Page 90 of My Brother's Best Friends

“It’s a piece of land,” I correct her, “and I’m going to turn it into a vineyard. It’s actually perfect for growing grapes. It sits right on the eastern lip of Wine Country. The soil is good, the weather is gentle. And we haven’t had a wildfire out there in years. I’ve got a business plan already put together, some idea about the startingcosts… I’m still brushing up on the bottling and distribution side of things, but I know I can handle it.”

“You want to open a winery, huh?” A broad smile dances across my friend’s glossy lips as her eyes search my face.

“I truly believe it could work, and if it does, we could make a lot of money. You could work from the farmhouse and still bring in your regular income. You’d only need to pop into the office for the occasional in-person meeting, and the rest of the time you’d have total freedom. Plus, the views out there are worth making the leap, I promise.”

She thinks about it for a moment. “It’s a big deal, Mac—moving out of the city, leaving everything behind. I don’t know anything about farming or growing grapes.”

“But you know graphic design and product development,” I say. “That’s your jam. I’ll need help designing the labels and marketing the product.”

“But not for a while,” she cautions.

“True. But I don’t want to do this alone… Janet, you could switch to working with me when I’m ready to roll the product out. It’s why I suggested you go remote. I admit, I would need your help there, but I wouldn’t keep you from your own work. I just…” I lower my head for a second. “I can’t do it alone. But I believe in that place, I believe in what we could do with it. And you know what? If you agree, if you decide to invest any time in developing my winery… I’ll make you a partner. You’ll have a stake in the company, you’ll get a cut from the sales.”

“You really believe in this dream, huh?”

“With all my heart.”

Janet glances around, taking in the raucous atmosphere—colorful lights, questionable fashion choices—and giggles.

“We won’t have bars like this once we’re out in the country,” I add. “But we’ll have each other, and we’ll be surrounded by nature. Clean air, less stress, just enough hard labor to help us sleep like babies at night. Plus, we’ll be working on building a future for ourselves and our future families. I see it as a win-win.”

“Okay,” she finally says. “I’ll think about it.”

“Think quickly,” I warn. “I’m moving out of my apartment at the end of the month and need to arrange a U-Haul for my stuff.”

“Wow. I do appreciate the enthusiasm, I really do. But while I ponder this, let me just ask you one thing.”

I give her a curious look. “Shoot.”

“Why are you doing this, Mac? It’s a risky leap right after quitting your job—and I’m pretty sure you just got your heart broken, too.”

“I wouldn’t go that far as to say I got my heart?—”

“Save it. Can it. Sell it to someone who believes it,” she cuts me off with a raised eyebrow, giving me no choice but to shyly concede. “So, is this whole winery thing a knee-jerk reaction to keep your mind off the things that hurt you, or is this a true passion project?”

Taking another long sip of my drink, I gather my thoughts and emotions into a single, well-crafted and genuine argument. “I’m doing this because I’ve wanted to do it for a long time. When our parents died, and I learned that they left me the land in Napa, I knew I was going to do something special with it. Granted, I wasa little too young to figure out the details, but now… it’s different. And the dream has only grown bigger.”

“Are you sure it’s not just a way to fill a gap in your soul?”

I shake my head. “No, it’s what I want. And honestly, quitting my job… getting involved with the Anderson triplets… regardless of how it ended between us… It gave me the courage I’d been missing to take this leap of faith, in the first place. This is real, Janet. I’m doing it because I believe in it. I believe in myself.”

Truth be told, I have the triplets to thank. They inspired me. They supported me. They believed in me. It made walking away so much harder than it needed to be. So maybe my success with this winery will be the best thing to come out of that entire affair.

It’ll make the suffering that came afterward worth it.

“Good answer,” Janet decrees. “Now, I need another round. Maybe something stiffer.”

I laugh. “Preaching to the choir.”

“Then we ditch the sweet and sour and head straight for the tequila shots.”

The rest of the evening blurs into an alcohol-soaked haze that drops me into bed early. When I finally surface, drool crusted on my pillow, a text from Janet waits for my sober attention.

I’m in,she says.

I thank my lucky stars for such an amazing friend and dive into the logistics of the move with fresh passion. It takes me only three days to clean and sort my possessions.

To my surprise, I don’t have that much to take with me. I guess few things matter when you’re about to start a new life, so I headout to Napa Valley with three hard-shelled suitcases and two duffel bags of clothes, a box full of kitchen stuff, a box of books and heirlooms from my parents, one small couch, a television and an exercise bike. Janet’s things slide in beside mine in a single large U-Haul.

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