Season of Change(33)
“I didn’t ask. You don’t have to tell me.” That didn’t mean Christine wasn’t curious. She carefully backed out from beneath him.
He moved along the row quicker, talked faster. “When Evy found out we’d sold the app for millions, she had her lawyer request additional child support. I bargained for time with the girls and won.”
Of course he’d won. She couldn’t see Slade losing at anything he set his mind to. His intelligence and ability to wrap his head around the conceptual challenges of a winery had earned her respect.
“So you have summers with the girls.” She had to stop herself from brushing a stray leaf off his shoulder. A second glance revealed it wasn’t a stray leaf. She plucked a manufacturer’s sticker from his shirt.
He brushed a hand over the spot absently. “I won four weeks a year. In total. Evy chose to lump my time all at once. I’ve already spoken to my lawyer about revising the clause to something like a week every quarter.”
“Can you do that?”
The way he looked at her said he certainly could.
The way he looked at her said more about his other potential abilities.
Get a grip, girlfriend.
Christine needed a drink of water. Wouldn’t do to get heatstroke and make a pass at her boss. It didn’t help that he was turning out to have a very nice personality to complement his very nice looks. The buttoned-up shirt and tie mystery should have been a deal breaker. Instead, she was intrigued.
“I was hopeful that I could really connect with the girls this time, reestablish the father-daughter bond. Now I’m not so sure. Their silent treatment is killing me.”
“The best way to prove you love them is to be patient and keep trying.”
He stopped, pinning her with an intense stare. “What makes you say that?”
“I was a girl once.”
He laughed.
She felt the need to defend herself. “My dad was a vineyard manager. The only time we saw lots of him was during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons. In between he’d occasionally remember he had kids and shower us with guilt gifts.” It wasn’t until she was older that she realized the gifts didn’t make up for time with her dad.
“I spoiled the girls rotten at the mall, but they still didn’t interact with me any more than they have been. It’s hard to compete with Evy when she buys them everything.”
“Don’t compete.” She removed a twist tie from her pocket, but paused before using it. “They’d rather spend time with you. I know that was really all I wanted from my dad. When I was a preteen, I followed him as often as he’d let me.” By then she’d skipped another grade. In the vineyard, nobody cared how young she was or wanted to know how high her grades were. It was the only place she felt she fit in.
“You loved it.” Slade’s gaze connected with hers. “The same as you love what you do now.”
“Yes, but I don’t love the posturing and politics, or the decisions outside my control. Three times before this I’ve been hired to make great wine. Three times the rug has been pulled out from under me after my first few successes. In each case, someone—” she didn’t say who “—went behind my back and made changes to my wine. Do you know what it’s like to have someone you trust disappoint you like that?” She wiped at the sweat beneath the brim of her hat, juggling the feeling that she and Slade were kindred spirits against the feeling that she’d said too much. “I work long hours because I feel as if I can’t let up or let my guard down.”