Page 111 of Corkscrew You
So now, I’m driving to Flora Valley Wines, and I don’treallyhave a plan.
The Dodge is there, which means so is she. I park, get out, and have to re-start my heart when I see Shelby and Cam come round the side of the house.
Shelby watches me warily, as I approach. She probably still hates me, but it’s too late to back off now.
“Can you just hear me out?” I say and kick myself for how blunt it sounds.
Cam wants to leave, but I ask him to stay. I’d planned to apologize to him for my shitty manner, so I may as well get that over with, too. Two birds with one grovelling stone.
Shelby meets my eye, and it justkillsme, her coolness.
But like a miracle, she invites us to the house for coffee. I feel like I’ve had a last-minute stay of execution. Don’t blow this next part, Nate. Seriously. Don’t.
Shelby is up at the kitchen counter, wrangling coffee, while Cam and I sit at the table, several chairs apart, in uncomfortable silence.
Damn it, I’ve done enough nervous waiting today.
“I’ve cancelled the equipment,” I announce. “Picking and stomping will happen as usual.”
Shelby turns around slowly, and leans against the counter. She doesn’t look thrilled by the news, I have to say.
“But why did you do it in the first place?” she asks me. “Why would youdothat?”
Yep, still angry at me.
“Because the winery is flat broke,” I explain. “I got a short-term cash injection from JP, but that depended on me promising we’d sell out of this next vintage. When I followed up on our regular customers, I got a big, fat zero number of orders.”
I lift my hands in the air. “So I had to figure out how to keep the winery afloat. JP thinks you’re Christmas, but if it all goes ass-ways, he won’t hesitate to carve this place up and sell it for parts. I knew you wouldn’t like my decision, but it bought us time. Time for me to focus on how thefuckto sell this wine we’re about to bottle.”
My voice has got loud, I know, but goddamn it, I’mnota villain. I made a wrong call, but that doesn’t make me Gozer the freaking Gozerian!
The coffee pot hisses on the stove. It doesn’t approve of me, either.
Shelby lifts it off the heat, and stands there, holding it.
“Why did you promise JP sales when you weren’t sure you could get them?” she asks.
“Because I wanted to protect the winery. Prevent JP from selling it off.” I take a deep breath. “I wanted to protect it for you.”
She’s biting her lip, which she does when she’s thinking. I can hear the sword blade swishing as it descends.
“You should have talked to me,” she says.
“Yeah,” I agree. “I should have.”
“Trusted me.”
“That, too.”
It takes a moment to register that Cam is speaking to me. “Must have been tough working through it.”
“Yeah, it was,” I reply. “Trouble is, when you want something very badly, you don’t always make the best decisions.”
“Got enough to tide you over?” he asks.
“Hope so. I managed to beg another top-up from JP. He still thinks this vintage will pay off, though.”
Shelby sets down three coffee mugs, and slides one each to me and Cam. She takes a chair across from me. Still keeping her distance.
