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“Ithink I burnt our steaks!” I yelled back at Helen as I ran to the grill.
Iopened it to a plume of black smoke and a small fire that burned atop our now dry and inedible meal. I waved the smoke out of the way and stared in defeat at the black pieces of meat before me.
Suddenly, Helen burst out laughing. I looked over to find her laying on the blanket, tears in her eyes. I couldn’t help but chuckle too. Her laugh was infectious. It reverberated through my orchard in loud echoes.
“Sorry about dinner,” I finally said to her when the laughing fit was through. “We could order pizza.”
“Have you ever tried ordering pizza in these hills? I did when I first got here and it took the delivery man two hours to find me.”
“Good point. Any other suggestions?”
“We could go into town. Ooh!” Helen’s face lit up. “I bet I can get us in at Beverly’s. It’s my favorite restaurant in San Francisco!”
Helen made a few calls as I disposed of our charred meal. I tried to salvage a few bites for Samson, so it wouldn’t all go to waste, but he wouldn’t come anywhere near them.
“Two for Beverly’s? Under Helen Washington. I’m kind of in a bind. Could you seat us in about an hour? Really? Great! See you then!”
“Beverly’s, huh?”
“Have you ever been there?”
“Can’t say I have.”
“Well, you’ve introduced me to your side of the tracks. Now it’s my turn!”
Helen looked ecstatic to be heading into town. My stomach churned a bit. Of course she’d be excited to live it up in the city. That was her life just a few weeks ago. As slowly as these hills seemed to be growing on her, she still belonged there. The thought slightly upset me, but I was also excited to get a glimpse into Helen’s life as well.
We drove the hour and fifteen into town, discussing Dudley’s mysterious firing more. Helen told me a bit about her publishing job in San Francisco and how she was desperately trying to become a lead editor. We pulled into a busy parking lot and were seated at a low top indoors. Helen ordered a salad and I got the ribs. As we waited for our food, she asked me to tell her about my father.
“He was a hardworking man. My mom died when I was young, so it was just him and I for most of my childhood. I saw firsthand what it meant to be passionate about something through the way he handled TruFruit. It was inspiring.”
“He sounds impressive.”
“Don’t get me wrong. He had his moments. He pushed me pretty hard, but it’s what made me the man I am today. I’d never have the success I do with TruFruit if it weren’t for him pushing me.”
“Did you ever consider doing something else?”
“Honestly, no. My dad and I spent so much time in the apple orchard, testing and tasting. I’ve always felt drawn to the family business. How about you?” I asked her.
“Iam quite the opposite. I have never been drawn to Washington Industries. From the get go, it was about money and status, not passion. For a short time, I thought maybe I’d work for them, writing policy memos or shareholder newsletters, but it just didn’t feel right.”
“Not your style of writing?”
“No, definitely not. And not my style of running a business either. Let’s just say, they weren’t exactly by the books.”
“Ididn’t know you wrote.”
Helen’s cheeks turned pink.
“Um, yeah. Well, not much, but I’d like to. The publishing job was supposed to be my in, but it ended up just distracting me from what I actually wanted to be doing.”
Before I could prod further, I saw Helen’s face morph into something that mimicked horror. She looked towards the front door of Beverly’s with wide eyes and clenched fists. Her pupils flickered to me, then to the back of the restaurant and then back to the front door.
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s, it’s my ex.”
Iwatched as a tall, slender man walked in. He had blonde hair and was still wearing his sunglasses even though he was now indoors. He greeted the host with a smile, revealing the whitest teeth I had ever seen, practically sparkling. I looked back at Helen, remembering what she had said about his bad temper, but her expression didn’t look like she was just resurfacing memories of a few bad arguments. She looked terrified.
