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“We do, Ennis,” Donny says. “We just thought it would be best for you to hear it from Brock, someone you’ve met before.”
“You forget. I’ve met all of you before.” He turns to Maddie. “Except you, my dear.”
“True,” Donny says, “but we were just kids.”
Ennis clears his throat. “Thank you for telling me everything. It’s what I suspected, but it’s good to finally have closure after all these years.”
“May I ask you a question?” I say.
“Of course, my dear.”
I draw a breath. “Why didn’t you ever marry, Ennis? I’ve seen pictures of you. You were a handsome young man. You still are.”
It’s not even a lie. Even in his eighties, Ennis Ainsley is still brightly blue-eyed with a sculpted jawline.
“Bree…” Donny begins.
Ennis holds up a hand. “No, it’s all right. It’s a valid question, and I’ve had to answer it many times over the years. I don’t mind answering it again.”
Ennis takes a seat next to me, and he pats my hand. “I think I could’ve found love again if I’d tried. I was young—dashing, as we say over here. And I happened to walk into the cushy job of assistant winemaker at your brand-new winery. Your family is very generous, as you know, so I made very good money, and I lived on the ranch. But…” His gaze darkens, and he tips his chin down. “Life got difficult during those years. Your grandfather got into some dealings he probably shouldn’t have, and your dear grandmother… Well, I watched her spiral downward. None of us knew, at the time, what was wrong. How ill she truly was. She was my last link to Patty, so I watched over her.”
“Kind of like a guardian angel,” I say.
“Except I wasn’t dead.” He clears his throat again.
“Right. That’s not what I meant.”
“I know that, my dear.” Ennis stares at me, almost transfixed. “My, you do look just like Daphne.”
“Thank you,” I say. “I’ve seen pictures. She was very beautiful.”
“Oh, she was. Her hair was the same color as yours, and it was even longer. It was a different time then, and she wore it straight. It nearly reached her bottom. She had such deep and expressive brown eyes, just like yours.”
“Did you ever…”
He chuckles. “When I first met her, yes. But once she met your father, there was no one else for her. When Patty and I got together and I fell for her, I understood.” He rises, walks to the mantel, leaning on his cane, and gazes longingly at an old photo. Is it Patty? It’s in black and white, so I can’t tell. He returns. “So while I probably could have found love as a young man, I didn’t. I fell so hard for Patty, felt her loss so deeply, that I never wanted to.”
“So you feel it’s possible to meet the love of your life at such a young age?”
“Yes, of course. I wasn’t yet twenty when I met Patty.”
A feeling of warmth exudes through me.
“That’s so very sad,” Maddie says.
“It is,” I say. “To find love like that is a miracle, but you only had it for such a short time.”
Ennis nods. “That’s how I’ve chosen to look at it, my dear. A miracle. Looking at it any other way would just be too sad. Patty was such a bright light. I never believed that she left me. I never believed the story her parents told.”
“They were paid off,” Donny says.
Ennis nods, sighing softly. “Yes, I see that now. And frankly, I’m glad they at least had some kind of financial benefit. It certainly doesn’t take the place of the loss, but at least they didn’t have to worry about money anymore.”
Brock clears his throat then. “We should probably be going.”
“No.” Ennis turns to me with a twinkle in his eyes. “I’m fine. Really. I’m happy to answer your questions. And I get the feeling, young lady, that you have a reason for asking.”
He doesn’t know how right he is.
