Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty - Two
Dave
S ipping perry with the bearded farmer, I helped Zara and Audrey stick labels on a couple hundred miniature wine bottles .
“What’s in here, anyway?” I asked, smoothing down another label. The label read only “Audrey,” with last year’s vintage .
“The best hard cider Griff ever made,” Zara said. “It won a big award. The Stanley Cup of cider tastings .”
I knocked my knee into hers. “Look at you, with the hockey terminology .”
“You run a bar, you learn a few things. Business was always crap during the finals .”
“Ah.” I conjured up an image of The Mountain Goat in my mind, which wasn’t hard, because I loved the place. “There was no television in your bar. It’s like the last bar on earth without a TV .”
“I know. I liked it that way. I don’t want to live in a world where everyone is pasted to a screen .”
“I hear you.” I stuck on another label. “But I have to run, now. Literally. I have to get a workout in to pay for that big piece of lasagna I ate .”
“And the pie,” Zara pointed out .
“ That , too .”
“I’d give you a bottle of Audrey,” said Audrey. “But you have to attend my wedding if you want one. Saturday. Five o’clock .”
“Got it.” I chuckled. “Nice seeing you again, Audrey .”
Zara walked me inside, where I thanked her mother for lunch. Mama Rossi had softened up just a little towards me, I decided. Because she said, “Goodbye, honey. Come again anytime.” Or maybe she was just looking forward to grilling me some more .
I was spared from having a final discussion with Zara’s grumpiest uncle, because he was busy arguing with Griffin Shipley. As best I could tell, Griffin wanted Otto to sell him part of his pear harvest. “I can’t get cider pears anywhere else,” he argued. “And you aren’t monetizing them at all .”
But Otto didn’t sound too keen on the idea of selling part of his harvest, and for some reason it made me happy to see Zara’s ex fail to get his way .
I shouldn’t have cared, though. It had nothing to do with me .
On the porch, I gave Zara a hug and kissed her forehead. “Thank you for lunch, beautiful. Text me if you want to get together .”
“I will,” she said. “But it’s going to be a busy week .”
“That’s my fault!” Audrey said cheerfully. “Last-minute wedding prep is brutal .”
“Maybe I’ll see you at yoga , then ?”
“Maybe?” Zara said, giving me a wave as I walked off the porch .
I could feel her friend Audrey’s eyes on me as I got into my rental car. The minute I pulled away, I knew they’d be talking about me. And I wished I were a fly on the wall. Zara was hard to read. I shouldn’t care how she felt about me, but I did anyway .
While the engine warmed up, I found four missed calls on my phone, all from Bess. And when it rang again through the car’s Bluetooth as I drove along the hilltop, I answered it .
“How’d it go?” Bess asked at once .
“Just a flesh wound,” I said in my best Monty Python accent .
“No, really .”
“Fine. Of course it went fine. I got all the standard questions. Zara’s uncle is a tool. But I don’t mind being grilled about my career. And after lunch I spent some time with Zara, and that was nice .”
“What about the baby? Did you play with her ?”
“Wait, is that something you’re supposed to do?” I’d meant it as a joke, but playing with babies wasn’t really part of my repertoire .
“ Dave !”
“Just kidding. We went for a walk, and when she fell asleep on Zara I carried her home .”
“Yeah?” The sound of optimism in my sister’s voice was pretty hard to miss. “I wish I could have seen it. Did anyone take a picture ?”
“No.” It hadn’t occurred to me. Carrying Nicole wasn’t a photo op. It was just something I’d done for Zara, who had “carried” her in one way or another for two years. Though I hadn’t minded the feel of her warm weight on my injured shoulder. Babies smelled like strawberries, apparently .
Bess let out a deep, wistful sigh, which I found mildly alarming. My sister’s sudden attack of baby fever was freaking me out a little. So I changed the subject. “Zara’s mom cooked a feast. I’m gonna have to run an extra three miles to work it all off .”
“Were her uncles hard on you ?”
“Nah. They were just letting me know they were paying attention.” Though I’d never be the guy they wanted for Zara. Maybe nobody was. No man alive would ever be good enough to impregnate my sister, so I didn’t expect Zara’s family to like me, either .
But I’d wanted to make Zara more comfortable, especially after our fight. And I’d done that. She’d hugged me goodbye with a secret smile .
I’d take it .
“Can I come back next week?” my sister asked suddenly .
“To Vermont?” The request surprised me .
“Of course to Vermont. I’m trying to clear a couple of days so I can visit again. You invited me, remember ?”
“You’re always welcome,” I said quickly. “When you pick a flight, text me.” I loved my sister, but a couple of hours’ notice would be nice. “Hey—Bess? I had a weird memory today. You wore cloth diapers with safety pins on each side. And this plastic thing that went over them .”
She was so quiet for a second that I thought maybe the call had cut out. “There’s no way I could remember that, Davey .”
“I suppose not.” And I didn’t really want her to. Our mother’s death had been awful. But it hadn’t been the most awful part of our childhood. Our widowed father’s punches had been worse. And I knew for sure that Bess remembered those .
“What’s next with the lawyer?” she asked .
“Um…” I tried to bring my brain back to the present. “I’ll do my paternity-test kit and send it back. He’ll draft a child-support agreement. Then I’ll have to have an awkward conversation with Zara about how she wants to be paid. She’ll get a lump sum up front, of course. For back payment. But I could advance her more money if she wants to move into an apartment with a yard .”
“Or,” my sister said. “You could just buy a house with a yard. A house in that town can’t cost much .”
I thought about that for a second. “You’re right. Then she wouldn’t have to spend the child-support money on rent .”
“And you’d have an investment .”
“You’re pretty smart for a girl .”
“Davey!” she shrieked at the insult, while I cackled. There were things I said only to rile up my sister. It was painfully clear that all the women in my life were smarter than the men .
Just spend five minutes in our locker room, and you’d be convinced .
“Gotta go,” I told her. “There’s no cell service when I get close to the cabins .”
“ Later , turd .”
“ Later .”