Page 91 of Break My Heart
‘So you came here to what .?.?. tell me I’m going to fail?’
‘I came here to help you, so youdon’tfail.’
He sounds sincere, but I don’t trust him. I believe he wants to help me stay in business, but I feel like there’s something else going on.
‘Let’s just go in the back and try the ciders,’ he says. ‘And if that’s all the help you need from me, I’ll leave.’
We go to the back and I take the ciders from the storage room, setting them on the tasting table. I’m down to three batches, each one slightly different.
‘This one’s way too sweet,’ Ryder says, tasting the first one.
‘Yeah, I thought it might be.’ I move it aside. ‘Try this one.’ I give him a sample of the second one, then pour myself some.
‘This is better, but it’s lacking something. The flavor is flat.’ Hepoints to the final batch. ‘Is that the one you made last time I was here?’
‘Yeah, it’s had the least amount of time to ferment.’
He tastes it and smiles. ‘This is it. This is the one you need to enter.’
I take a sip of it. ‘It’s good.’
‘It’s more than good. It’s light and fresh, but the flavor is there. It’s more complex than the last batch. It’s not too bitter, not too sweet. Another week of fermenting time and it’ll be perfect. I think you have a good chance of winning with this.’
That’s a huge compliment coming from Ryder. He doesn’t say something like that unless he means it.
‘The color’s good,’ I say, holding up the glass.
‘Gina, I’m telling you, this is it. This is the winning cider.’
I hope he’s right. Winning this competition might be the only way I’ll stay in business. I put everything I have into G’s and I don’t want to lose it. I don’t want to lose Sawyer either, but I don’t know how to get him back if he refuses to believe me.
Chapter 20
Sawyer
‘Tell Mom I can’t make it to breakfast,’ I say to Nick as I drive back to the brewery.
‘Why can’t you make it?’
‘I need to catch up on work. Orders are due today.’
‘Have your manager do the orders. Isn’t that why you hired him? So you wouldn’t have to do everything?’
‘Nick, don’t fight me on this. Just tell Mom I can’t make it.’
‘She really wants you there. It’s not that often all of us get together.’
‘We’re together all the time. We just had dinner as a family last week.’
‘I meant with our cousins and Uncle Mitch. They’re leaving tomorrow and we can’t have dinner with them tonight with the festival going on so Mom wants us all there for breakfast.’
‘Okay, fine, I’ll be there, but I need to stop at my place first.’
‘I thought you were already there.’
‘No, I was out,’ I say, deciding not to tell him about Gina. He’ll find out at breakfast when she doesn’t show up. I could lie and sayshe was busy, but when she doesn’t show up at the festival my family will know something’s going on. I might as well just tell them at breakfast and get it over with.
When I get to the brewery I go in the back door and hear someone walking around.
