Page 92 of With Wine Comes War

I walked into Roman’s office, and he seemed more relaxed than he had been this week. He was laughing with whomever was on the phone and he winked at me, patting his lap in invitation. I walked over, accepting his invitation as he wrapped his arm around my waist before hanging up the phone.

“Who was that? That must’ve been a good conversation.”

“It was Matt. I was just getting a little info on the kids for tonight. He basically said you’re their favorite person in the world and I will not be able to compete, so don’t bother.”

That made me giggle. My interaction with Matt was just like having an argument with one of my brothers. In the moment it’s heated and bitter but over as soon as we all cool off, realizing each of us was never really the target of our anxiety.

“You know what? He might be right, but I’ll try to convince them you’re not so bad.” I gave him a little poke to the chest.

“Hey, I meant to ask you about something.” I pulled away to get a good look at his face.

“Oh yeah. What’s that?” I asked curiously.

“When we were at the Santoros the other night, that dog was all over you, and you were totally fine with it. Do you really like dogs that much or were you just being polite?” I laughed.

“That’s a weird question, but, no, I really love dogs. I love dogs and I love children. I just feel like I’m too selfish for either right now.” He frowned.

“At your dad’s house you don’t really engage Sadie, you just pat her on the head and then leave her be. Is there something about her?” I winced at the memory of Sadie getting hurt after playing with her.

“Sadie’s old. I love Sadie, but when she gets too excited, she gets hurt. The last time I played with her like I did Sage, she blew her knee out, so now I just try to keep her calm and relaxed and that requires me to ignore her mostly. I hate having to do it because we were so close, but I want her to have a good painless life for whatever she may have left.”

He hugged me and said, “That’s music to my ears. Maybe we can get a dog to start.” I remember Roman’s mom telling me they used to call him Dr. Doolittle because he loved animals so much.

“To start what?” Play coy.

He smiled and said, “Our life together.”

“Maybe someday. Right now, we need to make sure we have everything we need for a kiddie sleepover.”

***

ROMAN

When we arrived at the office, Alex went straight into the conference room and I went into my office.

Harrison called.

“Hey, we just landed. We should be there in about forty-five minutes. How was it without us this week?”

“It was fine. We have a new winery project that sounds exciting.”

He laughed. “Yeah, you better do a good job on that.”

No shit.

“Don’t I know it. Thankfully we seem to be on the same page with ideas so it should turn out well. I’ll have to bring you and Amelia to see the place— it’s incredible.”

“Sure, why not. I like to live on the edge.”

We laughed and I said I would see them soon. I wondered about what they said about Grant having skeletons in his closet. Seriously, what else could the guy have going on that was shadier than what he already told me?

Do I even want to know? Probably not.

Amelia and Harrison walked in and briefed me on what happened at their meetings in Texas. Nothing exciting to report other than the project had gotten underway, and the new state of the art neighborhood was now in the building phase. Lots and homes were selling out. I asked them who had gotten arrested, and he said a couple clerks, maybe a police officer or two and a property inspector. That’s just insane. All that for money. I guess I could say the same thing about myself, except, I feel like everything I did brought me to Alex. In the end, the residents of Burrow Township are going to be better off because of her. It had nothing to do with my good deeds. If it wasn’t for Alex, I wouldn’t be having this conversation with myself, I’d still be making money and not worrying about any damage I was causing while doing it. Not to mention working with criminals.

Around four I called Matt. “Hey man, you ready for us to drop these little monsters off yet?” he asked before I could even say hello.

“Absolutely, but first I need to find out if there’s anything I should know before you do.” I’ve never watched kids before.

---