don’t you go tell him dinner’s ready?”
Leroy walked back to Garth’s office, glancing around as he did, hoping to spy Bree, but without success. He reached the den where his son-in-law was sitting behind a monitor. “Hey, Garth. Your wife says dinner’s ready.”
Garth turned off his computer screen. “I was just checking the sparkling wine market. We’re pretty well stocked right now. I thought maybe we should do a price reduction and move some.”
“We’ll be using plenty at the anniversary celebration, and then more at Mom’s birthday bash, so I wouldn’t worry about it.” As they walked back to the kitchen, Leroy casually inquired about Bree.
“Bree went home, Pappy,” Lucy said, her lower lip extended into an impressive pout.
“Yeah, she was worn out,” Garth added. “She’s been so helpful—at work and here with the kids. She probably needed a break.”
“Hey, Pappy, you smell just like Mommy on church day.” Lucy grabbed his hand and peered curiously at him.
“Better than smelling stinky, don’t you think?” He chuckled. And before anyone else could mention his cleaned-up appearance, he distracted them by bringing up his mother’s upcoming birthday celebration, saying how everyone, even the kids, could help. Before long, Sophie was putting together a plan for her and the kids to make posters and banners and other decorative things. All in all, it was a good diversion from being questioned about his out-of-character spiffed-up appearance. Basically an exercise in futility ... or stupidity.
It wasn’t easy to conceal his disappointment over Bree’s absence as they ate dinner, but the cannelloni was excellent—way better than what was being served at his house. Still, as he drove home afterward, he wondered what it would take to actually meet his mysterious office manager.
For the next couple of days, Brynna busied herself between working in the office, doing inventory, and assisting Garth in the tasting room. Her life seemed to have fallen into a comfortable routine of working until four then spending an hour or two with Sophie and the kids, then back to her little cottage to fix a simple meal, have a lovely bath, and prepare for the next day. One of the highlights of her day, almost a secret pleasure, was slipping outside just as the sun was going down. She’d started this after her bath Tuesday night, when her hair was still damp. She’d put on the little blue sundress that had become her favorite item of clothing. She loved walking through the shadowy vineyard barefoot. Something about the last ray of golden light and dusky blue sky, the warm fragrant air, and the soft cool soil beneath her feet—it was almost spiritual.
She was joined by who she’d discovered was Leroy’s dog, Babe. The elderly yellow Labrador retriever was sweet-spirited and a welcome companion. Brynna hoped that she wasn’t spoiling Babe by giving her occasional leftovers, but she did add doggy treats to her shopping list.
Brynna felt she was living a perfect sort of life. Except for the fact that she was an imposter and knew her visit here could be only temporary. Plus, there was the unnerving potential of meeting Leroy face-to-face constantly hanging over her head. She still wasn’t sure how she planned to explain her presence to him. But my midday Thursday, she almost looked forward to it. In fact, on her way back to the office after her lunch break, she decided she wanted to just get it over with. So much so that she was actually on the lookout for him. She’d seen signs of him in the office the past two days, but nothing today. She had to chuckle at herself as she went into the office for the wine cellar key. Here she was, stilllooking for Leroy. Mike and Jan had checked on her a couple of times during the week, curious as to what was going on and almost in disbelief when she informed them “nothing.” They were even more shocked that she and Leroy hadn’t even met.
As Brynna continued with the wine inventory, which was about halfway done, she wondered if Leroy might be purposely avoiding her. She’d even left the door to the cellar open just in case he passed by and decided to pop in. But her only visitor was Babe, who simply plopped down to snooze on the cool, earthen floor.
By the time Brynna’s alarm went off, reminding her it was time to go help Garth, she decided Leroy was simply too busy to bother about meeting his office manager. The bright side was that he must’ve been satisfied with her work so far. Perhaps she should just enjoy this time ... except she felt on edge. Like the old adage, she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. But had the first one fallen?
After helping Garth with a fairly big and boisterous tasting group, Brynna suddenly felt very antsy, perhaps even eager, over the likelihood of bumping into Leroy. How much longer could it take for their paths to cross? As Garth chatted with a few lingering guests, Brynna wiped down counters and tables, gathering up the used wineglasses and attempting to bolster her courage. Finally, she felt like she was ready to do it. She would march the basket of dirty glasses over to Leroy’s house, walk straight into the kitchen,and simply introduce herself. Except she felt sure he wouldn’t be there this time of day.
And more than likely, she’d run into Judith again. Not an encounter she cared to initiate. Besides feeling snubbed by the somewhat patronizing woman, Brynna felt irritated. She hated to admit it, but whenever she noticed Judith and the girls up at the house—whether they were lounging out on the terrace or setting up an outdoor meal—Brynna felt a distinct jealous gnaw inside her. And it seemed perfectly ridiculous considering that Brynna hadn’t so much as spoken to Leroy in almost thirty years. Seriously! Still, she wished that Judith and her daughters would just go home. Even more so after hearing what Sophie had to say about it the day before.
According to Sophie, Judith and her girls intended to remain for the full two weeks they’d originally agreed upon. “Although Gina is starting to have second thoughts,” Sophie had confided. Brynna tried to appear uninterested as she helped Sophie and the kids work the garden, but she’d gently nudged out a bit more information. It seemed that Sophie was concerned for her dad and Gina. “Judith and her younger daughter, Cassie, have lost all enthusiasm for getting the property ready for the upcoming events. Apparently it’s too much work.”
Sophie rolled her eyes as she leaned on her hoe. “I guess when Gina offered them a working vacation, they figured they’d do a little work and then go into full-time vacation mode. She said Judith and Cassie are acting more like houseguests now.”
Although it had given Brynna a tinge of hope that the houseguests weren’t as welcome as she’d assumed, she still didn’t care to bump into Judith. Seeing the last of the patrons leaving the tasting room, she called out to Garth. “Didn’t you say Gina was going to pick up the glasses today?”
“She said just to leave them on the counter and she’d be by later.” Garth came over to put the bottles back into the cabinet.
