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Jack approaches and reaches out, shaking hands with each one of the guys and greeting them with his usual flourish of, “Nice meet you, mate” and all the other accented over the top lingo he likes to drop.
Kangaroos, wombats, square poop, didgeridoo bullshit.
Feeling far too full of himself as he unloads his credentials and name-drops his dad to the guys, so I knock him down a few notches.
“Jack is here to fix the crusher. He is by no means in charge, so if you need anything or have any questions, as always, everything is directed to me.”
I give Jack a side eye and he’s smirking like he always does, totally unfazed by my comments.
Even worse, Oscar is looking up at him like he’s an absolute genius and I take Oscar by the hand, tugging him close to me. I shake my head and widen my eyes at him, but he just sticks out his tongue in response.
“Listen,” I whisper, bending down so I’m on his level. “You’re siding with the wrong person here. Remember who has a tub of Twizzlers in her pantry.”
Oscar laughs, throwing his arms around my waist before he runs out of the shed, disappearing into the vineyard.
It’s Tommy who pipes up first stating, “We’ve had tons of people here to fix that damn crusher. What makes you think this guy’s suddenly going to be able to?” He tosses his thumb in Jack’s direction and shoots him a look that lets me know he’s on my side.
Finally!
I give the guys the lowdown on why I believe Jack can fix it and on what needs to be done, letting each of them know their place and what I expect from them. We’ve never had to take on something of this magnitude and the last thing we need are too many chefs in the kitchen.
I put Tommy in charge because I have a shipment coming in and I need to be up front to collect that. I called Penny in early so she could help me check it in and get the shelves of the gift shop restocked. With the nice weather comes tourists, and we need to be prepared.
I’m about to walk out when I remember my composter.
“Hey Tommy,” I call and he trots over to where I’m standing.
“Yeah?”
“When you get a chance could you empty my composter? Dump it in the usual spots.”
“Yeah, no problem,” he says, his hand resting on my shoulder.
“Already done!” Jack shouts from the platform above the crusher. He lifts his chin toward us like the pompous ass that he is.
“What?” I practically shout back and suddenly Jack is standing next to me, his hand on my other shoulder mimicking Tommy’s stance.
“Yep, emptied it this morning. I noticed it after I left your place,” he replies winking at me, and I swear if I were a cartoon character steam would shooting from my ears.
“You’re deluded, because being invited to my house and sneaking into it are two different things.”
“Where’d you dump it?” Tommy asks, his tone clipped.
“Right where it’s supposed to be,” Jack bites back, his arms now folded across his chest. “Some things never change, right Lu?”
“You can say that again,” I mutter as I walk away, letting Jack and Tommy duke it out.
Several hours later and the shelves are restocked, the summer wine list has been updated and the tasting room is packed with people.
It’s nearing lunchtime and my stomach growls reminding me to eat. I’ve been up since six and totally forgot to eat breakfast. I had downed a couple of Tim Tams from the creeper pack Jack left, but it isn’t doing me much good right now.
I hear Penny laugh and I smile. She’s young, cute and chatty with an infectious laugh. It’s why I hired her to run my tasting room. People love her. They get drunk and buy things from her. It’s a win for everyone.
I look out the window of my office onto the patio and every table is full. People are drinking and eating, and it’s these kinds of days that make me grateful that I had the opportunity to take over this place when my parents retired.
I hear Penny laugh again, knowing she’s killing it out there, but it’s when I hear her say Jack’s name that I bolt out of my chair and hightail it down the hall and into the tasting room.
Stopping in the doorway, I find him behind the counter with Penny, encroaching on her personal space and yucking it up with the customers.
