Page 10

Alana grinned. “What? What’s so funny?”

She kept laughing as she elbowed Alana out of the way and snatched the door handle. “No, Alana. The only one who would be stupid enough to fuck the winemaker is you.”

Freya slammed the door and started the ignition, still laughing to herself as she pulled the car out of the gravel driveway, a trail of dust following in her wake.

Alana curled her fists, eyes narrowed, watching the car as Freya drove south and escaped behind the bushy sugar maples.

She tossed the cigarette to the ground and put it out with her heel. Trying to make her sister see reason and calmly have a conversation clearly wasn’t going to work. But annoying each other the way they used to? Even if she knew it wasn’t right, Freya had finally spoken to her. And if that was her way back into her sister’s life, then she could certainly live with that. After all, she had years of practice.

4

It was another three days before either of her sisters spoke to her again. For Freya, it was clearly intentional; she was content passing Alana inside the house or out in the vineyard without so much as a single glance or a courtesy nod. For Sophie, it was mostly about timing. Alana spent the early morning and afternoon hours in the vineyard, and Sophie was her usual night owl self. When Sophie was in school, those late hours had been spent doing her homework or binge-watching Gilmore Girls or One Tree Hill or whatever early 2000s shows she loved at the time. Now her time was spent on side projects, like feeding her goats and chickens, or tending to the flower beds and beehives. Sophie was always far more interested in their mother’s side projects at Marien, while Alana was fully invested in the vines and the soil in the fields.

It seemed their dinner together that first night was also rare and unlikely to replicate. Her mother had been the one who insisted they eat dinner at the table, no matter what it took to get everyone there. Without her, that tradition faded into a memory. Alana spent most of her nights alone, eating leftovers at the table or reading a book in her room, occasionally sneaking a smoke outside her window. Even her father, who sometimes joined her at the table, kept to himself most nights. He sat in his usual recliner in the living room reading the paper, or outside on a rocking chair with a cup of tea, staring out at the lake.

Before she’d returned home, Alana wondered if her reappearance would cause even more issues within her family. Yet it seemed her return hadn’t changed much at all. No, her family was falling apart all on their own.

She knew if she wanted to speak to someone, she had to interrupt their schedule. She sipped on a late-night coffee to stay awake as she shuffled down the slope and to the barn.

Sophie was clucking at her gag of chickens, sprinkling seeds. Besides her tall rubber boots, her outfit was far from practical. She wore a whimsical white skirt and a butter-yellow sweater layered on top, the collar falling down her left shoulder.

Alana pushed the barn door open further. “Need some help?”

Sophie perked up. “Oh my gosh, yes. I haven’t even gotten to the goats yet. They all need some serious brushing.”

She followed Sophie deeper into the barn. “Did they like the grapes?”

“Mhm. They’re so funny, you should have seen the way they were leaping when I brought a bucket to them today. I thought Nigel was going to jump on me.”

“Oh, Nigel. The girl goat with a boy name. How is she?”

“Spunky, as always. She’s a lot more spry than Maya—we adopted her last year. Maya is probably the laziest of my children. I’m hoping some of Nigel’s energy will rub off on her.”

They reached the stable where the goats were kept, the five of them nibbling on the remainder of the grapes from the day’s pickings.

Sophie opened the gate and snatched two stools. She handed Alana one. “How is the pruning going? Are you almost finished?”

“Yes, almost finished.” She reached the end of the red grapes today as Leo finished up the whites. They would both tackle the Chardonnay patch tomorrow, which was small enough that they could get it done in less than a day. She didn’t like the idea of working so close to him; she’d managed to sufficiently avoid his judgmental, cold blue eyes staring at her for three blissful days. “We’ll have a few more treats for them tomorrow.”

“Oh they’ll love that.” Sophie beamed as she unhooked two brushes hanging on the wall. “You should deliver them tomorrow. Nigel will make you her best friend.”

“Not if she attacks me,” she teased.

Sophie burst out laughing, and they got to work brushing Nigel’s fur. She nudged her nose in Sophie’s thigh, leaving what Alana hoped was a streak of dirt and not feces. Sophie didn’t seem to mind.

Alana clicked her tongue at the goat she didn’t recognize, who she assumed was Maya. Maya stared vacantly at her, then turned her head back to the leftover grapes and seeds. Derby responded to her instead, sidling right up next to Alana with her head held high.

She chuckled. “Still the princess of the group, I see.”

Derby huffed and lifted her neck. Alana smiled as she brushed her fur, the animal purring with pleasure.

“So,” Sophie started.

Alana waited a beat for her sister to continue, but she never did. She sighed in response. “So.”

“How, um, are you?”

Alana licked her bottom lip, keeping her eyes on Derby. “Better than I expected. I was afraid to come home. I wasn’t sure…” She swallowed. “I wasn’t sure what it would be like with everyone.”