"Well, that's good then." Faye smiled at his dad. "I told you it was just a little blip. Never did like that other guy. He wasn't good enough for your wines."
His dad chuckled. "Thanks, Faye. I know you have every faith in this place."
"Not just in this place, Charles. In you." She straightened. "Now, I'm heading back to my kitchen. Will you be joining us tonight, Reaves?"
He wanted to. Of course he did. But he suspected his dad would want to hole up in his study this evening to think things through.
"Do you want me, Dad?"
"Of course I do. I always do. But to answer the real question—I'm not sure I'll be very good company this evening. Although I know two young ladies who'd be happy if you were to stay."
"Alara's sleeping at the moment," said Faye. "I poked my head into the office and she was fast asleep at her desk. I checked on Zia first, because she was playing in her room—I thought I could entertain her for a while, but she wasn't there."
Reaves took a step toward the door. "I'd better—"
Faye chuckled. "There's no need. She's taking a nap herself, on the sofa in the office. I expect she went down to see her mom."
"In that case, I'll head home," he said. Of course he'd like to stick around and see them when they woke up, but he'd call Alara later.
After Faye had gone, he got to his feet and went to rest his hand on his dad's shoulder. "I'll stick around if you want me."
"We already covered that, son. Get on home, and I'll see you soon."
"You will. You'll see me tomorrow."
"Thanks."
Once he was on the road, he called Jacob. He didn't expect him to pick up—he only wanted to leave a message to thank him.
"Hey, Reaves, how's it going?" Jacob answered on the second ring.
"Yeah, great. All the better, thanks to you."
"How did it go? I thought it might be a bit much, springing a last-minute meeting on your dad like that. But I saw the opportunity while Caleb and Aaron were here, so I had to jump on it."
"I'm glad you did. Thanks, Jacob. And I know Dad's grateful too."
"It feels strange to have his gratitude. Strange, and wrong. Your dad's like an institution in his own right in this town. He shouldn't be in the position he's in."
That heavy weight in Reaves's stomach settled a little deeper. Jacob was right, of course. "I know he shouldn't. And I'm gonna do what I can to help him. I should have been doing so much more."
"Hey, that's not what I meant," said Jacob.
"No, I know. But it's true, and we both know it."
"No, don't give me that. You never wanted to go into the business."
"Exactly. I went off and did my own thing and left Dad to struggle by himself. That has to change now."
He didn't say the rest, but surely Jacob had to understand. Jacob had stepped up at twenty-nine to take over the Jacobsestate after his parents died. He hadn't abandoned their legacy the way Reaves had.
"Stop giving yourself a hard time, bud," said Jacob. "If you want to do more now, I'm sure your dad will love it. But only do it if you want to. If you don't, there are other ways. I'll help you guys find a general manager, if that's what your dad wants."
"He suggested it, but I know he'd hate it."
Jacob chuckled. "Yeah, you have a point there. He doesn't need someone to take over. But… he's a winemaker, not a businessman."
"I know. That's the part I'm gonna have to learn."
