you later.”
“Wait!” Stephanie called, but it was too late. Her daughter was gone and she was left alone with her half-truths and regrets.
Ugh. Not the best frame of mind to go deal with her mother, she thought as she walked across the courtyard and into her mother’s house.
Of the four homes clustered together, Barbara’s was the most traditional. A two-story foyer opened into a formal living room. The dining room had a long table that could seat twenty when all the leaves were put in. High ceilings were decorated with elegant molding, and expensive rugs covered hardwood floors.
Stephanie walked into the family room at the rear of the house. Large sofas formed a U shape in front of a huge stone fireplace. There was no television—that was upstairs, in the media room. One did not visit Barbara Barcellona to be distracted by a cartoon or a football game.
She saw her mother and Lori already seated on one of the sofas.
“Hey, Mom,” Stephanie said as she approached.
“You’re here. Good.” Her mother waved a crystal highball glass. “What would you like to drink?”
Stephanie eyed the liquid already in her mother’s glass and had a bad feeling it was tequila. Wine was Barbara’s usual drink, but when life got tough, she opted for the serious liquor and things generally went downhill from there.
Stephanie saw Lori had a glass of white wine in front of her. “I’ll have what Lori’s having.”
She retreated to the kitchen and found an open bottle of chardonnay in the refrigerator. She poured herself a glass. She chugged half of it, then refilled it before putting the bottle back. She’d just settled across from her mother when Four walked in.
“Tell me you didn’t start without me,” Four said cheerfully. “I hate to miss anything.”
Stephanie held in a groan. She’d texted Four earlier to warn her that Mackenzie had told Barbara she was leaving and had then been fired, so she couldn’t say her sister didn’t know she was stepping into a minefield. But that was Four’s way—she often sailed unafraid into troubled waters.
“I can’t believe you don’t know what happened today,” her mother snapped. “Stop acting so ridiculously happy and get yourself a drink.”
“No thanks.” Four sat next to Stephanie and tucked her feet under her. “I take it from your tone that you’re upset about Mackenzie.”
Barbara glared at her. “Why did I ever think you had a brain?”
“I must have a brain. I’m alive and fully functional. My nervous system and brain seem intact.”
Stephanie couldn’t decide if Four was the bravest person she knew or the dumbest.
“Besides,” Four continued with a winning smile, “it’s not a surprise that Mackenzie would want to leave. This was never her dream. She has to find where she’ll be happy.”
“She should be happy here,” Barbara said, her tone a low growl. “I gave her everything and she betrayed us.”
“She did,” Lori echoed.
“Not everything,” Stephanie said before she could stop herself. “She wanted to be a part of the winery and you wouldn’t let that happen.”
Her mother turned her cold, angry gaze on her. “You do realize how ridiculous you sound.”
“Actually, I’m making sense. Everyone deserves to feel they belong to something. She wanted to be more than an employee. You made sure that wouldn’t happen and now she’s leaving. Do you think that makes any of us happy? She’s my best friend, Mom. I see her all the time. We’re in and out of each other’s houses. We work in the same building and now all that is going to change. She was good for Bel Après and she was good for our family.”
Four reached across the cushions and took Stephanie’s hand in hers.
Barbara finished her tequila. After holding the glass out to Lori for a refill, she slid to the edge of the sofa, her gaze intense.
“You take that back.”
“Take what back? It’s the truth. She was devoted to you and the wines, she’s a wonderful friend, and she loves us all.”
“Not enough to stay.”
“I go back to my original premise. What is she supposed to stay for? A paycheck? She can get that anywhere.”
Lori got up and poured more tequila and handed the glass to her mother.
“She’s a terrible person,” Lori said. “I hate her. I always knew she was going to be trouble.”
Stephanie rolled her eyes. “That is so much crap. You’ve always resented that Mom liked her best. There’s a difference.”
“Did not.”
Four squeezed Stephanie’s fingers, as if reminding her what was important.
“Barbara, what did you want to tell us?”