Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
RHYS
It still feels like summer in Osoyoos if heat is the benchmark. But the leaves on the trees have shifted into bright fall yellows and reds, and the orchards heave with apples. With the zoo of cars and families packed up and gone home, Main Street feels like a ghost town. As we drive down the strip, I quietly tally all the businesses—the ones Dani and I will hit tomorrow during our apology tour. I owe Osoyoos and Evelyn that much.
Idling at a red light, Dani looks over. “What are you thinking of?”
I pop a few jellybeans from the bag in my lap, chewing thoughtfully. “How different it all feels.”
Dani’s hand drifts off the gearshift to scrub my bare knee. “Because you feel different.”
Isn’t that the truth? Nothing plays out guaranteed is the lesson I've learned from this trip. From misplaced bitterness (Sawyer) to delusional ex-bosses (Brett) to woefully off-the-mark sisterly obsessions (Amelia), situations—and yes, Sawyer, the optics—can change if I allow them to.
And change me in the process.
“Oh, hey, I forgot to mention, Bettina called when we stopped at the fruit stand,” I say. “She’s happy to help out once we get up and running.”
“Really?” Dani is downright shocked by this news. “She recovered from the trauma?”
Chic and stark in a black Helmut Lang dress, dark bangs cut viciously straight, Bettina sat stony-faced in her office when Dani and I dropped by last week to share our plans. For years, I thought nothing could dent Bettina’s Teflon coat. But her blazing blue eyes misted over, and her Bavarian accent shrilled with despair.
“Rhys!” she wailed. “You’ve worked so hard to get here. You can’t quit now. Please reconsider.”
I suspect the anticipated drop in her income fueled her unusual display of emotion because I’ve actually worked very little. The fundamental thing I want to change.
Together with Dani.
“We have to tell Evelyn at dinner tonight,” Dani says, mirroring my thoughts. “I can’t pull off Divine Debauchery with this hanging over my head.”
The party to end all parties continues, despite Gail’s protests and the community upheaval. Calvin lands in three days. Gia and JC, tomorrow afternoon. Evelyn insisted I attend as part curiosity, part adhering to one point of my mostly unfulfilled contract. But also to prove she stands behind me and Dani one hundred percent.
Gotta love that lady.
“You know she’ll be cool, right?”
Dani mulls that over with a sound of uncertainty. “I hope so.”
“What else is going on in your mind?” I can tell from how she bites her bottom lip that she hasn’t told me everything. I’m catching on to the ways of my girl.
The light turns green, and she guns it. “The day you arrived, we chatted in my office, and she said all the good employees leave her eventually, and that I would too.” She sighs, a little wistful. “Not that I expected to work here forever.”
“Judging from that,” I say, “she won’t be too shocked.”
She sneaks a quick look at me. “I feel like I owe her indefinitely. She’s afforded us so much grace.”
If there is such a thing as a one-woman battle, Evelyn stormed the goddamn Bastille. She took all the haters to task, claiming that every woman and man has fantasies, and why string me up for mine? Especially in the form of personal, vindictive slander. How would they feel if their private thoughts were aired to the world?
Apparently, most of the Osoyoos citizens sympathized.
The truth will unfold tomorrow when we go door to door.
All I can do is show my utmost regret and pray they accept it. The bright spot is that the fangirls jumped ship weeks ago, disillusioned after I cut out and my feed went dark.
What a relief to drive into the winery without a security check or the need to look over our shoulders. But as Dani drives up the hill to drop me off, a hint of sadness creeps in. This is the place where our story started.
It will always hold a special place in my heart.
Parked, with the engine idling, Dani kisses my cheek. “I’ll swing by just before six.”
“You'll be sleeping in my bed tonight, right?” I clarify.
She affects a pose of surprise. “I thought that was a given after weeks of suffering on my shoddy mattress?”
Suffering? Does she mean tangled up and sheened in sweat, breathing deep and calm? The idea of that makes me laugh. “Like I said, I'll sleep on rocks as long as I have the most important things surrounding me.”
She beams back a smile as bright as mine. “Have I moved up the ranking list? Bumped your precious coffee from the top slot?”
I wind my fingers in her hair and gently tug her over the console. She provokes the same reaction, day after day. “You are my new number one, Dani. Now and forever.”
Our lingering sinful kiss would steam windows in winter but gets cut short with a sharp whack, followed by, “Well, well, well. Look at you two lovebirds.”
We both jump back, startled to see Nicole, who must have wandered up from the vineyards when she saw Dani’s truck.
“Hey there,” I roll down the window, “are you joining us at dinner?”
She leans on the sheet metal with a lazy smile, dressed in her best farmyard duds and face smudged with dirt. “I would, except this grubby little number has a date.”
Dani squeals excitedly, leaning over my lap to say, “Congrats! A local?”
“She manages one of the hotels in Kelowna.” Nicole cuts me a genial smile. “Not as hot as you, mister, but who is?”
“Good luck. And you’ll be at the party?” Dani asks.
Nicole belts out a laugh. “Are you kidding? The biggest ticket in town? I am so primed. And if you don’t mind helping this old grape get Roman-ready, I could use your guidance. Seems I need some help in the fashion department.”
Dani side-eyes me. My grin is just as impish as hers.
Love is in the air, and it’s catching.
“Well, dears, here’s to a great and final Divine Debauchery.” Evelyn raises her wine glass and waits for us to cheer back, but Dani and I falter, caught off guard.
“Final?” Dani isn’t ready to believe it.
Evelyn sips her wine and sets the glass beside a plate piled with BBQ chicken, herbed salad, and roasted yams. Golden hour drenches the patio in warm, magical light and the emerald-hued lake shimmers in the heat waves.
“I took a time out while you two were gone,” she says. “Some good old-fashioned soul-searching. With all the commotion, it felt like the apocalypse was no longer avoidable.”
“But this event is legendary!” Dani’s voice flies to a heavenly register. “It’s you !”
Evelyn smiles fondly at her. “All legends eventually retire. Or get put out to pasture.”
I voice my surprise, just as astonished as Dani. “You’re not giving up Nero Vino, are you?”
“Not yet,” Evelyn assures us. “I have a few more good years in me.”
“But?” Dani asks. Because it’s there, waiting for us.
“Not a but ,” Evelyn hedges. “More like an acknowledgment. That living and dying inside my comfort zone lacks verve. A change of the guard can do wonders. And Tomas, irritating shit that he is, does know the land and the business inside and out. And before you lose your cool,” she says to Dani, who is on the verge of doing just that. “He and I had a sit-down after the dust settled. A tête à tête, as they say in France. He is family, after all. The only family I have left. If my poor Hugo hadn’t been run over by that tractor, we might have patched things up sooner.”
Dani pauses, a forkful of salad hovering on her lips. “Is that how Hugo died?”
“I know, tragic. But, yes. Anyway, Tomas and I have decided not only to be civil but work out an arrangement where he can eventually take over.”
Dani looks crestfallen. I have yet to meet this character, but if Evelyn is willing to give him a shot, he can’t be a total idiot. I finish chewing my mouthful of chicken. “What will you do when you give it up?”
“Work on my slice serve,” she muses. “Stop and smell the roses. All that gobbledygook they keep saying is good for the soul.”
I’m speechless. In this short time, Evelyn intertwined with her vineyard felt as constant as the sun rising in the east—perpetual and enduring.
Evelyn nibbles on a piece of charred yam. “In the interim, with an eye to handing off this operation in its most stellar form, I need solid hands and brains to help me out. What do you think? Are you two up for it?” She lowers her sunglasses to peer at us.
“Us?” It squeaks out of Dani like she’s sucked on helium.
“Who else?” Evelyn asks with a shrug.
“Well, uhm...” Dani looks nervously at me.
“Actually.” I clear my throat. Our secret sits on the tip of my tongue, waiting for release. “We have some news to share.”
Evelyn’s face gives away nothing. No surprise, or alarm. And she listens to every stumbling, fumbling word that spills from our mouths. Our vision for the agency is still forming. Half-ideas and concepts. But we are undeterred. And our optimism shines through.
“Well,” Evelyn says, and I can tell she’s impressed.“This delights me to no end. Dani, I’m so proud of you. I know this was your dream. And what better way to start than with a loving partner?” She reaches across the table to squeeze my hand. “I had a feeling about you two from the start. Dani was so nervous about your arrival. I figured it had more to do with a jumpy heart than jumpy nerves.”
Dani blushes. I have no clue why her crush remains an ongoing source of embarrassment. Based on the very vocal proceedings of the past few weeks, every neighbor in her building knows how she feels about me.
“And what role will you play other than financial backer?” Evelyn asks me.
I take a swallow of wine. “Dani’s assistant? Office boy?” I smile at the irony.I’d escaped a similar fate sixteen years ago only to come full circle to the same entry-level job.
Evelyn tips her wineglass in my direction with a crafty smile. “I believe you might have a career in illustration.”
Dani laughs so hard, she starts choking. Me? I’m clapping her on the back, stricken for a millisecond. “That could be in the cards.”
Dani’s choking fit settles, and Evelyn pivots the conversation back to the immediate future. “Knowing all this, how long do I have you for?”
“We can discuss. I don’t want to leave you high and dry,” Dani insists.
“No, of course not.” Evelyn waves off a pesky fly that’s been buzzing around then gives us the full measure of her attention. “I’ll have to hire a replacement to handle the day-to-day, on-the-ground stuff, but what if Nero Vino was your first client?”
Dani and I share a look. Excitement creeps into my soul. Who says no to a golden opportunity like that?
“We’d be honored,” Dani says, a little breathless.
“We can create all your marketing materials,” I jump in, every stitch of me full of belief. “Manage your website. All the ad campaigns.”
Evelyn beams at me. “Look at you go. She’ll make an executive out of you yet.”
“Hold all the discussion,” Dani says. “I need to use the bathroom.”
Evelyn waves vaguely in the direction of her three-thousand-square-foot ground floor. “Take a right after the pool table. The powder room is the first door on your left.” As soon as Dani is out of earshot, Evelyn’s face brightens. “I love this,” she gushes. “For both of you.”
I lean back in the chair, profoundly, quietly happy. I’m grinning now and buzzing too. “We’re psyched. And to help you out would be dope.” The crust of my joy cracks a little as I continue, “And I wanted to say, it’s not fair for me to keep the fee. I did a week of work. And you shelled out for Francis and Rita.”
Evelyn waves off my offer like another bothersome fly. “I have enough money. You tuck that into your pocket. With the caveat that you splurge on something grand and sparkly for Dani when the time comes. She deserves the best.”
Damn right, she does.
Not only is she deserving, but I will support, encourage, and fulfill all her dreams because she makes me feel like the best version of myself.
What more can a guy ask for?