Page 1 of A Thirst for Franc

Growing up, I looked forward to summer vacation. Ilivedfor it. White water rafting, hiking, mountain biking, hanging out on the lake… The possibilities were endless. That time in my life was gone. Now I dreaded summer vacation. I still loved to do those things, but as the head winemaker of my family's vineyard, I had work to do, which meant I needed a babysitter for my six-year-old.

Gio was my life and soul. I would die for my son, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want to hike to the peak of the mountains and scream at the top of my lungs. It’d been two days since summer vacation started. Two. Days. And already my babysitter had quit.

“Margie, please,” I begged as I followed the angry woman through the kitchen. She was short and plump, standing at only four-foot-eleven. She was in her seventies now and once babysat me and my six siblings.

“That boy of yours is just like you. It’s karma, I tell you. But while I could handle you and your brothers and sisters thirty years ago, I am too old for this now.”

“I don’t have anyone else.” I flashed Margie the Grasso charm that no lady, no matter what age, could turn down. As a father and a respected citizen of the community, I tried not to default to such superficial bullshit, but I was desperate. “Please?”

“No.”

I sighed. Defeat slammed into me, weighing on me like a stubborn elephant. My body slumped, unable to withstand the heaviness of another setback.

Margie headed straight for the front door, but I couldn’t let her leave. I ignored the crushing mental thrashing and relied on my physical strength that was honed by lifting weights daily. My leg muscles engaged as I chased after her. Gio’s wide eye innocent glare poked out from around the living room doorframe. I’d deal with him later.

“Margie!”

“You can call my name all you want. It’s not going to change my mind. I am old. I am tired. And I am done dealing with little boys who think it is funny to put their pet…dragonson my lap.”

I knew I should never have let him get that damn beardie. I thought it would help teach him responsibility, and it had. He just assumed everyone would love Sally as much as he did. “I’ll talk to him. I promise it won’t happen again.”

“Then it’ll just be something else. It always is with you Grasso boys.”

“You can’t hold against my son what my brothers and I did thirty years ago.”

“He has the same blood running through his veins. No wonder your parents took off to Europe.”

“Hey,” I snapped, a harsh growl highlighting the single word. It was one thing to talk trash on my brothers, but my parents had nothing to do with this. They might have up and left, leaving me high and dry without my built-in babysitters, but they didn’t leave to avoid Gio. They left because, after caring for Grandpa for the last two years, they were tired and needed a break.

I didn’t blame them, but their leaving did totally screw me. Now I was left begging a woman, who, as a child, I nicknamed Satan’s Sister.

“I’m just saying that son of yours is a handful and if you don’t get him under control, I won’t be surprised if I see him on the five o’clock news when he’s older.

My body stiffened and jaw tightened. I was about to offer her double, but fuck that. She was an old, bitter, crotchety woman who had no idea what the hell she was talking about.

Yes, Gio was a handful, but he wasn’t a delinquent. He was curious and hyper, but that didn’t make him a bad kid. He just needed someone who could keep up with him, and Margie was not that person.

“Have a good day, Margie.” I stormed into the house.

Gio’s head popped out from the doorframe again, his eyes wide and full of innocence. I knew he was feigning.

“Get out here.” I pointed to the ground in front of me.

He dragged his feet, head down, shoulders slumped. From the outside, people would think he was genuinely sorry, but they didn’t know Gio. He was one of the best actors I knew.

“What happened?” I asked.

He sighed dramatically, then blinked at me with those big blue eyes. “I’m sorry.” He pouted his lip. And there was no way in hell I was going to let that thing win this time.

“I didn’t ask for an apology. I asked what happened.”

“Sally wanted to come out of her tank, and I thought Ms. Margie would want to hold her.” He held his hands up and shrugged. “She didn’t.”

Tension crept up my neck, over my head, and into my eyes. “What have I told you about Sally?”

“Not everyone will like her, so I shouldn’t assume.”

“And why is that?”

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