Ch. 42 – Rico
A nother Saturday morning, another visit to The Rose and Thorn. It was like Rico had slipped into a Groundhog Day scenario from hell. Rico sat behind the wheel of his SUV in the parking lot staring at the winery’s front door. He could have called in to the group huddle and saved himself a trip. But if he was going to stab his best friend in the back, he figured he should at least have the balls to do it in person.
Rico forced himself out of the SUV. His legs felt like cement. Who knew that guilt could weigh so much? As he walked across the gravel parking lot toward the door of the winery, he silently prayed for a lightning strike to put him out of his misery. Or if God was feeling creative, he’d take spontaneous combustion.
He arrived at the door and pushed it open.
“Fashionably late, as usual,” Hue spoke from across the tasting room. The guys all stood at their usual places, Hue and Sully leaning against the bar, Theo standing behind it. The déjà vu struck Rico so hard he almost wanted to slap himself just for a change-up in the routine.
Instead, he said, “It’s a forty-five-minute drive, asshole. ”
He looked at the men and noted Theo’s cheesy grin. Odd. Rico couldn’t even remember the last time his friend hadn’t looked absolutely pulverized by life.
“What’s with the smile?” he asked.
“Oh God, don’t get him started again,” Hue groaned, grabbing the bill of his ball cap with both hands.
“I, for one, am thoroughly proud of you, Theo,” Sully spoke up.
“Ta-da!” From beneath the counter, Theo produced a bottle of wine practically hidden behind a ginormous blue bow.
“It’s a boy?” Rico guessed.
“Fuck off. Obsession won at the Southern California Wine and Spirits Jamboree. Not just in the red blend category, but the overall prize!” Theo crowed. “And Randy Stephanopoulos was so smug about his cabernet. Not this year, Randy!”
Rico raised an eyebrow at Hue and Sully.
“Do we know who Randy Stephanopoulos is?” Sully asked.
“He’s a second-place crybaby who wouldn’t know a well-balanced tannin profile if it bit him in the ass,” Theo stated. He combed a hand through his unkempt brown hair before pulling open a drawer and retrieving a corkscrew. “Alanna’s already sent half my bottles to regional wine critics and whatever WineTok influencers are, but I saved a few bottles for you guys.” He gave Hue a pointed glare. “Don’t you dare ask for a beer. Real men drink wine.”
“God, you’re going to turn me into a froufrou hipster if it’s the last thing you do,” the freckled giant groaned.
“Join the hipster dark side. It’s fun over here,” Sully teased, eagerly taking the full wineglass Theo offered. “Just you wait. One day you’ll be eating avocado toast with the rest of us millennial scum. ”
“Never!” Hue declared. “My digestive system doesn’t accept anything green.” He grudgingly took his wineglass and scowled down at the red liquid.
“Where’s my glass?” Rico asked, leaning against the bar.
As one, all three men turned their heads to stare at him. Hue’s jaw dropped.
“You want . . . a glass of wine?” Theo asked as if Rico had accidentally slipped into Spanish.
Hue laughed and slapped Rico on the back. “Finally ready to defile that beautiful temple of yours, huh?”
Pretty much. Rico hadn’t even hit the gym this morning. The entire week had been an unending hellscape of recording fluff news pieces, constantly replaying Jax’s abrupt departure from his apartment, and living with the fact that he was a compromised reporter, a shit friend, and very likely an unlovable human being.
“Defile away,” he said morosely.
When Theo slid a full glass of wine his way, Rico picked it up and knocked back a heavy gulp. The wine was probably good, but he didn’t taste a thing. The alcohol hit his empty stomach hard, and that, at least, felt good.
Rico took a breath. Might as well get this over with. Crushing his best friend’s spirit wasn’t going to get any easier.
“Hey, look, so I dug as much as I could into the Bishop story, but there’s not much there,” he said. “My producer looked at it and rejected the story. I won’t be able to put anything on air.”
Yup, he was throwing Diane under the bus, too. Why not? Might as well burn all the people who’d ever believed in him.
Theo’s face fell, worry lines pinching at the sides of his mouth. “Really? ”
“What the hell?” Hue boomed. “The mayor is trying to end this place so his campaign donors can build some cookie-cutter development on it.”
“Politicians rewarding their donors. Happens all the time,” Rico responded. “It’s not a story.”
“How about the fact that Bishop tried to sabotage the winery while pushing Theo to sell it for chump change?” Hue kept going.
Rico took another gulp of wine. “You got any proof of that?”
Wow, he’d thought saving his mother from the threat of deportation would have given him some solace. But nope. He still felt like a flaming bag of shit on the doorstep of an orphanage. He raised his glass to take another drink. Damn. It was already empty.
He pushed his glass forward on the bar. “Hit me.” And punch me in the face, too, if you please.
Theo frowned and gave Rico a long, probing stare. It took all his strength, but Rico met his friend’s gaze, silently challenging Theo to call him out on his bullshit.
It’s my mother, Rico pleaded silently.
Theo looked away first. He reached below the bar and pulled up a different bottle. With practiced motions, he used a corkscrew to wrench out the cork and refilled Rico’s glass.
“Actually, about that supposed sabotage,” Sully said. The trim man pushed up his glasses. “Since Rico got the bad news train started, I might as well add my piece.” He took an entirely reasonable sip from his glass, then set it down. “My dad came out and we took a look at your irrigation lines, Theo. The hose on the line that caused the leak was old and worn. It looks like a normal breakdown to us. Not sabotage. In fact . . .” He twisted his wineglass between his fingers, clearly uncomfortable. “All your lines are, um . . .”
“Old as fuck?” Theo said sourly, finishing off his own glass .
“I was going to say aging poorly, but yeah,” Sully replied with a wince.
Theo put his elbows on the table and refilled his glass. “My grandfather put in those lines. I knew they were old, but I was hoping they’d last a few more years. At least until I could get this place turned around.”
“We can go through and patch the worst spots,” Sully added, “but it’s just a Band-Aid. Those lines really need to be replaced.” He slid his empty glass over the bar for a refill.
“Yup.” Theo rested a cheek in his hand while filling Sully’s glass.
Well, whaddya know, Rico’s glass was empty again. He nudged his glass forward.
“Since we’re piling on and all, I might as well throw some gasoline on this dumpster fire,” Hue acknowledged. He stretched his empty glass forward.
Theo sighed and pulled a third bottle from beneath the counter.
“My lawyer went over your land use agreement, and it looks like the city council can retract your zoning exemption with a majority vote.”
“Fuuuuck,” Theo hissed. “Bishop’s going to bring it up for a vote at the next city council meeting. If it passes, I’ll have to tear out my vineyard. I’ll be done.”
“Yup,” Hue said.
“Yup,” Sully agreed.
“Yup,” Rico added.
Theo filled all their glasses.
“Could you try and fight it in court?” Sully asked.
“Sure, with all the money I don’t have.” Theo set the glasses in front of the men.
“What are you going to do?” Hue asked .
“Drink.” Theo raised his glass. “Thanks for trying, guys. I really appreciate your help.”
And didn’t that just make Rico want to fucking cry? Instead, he clinked his wineglass with the others and downed the entire thing.
“Shit, man, when you fall off the bandwagon, you fall off hard,” Hue said to him. “Remember to breathe.”
“Bad week.” Rico held out his glass again to Theo. The alcohol sat warm in his belly and turned his thoughts to a pleasant fuzziness. For the first time all week, the ice pick that had been constantly jabbing at his heart began to dull.
“You’re not driving, man,” Theo informed him.
“Whatever. More wine.”
“Theo, let’s think this through,” Sully suggested. He tapped his fingers on the bar. “What about asking customers to attend the next meeting and voice their support for you?”
“You know what?” Theo gave the men a tired smile. “Let’s brainstorm tomorrow. Today, I just need to . . . I don’t know. Enjoy a glass of wine with my friends and pretend this isn’t happening.”
“I hear ya,” Hue agreed. He swiveled to Rico. “Change of topic. How’s that girl you were going after? You’ve been back in town every weekend like a yo-yo. You ever hit that?”
Hit that? Rico wanted to pummel the bigger man for his disrespect. “She hates my guts,” he responded instead.
“Ho-ly shit!” Hue actually reared away from the bar. “Is that why you’re drowning your sorrows in alcohol? You’re wrecked over a girl?”
“You know, drinking won’t make the pain go away,” Theo told him wryly.
Hue laughed and shook his big, stupid head. “Never thought I’d see the day. Rico Torres is in love.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Rico growled, and took another gulp of wine.