Page 108 of Red Mountain Burning
Shay always rewarded her with a laugh when she referenced Elvis songs. He said, “You’re his eyes, Margot. Earn his trust, and he’ll be the best-riding horse in Benton City. I’ve let him gallop me home in the dark more than once.”
“Baby steps, Shay. I just want to survive the corral.”
* * *
When Adriana toldBrooks she still wanted to go to Florida, he wasn’t surprised. Knowing Michael would be locked up for a longer period of time hadn’t done much in the way of bringing her out of the gloom. Almost in parallel, Zack was still misbehaving at camp and at home.
“I guess it all makes sense,” Brooks said, wondering why he was even trying anymore.
They were standing in the kitchen. Zack was playing video games upstairs while they talked. “This was never about Michael, was it?” Brooks said. “It was about you and me. I’m not sure you ever really loved me.”
“I’ve loved you a long time. My life is complicated, Brooks. Haven’t we been over this? It doesn’t exactly matter what I feel. My son comes first. This life is not for him. It’s not for either of us. I can’t shake what happened last year, but it’s more than that. It’s the living so far from everything. It’s raising my son hundreds of miles away from the life I had in Los Angeles. It’s being stuck in a culture that doesn’t always support Mexicans. I have a million reasons to leave and only one to stay.”
She looked around the living room before locking eyes with him. “You.”
Brooks nodded slowly.
“I want you to come with us,” she said.
Whoa, did those words stop Brooks in his tracks. “Do you? Are you sure about that?” He was tired of always being the one advocating for their relationship. Her excuses could only go so far.
“Brooks, I love you, and I want to keep seeing you. It just can’t be here. What’s keeping you on Red Mountain anyway? You’re leaving Lacoda.”
“Leaving Lacoda is different than leaving Red Mountain and the West Coast.”
“The choice is yours, Brooks. Zack and I are going to Florida. We want you to come.” She touched her heart. “I want you to come.”
Brooks thought it weird he’d just given an ultimatum to Jake, and now, here she was giving Brooks a taste of his own medicine. He turned away from her and sat at the dining room table.
She followed him and put her hands on his shoulders. “Come with us,” she whispered. “We could build a brand-new life.”
“What about my family? Don’t tell me this has to do with my mom. Are youstillholding a grudge?”
“I’m not holding a grudge. I just know the truth. She won’t like me whether I stay or go. But this decision is much larger than my relationship with your mom.”
Brooks dropped his head. He imagined what it would be like to drive away from this place, to have a packed car and ride across the country with grapevines in his rearview mirror. Once again, he pictured himself riding his bike past white-sand beaches and palm trees. He wondered what their life would look like and what he’d do for a living.
He’d never once thought of how signing up to be a winemaker limited a person for the rest of his life. Unlike many other professions, a winemaker couldn’t pick up and go wherever he chose. Unless you wanted to truck in someone else’s harvest, you needed to be in an area that could grow exceptional grapes.
“What would I do, A? It’s the same old question.”
“Do you know how many breweries are there?” Adriana asked. “People would kill to have your skills.”
He’d thought about beer too. He’d even researched some of the breweries. Was that a life he could live? Being out in the fields was what gave him the greatest joy. They didn’t grow world-class grapes or hops in Florida. He wasn’t sure if the art of fermentation was enough to satisfy him.
“Come with us,” she said again, kissing his cheek. Here she was, hot and cold again, and dammit if he didn’t suddenly remember how much he liked being with her when she was in a good place. That had always been the way with Adriana. Her good days in their time together made up for the bad.
Brooks thought of Otis, and that’s when the answer truly hit him. He thought of how his lonely mentor was toiling away on a wall right now, still fighting a war that might never end. Otis had all but lost his mind. Was that all this wine world would lead to? A lonely existence fruitlessly fighting for a piece of land?
Brooks patted Adriana’s hand and turned to her. “Can we wait until harvest is done?”
“Of course, we can.” Adriana smiled. He hadn’t seen her so excited in a long time. “Are you really coming?”
“I don’t want to lose you,” Brooks said, tasting the tropical salt air on his tongue. The idea was suddenly thrilling.
Adriana grabbed his cheeks and kissed him like she hadn’t in months. “I love you.”
“Me too,” he whispered, thinking of his first warm winter in years.
