Page 29 of Corkscrew You
“You’re both sexist pigs and I hate you,” says Izzy.
“Doyouwant to see what she looks like?” Danny asks her.
“No!”
But Ava says, “Of course!”
When she sees the photo of Shelby, she gives me a curious look. Which I avoid.
“OK,fine!” says Izzy. “Give it here!” And she snatches the phone from Ava.
“Oh, she’s sopretty,” Izzy sighs. “Those amazingeyes. Look, Mom—”
Mom slips on her reading glasses and peers at the phone screen. “She seems like a very sweet young woman,” is her verdict. “JP was surprised that she’s still single. Said he thought she would have been snapped up by some handsome young man well before now.”
I’m going to chokemyself. Shove a whole three-tier cake stand down my throat.
“It’d be a bad choice for her to becomeNate’sgirlfriend, though,” says Max.
My gut feels like he’s punched it with a cow jug. Why? What does he know?
“If Nate can’t turn the winery around,” Max explains, “that’d be a relationship-killer right there. Hard for love to stay strong when your dreams are in ruins.”
“You underestimate Shelby,” I say, without thinking. “She’s held the place together all on her ownandgot investment. I won’t be the only one working to turn Flora Valley around. We’ll do it together. And wewillmake it a success.”
“So you’ve changed your mind about her being a nut?” says Ava. She nods slowly. “Interesting…”
Mom says, “Ofcourseyou’ll succeed. JP would never have asked you to step in if he didn’t have complete confidence in you.”
Mom means well, but I’m dying here. I can feel the eyes of all the little porcelain animal-people judging me. Gotta go, or I might start to hyperventilate.
“Sorry, team.” I put on my calm voice. “I have to get back. Got at least another four hours of work ahead of me.”
“Don’t work too hard,” says Mom.
She looks worried, and I feel like a heel. She has enough worries, already.
“Promise,” I lie, as I kiss her goodbye.
As I get the hell out of the café, I can hear Max and Ava fighting over the untouched scone on my plate.
I make it about five miles down the road before I have to pull over. It’s a quiet, rural area, nothing but trees and fields and the odd horse. I roll down the window and breathe in big gulps of clean, fresh air. And try to get my scrambled thoughts in order.
When Max said it was a bad idea for Shelby to be my girlfriend, I almost brained him with a floral teapot. When I said that she and I would turn the winery around together, I meant it. Because I want it to be true. I want to work alongside Shelby all day, and at night, I … yep, OK, I want that. I want to remove her faded t-shirt and shorts and kiss every freckle on her naked body. I want her to look at me the way she looks at Survivalist Ken, instead of the way she looked at me today. Disappointed, hurt and rightly pissed off.
I don’t think this is ego, because it doesn’t feel like it did when I set my sights on Camille. I don’t want towinShelby. I want her to want me back. And maybe, eventually, after I’ve earned it, fall in love with me.
But I can’t make her do any of these things. And I might have to accept that she never will.
I recall a saying of Ava’s:Today sucked but there’s always tomorrow to punch in the balls. It’s not going to feature on any kitchen sampler or motivational meme site but right now, I appreciate its sentiment.
Better get back to Flora Valley Wines. I wasn’t lying when I told Mom I had alotof work to catch up on.
ChapterEleven
SHELBY
Idon’t like being angry. I don’t like holding grudges or feeling resentful. To me, that’s always seemed a waste of energy. I mean, doesanyonewant their gravestone epitaph to be,I’m glad I spent so much time hating on everything? I’ll probably wish I’d been more organized, but I’ll never wish I’d been closer to friends and family. OK, maybe closer in a physical sense, but I talk to my siblings all the time – we have a group chat where we post ridiculous nonsense, and we know we can call each other up if we’re in trouble. And though Mom’s on the coast now, it’s less than an hour’s drive away. Whenever I feel the need to be blinded by every colour on the spectrum and drink tea that looks like it was swept up last Fall, I know I’ll always be welcome.
