Page 122 of Red Mountain Burning
Then she noticed the bonsai tree attached to the dash. Otis had thought of that little touch at the last moment and had luckily found one at a nursery near her house.
“Look at that,” she said. “You’re full of surprises, aren’t you?”
“I’m pulling out all the stops today.” He took in the beauty of her, and he told himself he’d never let her slip away again. “Wanna go for a ride?”
She dipped her chin, and he could tell she was questioning him.
“Now hold on,” he said. “I’m not asking for any big commitments. I just want to take a girl for a ride in my new RV. Just a spin or two around the neighborhood.”
“How could I say no?” she asked. He could tell she was holding back a grin, and she took her seat and pulled on the seatbelt. “What’s gotten into you, Otis Till?”
He twisted the key and the motor cranked up. A Berlioz symphony filled the cab. He reached for the map in the visor. “It occurred to me I haven’t seen all there is to see of this great country, and I thought I’d go on an adventure.”
“Is that right?” she asked skeptically.
“I do need to finish this vintage, but I’ve decided it will be my last harvest on Red Mountain. Making wine is a young person’s game. It’s time I go see the sights. Of course, I need a copilot,if,by chance, you know of someone.”
Joan turned down the music and took a serious tone. “Otis, I am not going to be the reason you leave wine. I’ve already told you this.”
He shook his head. “You have nothing to do with—” He stopped himself. “That’s not true. You have a little bit to do with it, but not how you think. I’ve decided to sell Till Vineyards, because it’s what’s best for me. I think you’re right. I’ve been hiding behind my profession as if it defined me. The truth is, I’m not even having fun anymore. Why work my tail off if it’s not fun?” Otis met the seriousness of the mood head-on. “I don’t like the man I was turning into, and I think it’s time to retire. It’s a word I never thought I’d say, but then again, I never thought I’d meet you.”
Otis reached for her hand. “I don’t know what conclusions you’ve come toorif you’d consider giving me another chance, but the one thing I’ve decided is that I’m leaving the mountain, and I’m going to do like all the young kids do and go find myself. So I’m going with or without you, but I tell you, babe…I’d rather go with you.”
“Who will you sell your winery to?”
“Well, I’d like Brooks to take it over. He’s been having some troubles at Lacoda, and I think it’d be a good change for him. He doesn’t have the money, but I’ll help him out. Lord knows, Morgan left me enough. Brooks deserves his own spot on the mountain.”
“But Brooks is going with Adriana to Florida,” Joan told him.
“What?” Otis hadn’t heard this news. “What are you talking about?”
“I guess he hasn’t gotten around to telling you, but Adriana’s told Margot as much.”
Otis felt a knot in the pit of his stomach. He’d been so excited to offer Brooks a chance to own the winery, but maybe this was best. “If that’s what he’s chosen to do, then he’s wiser than I was at his age. You know, Joan, it doesn’t quite matter what I do with the property. I know it can be sold, and that’s what I’ll do.”
He meant every word he said, but Otis couldn’t deny the impact this news of Brooks’s departure had on him. He wondered if he should tell Brooks what he’d planned.
Pushing past it, he said, “I just want one last vintage to go out on. Judging by how hot it is, I’ll be done early. I’ve always said I’d rather go out on a cool vintage, but the time is now.”
“You can always pick in July,” Joan joked.
“It wouldn’t be the first time, would it? So what do you say? Would you give me another chance, Joan? I’m a changed man. I don’t think it was this blasted eye patch, but that was part of it. An eye patch. A broken heart. A blind horse. And that Margot and whatever’s gotten into her. I’m a changed man, and I want to spend the rest of my life proving it to you.”
As she sometimes did, Joan closed her eyes and breathed for a moment. He wondered what she saw when she closed her eyes, and he imagined a vast multiverse of color and light.
He couldn’t take the waiting. “You don’t have another man in there, do you? I don’t mean in between your ears,” he said, smiling. “I mean in your house. I’m not too late, am I?”
Joan opened her eyes. “No, Otis. I don’t have a man in there.” She sighed. “I’m not sure what to think. I love what I hear and see, especially the sound of the horn. You still need to put on some weight, but you look happy. I can feel it. But you can’t just pull up with an eye patch and an RV and blow ‘La Cucaracha’ and expect me to throw myself at you.”
Otis worked hard to hold his head up. He’d hoped for more but understood her stance.
“Tell you what,” she said. “Why don’t you take me for a spin in this beauty? That would be a good place to start.”
It wasn’t what he’d hoped, but it was more than he deserved. His grin came back, and he reached under his seat, extracting a costume pirate hat. Handing it to her, he said, “Would you do me the honor?”
She took the silly blue hat with both hands and set it on her head. In a pirate accent that challenged Otis’s finest efforts, she said, “Shiver me timbers. Let’s see how this old gal sails.”
Otis put his hand on the gear knob and took one last look at Joan before putting his eye on the road. He’d made a lot of mistakes over his lifetime, but how could he regret any of them if they’d led him to this exact spot on the treasure map?
