Chapter 5 Bit
BIT
The drive from Eberly’s to Los Cab was too short to assuage my overwhelming itch to get the hell out of town. Disappearing is what I did best, and it had started long before I was attacked in the wine caves.
It was the reason I hadn’t agreed to join Los Caballeros or even work in our family’s vineyards or winery. No responsibilities meant no one expected me to show up at a certain place at a specified time.
Once I reached the ranch’s main gate, I forced myself to pull my truck through, then drove up and parked in front of the cottage where I’d been living for the last few months—far longer than I’d intended to.
So how in the fuck had I gotten here? By making the mistake of stopping in to see my brother Cru to let him know I was heading out of town.
I couldn’t say it was his fault that I’d ended up staying. If anyone was to blame, it was our oldest sibling, Brix.
When he decided he was finished running the family business, he’d essentially dumped the bulk of it on Cru’s shoulders. He’d gone from second-label winemaker to handling both it and the first-label varietals, and he’d also become the de facto vineyard manager.
Then again, when our father died suddenly when Brix was twenty-eight, hadn’t the same thing happened to him?
Brix had been expected to take over the management of the family’s estate and business whether he wanted to or not.
While I might agree he deserved to step away, had anyone asked my opinion—which no one ever did—I would let them know I didn’t care for the way it had been at Cru’s expense.
Whether he realized it or not, Cru was more similar to our dad, both in looks and demeanor, than the rest of us.
My fear that he’d also suffer the same physical ailments that led to my father’s premature death was what had instigated my decision to remain on my family’s property for what was supposed to be a few days.
Then Cru had hired Daphne Cullen to take over the second label. My plan was to ensure that—unlike me, albeit for entirely different reasons—he’d be able to relinquish control of producing the wines that had been his responsibility for years.
Sheer boredom had led me to wander the estate that day, so many months ago, when I stumbled upon the old winery that was almost entirely camouflaged by overgrown vegetation.
I remembered my father saying our production levels had outgrown the facility before I was even born.
He’d probably intended to rip it down someday.
It was one on a long list of things he’d wanted to do but hadn’t gotten around to when his life was cut tragically short at the age of fifty-two.
I was still sitting in my truck when I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Cru approaching.
“Everything okay?” he asked when I opened the door and got out.
“Fine. You?”
“Never better.”
“Yeah?” I motioned for him to follow me inside.
“I guess you didn’t hear what happened last night.”
My breath caught. “What do you mean?”
“Daphne showed up. Which reminds me, where’d you run off to?”
“I had something to take care of. So, Daph’s here?”
Cru beamed. “She was a late entry into the auction. First bachelorette.”
“Wow. I had no idea.”
“Best surprise of my life. Anyway, you were up and out of here early.”
“Yeah,” I muttered under my breath. I wasn’t in the habit of explaining my comings and goings to anyone, and I wasn’t about to start.
Cru’s eyes scrunched, and he studied me.
“Something else you need?” I asked.
“Nah. I came by to let you know Daphne’s here.” He hesitated as though he expected me to say something else. When I didn’t, he added, “I guess I’ll catch you later, then.”
I waited until he was gone before leaving as well. Rather than getting in my truck, I took the pathway to the old winery and went inside. Everything looked the same as when I was last here. Was that yesterday? Why, in less than twenty-four hours, did it feel so different?
Because it was, and this time, there’d be no undoing the damage I’d done by putting my hands on someone who worked for me. My only recourse now was to keep it from getting worse, and that meant staying the hell away from Eberly Warwick.
“Hey. Glad I found you,” said Brix.
What the fuck? First, Snapper had stopped by last night, then Cru earlier, now Brix. Would I receive a visit from each of my siblings before the day’s end?
He looked around the room, then stepped up to the tasting bar. “The place looks incredible.”
“What do you want?”
“It’s about Eberly. At least indirectly.”
“I plan to cover her bid.”
Brix pulled out a stool and took a seat. “I guess you’ve already heard.”
“Heard what?”
“About their winery closing.”
I went behind the bar, pulled a bottle from the shelves below, opened it, and poured two glasses. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Last night, after you took off and I went inside, Eberly approached me. I was stunned to hear her engagement had been called off, and when I mentioned it to Tryst, he said he’d feared something like that would happen.”
I rubbed my left temple out of habit, not that I felt a migraine coming on, although trying to follow whatever the hell Brix was talking about might give me one.
“Is this about the winery closing or her getting married?”
“Both.”
I took a long drink from my glass and set it down. “Get to the fucking point.”
He chuckled. “Same ol’ Bit.”
I opened my mouth to tell him to fuck off, but shut it when he held up a hand. “As I’m sure you know, the demand for wine has fallen off dramatically while the number of hectares being planted worldwide has doubled every year for the last five.”
“I’m aware.”
“Most of us in this region reacted early on by allowing certain varietals to remain dormant. And, ironically, the outbreak of Botrytis bunch rot this year had helped us more than it hurt. Not everyone in the valley fared as well as we did. Namely, Eberly Winery.”
That Malcolm and Belinda Warwick had named their winery for their daughter made referencing it as confusing as our family’s estate being called Los Caballeros.
“About eight months ago, Warwick made the decision to merge with the Wine Consortium. He wasn’t alone. Many smaller producers, both here and in Napa, did the same when they realized how severe their losses might be. Within a week of the merger finalizing, the WC went public.”
I’d heard of the consortium but only in passing. Given Los Cab was one of the largest producers in the State of California, we’d have no reason to join them.
“In last week’s quarterly industry report, the WC alluded to the possibility that as much as half a million tons of grapes from their holdings would be left hanging this year.”
My eyes opened wide.
“Subsequently, shares that were trading at upwards of ten dollars have plummeted. They are now worth less than ten cents.”
This could go one of two ways. Either Warwick had dumped his stock prior to the announcement, in which case he’d be investigated for insider trading, or he’d lost everything.
“Are you saying Eberly bid with money she doesn’t have?”
“I don’t know for certain.”
“As I said, I’ll take care of it. Anything else?”
“Rumor is her former fiancé may have played a significant role in Malcolm’s decision to merge with the WC.”
“I’ll get in touch with Alex about the bid.” As far as what role Eberly’s ex had played, it wasn’t any of my business. More, I didn’t give a shit.
Brix finished the wine in his glass and stood. He was almost to the door when he turned around. “Why are you covering her bid if you weren’t aware of her father’s financial situation?”
“Because I want to.” I stuck the cork in the unfinished bottle and picked up both our glasses. “See ya, Brix.”
“Right. See ya, Bit.”
I hung out for a few minutes after he left, looking at what had been transformed from a dirty, dilapidated building slated for a wrecking ball to amazing. While I’d done my part, it was Eberly’s touch that transformed it into something magical.
After shutting off the twinkling lights overhead that I’d turned on when I came in, I stepped outside and locked the door.
As I walked past the roses that had been planted at the base of the stone wall, I saw a bloom I hadn’t noticed before.
Rather than pink, like Eberly had told me the flowers would be, this one was pure white.
I reached for it but caught a thorn instead.
When I pulled my hand away, drops of blood landed on the pristine petal, ruining its beauty in the same way I would Eberly if I let her get too close.