Page 9 of Gone With the Wine

“Yeah.”

“I am so pissed at him.”

“You and me both. I hated him for making decisions for Rosa. For forcing her to sign the annulment papers, for making her feel guilty and telling her what to do.”

My heart squeezes. “Yeah.”

“I still get pissed thinking of her here in Oak Creek Canyon all that time, feeling guilty and like she had to make up for something that wasn’t hurting anyone else.” His voice deepens with emotion. “But I also realized that I was just as bad as Geno.”

I frown.

“I kept her tied to me,” he says quietly. “All that time. I would have known if she was involved with someone else,” he adds quickly. “I would have done something then.” In answer to my unspoken questions he says, “My mom kept me up to date.”

I nod.

“Geno took Rosa’s choice away from her by making her sign the annulment. And I took her choice away when I didn’t file the papers.” His voice deepens with emotion.

I blink. That’s true.

“So I gave her the annulment papers. Soshecould make the choice.”

“Oh.” My heart climbs into my throat.

“And she ripped them up.”

My eyes sting. I swallow. “Thank you.”

He nods, a half-smile on his face.

Rosa comes in the back door then and halts, looking between us. “Oh.”

I smile at her. “Hi. We’re just catching up.”

“Are you threatening him again?” she demands, going to him and sliding her arm through his.

I laugh. “No. Hey, could we eat? I’m starving.”

“Me too,” Jake says.

Rosa’s on top of that, with food in the fridge—marinated chicken breasts that Jake puts on the grill along with some potatoes and other veggies. She and I assemble a salad and soon we’re sitting at the big kitchen table eating.

“What happened with Take Flight?” I ask Jake.

He tells me about how his mother got sick, how the medical bills piled up, and how his parents decided to retire and sell the winery. I can see it’s painful for him. He loved that winery. It was always assumed he would take over, but…he wasn’t here.

Because of Uncle Geno.

More anger flares inside me. I have many things to talk to Uncle Geno about.

“You want to see the grosso grapes?” Jake asks.

“Ohhh yes. I didn’t realize we had those growing here.”

He mentioned them to me on the phone a while back. A lot of the vines here were originally planted by Italian immigrants in the late 19thCentury, which is why there are merlot and zinfandel and sangiovesegrapes growing here. Grosso grapes are not well known. They’re high in acidity and tannins and are only blended with other red varieties that produce fuller, fruitier wines. I’m super curious about them and what we can do with them.

God, I love wine.

Chapter2

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