Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
FRANKIE
S o, this is Ava Durant, the sister in between Nate and Danny. As I said, she and I have had limited interaction thus far, but given what I’ve heard about her, I have a feeling we’ll get on like a house on fire – or a nuclear power plant exploding. She’s sitting opposite, giving me the kind of stare I could take offense at, except that there’s no judgment in her expression, only curiosity and anticipation, like she can’t wait to see what I’m made of, too.
Cam ambles into the kitchen at his usual leisurely pace and smiles at me. I’ve known Cam since I was fourteen and have watched him evolve from borderline-feral drifter to settled, skilled craftsman. Ava is the first serious relationship he’s had in all that time. Well, apart from my mom. I don’t believe that they did the actual wild thing, but they were very close. Dad never minded because, like I said, he had an iron-clad sense of self-worth, which allowed him to be generous and forgiving. I did mind, but by then, I was used to being overlooked. Although Cam has never done anything intentionally to hurt me, wouldn’t be capable of it, I still have mixed feelings about him. He knows nothing of this and never will. So, I smile back.
“Hey, Cam,” I say. “How’s the new place?”
This is another story. Cam and Ava rent a cute bungalow on a decent-sized piece of land outside of Verity. The house used to be owned by my late aunt, Debra, my mom’s half-sister. Debra was adopted out when my grandmother was very young, and she and Mom didn’t know the other existed until last year. By the time the two reconnected, Debra was dying of cancer. I got to meet her only once, at the hospice, where she laid out her plans for her will. Having no immediate family of her own, she left us four Armstrong siblings fifty-thousand dollars each, and her house, for us to keep or sell as we wished. My brothers and I had no plans then to return home, so we agreed to rent it to Cam. The tiny house he built beside the workshop had room only for one, and he and Ava were an item by then, so it seemed a good solution: house got cared for and we got to share in a little rental income. I’m practical first, and emotional second, so I could put aside any ambivalence I have regarding Cam. I mean, he’s not shacking up with my mom, is he? That would be a whole different basket of snakes.
“House is great,” says Cam, in his usual fulsome manner.
“Come and visit,” Ava says to me. It sounds more like an order than an invitation. “You too, Danny,” she adds, as her brother finally joins us at the table. “Come and witness me being all cozy and domestic.”
Danny gazes at her aghast. “Doesn’t that breach some law of the universe? Like dividing by zero?”
“Ava’s asked for Mom’s jelly recipes,” says Shelby. “Their garden has a lot of fruit.”
“Jesus.” Now Nate looks aghast. “Have you alerted emergency services?”
“I remember when Ava made a volcano for school science class,” says Danny. “The kitchen counter had to be completely replaced.”
Ava grins, happily. She’s obviously impervious to insults. No doubt because she knows she can dish them out better than anyone. And if that doesn’t work, she’s always got snake bite arm burns to fall back on.
She smacks the tabletop.
“Let’s get on with this meeting, people,” she says. “I have things to do, surfaces to scorch.”
Nate looks to me. I have a notebook and my trusty fountain pen. I’m ready.
“Right,” I begin. “The purpose of this meeting is to figure out how we can all work together without killing each other, so that Shelby can have a restful last six weeks of pregnancy, and Nate can feel confident that the business won’t implode the instant he takes his hands off the reins. Is that a fair summary?”
“Except that Nate’s hands will be cold and dead before they loosen their grip,” says Danny.
“Not helpful,” I say, before Nate can retort. “But a good example of how we’re not going to behave over the next two months.”
Danny’s mouth tightens in annoyance. Too bad. I’ve been handed control here and we’ll run things my way.
“Shelby?” I ask. “Have you got a big jar?”
She hops up and fetches a preserving jar from a cupboard. Every year, at seasonal intervals, Mom made at least ten thousand pounds of preserves, and roped in us kids to peel, pit, de-seed, and chop. We were at it for days. I’m meanly satisfied to note that this empty jar is one of a whole empty-jar collection. My sister has clearly never made another preserve since, either.
“Perfect.” I take the jar and set it in the middle of the table. “You know how some families have swear jars? This is our insult, barb, jibe, slur, backhanded compliment, aspersion, and put-down jar. Every time we commit an offense, we put our name on a piece of paper and drop it in. On the day of the crush, the person with the highest name count gets to take a punishment chosen by everyone else. Fair?”
“That’s genius,” says Ava. “I like the way you think.”
“I’d take that as a compliment,” Nate tells me. “Even if it sounds like a threat.”
“Name in the jar!” Ava insists. “That was a slur!”
“It was a statement of fact,” Nate protests. “And everyone here will back me up on that.”
“People!” I raise my voice, and they quieten down. “Now we’ve established our code of conduct, let’s talk about who’s doing what. Let’s start with Cam because he’s easiest.”
Cam looks alarmed, as he always does when he becomes the focus of attention.
“Cam keeps on doing what he’s doing,” I say. “Repairs, maintenance, barrels.” I look up at him. “What else? Leafing? Crop-thinning?”
“Leafing’s done,” he says. “Crop-thinning soon.”
“Okay, what are those?” Danny sounds reluctant to admit that he’s the only one of us who hasn’t a clue.
I’m about to answer him, but unusually, Cam speaks up. I sense a small powerplay here. Cam isn’t the macho type at all, but by claiming ownership of the knowledge, he’s asserting dominance over Danny. Intriguing. I wonder what Danny did to get Cam’s goat.
“Leafing’s when we remove about a fifth of the grape leaves,” say Cam. “Gives the grapes air and sunshine. Prevents disease. Crop-thinning happens if there’s too much fruit on the vine for it all to ripen properly. It’s been a heavy crop this year, so we’ll thin pretty soon.”
“You’ll liaise with Javi and Doug to organize additional labor?” I ask.
Cam confirms with a nod.
“And then it’s veraison!” says Shelby. “My favorite part of the year!”
“Verayzhun?” Danny’s a little pink around the cheeks. I should feel sorry for him, but if the tables were turned, I know he’d be gloating.
“It’s when the grapes change color,” says Shelby. “So exciting! That’s when we start doing a heap of lab testing, to check on acid and sugar levels, how the flavor’s developing. You can pretty much tell then if it’s going to be a good vintage.”
“You have some idea,” says pessimist Nate. “But until those grapes are safely harvested, you can’t count your chickens. Anything could happen before then. Rain, hail, fire?—”
“Plague of locusts,” says Danny, attempting and failing to make a joke.
“There actually was a locust plague that ruined vines, in Jerusalem in 1915,” says Nate. “Laid waste to every piece of vegetation. Broke into beehives, too, and ate the honey and the bees. Truly biblical.”
“Well, there’s an easy way to avoid that,” says Ava. “Don’t open the Ark of the Covenant.”
“I think we can rule out locusts,” I say. “Nate, you’ll help Shelby with testing, right? I’ll put my hand up for lab runs. I like the drive to Martinburg.”
Danny’s head shoots up like a dog spotting a rabbit. “Where’s your car parked? I didn’t see it.”
“Far side of the Flora Valley Wines pick-up,” I reply. “It’s small. Easily hidden.”
“What make is it?” he says eagerly.
“Car-talk later, Danny,” warns Nate.
Danny slumps back in his chair. I almost feel sorry for him. I also observe that the petulant look does good things for his mouth, making it fuller, not tighter. He’s mussed his hair in frustration, too. It’s cute. Suits him.
Focus, Frankie!
“The instant the grapes are fully ripe, we push go on the harvest,” I say. “Because we don’t do anything the easy machine way at Flora Valley, it will be all hands on deck for the picking. Except Shelby, of course?—”
“I’ll be huge by then!” she says, cupping her bump. “Size of a planet!”
“Not Ava, either,” Cam says, giving her a look. “It’s hard, physical work. Too hard.”
“I love it that you care,” she replies, with a smile. Though it doesn’t exactly sound like she’s agreeing.
“It is hard,” I confirm. “Plus, we work all night.”
“All night ?” Danny asks.
“Too hot during the day,” says Cam. “Grapes stay fresher. So do we.”
“I asked Danny to help only with admin,” says Nate. “So, he can bow out of the labor if he wants.”
Because Nate is earnest and sincere, he has no idea he’s just confirmed his brother as a soft-palmed city-slicker who wouldn’t know hard work if it bit him. Danny understands, though, and he’s not happy.
“I’m in,” he says, curtly.
“Then the famous Flora Valley Wines crush event,” I say, “where the whole community comes out to watch the grapes getting stomped. We’ll need all hands on deck again. Or all feet, whatever.”
“Can I organize that?” says Ava. “I have terrific people skills.”
There’s a pause. Everyone looks at the insult jar. Everyone keeps quiet. Ava cackles, delighted.
“As it happens, I’ve already asked Jordan and Chiara if they’d help,” says Shelby.
Jordan and Chiara are her two best friends.
“Great!” Ava resists all hints. “We’ll be like Charlie’s Angels! The Angels of the Crush!”
“And Danny and Nate will divvy up the admin.” I might as well push on. “Don’t need to hear the details. You’ll work it out.”
I set down my pen. “Consider me a floating helper,” I say. “Though Shelby gets first dibs.”
“So I don’t go stir crazy,” she says, “Frankie and I are going to binge watch ridiculous movies like Ghostbusters .”
“Again?” Nate’s expression is pained.
“And Broadcast News and Gross Pointe Blank ,” I add. “Joan Cusack is my idol.”
“Ooh, good choices!” says Shelby. “And can we also re-watch Gilmore Girls ?”
“If I can watch The Princess Bride ,” I bargain.
“Of course!” says Shelby. “No ridiculous binge-watch is complete without it!”
I close my notebook. “And on that note, I declare this meeting over. Everyone clear? Everyone pumped?”
Nodding of heads all round.
“Nice job, Frankie,” says Nate.
Praise from my brother-in-law is high praise indeed. I’ll take it.
“Danny, you can go look at Frankie’s car now,” he says to his brother.
“No, thanks.” Danny gets up from the table. “I’ve got to make some calls. If that’s alright with you?”
His tone is neutral, but the message is clear. Danny’s pissed with us.
“It’s fine,” says Nate. “Meet me in the office in an hour?”
“Sure.” And with barely a nod to anyone else, he stalks out.
“What’s up with Danny?” says Ava. “Apart from his usual sore-loser attitude?”
“Ahem.” I rip a strip from a page in my notebook, hand it across. “Name in the jar.”
“I’m first!” says Ava, gleefully. “Yuss!!”
Nate rolls his eyes at me and shakes his head.
“Buckle up, Frankie,” he says. “It’s going to be a bumpy ride.”