The Vineyard at Painted Moon

by Susan Mallery

  “Exactly. Sample away. Now, about the rest of your pregnancy.” Dr. Brighton looked at her chart. “You’re healthy. Your last bloodwork was excellent. Still, you’re thirty-eight and this is a first pregnancy, so I’ll want to watch you a little more closely until we see how things shake out. Do you have a personal support system?”

  “I have friends.”

  “The baby’s father?”

  Mackenzie hesitated. “My husband. We’re getting a divorce.”

  “How does he feel about the baby?”

  “I haven’t told him yet. I’m doing that tomorrow. I wanted to see you first.”

  “Pregnancy is a perfectly natural thing for a woman to experience, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Every system in your body will be affected. You’ll be tired more, you’ll have mood swings. At times your body is going to feel like an alien teenage creature, doing things out of spite.” She smiled. “You need to eat right, get plenty of sleep and make sure the people around you are taking care of you. How does that sound?”

  “Daunting, but doable.”

  At least she hoped it would be. Mackenzie knew she could count on Stephanie, for sure, and Four. She didn’t know about Rhys—she hoped he would be happy and there for her, but with the divorce and all, she couldn’t be sure. She also had Bruno. Something in her gut said he would be someone she could depend on. As for the rest of her world, she had no idea.

  Dr. Brighton passed her several brochures. “Some reading material to get you started. You’ll have to make some changes in your diet. Healthy eating is key. Lots of protein, fruits and vegetables. There’s a list of foods to avoid.”

  Mackenzie took all the offered papers, thanked the doctor, then went and sat in her Jeep. Except for her head spinning, she didn’t feel any differently than she had a week ago. So far she wasn’t extra tired or experiencing morning sickness. But she would have to make changes to her routine. She was also going to have to start letting people know she was pregnant. She had a feeling she knew what Stephanie and Four were going to say. Barbara was going to have a fit, but the one reaction she couldn’t anticipate was that of the man who no longer wanted to be married to her.

  * * *

  Stephanie had gone all out for her lunch date with Mackenzie. Sliced chicken breast, bacon and extra avocado. Easy on the mayo. A big bag of barbecue potato chips for them to share and, not one, not two, but four dark nut-filled brownies. In an effort to keep the calorie count down, she’d passed on the soda and had instead bought them each a bottle of water. Her meal in hand, she walked past several stores, a couple of tasting rooms, then turned at the corner and entered the small office building where Mackenzie and Bruno now worked.

  She’d texted the previous evening, asking if they could hang out for lunch. With Bruno out of town, Mackenzie had suggested their office and Stephanie had offered to bring lunch. There was much to discuss.

  Stephanie followed the suite numbers to the correct door, then knocked. Mackenzie let her in, smiling broadly as she pulled her close.

  “I’ve missed you,” Mackenzie said, taking the big lunch bag from her and setting it on a desk, then hugging her again. “It’s been forever. I don’t get home until late and I’m gone early and, wow, you look great.”

  Stephanie relaxed into the familiar embrace, thinking this was exactly what she needed in her life. More Mackenzie time.

  As she drew back, she wrinkled her nose. “We’ve both been bad friends. We’re letting circumstances get in the way of us hanging out. We’re going to have to work harder to stay connected.”

  Mackenzie nodded. “I totally agree. Let’s start texting every day. Just quick check-in texts, so we’re in touch. And we’ll have to plan more times to get together. It’s not going to happen organically anymore. I really love you and I’ve missed you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  They smiled at each other. Stephanie felt a little of her worry fade away. She closed the door behind her, then took in the plain office. There were two desks that faced each other, a small round conference table, a couple of filing cabinets, some shelving and a door that led to what Stephanie would guess was a restroom.

  “I would have thought this would be more fancy,” she teased.

  Mackenzie laughed. “We’re saving the money for the winery. Actually this place works great. It’s quiet and it’s on the side of town closest to Painted Moon.”

  Stephanie watched as her friend set out the lunch. Mackenzie looked good. Maybe a little thinner, but she seemed fairly rested and there was a bounce to her actions that hadn’t been there before.

  “You’re happy to be in business with Bruno?” she asked, taking a seat at the conference table.

  “I am. He’s great. Very knowledgeable and understanding. He’s also calm. There’s no screaming, no accusations.”

  “So the opposite of my mother.”

  Mackenzie grinned. “Yeah, there is that. I’ll admit, I like it.”

  She passed Stephanie a sandwich and gave her one of the waters, then sat down. Stephanie opened the bag of chips and placed it between them.

  “I keep thinking about your working there,” Mackenzie added. “I feel guilty. I know she’s making your life miserable, punishing you for what I did.”

  Stephanie opened her water. “Yeah, well, that’s less of a problem. I quit my job.”

  Mackenzie paused with a sandwich partway to her mouth. Her eyes widened as she returned the food to the wrapper.

  “You what?”

  “Quit.” Stephanie explained about helping Barbara with the wedding and how things had spiraled out of control.

  “I felt ridiculous,” she admitted. “She basically said my hard work didn’t matter.” She shook her head. “No. That’s not right. I didn’t matter. It was humiliating but ultimately freeing. Why was I torturing myself?”

  “You quit?”

  Stephanie laughed. “You have to stop saying that. Yes, it’s done.”

  “I feel awful. It’s all my fault.”

  “See, you always assume you have power that you don’t have. I made the decision on my own.”

  “She wouldn’t have been so difficult if I’d stayed.”

  “You’re right and then I would have been stuck there another ten years, hating what I was doing and wishing I could be strong enough to leave. I finally did it. Maybe not in the most mature, thoughtful way possible, but it’s done and I say yay me.”

  Mackenzie held up her water. “Yay you! If you’re happy, I’m happy. What are you going to do about a job? Do you have to work?”

  “If we’re going to keep eating, then yes. Right now I’m considering my options. Four, like you, told me I have to get over the whole guilt thing about working for another winery. I’ve been putting together some ideas for marketing and retail. Once I do that, I’ll set up some appointments.”

  Which sounded way more together than it was, but she was moving forward. She’d found several old campaigns she’d done for the retail space and had added those to her portfolio. After a couple of years of just phoning it in, she felt good being creative again.

  “You sure you’re all right?” Mackenzie asked.

  “I have my dark moments, but I ignore them and do the work. I’m giving myself a few weeks to get a plan finalized. By then Carson will be home from camp and both kids will be ready to go back to school.”

  “You don’t want to apply during harvest,” Mackenzie told her. “Even though the marketing people and retail staff aren’t part of it, there’s still an air of frantic energy. They might not be able to give you the attention you need.”

  Stephanie knew that was true, but she wasn’t waiting until mid-to-late October to start looking for a job.

  “I’ll make it work,” she said. “So how’s the sale coming?”

  “Good. Fast.” Mackenzie pressed a hand to her c
hest. “Some days I can barely catch my breath. I’m so grateful Bruno’s handling all that. I just have to deal with the wines and plan for harvest.”

  “You love harvest.”

  “I do. It’s the promise of what the wine is going to be. I just...” She drew in a breath. “I’m going to say something and you’re going to react, but I need you to promise you won’t say anything to anyone before I talk to Rhys. Really promise. I just have to figure—”

  Stephanie threw a chip at her. “Stop stalling. Tell me!”

  Stephanie half expected her friend to say she’d met someone or maybe kissed hunky Bruno, but instead Mackenzie looked at her and said, “I’m pregnant.”

  Stephanie heard the words clearly, but at first she had no idea what they meant. “Pregnant as in—” She stood up. “Holy crap! You’re pregnant!”

  She danced around the table and pulled Mackenzie to her feet, then hugged her. “You’re having a baby? When did this happen? You had sex with someone? Who? When?”

  There had to be a guy, because according to Rhys, he and Mackenzie hadn’t done the deed in forever. So why hadn’t she mentioned whoever it was she was sleeping with?

  “It’s Rhys,” Mackenzie said with a shrug when they both settled back in their chairs.

  “But I thought, I mean, you’re getting a divorce. Are you still sleeping together?”

  “We weren’t. We’re not now. It was a onetime thing.” Mackenzie poked at her sandwich. “Actually that was the night we realized we were done. It was so sad.”

  Stephanie suddenly remembered Rhys telling her the same thing.

  “As for birth control,” Mackenzie continued, “I used to have an IUD, but I got it taken out.”

  “You did. A couple of summers ago. You were bleeding a lot. You never got it put back?”

  Mackenzie shook her head. “No. We weren’t exactly, you know, close. There didn’t seem to be any reason, then I didn’t think about it.” She looked at Stephanie. “Just as an FYI, one time is all it takes.”

  “You’re going to have a baby.”

  “I know. I’m scared and nervous and kind of excited, too. Not that I know what I’m doing.”

  That was a lot to take in, Stephanie thought. “Wow. Go you. Oh, wait. What about Bruno?”

  “He knows and he says he’s fine with it.” She smiled. “He told me I’m going to be the kind of mom who straps on the baby and heads out into the fields.”

  “He’s not wrong.” Stephanie reached for her sandwich. “My head is spinning.”

  “Mine, too.”

  “Whatever you need, I’m here. I can go with you to appointments and be your labor coach. Four will want to help, especially with setting up the baby’s room. You’re not alone.” She grinned. “I still have that spare room if you want to come live with me.”

  “Thanks, but I’m holding out for the farmhouse at Painted Moon.”

  “That will be a quieter option.” Stephanie took a bite of her sandwich. “Pregnant. That’s huge. Have you seen the doctor? There are things you can’t eat and—” She stared at her friend. “You can’t drink! You drink for a living.”

  “It’s going to be a challenge.” Mackenzie explained what the doctor had said.

  “I’ve never liked the spitting,” Stephanie admitted. “I get why it has to be done, but it’s gross.”

  “You get used to it. I’m going to have to taste barrels and I’ll be drinking tons of water before I do that. It’s scary. I don’t want to hurt the baby, but I still have a job.”

  An unexpected complication, Stephanie thought. “Let me know when you tell Rhys so I can be on the lookout for any behavior changes.” She stared at her. “My mom. She’s going to find out eventually. Oh, no! You’re having Rhys’s baby, so he or she will be part of the inheritance.” Stephanie started to laugh.

  “I’ve thought about that, too. She’s going to freak and possibly firebomb my car.”

  “I think the firebomb is unlikely but she’s going to lose it. I’m petty enough to be excited about that. Who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor?”

  Mackenzie held up her water. “Not me.”

  Stephanie bumped her bottle with her own. “Here’s to beautiful babies and new jobs. May we always surprise each other in good ways.”

  “To my best friend.”

  “And to mine.”

  twenty-one

  Barbara had no qualms about walking into her son’s house in the middle of the day. If they wanted to keep people out, they should lock the doors. But of course they didn’t. Everyone was forever running back and forth between the homes, putting up cookie flags and playing ridiculous games with the children.

  Or at least they had been, she thought as she paused in the foyer. Lately there had been less of that. Probably because Mackenzie was never here anymore.

  But there had been a time, she thought. When Mackenzie had arranged multigenerational hide-and-seek, or when she and Rhys had built a firepit and they’d stayed up past midnight to watch a meteor shower. Everyone had brought blankets and pillows and they’d all sprawled out together.

  When had evenings like that stopped happening, Barbara wondered as she wandered through the downstairs of the house. When had Mackenzie and Rhys pulled back, retreating to their house rather than joining in? She supposed the change had been gradual enough that no one had noticed—not even them, she would guess.

  She ignored Rhys’s office, instead stepping into her daughter-in-law’s. The colors were brighter, the desk smaller. There were photographs on the wall. A few of the wedding, some of the sisters, one of Mackenzie and Barbara, their arms wrapped around each other.

  Barbara lingered over that one. Ten years ago, maybe twelve. They’d just finished harvest. They were dirty and exhausted, but happy. They’d both known it was going to be their best year yet and it had been.

  She sat in front of the desk and began opening drawers. She wasn’t looking for anything in particular. She shuffled through office supplies and an old bottle of aspirin. There was a half roll of mints and some hair ties. Nothing else—nothing significant.

  She returned to the hallway and ran her hands along a table she and Mackenzie had bought on one of their shopping trips to Seattle. They’d also picked out the dining room set together, and the dishes.

  She went upstairs and turned toward the master. The bedroom set was one that Barbara and James had inherited from his grandparents. A beautiful antique that she’d had refinished for the newlyweds. She wondered when the young couple had stopped being happy.

  In the bathroom she found no trace of her son, nor did he have anything in the closet. There were only Mackenzie’s clothes, neatly sorted. The shirts and jeans she wore for work were folded on a shelf. Her cocktail dresses were at one end, with more casual dresses next to them.

  Barbara returned to the bedroom where she opened dresser drawers, not sure what she was looking for, then turned her attention to the jewelry box on the dresser.

  In the top drawer sat the diamond stud earrings Mackenzie wore when she got dressed up. She wasn’t really a jewelry type of person, so she had only a few things. Gold hoops, a pair of ridiculous hippo earrings that Catherine had made for her. In the bottom drawer of the jewelry box, sitting alone, was her wedding set.

  Barbara picked up the rings and put them in the palm of her hand. Rhys had asked her advice about the rings. He’d wanted to pick out something that Mackenzie would like.

  “Simple but elegant,” she’d advised him. “A round solitaire and a plain, platinum band.”

  He hadn’t been sure, but in the end he’d listened, and Mackenzie had been thrilled with his choices. She rarely wore the engagement ring, but she used to wear the wedding band. When had she stopped?

  Barbara put them back and closed the drawer, then looked around the room. She still had no idea what she was lookin
g for, but it wasn’t here. Not anymore. Everything she’d hoped for Rhys and Mackenzie had been lost or possibly destroyed. The broken pieces could never be made whole. There was nothing to do but pretend it didn’t matter and keep moving forward.

  She walked out of the bedroom, down the stairs and into the sunlight, blinking in the brightness of the early afternoon. Then she drove to the office and returned to her desk. At least there she controlled her world and those in it.

  * * *

  Mackenzie hesitated just inside the kitchen. She’d texted Rhys and asked him to meet her late Saturday afternoon, after work and before heading out for the evening.

  She’d gone over what she was going to say a thousand times in her head but still found herself unsure of how much to get into when it came to things like custody and a joint-parenting plan. There was a fluttering in the pit of her stomach that had nothing to do with her pregnancy and everything to do with nerves.

  She told herself she would be fine. This was Rhys. She knew him, loved him, had married him. He wasn’t going to be mad or blame her. He might not be thrilled, but he was a rational human being. He would listen, deal and together they would come up with a plan.

  They still lived in the same house, ate the food left by the family chef. He took her calls, answered her texts. In truth, very little about their lives together had changed. A reality that made her sad down to her bones.

  When had that happened? When had they started living separate lives and why hadn’t she noticed it happening? She supposed the changes had been small until they added up to something that mattered. Something that had ultimately broken their marriage.

  “Why are you lurking?”

  The teasing question came from behind her. She turned and saw Rhys walking toward her. She faked a smile.

  “I was lost in thought.”

  “I don’t know. It looked like a lurk to me.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the island. “How are you? I haven’t seen you in days. Bruno keeping you busy?”