Gina leaned forward, placing her palms on the desk. “Okay, I guess I have a confession, Bree. Or Brynna. Or whatever. Anyway, I can admit I never gave you a chance. The truth is, I disliked you from the start.”
“Oh.” Brynna nodded, trying not to show how much her words stung.
“Call it women’s intuition or Judith’s influence or whatever, but I felt something was off with you. And then when we found out who you were, I got really enraged. I already knew all about you and Dad at that camp. I knew how badly you’d hurt him when you guys were in college. I didn’t want you to ever hurt him again.”
“I don’t want to ever hurt him again either.” Brynna took in a deep breath. “I would rather he hurt me this time. I’m putting myself at his mercy. He might throw me out when he finds out I’m still here.”
“He might.” Gina stood abruptly, but her expression seemed softer.
“I wouldn’t blame him.”
“So ... I guess I could postpone hiring a new manager for now.” She moved toward the door. “To be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to interviewing people this week.”
“You could interview me.” Brynna attempted a smile.
“Thought I just did.” Gina’s eyes twinkled.
“So, you’re okay if I keep working here today?”
“Fine by me.” Gina opened the door. “But Dad gets the final say. As long as you’re here, there are some phone messages that need attention, and I haven’t even gone through the mail. Plus, I noticed some new orders on the website.”
“I’ll handle it. Thanks, Gina.” Brynna felt a ripple of hope “And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell your dad that I’m here? I’d like to do that myself.”
Gina shrugged. “Sure. Whatever.”
After Gina left, Brynna sorted through the stack of mail on the desk. It felt good to be back in here, doing a job that needed doing, passing the time with the simple office chores. It was peaceful and comforting. But she knew it could simply be the calm before the storm. Everything could blow up in her face when she crossed paths with Leroy. But she’d already put that in God’s hands. Like Ruth, Brynna felt powerless in this situation. If it was meant to be, it would be.
Chapter 33
Two Days Later
Leroy’s therapy was to immerse himself in hard work. Because of Sorrentino’s budget concerns, he’d dismissed the temporary crew that had been salvaging the burn area. He knew several other growers in need of burn restoration, so he sent the workers their way. Then, without speaking to Gina or anyone, he’d take off early in the morning and work the remaining burn area until it was too dark to see. He didn’t take Babe with him anymore because the long days were too much for the old girl. Maybe it was too much for him. But he didn’t care.
Despite the clear warm weather, his world felt bleak and gray and dreary, kind of like the soot and ashes that covered him at the end of the day. His life was work: digging out dead vines, pruning, and staking up the survivors. He did it all until he felt like the vineyard zombie, trudging up and down the rows of blackened soil. The most troubling part was his attitude.
Although he put in the effort, he no longer cared if these vines ever grew strong enough to support grapes again. Did it even matter? Would he even care if another wildfire raged through here and destroyed the rest of his vineyard? Maybe it’d be for the best. He hated those three words.For the best.Who knew whatwas best? Maybe God did, but it didn’t seem like many humans did. He sure didn’t.
His payoff at the end of each long day was being so fatigued that he fell into bed exhausted enough to actually sleep. It wasn’t a restful or restorative sleep, but at least he was too tired to lie awake thinking. He knew this was a miserable way to live, but again, it was probably for the best, especially if he was destined to be a lone wolf.
By the end of his third day of self-inflicted, punitive isolation he realized this crazy masochistic pace was going to kill him. Was that why his dad’s life had ended early? That’s what Gina said as he trudged into the house well after 9:00 p.m., kicking off his ashen boots in the laundry room. Thinking she could be right, he promised Gina that he’d take tomorrow morning off. Then he grabbed some food to take upstairs—to the wolf den.
But before he could escape, Gina yelled up at him. “Maybe you can pay some attention to what’s going on in your winery!” She sounded angry. Not that he cared.
Just the same, he paused to scowl down at her. “I thought you had everything under control. Are you saying something’s wrong?”
“Not exactly.” She growled back at him. “But might be nice if you weren’t so checked out, Dad. Might be nice if you were still around. You’re like a dead man walking.”
“That’s right,” he mumbled as he headed for his room. He felt like a dead man as he closed the door behind him. The wolf den was exactly as he’d left it that morning, a sorry mess. Filthy work clothes strewn everywhere. Smelly leftover food and dirty dishes and glasses on the floor. Even a banana peel that had adhered to the bathroom floor. It was like something you’d expect from an adolescent, not a middle-aged man. His bedding looked twisted and knotted and dirty from the nights he’d fallen into bed without even showering. He should be ashamed. Except he wasn’t. Because he didn’t care.
But as he peeled off his dirty clothes, he felt a twinge of guilt.Sophie usually came on Thursdays to lend a hand with his housework. That was tomorrow. He didn’t like the idea of her cleaning up his messes. Hopefully he’d remember to pick up some in the morning. If not, he might have some explaining to do.
Brynna didn’t know what to think after three unsettling days had passed without a single glimpse of Leroy. By Thursday morning, she was so on edge that she broached the subject with Gina. But the girl seemed unconcerned as she dropped some mail on the desk, simply claiming that her dad had been obsessed with getting the burn area all cleaned up.
“By himself,” Gina said with nonchalance. “Seems kind of crazy to me, but it’s what he wants and he’s the boss. So what can you do?”
“Oh.” Brynna nodded. “I just wondered.”
“At least he’s sleeping in this morning.” Gina glanced at the clock. “But he’ll probably be back at it before long.”
