Page 25 of Before We Say Goodbye
Lloyd’s eyes brightened. “Oh, my, Mr. Till, well done!” No one else had guessed that it could have come from California.
There had been the moment Otis first set eyes on Bec and the time he’d first come upon this ranch, finding his purpose. But this ... this moment of being right was the boon Otis needed. He damn wellfelt wings sprout from his spine. He even felt more partial to Lloyd in this moment.
“It’s a Carmine Coraggio. Glen Ellen. Nineteen sixty-one,” Lloyd said.
“Sixty-one?” Paul said. “No way his wine aged that well.”
Lloyd grinned like a teacher might standing over his students. “His wines always age that well.”
“Who’s Carmine Coraggio?” Rebecca asked, beating Otis to it.
Lloyd drew the dusty green bottle from the paper bag and held it up as if it were a newly forged sword. The black-and-white sketch of vines looked like they’d been drawn in haste.Coraggiowas stamped across the top.
“Carmine is a winemaker’s winemaker. He doesn’t produce much, and he has his bad years, but when they’re good, I don’t know what’s better.”
Otis took the last sip and decided that he would have to find Carmine Coraggio. This was the kind of wine he wanted to make.
As the buttons of the night came undone, everyone grew bolder. Otis had been blocking Lloyd’s advances toward Rebecca all night and was getting closer to making a firmer stand when Sparrow took over the conversation. She wore a wreath of orange flowers. Beaded necklaces of all lengths hung from her neck. She was such a gentle soul, but when she spoke, her voice commanded attention.
“Otis, I know your story, and I think what you’ve done is incredibly brave, but I’m curious. Are you happy?”
Everyone else overheard and tuned in.
“Am I happy?” he asked. “That’s a loaded question, isn’t it?”
She brushed her red hair from her face, revealing eyes that could see through a man—not unlike Rebecca’s. No wonder they got along so well.
“I don’t mean to put you on the spot, but I do. You’ve done this incredibly brave thing, resetting your compass, and you’ve foundthis amazing woman that I adore, but I sense that you’re still craving something.”
Otis pondered his answer as he fiddled with his hands under the table. “I’m happy, yes. I suppose a bit scared. I’ll be happi-eronce we find our footing. Certainly happier once my parents know that I’ve dropped out of Berkeley.”
He thought he’d answered well enough, but Sparrow hit him even harder with her cobalt eyes, staring into him, almost dredging more from him.
“You’re enough, though,” Sparrow finally said. “You know that, right? I think you’re such an extraordinary human, and I hope you know that.”
Otis turned to Rebecca. “What have you been telling her?” he asked in the most playful way the moment would allow.
Bec started to answer, but Sparrow kept going. “It’s more what I’m seeing inside of you.”
Otis wanted to dive under the table.
“Don’t be shy, Otis. We’re family here. We all want you to know that you’re enough, that you’re incredibly special, and we want you to be at peace in your heart.”
“Now everyone is talking about me?”
Had he a set of ninja stars, he’d start throwing them at all fifteen people at the table.
“Only because we see what you don’t, Otis.”
Rounding the table, Sparrow squeezed in between Otis and Bec. She smelled of fresh fir and spice. She took their hands and rested them on her lap, uniting them. Her head swiveled back and forth, meeting Otis’s eyes, then Rebecca’s. An easy smile lingered on her lips.
“Otis, all this will take the time it takes. Don’t be in a rush, okay?”
“You might as well strip me naked and make me dance,” he said, blushing like never before.
“What would be wrong with that?”
Otis heard the throb of his heart in his eardrums. He started to speak, but his tongue wouldn’t move.
