Page 79 of You've Got Hate Mail
I can ignore voicemails and emails asking to see Lav, but they still know where we live.
And where we live is hazardous, whichdoesgive them ammunition if they decide to try to take her from me again.
Those voicemails and emails that I’m ignoring have an underlying threat to them still.
Awe’re not done.
Awe’ll try this again when you fuck up.
Mabel’s watching Lav with Cricket and Pip. “How’s Fluffy?”
“She got stuck less in the cat door yesterday.”
“Cricket found Pip and Lav’s secret trading spot. We’ve been taking turns replacing the food Pip leaves there for magical rocks and sticks that turn into food when cats eat them.”
That does it.
That makes my throat clog.
These women—they’re family.
And Cricket—she’s filling in holes that I didn’t realize I had.
Embracing my daughter exactly as she is and understanding how her brain works and helping make my life easier by beingright there.
But this winery is dangerous for a kid who likes to explore and push boundaries. And she’s reaching an age where she’s more capable of getting into trouble.
“You get those videos taken off GrippaBeav yet? The ones of Cricket?” I ask.
Becausethat’sbeen on my mind too.
Mabel shakes her head, lips tight. “Their legal department takes forever to get back to every email, and I thinkit’sbeing run by AI too.”
I grunt.
She does too.
Fucking sucks that someone’s making money off of one of our residents when we’re on the brink of going broke.
“Ginny’s been pitching a business proposal to hand-picked investors so we can start wine operations again,” Mabel says. “And if that doesn’t work, we’ll find a vineyard manager so we can break the contract with Winona and start selling the grapes for a profit next year. If it makes any difference at all that we’re doing everything we can to fix what’s broken and put us in a more financially secure position, then I thought you should know.”
“Take it Pip doesn’t know either?”
Pip’s adamant that the winery never reopen or be profitable on its own.
It’s a cosmic fuck-you to her dead husband.
Plus it gives the women here a significant bit more privacy than they’d have with staff running the operations.
“Specifically? No. But deep in her heart? She knows it’s necessary, and she loves our community. She’ll approve it. She’ll have to.” She pulls her glasses off and wipes them on her shirt. “Ifwe can find an investor. We’ve struck out twice now.”
“Ginny think about asking her future brother-in-law?” I ask.
“She mentioned he’s involved in some new rum operation in southern California and that that’s taking a good bit of his time and money right now.”
You have to look closely to see the way Mabel’s cheeks go slightly pink, but I’ve known her long enough to catch the way her voice wavers too.
She’s not fully pulling off cool and collected when it comes to her favorite actor and the fact that she’s basically two degrees of separation from him.
