Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 73042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
“You don’t need to apologize. You were making a joke.” She smiles again. “Jokes are funny. Jokes make people laugh. People don’t laugh enough.” She wrinkles her nose like an adorable little bunny. “When you look death in the face, all you want to do is go back to a time in life when you were laughing. When life was good, and you were happy.”
I stop my jaw from dropping.
I hardly know this woman. But in that moment, I fall a little bit in love with Raven Bellamy.
17
RAVEN
I love the feeling of being full.
I finished my entire square of lasagna.
It was a big heavy square.
For so long, I had no appetite. I didn’t want to eat, and when I did eat, I ate disgusting hospital food. Half the time it didn’t even stay down.
Since I’ve been feeling better, I’ve learned to enjoy the taste of food again. The feeling of having a full tummy.
It’s been wonderful.
Vinnie and Falcon are talking across the table about some bourbon that Vinnie wants Falcon to try.
I of course can’t drink. While the rest of them are enjoying a bottle of Chianti, my wine glass is filled with water.
That’s fine. I was never a big drinker anyway. But I did enjoy wine.
That was something Falcon and I had in common. He and Mom were supposed to go on this big wine tour the year after he graduated from college.
That didn’t happen, of course. It didn’t happen because Falcon went to prison.
Mom canceled the wine tour, but the next summer, she asked me to accompany her.
I loved it. I had never been quite as much of oenophile as Falcon was, but after that wine tour in France and Italy, I learned to love the elixir of grapes as much as my mother and Falcon did. I always felt bad that he missed that special trip with Mom. Robin had no interest in going to wine country. She went to Barbados with a group of college friends instead.
When there’s a lull in the conversation, I turn to Vinnie. “Do you like wine, Vinnie?”
He raises his eyebrows at me.
“I mean, I see your glass is empty.”
“Oh, Vinnie, I’m sorry.” Savannah grabs the wine bottle. “Did you want some more?”
“No,” he says. “I’m fine. I had two drinks with Falcon before dinner, and I have to drive home.” Then he turns to me. “But to answer your question, yes. I like wine. When I was in Europe, I drank a lot of wine. Especially in France and Italy. Some Spanish wines were really great too. But what really surprised me were the Portuguese wines. Some of them were quite good.”
I nod, trying to mask my admiration for Vinnie’s worldliness. “I used to love wine. I toured French and Italian wine country with my mother the summer after I finished college. It’s something I miss.”
“You’ll be able to drink again soon,” Savannah says. “Right?”
“Yeah. Once I’m off these higher dosages of medication. I should be able to have a glass or two.”
“Do you like Italian wine?” Vinnie asks.
“Yeah. I think I like it better than French wine, which I know is heresy.”
Vinnie smiles at me, and I feel a pulse between my legs.
“I do too,” he agrees.
“So do I,” Falcon says.
“Tell me about the Chianti,” I say to Vinnie. “Tell me what I’m missing.”
Savannah examines the label of the bottle. “This is just a regular Chianti I found in the liquor store in downtown Summer Creek. It’s nothing special.”
“But it was perfect with this lasagna,” Vinnie says. “You don’t always need to have the best wine. Sometimes an easily drinkable wine can perfectly complement the meal you’re serving.” He leans toward me, smiling gently. “I think you would’ve liked it, Raven. It was acidic, so it went great with the tomato sauce. And it had basic Chianti notes of fresh berries and red fruit. It was delicious.”
I close my eyes, imagining the wine floating over my tongue. “It sounds amazing.” When I open my eyes again, all three of them are staring at me. “What?”
“You just look so peaceful,” Falcon says. “It’s good to see, Ray.”
I sigh. “I just appreciate everything so much more now. Not that I would wish this on any of you guys, but I almost feel like I’ve been given a gift. The sky is bluer, the grass is greener. And the thought of Chianti flowing over my tongue is that much more exciting. It will be wonderful when I can finally take a drink of it myself.”
“How long will that be?” Vinnie asks.
“If I continue to do well, the doctors will wean me off my medication.”
“And you will continue to do well,” Falcon says.
“I will,” I assert.
One thing I learned during cancer treatment is that attitude is everything. There were times it wasn’t possible to stay as positive as I would’ve liked, but I did my best. I never thought of myself as sick or dying.