Page 93 of Kiss My Glass
“Uh, I think so,” he says, when he recovers. “These purply round things are grapes, right?”
“Funny.” I see his teeth flash white in a grin. “Are you remembering to pick out the bad ones?”
“The bad ones? What did they do? Mug an old lady?”
“Wow, you’re on fire tonight,” I say. “Thought my dad told the worst jokes, but yours are right up there.”
“I will treasure that compliment,” says Danny. “How bad, exactly, were your dad’s jokes?”
Javi, who has lynx ears as well as eagle eyes, turns around, grinning. “What did the grape say when it was squashed?”
The night is so quiet that everyone hears him.
“Nothing!” replies a chorus that includes me. “It just gave out a little whine!”
“That”, says Danny, bemused, “is truly terrible.”
A few rows over, Doug joins in with, “What did the green grape say to the purple grape?”
“I’m scared to guess!” calls Danny.
“Stop holding your breath!” comes the chorus.
“Okay, so I’ve died and gone to joke hell,” says Danny.
“Why did the grape go out with a pineapple?” This is my contribution.
“IT COULDN’T FIND A DATE!”
“Please make it stop,” Danny mock-whimpers.
“Right.” Javi claps his hands. “Todos. Back to work. We’re making Danny cry.”
We all get back to work. But I’m acutely aware of Danny on the other side of the vines from me, and it’s all I can do not to keep talking to him. Ironic, I know, considering I’m the one who refused to have a conversation with him yesterday. It’s as if being here again, working in the vines, has brought what’s important to me into sudden sharp focus, and I want to tell Danny all about it. I want to tell him that I’ve realized that my choices in life might have been actually counter to what I needed. I chose distance and independence, and while it was good for me to learn how to stand on my own two feet, I missed out on eight years of connection, to my home, my family, and my community. Connection to this place, and these people all around me. I want to tell him that maybe, just maybe, it’s time for me to come back home.
And that, of course, clashes with the other thing I want – which is Danny. I cannot let my life be ruled by my fears. I can’t keep running away from things just because I think it’ll make me feel safe. It never does make me feel safe, because wherever I go, there I am, and all my fears and anxieties are right there along with me. I want to see if Danny and I can make a future together, but his life, his business, his brand-new career on TV, they’re all in L.A. He can’t leave and I won’t ask him to. It would be hugely unfair to put that kind of pressure on him.
Argh! I have so much I want to talk to him about! But of course, I couldn’t have chosen a worse time to feel chatty. Unless I want the whole harvest crew to share their opinions with us. Which, amazingly, I don’t.
Danny starts humming a song. Can’t tell what it is. But Javi obviously knows because he joins in. Oh, right. It’s “Patience” by Guns N’ Roses. Either Danny is psychic or the universe is sending me another message, this time via the medium of a gritty hard rock band in acoustic ballad mode.
Now pretty much everyone’s joined in. I turn to check if Cam is also quietly humming away, only to find him staring back at me, with a quizzical look.
“Not a GNR fan?” I ask him.
“Can’t hold a tune,” he says. “That gene passed me by.”
“Same. I can dance, but do not ask me to sing.”
Cam stares a moment longer. “Are we … okay? You and me?”
I realize he and I haven’t really spoken since his apology. And that I also never thanked him properly for helping me through my panic attack on that truck ride with Mom. I’ve had a lot going on, but still.Do better, Frankie.
“We’re good, Cam,” I say. “I’m sorry it took so long for us to get there.”
“Me, too,” he says.
Neither of us being a super huggy person, we just nod at each other and get back to work. But I’m smiling. It feels good to be friends with Cam. Even if all we ever do again is nod at each other when we pass by, it’ll be a friendly nod.
