Chapter One
Mark
Chimney Rock Winery. Goal: show my Nicole a wonderful time. Goal: not achieved. Why: starts with a ‘B,’ ends with a ‘rendan.’
Now that Brendan has walked ahead of us down the path, Nicole leans to me and whispers, “Does he ever crack a smile? Or speak?”
My hand is on the small of her back as our shoes crunch the soft soil deeper into the ground. We’re on the Behind The Scenes tour with four other guests of the winery. All of us have a glass in hand as we tour the estate, and our senior wine educator has been filling us in on the difference between red and white. Turns out white wine is often made from the same grapes as red, but they don’t leave the skin on. Nicole and I found that fascinating. Brendan asked, “What?” and then walked on before he got an answer.
“He smiles,” I tell her, quietly, as I glance over to where he’s checking out a dark green leaf that’s shading a tightly-packed bunch of tiny, purple, cabernet grapes, but be doesn’t really see them. He’s pretending. Everything he’s done for the past two weeks has been on auto pilot, like there’s someone else living inside his body, making it move, walk, blink… barely talk.
Nicole glances to me, the sun highlighting her nose. “Sure, he smiles! When he’s hitting on someone--” She stops herself. I see her face shift in an attempt to switch gears. This is our last day together, so neither of us wants to waste time arguing.
But about him, I wouldn’t argue. Since I have an ulterior motive in letting her believe he’s a huge player, I keep my mouth shut.
And maybe he is one, I don’t know. I thought he’d given all that up, but Brendan’s been collecting numbers like he’s in a contest against his former pre-Annie self. That’s how he’s dealing with his heartbreak. I keep expecting him to bring someone home, or stay out all night, but that hasn’t happened. I’ve been wondering if I should step in, and so far, have chosen to let him ride it out. He’s got to wake up at some point.
Nicole’s been paying close attention, for reasons not unknown to me. Since she arrived a few days ago, she’s been watching him charm anyone under sixty. At first I almost regretted wanting to drag him out of the house to get him walking and talking like himself again. But then I saw her clocking him and realized, Nicole’s a slow mover; she warned me. I don’t want to live three thousand miles away from her anymore, but she will need some persuading. Enter Brendan. She’s watching him, and wondering if she should leave me alone with him, a guy who’s got phone numbers bulging out of his fists. It’s been kind of hilarious, so I haven’t broken the news about Annie to her, that there’s a reason he’s gone off the deep end.
I give us a month before I’m calling the movers to get my stuff across the country. She’s just about to break. Give people the ability to give you what you want. That’s always the way to go.
“I won’t let him near you. You’re safe.” I pull her to me.
“Oh, I’m safe, am I?” she smiles, her gold eyes dancing.
Leaning down, I say, quietly, “As long as I’m around, you’ve never been safer.”
Her eyes soften. She wraps her arms around my neck and presses her body into me. “Why do I like you so much?”
“Because you’re smart,” I smile. She laughs and I catch her in a kiss, drinking her in.
“Alright, you guys. Enough. Fuck. Let’s taste some wine! This one’s empty.” He turns over his glass and a last little drop falls to the earth. Our guide looks at Brendan like he’s a classless bum, and I can’t argue with him.
Brendan passes us for the winery and I mumble to him, “Get ahold of yourself, B.”
He grumbles something incoherent and ignores me.
Nicole shoots me a sideways look and takes my hand as the guide hurries to catch up with us. “It’s time for the Barrel Tasting portion of our tour anyway.”
“Oh this is going to be good. This is why I picked this place,” I tell Nicole as we walk. The other guests are behind us a couple steps and I can hear them mumbling to each other about how they don’t like to be rushed. I turn around and smile. “Having a good time?”
The older woman smiles,