Page 55 of Blush
“Well, come down,” he said, his voice echoing off the high ceiling. “There’s work to be done.”
Why was he so interested lately in making sure she was busy working in the vineyard? When she first got there, he barely seemed to notice her. That was how it always was with her grandfather; he was always working or thinking about work. So what changed that he would, in the middle of the morning, have it on his radar to check onSadie? Was it the impending sale? Did he suddenly realize he couldn’t take their time in the vineyard for granted? Maybe there were things he’d always planned to show her and never got around to it.
“Leave those books and the computer here.”
Or maybe he just didn’t respect her life choices.
She followed him outside, along the dusty, stone-lined path to the barn. Everywhere she looked, grapevines; the plants had transformed in just the month that she’d been at the winery. The horizontal branches that had sported hard little green berries had spawned grapes hanging in full bunches under the canopy of leaves.
“A vineyard is a communal place,” Leonard said as they walked. “If this is our last summer with the winery, I want to at least know that my children and grandchild have learned how to be part of something larger than themselves.”
Up ahead, workers moved field equipment into the barn. She and her grandfather passed them, stepping around machinery and bins. Leonard didn’t talk to anyone but headed straight for Mateo’s office.
This was going to be awkward.
Mateo’s door was open, and he was busy typing on his laptop.
“I’ve got a helper for you,” Leonard said.
Mateo looked up from the computer. “Oh—hello, there, Mr. Hollander.” He barely glanced her way.
“What’s on the agenda for today?”
“The Malbec; dropping some fruit.”
“Take Sadie with you. Show her how it’s done, eh?” Leonard patted Sadie on the shoulder. “Put in a solid day’s work and you’ll forget all about screens and other nonsense.”
Sadie watched him walk off. When she turned to Mateo, she thought about making a joke, something like:Thought he’d never leave...wink wink. But she refrained.
“So, you’re here to help out?” Mateo said, stepping out from behind his desk. He wore a gray T-shirt, jeans, and work boots.
“That’s my grandfather’s big idea. I’ll probably just slow you down.”
“Don’t sell yourself short,” Mateo said casually. If there was any leftover tension from the fact that she told her mother about his job search, he was clearly willing to let it go.
“Okay, I’ll give it a try,” she said.
They walked outside, and Mateo climbed behind the wheel of a dilapidated golf cart.
“Hop in,” he said, his dark eyes shining with a hint of mischief. He really was so hot. The T-shirt pulled tight against his biceps, his big, callused hands on the steering wheel.
They took off in the cart, the motor rumbling loudly. A breeze whipped up her hair, and they bumped through the borders of grass between the rows of grapevines. The cart picked up speed, and Sadie felt a lightness of spirit she hadn’t experienced in a long time.
Mateo steered down a path next to a wooden post marked with an “M.”
“And here we have the Merlot,” Mateo said, cutting the engine. They disembarked from the cart. The sun was so strong Sadie felt like she could reach out and touch it. Mateo pulled a Hollander Estates baseball hat from the back and put it on. “I think I have another one in here somewhere...”
“It’s fine,” Sadie said.
“Are you sure? You’ll be able to see better with some shade.”
Sadie dutifully accepted a battered cap and pulled it on.
Mateo handed her a pair of shears that had a springing mechanism in the middle. “I just happen to have an extra pair of snips.”
“Why are you cutting grapes now?” She knew the harvest wasn’t until fall.
“The vines are growing rapidly this month. We need to thin the clusters to just the right amount that the winemaker needs for bottling and also to keep the vines in balance. The vine’s natural tendency is to produce hundreds of clusters, but we can’t let them do that or they’ll all be weak, insipid flavors and stunted growth. When we thin the clusters, the remaining ones ripen with better flavors.”
