Blush - Jamie Brenner Page 0,77

it’s about learning how the process informs the flavor and texture. Did you know that in making cheddar, the curds are cut into tiny pieces to pull out the moisture and create a dry, firm cheese?”

“No,” Leonard said. “But I do know that I’m hungry and want to get to the main course.”

Vivian kicked him lightly under the table. “Delightful, Leah,” she said. “Thank you.

Leah sat back down as the table was cleared. “I was thinking,” she said slowly. “You could host wine and cheese classes in the tasting room during the week. I know the weekends are always busy, but this could—”

“We don’t do that sort of thing,” Leonard said.

“Well, you could try it,” Leah said. “When I teach them in the city people tend to buy all the wines that get introduced along with the cheese.”

Vivian looked at Asher, who was busy on his phone. Maybe if he’d been thinking a little more like his sister, they wouldn’t be in this situation.

“I think it’s a marvelous idea,” Vivian said. “How soon can you do it?”

It could be months before the winery was actually sold. And in the meantime, she wanted her daughter involved.

“Oh, I didn’t mean I would teach it. You could find—”

“Leah, who could be better than you?” Vivian said.

Leah glanced at Steven, who shook his head.

“Vivian,” Leonard said. “Now’s not the time.”

“Why not? There’s no downside to this. You said yourself the one thing we could do this summer is make the winery more appealing to buyers.”

Vivian smiled at her daughter, her daughter who was trying to help save them.

In the books she had read and loved all those years earlier, the books she was revisiting now, there was always a moment in the heroine’s life when she had nothing left to lose.

Maybe this was their moment.

* * *

“I know I said I’d go back to the city with you,” Leah said, changing into her sleep shirt, “but you don’t need to be this angry about it.”

She hadn’t planned on running the cheese classes herself. She just wanted to show her parents the possibilities—the appeal of it. But standing in the vineyard, flush with her own hard-earned knowledge and expertise, she felt how far she had come from the little girl who had followed her father around, his dutiful pupil. She should have come back with this idea a long time ago—not for the winery, but for herself.

“I’m angry because an hour before dinner, we were lying in this bed together talking about how it was time for you to come home.”

Yes, they’d been cuddling after a failed attempt to have sex. It had been an awkward dance of both of them thinking, We’ve been apart, therefore we should be eager to jump into bed. Leah had gamely gone through the motions, knowing her body wasn’t cooperating with her mind but still determined. Steven, perhaps sensing her lack of enthusiasm, had his own physical issues. They kissed and decided they would pick up where they’d left off after dinner, when they could really relax.

Now it was after dinner, and they were about to get into an argument.

“I know I agreed it was time for me to come home. I want it to be that simple, but it’s not,” she said. “Being here feels like something I have to do.”

He shook his head. “It took you a long time to get over this place. But you did it. You made a life for yourself away from here.”

“Yes, but maybe now’s the chance to finally have what should have been mine.”

“You think a wine and cheese class is going to save a money pit of a winery? Leah, that doesn’t make any sense.”

“Of course not. There isn’t a silver bullet, but I think there are a lot of little things—missed opportunities, bad decision-making—that could be corrected. And even if it’s not enough to make the place viable for my parents to sustain, at least it can put them in a position to negotiate the best possible sales price. Maybe they could have something positive to show a buyer, instead of having a fire sale. Dad’s too set in his ways, Mom’s given up trying to convince him to do things her way—that power dynamic is just bad. Asher is clueless. If not me, who?”

“I thought you’d let all of this go a long time ago.”

“So did I,” she said. “But I guess not. Why can’t you just be open to where this leads?”

He shook his head. “Because it