Page 82 of Corkscrew You
Ava squeezes past Cam and flashes him a quick smile. We both watch her saunter to the Porsche, hop in athletically, and send gravel flying as she guns it into action. The roar fades into the distance in an impressively short space of time.
I take a good long breath.
“What can I do for you, Cam?”
He’s still staring off, down the driveway.
“Hello? Earth to Cam?”
I imagine this is what it’s like watching geological structures form. Heisturning, but it could take a while.
“Pre-check,” he says, finally.
Translation: should he start looking over the facilities and equipment, to make sure everything’s in working order for harvest?
I’m about to say yes when I remember I’ve already made this mistake once.
“Sorry, Cam,” I tell him. “You’ll have to ask Nate. He’s the boss now.”
Another ice age freezes and thaws, before he says, “K.”
Then he heads off in the complete opposite direction to Nate’s office. Probably needs a few hours to recover from that much interaction. He can always talk to Nate later.
Wonder ifI’lltalk to Nate anytime tomorrow? We might end up sitting at the same table at dinner and still not speaking a word to each other.
Awkward-plus, as Ava so aptly phrased it. But I’m committed now. And, frankly, Ava intimidates mewaymore than her brother.
I try not to think about him, only a few feet away, sitting behind that preternaturally tidy desk. Nate will be working hard already, because that’s what he does. Time for me to do the same.
I decide to be professional about it, and phone sitting at the kitchen table, instead of on a quilt surrounded by furballs.
The mailing list isn’t in alphabetical order, or indeed any order that I can discern. Though, knowing Dad, there’ll be some method. My guess is that the people he enjoys talking to most are at the top. That would be a very Dad way to organize.
As it happens, those are the names with the most lines ruled through them. Oh, no, I vow. You won’t get awaythateasily.
I pick up my phone and start to dial.
ChapterTwenty-Eight
NATE
Ihear Ava drive off. People on the International Space Station hear her drive off. Danny’s crazy to lend her his Porsche, though he may not have had much say in the matter. Or, indeed, known anything about it. Ava is very much a student of the seek forgiveness rather than ask permission school.
In the ringing quiet that follows her departure, I catch Shelby’s voice through the open office window. No doubt talking to Commando Cam. I saw him walk past the same window a few minutes earlier. I resisted the urge to shoot him with a rubber band.
Every muscle was on fire when I woke up this morning. I chugged the rest of last week’s Advil, and made my way painfully down the stairs, only to find Ava had told Mom that Shelby was coming to dinner tomorrow night. So now Mom’s convinced Shelby’s my girlfriend and can’twaitto meet her. I smiled, took my sandwich. Only beat my head twice against the pickup steering wheel.
Sleeping on things is supposed to give you a new perspective. Only partly true. I’m still burning about what Shelby said, still stoking those flames of righteous indignation. But in between, I want to see her so bad, I’d be happy to crawl to her on my hands and knees across the gravel.
It’s like in cartoons, where a guy has a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. My two are currently engaged in a WWE bout, where the devil’s got the angel in a vise grip, and the angel’s fighting back with a Boston crab. Current status: deadlock.
Good thing I’ve got plenty to keep me busy. Got to prepare for my meeting with Ted this afternoon. Oh, joy.
And I’ve got to finalize the lease on the harvester, and the press. Numbers don’t lie, and if we lease instead of purchase, we can save a shitloadandbe more efficient.
Of course, a harvester means no picking crew. Or not one of the size Flora Valley usually hires. A pressing machine means no grape stomping. What itdoesmean is Flora Valley lives to fight another day.
As long as we sell this freaking vintage. Despite his floppy hair and fruity accent, Ted strikes me as a man who does exactly what he wants, beholden to no one. There’s a core of steel in Ted, and if I don’t win him over in this first meeting, there won’t be a second. I can’t go in there undercooked.
