“I have a girlfriend,” I said.
I had a thousand other ways to turn her down gently. Lying was totally unnecessary and not like me at all. She smiled politely and rejoined her friends.
“Thank you so much for the special tour,” said one of the friends.
“My pleasure,” I said sincerely. “I know you ladies are from out of town, so if you do purchase any bottles, we’re happy to have them shipped.”
“I’m interested in the wine club,” one of the women said. “How do we sign up for that?” Then, before I could answer, “If I join, you said all of our tasting fees are waived?”
“They sure are. And Perry will toss in an extra bottle of your choice too, something you can enjoy back at the house tonight.” They’d mentioned having rented a lake house.
I raised my hand to Perry, who was free, and as soon as he joined us, I introduced him to the group. After waving goodbye, I smiled at their chatter about the barrel room being “so cool.” I agreed. It was cool. This place was cool. My job, so fucking cool.
I just had to remember this part of it, when I got to connect with new wine drinkers, as well as seasoned connoisseurs. Instead of heading back to my office, I made my way out to the deck. It was easy—too easy—to take it all for granted. To get wrapped up in the day-to-day operations and forget about what made Grado Valley Vineyards tick.
The wine. And the people. A simple two-part equation, as Mom often said.
“There you are,” Neo said from behind me. I didn’t turn. Or even respond. The rain had stopped, and I’d been looking at the droplets on the grass so intently, I hadn’t even heard him approaching. “I have an idea for a new blend I want to run by you.”
When I looked at him, my brother’s eyes widened.
“You are not okay.”
“No,” I admitted, “I’m not.”
“Marco said she went back to the city.”
“I assume she did. Said she was taking the day off, and she’s off again tomorrow. She probably knows we really need her by the weekend and headed home to pack.”
“I doubt she’s packing everything up in two days.”
“Her car’s gone,” I said.
“Stalker.”
I didn’t deny it. “I told a flirty customer I had a girlfriend,” I blurted.
“Why?”
“Good question.”
Like me, Neo didn’t need to lie to fend off customers. We’d gotten pretty proficient at it over the years. “That’s weird.”
I thought about the group of women, about how much I enjoyed showing them something they’d never seen before. Brooke had been right. Running Grado Valley had nothing to do with trying to do as good of a job as my parents. It was about taking the lessons they’d taught me and simply introducing new people to good wine. Making them feel like a part of our extended family. I’d been overcomplicating the hell out of it.
Just like I’d been overcomplicating the hell out of my relationship with Brooke.
“Maybe not,” I hedged.
Neo disagreed. “Except that you don’t have a girlfriend. And aren’t usually prone to lie. Until Brooke came along, and honestly...never mind. Too soon.”
“I’m a fucking idiot,” I said, realizing how true that statement really was. I nearly laughed out loud at the absurdity of it. Thinking I could go a month or even a week, never mind a lifetime, with Brooke working here and not being by my side. It hadn’t even been one full day.
“I don’t disagree.”
“What time is it in Italy?”
“What the hell kind of question is that?”