Page 35 of Twin Babies For The Grump

I just want to make sure that she really isn’t rushing off sick anywhere, and that she’s handling the heat alright. Napa Valley isn’t having the worst summer on record, but for someone that’s already feeling not great, I’m sure being out in the heat isn’t helpful.

When I realize that she and Adela are going out to the vineyard to check on the pest problem we’ve been having, now mostly under control, I act fast.

“Marco,” I say. “Go out with Adela.”

Adela frowns. “What?”

“I want you to show him what you’re looking for,” I tell her.

She glances at Marco nervously. I know that the kid was a bit of a handful when I first got here, but after a few stern talks, he’s starting to pull himself into shape. He’s got potential, and he’s willing to learn. He just needed someone to show him that there wasmorehe didn’t know.

“Are you sure?” Adela asks. “Just that it’s going to take longer if I’m teaching as I go. Tess and I can knock it out fast.”

“I said take Marco,” I tell her, sharply. “Don’t debate it with me.”

I can see Tess wince.

I’m not going to backpedal, but I soften the blow a bit by adding, “The day is slow anyway, so there’s plenty of time for it. Don’t rush, and don’t leave until he understands what you’re looking for.”

And then, because I don’t want Marco to backslide just because he’s working with someone other than me, “And if he gives you any lip, let me know before you leave for the day.”

Marco looks a bit abashed at that, and Adela a little more confident. She gives Tess a sideways look, and Tess mouthsI’m sorryat her. But then Adela and Marco take the winding path down into the orchards.

When Tipsy spots someone going that way, the great big dog jumps out from underneath the stone picnic table where he had been resting and takes off after them at a lope.

Tess looks at me. “You know, I could have gone out with her.”

“You’re supposed to be taking it easy today,” I say.

“You said a half day, not an easy day,” corrects Tess. “And checking the fields isn’t going to kill me.”

I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter now. I already sent Marco to handle it. He needs to learn, anyway. I want him working more closely with Adela this coming month.”

A few curls have worked their way free from Tess’s scrunchie. She brushes them out of her face with the tips of her fingers, and asks, “Do you really think he’s going to last long enough to be worth teaching? Your father—”

“Was a good man,” I interrupt. “But he and I had our differences. I miss him. And I should have been here for him more at the end. That’s something I’m always going to need to deal with. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to keep everything the same. I won’t ruin his legacy by letting this place crash, but I’m still going to turn it intomylegacy.”

That’s something that I’ve spent a lot of nights thinking about, sitting out on the porch next to the estate and looking over the winery. In the quiet of the night, with no one around, the whole place seems different. At first, I had been half-expecting my father to just come up out of the vineyard, like he used to do when we were younger.

But… The longer that I’ve been here, the more that I’ve settled into knowing that he’s gone. I’ll miss him. I’ll always have regrets. But fate put me here for a reason, in the middle of a highly televised contest no less. It’s giving me the chance to make a clean divide between my father’s company andmine.

Tess looks at me for a long moment. I briefly worry that she’s going to dig her heels in. I don’t want to lay into her; I like her too much. That’s the big downside of being interested in an employee, I suppose.

But after a few seconds, Tess says, “I think that people are going to like the way you run it. Once you find that line.”

“The line?”

“Between treating this place like it’s in San Francisco and understanding that we’re on Napa Valley time now.”

“Is this about the Wine Nights?” I ask her.

Tess laughs. “Among other things. Are you really going to send me home early?”

“I am,” I tell her, and then immediately have second thoughts on it. “At least, you can’t stay working. Come on, follow me.”

Without further explaining myself, I turn and head toward the on-site garage. I’ve taken to keeping my motorcycle inside, along with the company transport vehicle that we use to make large deliveries to events like weddings and anniversaries or for the reoccurring clients that like to buy several dozen cases at a time.

The van is white, with the vineyard logo on it. The motorcycle stands out next to it.

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