Page 43 of Let it Breathe
16
Chai
It had beena week since I talked to my family. I snuck into the vineyard offices late one night and collected my stuff. I even swiped a vintage case of a wine I had saved for a special occasion. I didn't see many special occasions in my future, so I might as well drink it now. I drank one bottle that night and placed the rest of the case in my storage before I ended up drinking the whole thing.
Mom and Dad called and texted me daily, but they didn't show up. They were giving me my space.
CJ didn't reach out at all. So when I found him at my doorstep after returning from a run, I didn't bother to hide my surprise.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"I need to talk to you." He had bags under his eyes, and his clothes were wrinkled.
"We don't have anything to say to each other." I opened my door and was ready to close it behind me, but CJ blocked the door. He handed me an envelope.
"Chai, please. I need to talk to you. I want to apologize and give you this."
I opened it, and it was a check for a hundred thousand dollars.
"What is this for?" I held it out.
"Mr. Sanders isn't going to keep the vineyard open. He's going to sell patches of the land off." His head dropped. "I just didn't want you to hear the news from someone else."
"I don't understand." I rubbed my forehead. "What's the check for? I thought I would have to sign something to get my share of the sell."
"There aren’t any shares to sell. I fucked up." He collapsed on my couch, his hands in his head. "With the sell, I need to pay back some debt first before I can distribute anything, and there will only be enough left for Mom and Dad. I don't want them to worry about money."
"What are you talking about?" I sat on the couch next to him.
"I made some bad decisions, and that's why I pushed for them to sell the place." He looked up at me, his eyes rimmed red. "I needed to make sure I didn't mess up Mom and Dad's future."
"But it was okay to mess up mine?" I asked and bit my lip to keep from crying.
"You will be fine, Chai. You are so talented. You can do anything you want to do," he said.
His praise meant nothing to me.
"All of this was to hide your mistake." I shook my head. "How could you do that?"
"No. Not all of it." He scooted closer and gripped the couch cushion between us. "I really did think it was what was best for the vineyard at the time, and I thought it would give me an opportunity to leave the business better than when I arrived, but I messed up and trusted the wrong people. But I made it right."
"Made it right for who?" I held the check out. "For you?"
"For all of us. No one has to know, Chai. Promise me. You won't tell anyone."
"How can I keep this from Mom and Dad? How can you?"
"Easy." He stood and walked out onto the balcony.
I followed him.
"Mom's got the next year of adventures planned for her and Dad. You should see how happy they are. Don't take that away from them to get back at me."
"I wouldn't do it to get back at you." I hugged myself. "When did the truth become a bad thing? Who knows about this?" I asked.
"It wouldn't be hard to figure out," he said with regret. "It's all done."
My face flushed. I gripped the railing to steady myself. It dawned on me all at once. Donovan had been protecting me, and I shut him out.
