Saison for Love (Brewing Love)

by Meg Benjamin

  Peaches shook her head. “I’m heading over there anyway to pick up some staples. I’m thinking chicken. Nobody gets offended by chicken.”

  “Nobody at my house.” At least nobody at her house currently. For all she knew, David might be on a gluten-free vegan diet. In which case, he was going to be hungry.

  She’d half hoped Liam might drop by for coffee that morning, but he was probably too busy for that. He had the brewery to tend to plus the night shift at the tavern. His chances of having any time for a break were slim.

  All the same, she wished she could see him. If only for a few minutes. Dinner with David loomed ahead of her. And Park City loomed ahead for them both.

  Carol slipped in at ten and took her place behind the deli counter without comment. The chain-mail gloves she’d ordered had arrived while she was at Brett’s, and Ruth had left them lying on the counter. Carol’s face lit up when she saw them.

  “Those are so cool. Can I run the slicer now?”

  Ruth frowned. She’d been thinking about this—a lot. “You can run the slicer when there’s an adult beside you. Me or Peaches or a waitress like Sue. You have to wear the gloves. And you have to show me that you know how to operate the slicer safely before you can even think of doing it on a regular basis. It’s a tool, kiddo, but it’s a dangerous tool. I have to know you’ll be okay.”

  Carol gave her a solemn look. “Yes, ma’am. I can do that. When should we start?”

  Ruth checked the dining room. She’d been hoping to get back to making some cheese before lunch since things were a little slow. But the fact that things were slow might mean this was the ideal time to show Carol how the slicer worked.

  The machine was a manual model, which was the only reason she’d let Carol near it. They spent twenty minutes going through the basics—setting the width of the slices, putting the meat and cheese on the platform, raising the guard. Particularly raising the guard.

  Carol watched intently. And when it was her turn to slice, she did it with exaggerated care, wearing her chain-mail gloves. Ruth didn’t kid herself that Carol would always be that careful, but at least she understood why she needed to be.

  “Okay, we’ll give this a try. But I’m serious about you wearing the gloves and about you having an adult around. Understand?”

  Carol nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll make sure I do it right. I promise.” She watched Ruth clean the machine, particularly the blade. “You probably don’t want me to do that, right?”

  “Absolutely right. This part is adults only. Now, you should get ready for lunch.” And Ruth should get ready for the cheese room, given that she hadn’t done much in terms of goat cheese today.

  Around five, the afternoon rush began to slack off as customers headed home with their packages of appetizers and desserts. Carol had run the slicer again, under Ruth’s careful supervision, and produced an acceptable package of salami for a long-time customer.

  Peaches emerged from the kitchen with a stock pot and hot pads. “This is supper. It’s chicken and rice, with some fresh vegetables. Tasty but modest. Shouldn’t cause any talk at all.”

  Ruth couldn’t imagine David talking about food, but she supposed he could have changed since she’d known him last. “Thanks, it smells great. Are you all done in the kitchen?”

  Peaches nodded. “Muffin batter in the refrigerator and cinnamon roll dough all ready to go on the counter. I’m heading home. See you tomorrow.”

  “See you.” Ruth positioned the stock pot in a cardboard box, surrounded by towels to keep the chicken warm until they got home.

  Carol frowned. “Is that our supper?”

  “It is. Now come on, we need to get moving. Your father’s going to get there around six.”

  Carol sighed. “Great.”

  Ruth had managed to straighten up the house before Liam had come over the night before, and Carol had spent part of the evening and a lot of the morning cleaning her room. She placed Peaches’s stockpot in the oven and pulled out a tray of cheese and crackers she’d put together that morning. Liam had left an extra bottle of Bec’s wheat beer, but she had a feeling David would be happier with wine. Fortunately she had a middle-of-the-road red that would probably be okay.

  Carol bit her lip. “Do I look all right? Do I need to put on something different?”

  Ruth took a quick survey. Jeans and a clean T-shirt. Pretty much what Carol wore every day. David should probably see what his daughter looked like under normal circumstances. “No, what you have on is fine. Run a brush through your hair, though.”

  Carol hurried up the stairs, and Ruth took the time to do a quick check in the bathroom mirror. She undoubtedly didn’t measure up to the women in Malibu, but by Antero standards, she looked good. Or anyway, she looked passable.

  And who the hell cared whether she looked good or not? It wasn’t like she was trying to attract David’s interest. This evening wasn’t her idea, after all.

  The doorbell rang promptly at six. Please just let us get through this with only minor damages. Please let it be routine. It wouldn’t be, but she could hope.

  She opened the door to find David on the front porch, one eyebrow raised as he gave the house a critical appraisal.

  “Hi,” she said. “Come on in.”

  He followed her into the hall, still glancing around. “How long have you had this place?”

  “Around ten years. I rented it from my uncle Mark and then bought it when he didn’t want to be a landlord anymore.”

  She waited for him to say something else, but he stayed quiet. She should probably be grateful for that, given the kind of snarky comments he used to make about Antero. But that had been when they were breaking up. Maybe he’d mellowed since then.

  “You have any heating problems? Looks like you’ve got some chinks around the windows.”

  Or not.

  “We’re fine.” She gestured toward the kitchen table. “Have some cheese. You can open the wine. I’ll check on Carol.”

  Carol was staring at herself in the mirror, pulling on one errant lock of hair. She glanced up when Ruth stepped inside her room. “I can’t make it lie down like it’s supposed to.” She bit her lip, her eyes widening.

  Ruth’s throat tightened suddenly. “It’s all right. It’s fine. You look great.”

  Carol swallowed. “He’s here, isn’t he? I heard the doorbell.”

  Ruth smoothed her daughter’s hair, trying for a smile. “He’s here. Come on down and have some cheese. You can talk while I get dinner ready.”

  Carol glanced toward the door, her eyes still wide. “Okay.”

  Ruth put an arm around her shoulders. “Come on down with me. Let’s get this show on the road.”

  She guided Carol down the hall, as much for herself as for Carol. Maybe Carol needed an arm around her shoulders, but so did Ruth right then.

  David stood in the hall as they came down the stairs, looking up at them. She tried to read his expression, but she wasn’t sure what she was seeing. Some resentment, which she guessed was directed at her, but something else too, something like awe.

  This was his pre-teen daughter. Whom he hadn’t seen for three or four years.

  Ruth stopped when they reached the foot of the stairs. “Here’s Carol, all ready for dinner.” She knew she sounded like an idiot, but she couldn’t think of anything to say that sounded any smarter.

  David nodded. “Hi, kid. How’s it going?”

  “Hi, Dad.” Carol stared up at him, chewing on her lower lip. Ruth didn’t think she’d ever seen her daughter looking that shy before. Her cheeks flushed pink. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  David gave her a grin that seemed uncalculated for once. “I’m glad I’m here, too.”

  Hug her. Put your arm around her. Do something, you jerk. But David just stood there smiling.

  Ruth took a breath to calm down. “Let’s go into the living room where we can talk. Carol, do you want a soda?” Normally she tried to limit the amount of junk Carol ate, but t
his was a special case.

  Carol nodded, then headed for the living room. Ruth turned toward David. “Did you get the wine open?”

  “Yeah. It’s in the kitchen.”

  “Great. I’ll bring everything into the living room.” Her tone still sounded abnormally perky even to her, but it was the best she could do.

  She found a tray for the glasses of wine and the cheese plate, along with Carol’s soda. David was standing propped in the doorway, listening to Carol, who was giving him a modified version of her goat-milking narrative.

  Ruth put the tray on the coffee table. “Here we are. Have a seat.”

  Carol glanced up. “I was just telling Dad about the farm, and how cool it was.”

  “Sounds like it,” David said. His smile looked a little too smooth to be real, but then, he’d once been an actor.

  Carol took a breath, probably ready to return to the goat herd, but David beat her to it. “What else are you up to these days? What’s your favorite subject in school?”

  Carol thought for a moment, then shrugged. “Math and science.”

  “Oh. That’s…good.” David looked slightly flummoxed. He’d probably expected something “girlier.”

  Ruth took pity on him, although she wasn’t sure why. Maybe she just hated seeing anybody suffer. “Tell your father about your science fair project.”

  Carol launched enthusiastically into a description of the project she’d done in partnership with a couple of her friends that had involved measuring and identifying bacteria found on the school’s PE equipment.

  The equipment had been thoroughly cleaned after the fair was over.

  David was at least not critical, although he still seemed a little bemused. “L.A.’s got a great natural history museum. And you could visit the La Brea Tar Pits.”

  Carol looked entranced, but Ruth noticed he’d said “you could visit,” rather than “we could visit.” Probably still planning on consigning Carol to his PA.

  “Plus, there’s shopping,” he added quickly. “You could probably pick up a whole new wardrobe in Malibu.”

  Carol gave him a sort of uncertain smile. The idea of buying clothes as an activity probably wasn’t doing much for her.

  “Carol’s doing an accelerated computer science course next year. Her school has a great STEM program. They’ve done an excellent job developing some new material.” Ruth gave him a bland smile.

  David frowned. “STEM?”

  “Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It’s a national program to encourage kids to get interested in math and science. Her school is doing a good job with it.” She gave David a level look. Your daughter’s a brainiac. Live with it.

  David gave her another of his smirks, as if he were awarding her points for comebacks.

  Sitting like that for another half hour didn’t appeal to her. “What project are you working on now, David?”

  David was perfectly happy to talk about the shows he was working on, including the teenage vampire series that had pushed him to the top of the heap, at least in Hollywood.

  “I could get you an autographed picture of Todd Winbush,” he finished, turning back to Carol again. “He’s a great guy.”

  Carol blinked. “Who’s Todd Winbush?”

  David looked like he couldn’t decide whether to be confused or outraged. “He’s the star of Crimson. He was on the cover of Us a couple of weeks ago.”

  Carol shrugged. “I don’t watch that show. Mom won’t let me.”

  Actually, Carol had never been interested in watching the show, but she was right about Ruth not letting her. Nude millennial vampires who had a lot of sex were not her idea of appropriate subject matter for a twelve-year-old.

  David turned toward her, frowning. “Why?”

  “Because it’s for adults and mature teens. Carol’s too young to watch it now.” Which should be obvious, and probably was. Unless David wanted to start a fight over it.

  He seemed to be considering that idea, but then he shrugged. “It’s all on Netflix when she’s old enough to watch.” He turned back to Carol again. “And when you do, remember—that offer about Todd Winbush stands. I can even introduce you to him.”

  “Thank you,” Carol said politely.

  Ruth pushed herself to her feet. “Let’s have dinner.”

  Peaches’s chicken and rice was just what she’d promised—tasty and unobtrusive. David complimented Ruth on her cooking.

  “It’s not mine. I had the cook at the deli make it for me.”

  “The tasty little blonde? Sweet.” David’s grin made her grit her teeth.

  Carol blinked at him. “Why do you think Peaches is tasty?”

  David’s grin faded slightly. “I didn’t mean literally, Munchkin. She’s just…sweet.”

  Carol nodded, although she still looked faintly confused. “She’s a very nice person.”

  The rest of the dinner conversation went in fits and starts. David knew a lot about pop culture, but Carol didn’t, unless it was something she was interested in. After working his way through movies and television, he began to sound frustrated and Carol began to look slightly desperate. Finally, he hit upon video games, which produced a spirited and, as far as Ruth was concerned, well-nigh incomprehensible conversation.

  “What kind of system do you have?” he asked finally.

  Carol sighed. This was a sore point. “PlayStation 3 Superslim. What do you have?”

  “Xbox One S. I picked it up as soon as it was available.” David gave her a slightly superior smile. “I’ve been on a PlayStation, but I like Xbox better.”

  “Mine’s used. Our next door neighbor sold it to Mom when he got a new one.” Carol wasn’t exactly scowling, but her expression was definitely glum.

  Ruth gritted her teeth. She knew what was coming. She just didn’t know exactly what to do about it.

  “We can take care of that,” David said smoothly. “Would you rather have a new PlayStation or an Xbox?”

  Carol stared at him blankly. For one of the few times in her life, she didn’t seem to know what to say. She glanced at Ruth.

  “Carol’s been saving to buy her own new system,” she said tightly. “She’s been banking her pay from the deli. Anybody want dessert?”

  She doubted either of them were fooled by that ploy, but she didn’t care. She was too annoyed to eat much of Peaches’s cheesecake, which was a shame, since it was really tasty.

  Carol regarded her with a mixture of longing and resentment, wanting to be on her mother’s side, but also wanting a new Xbox.

  Ruth managed to keep her expression bland, although her muscles ached with the urge to glower. Carol was over halfway to her goal amount. It was the first big purchase she’d saved for, and Ruth had been encouraging her to see it through.

  Carol finished her cheesecake in record time. She turned an artificially bright smile on her father. “Do you want to play Minecraft?”

  “Sorry, Munchkin. I’ve got an important call I have to take back at my hotel. Maybe next time.”

  David said his goodbyes in the hallway, giving Carol a quick peck on the cheek. Ruth followed him out the front door to the porch, closing the door behind her. “Please don’t buy Carol a new game system.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Why not? It’s no big deal.”

  “It is a big deal. To her. And she’s earning the money to buy one on her own. She’s been saving for months now. ”

  “So? She can use the money for something else. Clothes or something.”

  Oh, fuck you. “She’s got clothes. She’s learning how to save her money for something she wants. Please don’t screw that up.”

  “I’m not going to screw anything up, but I’m going to give her a gift. Don’t make such a big thing out of it, Ruth.”

  “Couldn’t you give her some games or something? Does it have to be the whole system?”

  David gave her one of those lazy smiles that had once driven her to distraction. The ones that told her he was going
to do what he pleased, and to hell with what she wanted. “She’s my daughter. I want to give her this. I guess you can play wicked mommy and lock it up if you want to after I’m gone, but I wouldn’t recommend it. She’s liable to think you’re just being a bitch for the hell of it. Just like the good ol’ days.”

  He turned on his heel and headed down the front steps without looking back. Ruth stood still, taking deep breaths to calm herself. Not that deep breaths alone were likely to do that. “Unbelievable,” she muttered. “Un-fucking-believable.” After another moment, she headed back inside.

  Footsteps sounded on the stairs, and she closed her eyes. She didn’t want to deal with Carol just then.

  “Did he leave? Is he going to come back?”

  “Probably.” Ruth sighed. He’d come back. He had to give his daughter her gaming system, his “fuck you, Ruth” present.

  “What about…” Carol paused, maybe sensing that this wasn’t the best time to talk about the damned Xbox.

  “We didn’t reach any agreement about the game system. It’s still up in the air.”

  Carol’s eyes narrowed, but she wisely didn’t pursue it. “And the trip?”

  Ruth frowned. “What trip?”

  “The trip to California. With Dad. You said you’d discuss it.” Carol was looking more and more annoyed.

  Ruth shook her head. “We didn’t talk about it.”

  Carol put her hands on her hips, thrusting out her lower lip. “You said you would. You promised. I want to go. I want to go back with him when he leaves.”

  “That’s too soon,” Ruth said automatically. “We need time to plan.”

  “No we don’t. We don’t need to plan anything. All I need is a plane ticket, and then I can go with him. I wouldn’t even be flying by myself.”

  And when you get there, he’ll forget he brought you along. “We need to talk about how long you’ll stay and what you’ll be doing. I need to know what your father’s plans are.” I need to know your father actually has some plans, besides turning you over to his PA while he goes clubbing.

  “Then you could call him,” Carol said desperately. “You could call him right now and work it out. Suppose he needs to go now? I should be ready.”