Margot paused, but Luke could tell something else was coming.
“And then Elliot said, and I’ll never forget this, ‘Of course she doesn’t deserve it. But when that happens, I’ll figure it out.’？” She let out a long breath. “I didn’t think Elliot would say something like that. But Elliot doesn’t say things he doesn’t mean.”
She was silent again. Luke wanted to reach for her hand, but he knew he couldn’t.
“I’m sorry, Margot. And you’ve had to work with him ever since, knowing that? Have you ever talked to him about it?”
She shook her head.
“What would I say? ‘Oh, by the way, I know you don’t think I deserve this place’？ What would be the point? It wouldn’t change anything.”
“Have you been trying to prove yourself to him ever since?” he asked. And then immediately regretted it. He shouldn’t have asked her that.
But she just sighed.
“Yeah, probably. Well—at first, definitely. Who knows, if I hadn’t overheard that, maybe I wouldn’t have come to work at the winery at all. Maybe I would have just hired someone, dropped by from time to time. Instead, I quit my job and threw myself into being the CEO of Noble, learning everything I could about the wine business. Now for the most part, I’m focused on my work on the business side, and I’m working hard for the sake of the winery, not Elliot. But sometimes . . . now it’s less that I’m trying to prove myself to Elliot, but more trying to prove to Elliot that I love the winery just as much as he does. Maybe in a different way than he does, but I love it, nonetheless, and everything I do, I’m doing for the good of the winery, even though he has very different ideas on what is for the good of the winery.” She sighed again. “I just wish . . . Elliot and I were close, before. But ever since then, there’s been a barrier between the two of us. Even with something like today—I thought it was going to be a fun, relaxed day together, and it was, and then he got all closed up and stone-faced, yet again, and I was frustrated, and then he hurt my feelings, and I got angry at him, and wow, I shouldn’t have told you a single word of that.”
“Margot. I would never . . . This might be a weird thing to say, but you can trust me. I won’t say anything about this. To anyone.”
She looked at him, for the first time since she’d started this story.
“Thanks. I appreciate that. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t highly unprofessional to spill all of my business and my brother’s business and our business’s business to one of our—”
“To Luke, your neighbor,” he cut in. “And maybe even your friend?”
She gave him a faint smile, but it was a smile, nonetheless.
“To Luke, my neighbor. And my friend,” she said. She looked at him sideways.
“Speaking of friends—you mentioned Avery. You two are close?”
He pushed the next question he was about to ask her away.
“Yeah, she’s one of my best friends,” he said.
She raised her eyebrows at him.
“Your mom seemed to think there was more going on there.”
Oh God, what had his mom said to Margot while he hadn’t been there? He made himself laugh.
“My mom would think that. We dated for something like three weeks back in high school, and then we realized we were much better as friends. But my mom has wanted us to get back together for years. I’ve tried to tell her it’s never going to happen, but she won’t believe either of us.”
Was he just imagining it, or did she relax against her seat when he said that?
“Avery told me she just had a hard breakup? How’s she doing?”
Avery must have mentioned that at their breakfast.
“I think she’s doing okay, but with Avery, you never know. I couldn’t stand that guy, she’s way better off without him, which—”
“You didn’t say that to her,” Margot said.
“Which I made the mistake of saying to her right after they broke up,” he said. “I didn’t realize exactly how much of a mistake that was until she said, ‘Do you know how stupid that makes me feel?’ and then burst into tears. And while you may not realize what a big deal that is, I’ll tell you that in the almost fifteen years we’ve been friends, I think I’ve seen Avery cry exactly once before this. I felt . . . so terrible.” Avery had forgiven him pretty quickly, at least. “That was partly why I moved back here—she seemed like she could use a friend around. Granted, she didn’t say that—she said now that I wasn’t working, I should move somewhere else for a while, maybe I’d learn how to relax. Which is funny, because I don’t think she’s ever relaxed a day in her life.”