Chapter Sixteen #2
She sighed. It wasn't often she admitted that about Zia.
But it was the truth. Her daughter had never known her father—he'd died before she was born.
When Zia eventually asked why she didn't have a daddy, Alara had told her about him in the gentlest way she could think of at the time.
She'd told her that he'd left the earth and lived among the stars now. That he was a kind man, but he died.
Maybe one day she’d tell her the rest of it. That he'd been her friend for years. That they’d only spent one night together. That neither of them had known about Zia before he died.
She came back to the moment when Zia came running around the corner with Reaves right behind her.
"Mom! Mom, can I go help Mrs. Faye?" She skidded to a stop in front of her.
"Did she ask you to?"
Zia nodded solemnly. "She needs my help. Squishing oranges."
Alara shot Reaves a puzzled smile. "She does?"
"She does," said Zia. "She has lots and lots of them. And they all need squishing to make fresh juice. I like doing it. Can I?"
"Okay. But you come back here to me when she says you're done, okay?"
"I will." She grinned up at Reaves. "You can stay here and be with Mom."
"Thanks, Z. Want me to walk you back in there?"
She made a face. "I know where it is."
Reaves chuckled. "Yes, I know. I just thought…"
Zia patted his hand. "It's okay. Mom's the one who needs looking after."
They watched her go, skipping along until she disappeared around the side of the house.
"How are you feeling?" Reaves asked as he sat down beside her.
"Like I should be working."
He shook his head. "That's going to be the hardest part for you, isn't it?"
"No kidding."
"I can understand it. But it's like Delaney said—until she figures out what it's going to take to produce the labels, there's nothing else for you to do. If they're going to need adjusting, she'll let you know on Monday."
"I know. But, Reaves, why wait until Monday? Surely she could figure that out now and let me know this afternoon. I could work on it later, and tomorrow."
He held her gaze and waited.
"Okay," she said with a sigh. "I know I've got the first infusion tomorrow, and then I have to see how I feel. I'm sure I'll be fine, though."
"You already know my opinion about that word." He shook his head. "Let's get through this first infusion and see what it means. A couple of days isn't going to hurt anything as far as the designs go."
"Okay. I know you're right. I just feel so guilty sitting around like this. Everyone's taking care of me and…"
"And we're all glad that we finally can. Remember?"
"Yeah. I guess so. I don't mean to be ungrateful."
He reached out his hand and she took it, loving the way he squeezed it and brushed his thumb over her knuckles.
"It's all going to be all right."
She worried at her bottom lip before asking, "Is it, though, Reaves? I don't mean me. I'm not talking about that. I mean your dad, and the business. He has so much on his plate with this whole distributor deal. I know you're helping him as much as you can, but… it's a lot."
He met her gaze and held it, looking decidedly uncomfortable.
"What?" she asked. "What is it? Tell me, Reaves."
"You're right. He does have a lot on his plate." He looked back over his shoulder. "And I finally have to admit that it's not just a lot—it's too much. He needs help. He needs my help."
She frowned, remembering what Delaney had said to him before she left yesterday. "Have you decided something? Is that what Delaney meant when she asked if you meant what you'd said?"
He nodded. "Yeah. I would have told you before I told her, but she went right to the heart of it.
This deal with Sterling Hartman isn't just riding on the branding.
" He nodded when he noticed the change in her.
"I'm not just saying that to take the pressure off you and make you feel better, Alara.
It's true. Think about it. For a distributor to take on the House of St. James, they need to know that they can rely on it—on us.
The best branding in the world won't help if we can't produce the wines and meet the schedules.
" He glanced back at the house. "Dad does his best. But he can't do it all by himself anymore. "
She felt bad for him when he frowned and added, "He shouldn't have had to do it by himself all this time anyway. I'm stepping up, like I should have done a long time ago."
"What about your flying, Reaves? That's what you love to do. I know you love your dad, but…"
"Ollie and I have talked about that." He ran his hand over his face. "Shit. I don't want you to feel as though I've talked to everyone else about this before I talked to you."
She gave his hand a squeeze. "I don't. And besides, why shouldn't you? Ollie's your best friend. Delaney's here to help turn things around. You need to be talking to them. Me… I'm just…"
He scooted closer to her on the sofa and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Don't you dare say you're just anything. Because you're not."