Page 110 of Corkscrew You
Nate’s just got out of his truck. Seeing us, he freezes for an instant. Then, he shuts the pick-up door and walks purposefully toward us.
“Can you just hear me out?” he says to me.
“I’ll, uh…” Cam hooks his thumb in the direction of away.
“I’d appreciate it if you stayed,” Nate says to him. “I owe you an apology, too.”
His tone is businesslike, his face composed. But I know this must be costing him.
“Want to come in the house?” I suggest. Don’t think the office will fit the two of us plus a full-size Cam.
“Thanks.” Now, I see the plea in his eyes.
“I’ll make coffee,” I say. “I think we couldalldo with some super-charged caffeine.”
ChapterThirty-Six
NATE
Iguess, when I’m older, I might look back on all this, and realize that what I thought was the worst time in my life was a breeze compared to what came later. Not that I want to wish on myself a shitty future or anything, but I once thought that Camille dumping me was the worst thing ever, and fate has certainly provedthatto be a lie.
Seeing Shelby angry at me, seeing her look at me like shehatedme, was positively the worst moment of my life so far. I’m off-the-charts determined, but the shock ofthatgalvanized me like nothing before, not even the starting pistol of a track final.
OK, I had to take a minute to regulate my heart rate, but then I acted. First, I called Javi, and had to wait a while until he stopped cursing me in Spanish. I thought the French had a lot of inventive swear words, but even though I understood only a handful of them, I can now confirm that the Spanish oath collection is world beating.
When I finally got a chance, I told him I’d made a mistake. I was cancelling the lease on the harvester, and unless he never wanted to set foot in Flora Valley Wines again, he and his team would be welcome to pick for us.
“It will cost you to get out of your lease contract,” he said, suspiciously. “Thought the whole point was tosavemoney?”
“Yeah, well, sometimes what you think is the right thing to do, isn’t,” I replied. “Lesson learned on my part.”
There was a long pause on the other end. Then he said, “You want grape stompers, too?”
“Yup,” I said, trying not to sigh.
“You’re doing the right thing now,” Javi told me, as we ended the call. “This is how itshouldbe.”
That’s all very well, I thought. But to get it done, I have to put Flora Valley in the red. I have to put us in debt. And I now have to explain to JP why.
Needless to say, my second call was to the man himself. It was long, and it was tough. JP may have a sentimental streak in him when it comes to Flora Valley and the Armstrongs. But his killer instinct comes to the fore when there’s any threat to his investments.
“I thought you were smarter than this, Nate,” he said, not unreasonably.
“I believe it will pay off,” I told him. “The market craves authenticity now, brands that have the human touch, that do good in the world. I made the decision to cut costs because it was a short-term solution. But I risked ruining our long-term reputation, our unique story. I risked destroying the whole future of Flora Valley Wines.”
“What does Shelby think?” he asked.
“She wants to protect the Flora Valley ethos,” I said. “She didn’t support my original decision.”
“But you’re still a team?” he pushed.
“We are,” I lied, while crossing my fingers, and saying a little prayer that Imightbe able to make it true.
Again, a long pause. Guess if you act without due consideration, then your special punishment is to wait, so you really feel that sword of fate hanging over you.
“OK, let me know what you need,” said JP, and ended the call.
I had one foot out of jail. But the rest of me wouldn’t be free until I’d made my case to Shelby. The sword was still hanging above me, its sharp blade swinging away.
