license.”
“Yes, sir,” I said.
Quinn folded his arms across his chest. He was at least twice Belcher’s size. “What’s next?”
Belcher picked up his clipboard and stood. “You’ll hear back from me in approximately ten business days.”
Judging by that tone of voice, we weren’t going to like what we heard, either.
“Can you please give us any indication—” I began.
“Ten days,” he repeated. “I said you’ll know in ten days. And I can show myself out.”
“You antagonized him,” I said to Quinn when he was gone. “He’s really going to throw the book at us now.”
“He was going to do it anyway,” Quinn retorted. “You said so yourself. His mind was made up before he even got here. Did you see the way he looked around the place? I have no time for petty bureaucrats who abuse their power. That guy was mean. He liked sticking it to us.”
“What we did was wrong,” I said. “And he’s fully justified in holding us accountable. But unlike you, I think honey works better than vinegar. Goading him was not smart.”
“Whose side are you on, Lucie?” He sounded incredulous. “Look, I got work to do. I’m going back out in the fields and try to forget about that asshole. I’ll talk to you later.”
But he didn’t come back for lunch, like he often did. Bonita, however, did show up. I found her in the kitchen microwaving a container of Ramen noodles.
“Were you just out with Quinn?” I asked.
“Nope. I was in the barrel room.” She gave me an odd look. “Hey, Lucie, is he leaving?”
“Leaving what?”
“The vineyard. I, like, overheard him talking to Mick the other day. Quinn told Mick he was going to think about some offer. Then I saw the box of Cohibas sitting on Quinn’s desk and, um, well, I was in there and I happened to see Mick’s business card, too. Man, a whole box. Just one of those things costs a fortune.”
“Cigars?” I asked.
She nodded. “They’re, like, one of the most expensive Cuban cigars in the world. Illegal, too. But you can get ’em if you have connections.”
“I see.” I picked up the coffeepot and poured myself a cup. “I’d better get back to work. Thanks, Bonita.”
“Hey,” she said. “You didn’t answer my question about him leaving. And that coffee’s, like, stone cold. The coffeemaker shut off hours ago. Don’t you want to heat it up?”
I dumped it in the sink. “Quinn’s not leaving,” I said. “And I didn’t really want coffee anyway.”
It occurred to me later that if Belcher revoked our license Quinn wouldn’t have to look far to get another job. He could afford to piss the EPA off.
I couldn’t.
Kit called that evening and cajoled me into getting together after she got off work. “I’m lousy company,” I said.
“Then you need cheering up,” she said. “I’ll bring dinner.”
She arrived with a couple of white bags. “Two double burgers with cheese and extra fries.”
“Fast food? We’re eating fast food?”
“Listen, Julia Child, it’s
“I’ll see if I can find something to do it justice,” I said.
“Great,” she said. “Why don’t we go down to your pond and take the rowboat out? We haven’t done that for ages. The sunset ought to be pretty tonight.”
My balance was not what it used to be before the accident, so Kit had to help me climb into the boat. She handed me a basket with the wine, a corkscrew, plastic cups, and our dinner, then got in herself. The boat rocked crazily and I hung on to the basket with one hand and the side of the boat with the other.
“Guess we weighed a little less when we did this as kids, huh?” Kit sat down and faced me. “Or at least I did. You haven’t gained an ounce since you were sixteen.”
“Maybe not, but plenty of other things have changed.”
She picked up the oars. “How about we go out in the middle and just drift around?”
The burgers were now lukewarm, but I’d skipped lunch after that session with Belcher and the talk with Bonita, so now I ate ravenously. Kit watched me with amusement.
“I haven’t seen you this hungry for ages. You brought good wine, by the way.”
“It’s a Chardonnay from a new vineyard down near Charlottesville. I wanted to try it.” I uncorked the bottle and poured more wine into plastic cups. “We ought to keep this chilled. Hand me that plastic grocery bag, will you?”
I put the bottle in the bag and tied the handles in a knot, which I looped over one of the oars. Then I lowered it partway into the water. “That ought to do it.”
“Great. So how was your day?”
“Lousy. The guy from the EPA showed up.”
Kit looked sympathetic. “It didn’t go well?”
“He was the kind of person who’d normally blend in with the wallpaper and he knows it, too. So now he’s got absolute power over our fate and he means to make the most of it,” I said. “I have a feeling he’d made up his mind to throw the book at us before he even set foot on the property. Quinn thinks so, too.”
“Jeez. You mean he’s going to shut you down?”
I trailed my hand in the water and watched the ripples I made fan out and recede. “We’ll know in ten days.”
“Maybe you’ll only get a fine. Can you hold my cup? It’s not very deep here and we’ll scrape the bottom of the boat.” She gave me her cup and removed the bag with our wine from the oar. Then she grabbed the other oar and rowed us into deeper water while I poured more wine.
“I like this time of day,” I said as she reached again for her cup. “The lighting’s nice.”
We drank in silence.
“What else, Lucie?” Kit said after a while. “Something else is bothering you.”
“I think Quinn might be leaving,” I blurted out.
Her eyebrows went up. “He told you?”
“No, Bonita did. She thinks she overheard Mick Dunne offering him a job. I got the impression it was for more than just the consulting work Quinn’s been doing for him. You know Mick bought the Studebaker place? He wants to start a vineyard.”
She whistled. “Boy, he sure didn’t waste any time, did he? Mick, I mean. He is one smooth operator. I bet he gets whatever he wants. It’s got to be that accent. You can say anything in British and it sounds good. Even if he were robbing a bank, he’d probably sound incredibly polite. I think it’s sexy as hell.”
“Well, thank you for that honest but shallow opinion,” I said as she grinned. “But I doubt Mick’s accent was the deciding factor for Quinn. More likely it was the money.”
Kit nodded. “Dunne Pharmaceuticals? Yeah, money wouldn’t be a problem after what he got when he sold that company.”
“If this is your idea of cheering me up…”
Kit looked penitent. “Sorry, Luce. Sometimes you ought to tell me to just shut up.” She reached for the bottle and topped off our cups.
“It’s all right. I’m just feeling sorry for myself.”
She tapped her cup against mine. “You think Quinn really might leave on account of money?”
“Is there another reason?”
“Oh, come on. How about whatever is going on between the two of you?” she said. “
“Nothing’s going on between Quinn and me. He’s seeing Bonita.” I drank a large gulp of wine.
Kit stared at the perfect fire-engine-red kiss mark she’d left on the rim of her cup. Then she said, “I wasn’t talking about a romantic relationship. But I always did think you two had feelings for each other. What I meant was
