3 Savor (15 page)

Sally was biting her lip to keep
from laughing, but her eyes were nearly popping out of her head from the
pressure. Billie glared her way, but as soon as the door closed behind them she
heard Sally and Loren explode into gales of laughter.

Sabrina followed her down the hall
to her office and tugged her jacket off. She hung it on the coat hook behind
the door. “Your office looks so professional, Billie. Like a real business
owner,” she said, smiling brightly.

“I am a real business owner,
Mother,” she said, sitting on the edge of her desk and crossing her arms. “Now
are you going to tell me what in the world is going on with you?”

Her mom cocked her head to the side
and rubbed the side of her neck. “I’m a little stiff after that ride,” she
said, “and I could use a drink.”

“A drink? What? Are you a beer
guzzling biker chick now?”

“No, silly. I need some water. It’s
hot out there.”

“Stay right here,” she ordered and
hurried down to the lunchroom for a bottle of water. She pulled two out of the
refrigerator and strode back to her office.

Sabrina was sitting behind the
desk, leaning back in Billie’s chair with her hands laced behind her head. She
reached out for the bottle. “Thanks, honey. I feel like a camel with an empty
hump.”

Billie twisted the cap off her
water and took a long drink. Eyes closed, she counted to ten. When she opened
them her mother was fiddling with the things on her desk, straightening
everything into neat piles and groupings. She sat down in one of the facing
chairs and sighed. “Okay, now start at the beginning and tell me exactly what
has been going on in your life that has led you down this path of insanity. A
motorcycle? Really, Mom?”

Sabrina waved a hand at her as
though brushing away a pesky fly. “I didn’t ride it all the way from Minnesota.
I rented it when I got here. I know I told you when you were in high school
that motorcycles were deathtraps and if you ever got on one I would never
forgive you, but I’ve changed my mind.” She shrugged. “Oh, they’re deathtraps all
right, but if you’ve got nothing to lose, they’re a heck of a lot of fun.”

“Wha–?” she couldn’t find the
words. She just looked at her mother and shook her head. The woman had the
audacity to actually look refreshingly flushed and happy. Billie didn’t know
whether to applaud her new adventuresome spirit or smack some sense into her.
Until her Mother’s last words registered. She covered her mouth with her hands.
Nothing to lose. What did that mean? Was she dying?

Sabrina gasped and jumped up. “Oh,
no, I didn’t mean that. I meant that at my age, I have less to lose. You and
Adam are grown, I have no husband, no one relying on me.”

“Mother, don’t ever scare me like
that again,” Billie said, grasping the arms of the chair. “We have enough going
on around here without…” she stopped, her inward editor shushing her, but it
was too late.

Sabrina sat back down, her gaze
narrowed. “I knew it!” she said, pointing her finger. “It was not just a random
hot flash moment, as you so colorfully expressed.” A small smile flitted over
her lips. “And I think I know what it is,” she said smugly.

“No you don’t.”

“I think I do.”

Billie rolled her eyes. “Mother,
you do not have ESP.”

“I don’t know what it’s called, but
every mother has a connection with her children. When they need her, she just
knows. So here I am.” She looked at her hands folded on the desktop and made a
sound of disgust. “First I need a hot bath and about a quart of moisturizer.
Then we’ll talk.”

•••••

Once Sabrina was cleaned up and had
a bite to eat, Handel and Billie got to hear a play by play of her recent
adventures. After relating all the details about how she’d learned to ride a
motorcycle when she was kid – something obviously never shared with Adam
and Billie when they were growing up – Sabrina explained that she’d taken
a refresher course a month earlier and purchased a Harley. She’d been riding
around Minnesota, seeing the state from a different perspective for the last
few weeks, but riding all the way to California had still seemed a bit
daunting.

“I shipped my suitcase and just
brought my riding gear and overnight bag. That way when I got off the plane, I
could ride straight out here on my rented Harley and really smell the
vineyards. It was amazing,” she said with a nod.

“You really bought a motorcycle?”
That was the last thing Billie heard. “What are you going to do with a Harley,
Mother? Join the Hell’s Angels?” She couldn’t imagine her mother riding around
alone. She would be too bored.

“Speaking of Hell’s Angels, there’s
a really nice group of bikers at the new church I’m going to. They invited me
to join them on their rides.” She brushed a hand through her still damp hair.
“Now, enough about me. What is going on around here?”

Handel exchanged a look with Billie
and jumped up. “Who wants a glass of wine?” he asked, moving toward the
kitchen.

“Hold on there,” Sabrina said. “You
should be resting. You’ve only been out of the hospital for a week and a half,”
she reminded him. She looked at Billie with a quirk of her dark brows. “I’ll
have a glass of that nice Tocai Friulano you sent me for Christmas.”

“Sorry, Mother. I don’t have any of
that on hand. That’s some of Margaret’s special crop.” Now she might not have
any for years. It would take a while for the cuttings to become strong vines
with a fruitful harvest. “How about some nice Cabernet Franc?”

“Sounds lovely.” Her mother patted
the sofa cushion next to her. “Come sit back down, Handel, and we’ll have a
little chat.”

Billie tried to hide the smile as
she passed him, but failed.

She pulled open the door of the
little Thermo-electric wine cooler they’d gotten for a wedding gift and
selected a bottle of Cabernet Franc. She had to go to the dishwasher to find
clean glassware and then sliced some cheese and bread. After arranging it all
on a tray, she drew a deep breath and slowly released it. “Time to party with
the Hell’s Angel.”

“I thought maybe you’d be hungry,”
she said, setting the tray on the glass coffee table. She poured the wine. “So,
what have you two been chatting about?” she asked, sitting across from them.

“Your mother wanted to know what I
was thinking while I was in a coma,” Handel said, throwing an arm along the
back of the couch. “I said I was thinking about you, of course.”

“Smooth.”

Sabrina patted Handel’s leg. “I
knew you were the one for Billie the moment I set eyes on you.”

“As I recall,” Billie said, waving
a piece of cheese in the air, “you were still trying to get me back together
with what’s-his-name.”

“You mean that sportscaster? He was
never right for you. What kind of mother would name their son after a
cigarette?”

Handel’s blank look made Billie
laugh. “His name was Kent.”

“Ahh. Makes perfect sense now.” His
eyes were laughing over the rim of his wine glass.

“Which brings me back to the
present,” her mother said.

Billie waited with bated breath. If
she really had ESP it would be revealed now.

“Has Adam got up the nerve to
propose to Margaret yet?” she asked.

The doorbell rang and Billie put up
her hand. “Hold that thought,” she said, a smile teasing at the corners of her
mouth. She hurried to the front door and pulled it open.

“I’m glad you three could join us,”
she said brightly and waved them in.

“Is that Loren’s Harley out there?
I thought he had an Indian,” Adam stepped in the door but was glancing back at
the sleek red Fat Boy softtail.

Davy was the first to notice their
guest sitting next to Handel. “Sabrina!” He ran over and gave her a hug. “You
said next time you came you’d bring me a Minnesota Wild jersey.”

“Davy,” Margaret reprimanded,
looking embarrassed, “that’s no way to greet a guest.”

“It’s all right,” Sabrina said,
“This one says what he’s thinking and I’m all for that.” She looked him up and
down. “You have really grown up, young man. I hope that jersey is going to
fit.”

“You brought it?”

“Not exactly. I shipped it. It
should come tomorrow.”

“Cool.”

Adam pulled his mother into a hug,
his eyes questioning Billie from across the room. “What are you doing here?” he
asked.

“Now that’s no way to greet your
mother,” Sabrina said, pulling back. She squeezed his cheeks playfully like she
used to when he was a boy. “You should say, ‘It’s great to see you, Mom.’”

“It’s great to see you, Mom. So
what are you doing here?”

“I came for a visit, of course. I
missed my kids. Is that a crime?”

“No, but it is kind of short
notice.”

Billie laughed. “You mean no
notice. She just showed up here like hell on wheels.”

Adam glanced toward the window and
back. He shook his head. “You aren’t saying that bike is Mom’s,” he argued
before she had time to say anything at all.

“Can I go sit on it?” Davy asked
Sabrina.

“Sure, kiddo. Just be careful. It’s
a rental.”

He ran outside, slamming the door
behind him. Margaret cringed. “Sorry. He gets a little exuberant sometimes.”

Adam was staring at his mother like
she’d just announced she was a member of NASA and was flying to the moon on
Friday. Billie waved him and Margaret toward the matching love seat. “Sit. Have
some wine and cheese. I’ll get a couple extra glasses.” She smiled innocently
toward her mother. “What was it you wanted to ask Adam, Mom?”

Handel choked on his cracker and
downed it with the rest of his wine. “Let me help you,” he offered, rising from
the couch and following.

In the kitchen she pressed her lips
tightly together while her chest shook with restrained laughter. Handel sighed.
“You are a trouble maker. Adam and Margaret are gonna kill you.”

“Not if the Maras get to me first.”

“Don’t even joke about that,” he
said, pulling her into his arms.

They heard laughter from the other
room. Billie eased back and smiled. “You think she’s telling them her story
about seeing William H. Macy at the airport and calling him a wild hog?”

•••••

Margaret had debated since the day
before whether or not to tell Handel about the threats from Edoardo Salvatore.
She knew he would want to jump right in the middle and try to take care of
everything as he always did, but he had enough to deal with. The trial would
resume in just a few days and he was still recuperating from his accident.

Billie would be a better option.
She knew about family law and could at least suggest a course of action. But
since Sabrina showed up the day before, she had not had an opportunity to
discuss anything with anyone, not even Adam.

She stuck the wine thief into the
bung hole, put her thumb over the hole on the end of the glass tube and drew a
sample of the Chardonnay from the barrel. In the glass the white wine still
looked a bit cloudy, but she took a sip and rolled it around her tongue. It was
beginning to get that creamy rich feel that Chardonnay always had. Good.

The door at the top of the stairs
opened and she heard footsteps descending. She peeked through the barrels and
saw a pair of red heels. “Margaret, are you down here?” Sally called.

“Yeah, hold on a minute.” Margaret
stood up from her stool and set the glass down. She stepped out from between
the barrels. “What’s up?”

“Billie brought over a huge chicken
salad her mom made for lunch and wondered if you were hungry. She said to join
her in her office so you two could talk about harvest week.”

“Sure, I’ll be right up.”

She straightened up her work area,
washed her tools and headed up the stairs. Billie’s door was open and she had
the salads sitting on her desk waiting. She looked up from her computer and
smiled.

“Glad you could join me. My mother
usually makes enough to feed an army and Handel’s appetite still isn’t what it
was before. He decided to go to his office in town today. Said he needed to get
Patty up to speed on everything before next week, but I think he may have just
wanted to get a break from his mother-in-law.”

Margaret gave a short laugh. “She
is very…”

“Melodramatic?” Billie offered.

“I like her,” Margaret hurried to
add, “She just takes so much energy to be around. Sometimes I feel like she’s
twenty-something and I’m middle-aged.”

“That is so accurate. Believe me,
I’ve felt the same. Even when I was fifteen.” She shrugged. “But she’s my mom
and I love her.”

Margaret pulled a chair close to
the desk and sat down. She took the bowl of salad Billie pushed toward her.
Chunks of crunchy fried chicken were tossed on a bed of lettuce, tomato,
cucumber and sweet onion. She drizzled dressing over the top. “Sally said you
wanted to talk about harvest.”

“Oh, that can wait. Actually, I was
interested in your visit with Edoardo Salvatore yesterday.” Billie took a bite
of salad and waited.

“How did you know –? Never
mind. Sally, right?”

“She is the resident gossipmonger.
Seems Ernesto was in the field not too far away and overheard raised voices.”

Margaret set her fork down and sat
back with a sigh. “Well, I wanted to talk to you about it anyway.” She told
Billie everything that had transpired since her visit with Edoardo at Carl’s
restaurant and how she was afraid he was planning to use underhanded tactics to
get some sort of custody or visitation rights with Davy. “He as much as
threatened me. Said my place wasn’t a safe environment for
his grandson
. As if that trumps the fact that Davy is my son.”

Billie shook her head.
“Unbelievable. If I didn’t know how sweet Carl could be, I’d think the whole
family was nuts.”

“Yeah. I feel bad that Carl is
thrown in the middle again. Handel and he have been close friends for so many
years. I’d hate if their relationship was ruined over my problems with his
uncle.”