Chapter 17 Cru
CRU
Istill hadn’t told Daphne what I’d named the wine. Something inside me said the time wasn’t right and to wait.
As much as I didn’t want to, I knew we had to get back to the vineyards.
“We should go,” said Daphne seconds after I’d had the same thought. “But we should celebrate tonight.”
“Yeah? What are you thinking?”
She grinned. “I want it to be a surprise.”
I took Daphne back to the section of vineyards where she and her crew had been working, then went to check on mine. When I returned a couple of hours later, she was standing near a vine, staring at her cell phone.
“What’s wrong?” I said when I got closer to her and saw she was crying.
“It’s my dad. He’s had a stroke.”
“Oh, God. I’m so sorry, Daph.”
“That was my mum. She says I should come home.”
“Of course. Let’s go back to the house, and I’ll book the flights.”
She climbed on the back of the ATV after I had, and I raced out of the vineyard.
Once we were inside, I pulled out my laptop.
“We can catch a flight to LAX in two hours, then it’s another two-hour wait to get on the one that will take us to Perth. I can try San Francisco and see if I can do better,” I said, racing up the stairs to where she was packing.
“No, that’s fine. I doubt there’s anything quicker.” She looked up at me. “Wait, did you say ‘we’?”
“Yes. I’m going with you.”
She dropped the clothes she was folding and stood in front of me. “You can’t leave, Cru. There’s too much to do. Especially with me gone.”
“I don’t care about that. The vines can wait.”
She shook her head. “They can’t, and you know it. Without Brix here, you’re in charge.”
“I’ll get him to come back from Mexico.”
She shook her head. “Let me get over there and see how bad it really is. Maybe I’ll be able to return to the States in a few weeks’ time.”
A few weeks? God, I could hardly stand being away from her for a few hours.
She put her hands on my chest. “It’ll be okay, Cru. Let me get home and see what Dad is facing in terms of his recovery, then I can make a plan.”
The word home bothered me. This was her home. At least I thought it was. Or wanted it to be. I got it, though. She was worried about her dad in the same way I would’ve been.
I cupped her cheek. “I love you, Daphne.”
“I know, and I love you too.”
I waited until her plane took off from the San Luis Obispo airport before returning to Los Caballeros. Everything inside me screamed I should be with her, but she was right. There was too much work to be done in the vineyards for both of us to be gone.
At sundown, I called it a day and told the crews to go home and rest. Tomorrow would be another long, hot one. I was about to head to the house when my cell rang.
“Hey, Bit. What’s up?”
“Where are you guys?”
“What do you mean?”
“You and Daphne. I’ve got everything ready.”
I scrubbed my face. “Daphne’s dad had a stroke. She’s on her way to Australia.”
“Wait. What? Shit. This isn’t good. Damn, I wish I would’ve known.”
“What do you mean you have everything ready?”
“Come by the old winery, and I’ll show you.”
I wanted to beg off, but it sounded like Bit needed me to meet him. “Be there in a few minutes.”
I drove the ATV over and parked near where Daphne and I had tied off our horses. It seemed like a minute ago and weeks at the same time. I was already anxious to talk to her, and it would be hours before she landed.
When I walked up to the door, Bit was waiting just inside.
“She asked me to set this up. Said you were celebrating your engagement.”
Strung lights crisscrossed the ceiling, casting a warm glow on the room. In the middle of the space, there was a table set for two. On it were candles, flowers, and an open bottle of wine.
The pain of missing her immediately felt worse.
“Sorry, man,” said Bit.
“Thanks.”
“Wanna eat?”
I didn’t, but after all the work my brother put into this, I had to. It reminded me I’d wanted to ask him to screen in the sleeping porch that was off the second-floor bedroom. I wondered now if there’d be any reason to.
“You should’ve gone with her,” he said thirty minutes into our dinner without us saying a word to each other.
“Too much to do in the vineyards,” I muttered.
He shook his head. “Wine doesn’t mean a thing if you aren’t with the person you love. Nothing does.”
As right as my brother was, I had too many people relying on me to just up and leave. July through October was our busiest time, and without me here to make decisions, a helluva lot could go wrong.
“What can I do to help?” he asked.
I rested my forearms on the table. “Help me find an interim winemaker to take over the second label.”
“Done.”
I looked up at him. “Who?”
“Me.”
His air of confidence was enough to convince me to give him a shot. What else was I going to do if I didn’t?
I was already up at six when my cell rang with a call from Daphne.
“How are you doing?” I asked.
“I just spoke with my mum. Dad isn’t doing well.”
“I’m so sorry, Daph.”
Her breath caught. “I’m sorry too.”
I waited, knowing she was crying.
“I miss you already,” she said after a few seconds.
“I miss you too.” Except it was so much worse than that. I felt as though part of my heart was already halfway around the world.
“I’ll call again when I land,” she said.
“Daphne?”
“Yes?”
“If you need me, I’ll be on the next flight.”
“I know you will. I love you, Cru.”
“I love you, Daph.”
It was another eight hours before I heard from her again. She was headed straight to the hospital and said she’d call once she knew more about her father. When I didn’t hear after four more hours passed, I called her but had to leave a message when it went straight to voicemail.
“Hey, sorry to ring you so late,” she said when I finally heard from her around midnight.
“Don’t be. I’m up. How are things?”
“They rushed him into surgery shortly after I arrived to reduce the swelling in his brain. He’s out now, and they’re saying he’s stable.”
The more she talked, the more I felt as though I should be there with her. Maybe in the morning, I’d see if Brix would be willing to return from Mexico so I could fly to Australia.
I also needed to call my fellow caballeros, Beau especially since he was close to Daphne’s parents, as well as Uncle Tryst. His generation referred to themselves as the Viejos, and while they’d all taken a step back when our generation took over, they still came to our aid when necessary.
Now, it was one of their own who needed help.
I waited until after nine the next morning to call Beau, and as I’d anticipated, the news of Noah’s stroke shook him.
“I’d ask why you aren’t with her, but I know how tough things are in the vineyard this time of year. Any idea when she’ll be back?”
“None.”
“Let me know how I can help,” he offered.
“You have a lot on your plate there too.” Sam had inherited a large estate in a town outside Buffalo. It had vineyards and a winery, along with a cattle operation. She and Beau were in the midst of bringing the property back after years of neglect.
“We won’t have much of a harvest this year. If necessary, I’ll come out for that.”
Harvest? That was at least two months away, if not three. Did he think Daphne would be gone that long? Or, like me, was he worried she’d never come back?