The Beast of Napa

18 - Damages

"Thank you, Rose," Griffin said, sipping his iced tea with a long, slow sip. "I'll pay you back as soon as I'm able."

Rose smiled, enjoying the recognition while she still could.

"It's my pleasure," she said. She leaned forward to take her own iced tea from the patio table. "I couldn't very well sleep with a missing window. And I was afraid if we left it too long, Patrick might try to 'help' by gambling away the whole house."

Griffin snorted with a dark chuckle. "Such foresight, as always."

He took another drink from his glass, focusing his eyes on the vineyards in front of them.

It had been years since he and Rose sat on the porch together like this. It was something they did a lot in their childhood days; in the days when they drank lemonade and did school assignments from school textbooks that taught them that alcohol would make them go blind with a single sip. This resulted, of course, in plenty of drinking contests between herself, Nathaniel, and Patrick just to see who would go blind first.

Perhaps she had been the first to go blind... but not from alcohol.

The more she aged, however, the more she saw.

"You didn't tell me how bad it was," Rose scolded with a hint of regret. "Why did you hold back on me?"

He sighed. "It's not your responsibility to take care of me."

"No, but it's my wish to support you as a friend. Why do you refuse to rely on me? It hurts my pride, you know."

"You're a brilliant businesswoman, Rose," Griffin acknowledged. "But I need to take care of this myself."

"So you can take the glory for yourself?"

He rolled his tongue in his cheek, looking into his glass before taking another sip. Rose sighed, tapping her fingernail against her glass.

"Sometimes I wonder if owning this vineyard is in your best interest," she said.

Griffin gave her a wary eye. "Implying?"

"Nothing underhanded, I assure you. But ever since you took over this place, you've become... different."

She hadn't meant to pause so long before deciding her last word, but Griffin already picked up on the words she was trying not to say.

"The Beast of Napa, you mean," he corrected. He took another swallow of iced tea. "After all, I wouldn't have gotten the title if I hadn't kicked my own father out of his business."

Rose straightened her dress and squinted as she looked at the vineyards in front of them, but didn't say anything.

Griffin chuckled to himself. "The townsfolk love that kind of drama, don't they? Not paying attention to the fact that Father was going to sell this place anyways and leave me homeless."

"He wouldn't have left you homel–" Rose stopped as Griffin gave her a sour smile. Her shoulders slumped. "Well, Grandpa and I wouldn't have left you homeless, anyhow."

He didn't respond but sipped his tea instead.

The screen door squeaked shut, and Catriona walked onto the porch, stopping like a frightened doe when she caught sight of Rose and Griffin. Rose nodded in greeting, and Catriona returned it pleasantly, but only held a lingering cold glance with Griffin before hopping down the porch and walking towards the vineyards. Griffin's blank gaze didn't go unnoticed.

"Having a spat with everyone these days, aren't you, Nathaniel?"

"Seems so. If you want your chance, Rose, you'll need to schedule an appointment. It seems I'm in high demand."