I had. “Over a week out, but yeah. I did.”
“God damn hail. Got us pretty bad two years ago.”
“Hopefully it won’t be as bad as they’re forecasting.”
Brien continued scowling at his phone as if it were responsible for the forecast. “What is it?” I asked, beginning to learn his moods. There was something else.
“Nothing,” he said, waving hello to a middle-aged couple at the tasting bar.
“Brien?”
Still reluctant to talk, he tried to wave me away, but I stopped him. “This isn’t going to work unless you’re completely honest with me. Let’s hear it.”
He frowned. “The hail nets are old. More than twenty-five years old.”
“How long are they supposed to last?”
“Twelve. Maybe fourteen years.”
Crap. “I don’t want to ask how much money we’re talking about.”
“No,” he agreed. “You probably don’t. Which is why I didn’t mention it. But they’ve been repaired and re-repaired more times than I can count. New ones would be ideal, but like you said,” he rubbed his fingers together.
“How quickly could we get new ones?”
“Overnight.”
He knew that pretty quickly. “Email me the info. I’ll look at it today and see what we can do. Seems pretty important to me.”
A bad hailstorm could destroy a year of work and investment. Up here, nets were necessary even if they cost a pretty penny.
“I wouldn’t have mentioned it if they weren’t in really rough shape.”
“I know you wouldn’t. Thanks Brien. Get me that info, though I can’t promise anything.”
“Sounds good, boss.”
As Brien walked away, I thought of leaving here. Leaving him. I didn’t want to do it. I liked the day to day of running a vineyard so far, as much as I enjoyed wine. And I liked wine a lot.
If it weren’t for Jerry, I would stay.
My brother asked me last night what would happen if I took Jerry out of the equation. At the time, I told him it didn’t matter. That Jerry was a part of the equation. But Marco’s insistent, “Buy him out,” and my dad’s willingness to even try...But Jerry would never do it. If he did, though? Today, the answer was clear. I’d only shadowed Marco for a day, and maybe over the next few weeks something big might happen to change my mind. But at this very moment?
I would stay. Gladly.
My phone buzzed.
Let’s bag the shadow today. Crazy here. Pick you up at six instead? And bring a change of clothes.
What in the ever-living hell was he talking about? I texted back.
Excuse me?
A change of clothes. And a toothbrush. You’ll be back tomorrow afternoon.
Marco was seriously out of his mind.
Back from where? WTH?